Project-Based Hardware Design Laboratory for Undergraduates in Electrical Engineering

Teaching of electrical engineering in universities (in Germany) often focuses on theoretical education and students lack the practical link. This teacher-centered learning leads to a deficient learning outcome, where students sometimes have to learn the subject twice. To enhance the learning outcome, the activation level of students and their engagement with the topic for the first time have to be improved. Therefore, we propose a project-based learning environment within a laboratory for students of electrical engineering. This approach is characterized by a consistent constructive alignment and shift to a student-centered learning where the supervisors take an active guiding role. We show that this approach can be considered a template, allowing for an individual learning progress and encouraging a self-driven learning process.