Integration of Math and Physics into Electronic Engineering Technology Courses

The Electronic Engineering Technology (EET) Program plays an important role in the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The EET program strives to create a learning environment that nurtures the development of critical thinking skills, and develops technology expertise. Traditionally, our courses in Engineering Technology, such as Electrical Power, tend to cover a lot of details from a technical point of view. Advanced mathematics as an analytical tool is typically not incorporated into instruction. This method has advantages, however, we have found that, without a solid understanding of science and physics behind the technology phenomena, it is not practical for the students to memorize easily all the technical information. The EET program at our university has just merged into the School of Computing, and is trying to improve the teaching-learning environment by incorporating more science and advanced mathematics into engineering technology curriculum. This paper discusses how higher-level mathematics and physics can be integrated into the instructional process of EET courses. As an example, this paper presents how we help the students to incorporate their knowledge and skills in algebra, calculus, geometry, trigonometry and physics into Electrical Power, which has long been a required course for EET in USM. This method has proven to be effective. Students have demonstrated a clear understanding of the technical information in the field of Electrical Power by the integration of higher-level math and physics.