Effectively Teaching Majors and Non-majors in Hands-on Electrical Engineering Technology Courses

Modern technologies are remarkably interdisciplinary and often require knowledge of several fields. In particular, the accelerated technology development in electrical engineering with most of the industrial systems integrated with electronic solutions results in an increasing correlation among different disciplines. The goal of higher education institutions is to prepare highlyqualified graduates who will contribute to the industry with the latest technologies in their fields. Most of the instructors, however, face the challenge of teaching both non-majors and majors, sometimes even in the same classroom. The aim of this article is to discuss the main challenges and to share teaching methods that the author has used to encourage active learning and engagement among major and non-major students in an Electrical Engineering Technology program. The author addresses the use of technology for teaching, the use of lecture time effectively, the importance of well-designed laboratory experiments, and use of simulation tools. Assessment tools have indicated that the teaching methods used have been successful in meeting the teaching goals.