The Signals and Systems Concept Inventory
Kathleen E. Wage, John R. Buck, Thad B. Welch, and Cameron H. G. Wright
Abstract
This paper describes the development of continuous-time and
discrete-time signals and systems concept inventory exams for
undergraduate electrical engineering curricula. Both exams have
twenty-five multiple choice questions to assess students' understanding
of core concepts in these courses. The questions require little or no
computation, and contain incorrect answers that
capture common student misconceptions. The design of both exams is
discussed, as are ongoing studies evaluating the exams at four
campuses. Preliminary results from administering the continuous-time
exam as a pre-test and post-test indicate a normalized gain of
0.24 ± 0.08 for traditional lecture courses, consistent with
reported results for the Force Concept Inventory exam in lecture
courses for freshman physics [1].
[1] R. R. Hake, "Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses," Am. J. Phys., vol. 66, pp. 64-74, 1998.
© 2002 American Society for Engineering Education. The article (PDF) appeared in Proceedings of the 2002 ASEE Annual Conference, Session 1532, pp. 1-29, June 2002. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires the permission of the authors and the American Society for Engineering Education.
This article is password-protected. Email John Buck (johnbuck [at] ieee.org) or Kathleen Wage (k.e.wage [at] ieee.org) to obtain the password.