Books for course

[Matt Jadud]

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 11:04 PM, Sebastian Dziallas <seba...@when.com>
> Or I might. :) This is barely related, but we just got Olin's new summer
> reading book. I thought it looked cool:
> http://www.amazon.com/The-Toaster-Project-Electric-Appliance/dp/1568989970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336100463&sr=8-1

Speaking of, I have to choose texts. Or, if you prefer, if students
are going to have to buy a book, it must be submitted.

Do they need to buy a book?

There's this text (seems to be in two places):
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
http://openbookproject.net/electricCircuits/

Actually, that text is in many places. It is extensive; I haven't had
time to really evaluate it. There is an IEEE rendition of the material
at the site below:

http://www.vias.org/electronics.html

We should be able to leverage free/open licensed material, I think,
for an intro. It may leave us to generate a bunch of content, though.
If we're trying to do anything new/innovative, there's a really good
chance that we can't avoid that, anyway. So, in that regard, buying an
expensive textbook is a Bad Idea.

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Electronics-Forrest-Mims/dp/0945053282/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Should we require Mims? I'm fond of it, perhaps just because it is
hand-drawn. It has a lot of basics, and is not a textbook, but is a
good resource overall. Make:Electronics by Pratt/Make is not, in my
opinion, a replacement for Mims. Nor am I prepared to commit to the
Pratt/Make book yet... I own it, like it, but don't think I want to
require students to buy it. Perhaps we'll get a copy or two for the
lab at the start.

Are we going to have students build an Arduino? Is that part of
Electricity/Electronics I? Should they have to do vlogs or similar
about components --- producing a series of online reports about all
the components, what they do, etc? Either way, is that something you
should leave the first course in electronics having soldered/studied?
(This would set the stage for further work in later/other courses.)

The big reason for the question: we could require some components/etc.
as a lab fee instead of books. Mims + an Arduino would be around $40
for the course.

I think Olin students had certain tools they had to own (when I was
there). Sarah Z., as I recall, insisted that all her tools be pink,
and noted how hard it was to find some tools in said color. Are there
any tools every student of electronics should own and be responsible
for? Preferably, inexpensive tools... that is, anything that has a
high cost will be standard lab equipment. (In truth, I don't think I
want to go down this road, but I thought I'd ask anyway.)

Thoughts on: book, lab fee/bits, tools?

Cheers,
Matt

[Jan]

> Do they need to buy a book? 

"Need" is a strong word, so no, they don't need to buy a book.  Having said that, I would advise having a book, especially for the first offering.  I have run classes both ways, with and without books.  Trying to run a course without a book is very time-consuming to do well, and even then I have found it hard to find/create enough resources.  It is certainly do-able to run a course without a text, just a question of where you want to put your energy.  Personally, I choose a text whenever I can--I just don't let it drive the class.  Often, I use the text primarily for the theoretical learning which I can then lead discussions on rather than having to provide everything.

> We should be able to leverage free/open licensed material, I think, for an intro. It may leave us to generate a bunch of content, though. 

My point exactly.

> If we're trying to do anything new/innovative, there's a really good chance that we can't avoid that, anyway.

Exactly so. 

> ...buying an expensive textbook is a Bad Idea. 

Probably so, if good trade books exist.

> Should we require Mims? I'm fond of it, perhaps just because it is hand-drawn. It has a lot of basics, and is not a textbook, but is a 

> good resource overall.

It sounds like a great choice, well-rated, inexpensive, and Matt is fond of it.

 

> Thoughts on: book, lab fee/bits, tools? 

I'd recommend you choose Mims unless we can identify another good alternative relatively quickly.

The lab fee is already set: $10/per student and there are 20 students registered.  But, Gary says not to worry too much about bean counting.  Because of our student demographics the College tries not to to off-load too many of the course costs onto the students.  Just assume that (within reason) we will figure out how to pay for what is needed to run an excellent learning experience.

It is possible to require students to purchase a set of tools and/or hardware...up to, say, a couple of hundred of dollars of cost.
I think one should ask oneself what the advantages/disadvantages are for students to own them...  Will it mean they can spend more time working on projects?  Will they spend less time working collaboratively?  
Our set of CS TAs have historically staffed an evening lab Sundays-Thursdays 7:00-9:30 pm.  Do we want that lab to take place in the electronics studio?  Would that suffice?

[Matt Jadud]

On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Jan <pea...@gmail.com> wrote:
>  Personally, I choose a text whenever I can--I just don't let it drive the
> class.  Often, I use the text primarily for the theoretical learning which I
> can then lead discussions on rather than having to provide everything.

I think that between the online materials and Mims we have plenty of
material (plus what we develop this summer).

Executive decision made: I've submitted Mims to the bookstore as the
required text.

> Our set of CS TAs have historically staffed an evening lab Sundays-Thursdays
> 7:00-9:30 pm.  Do we want that lab to take place in the electronics studio?
>  Would that suffice?

I think all of the equipment they need should be in the lab and
available---ideally, more than just 2.5 hours every evening. However,
we're already thinking about that in terms of card access, so that's
fine, and not a concern at this point.

My thought was whether there were one or two tools every student
should themselves have, but... I think that's for the future. Really,
many of the essentials have a higher cost than I want to push on the
students at this time, and it would really be a question that fits in
a larger curricular context anyway.

But, it would be cool if they all had to have a slide rule, and learn
to use it... :D

Cheers,
M

[Jan]

> But, it would be cool if they all had to have a slide rule, and learn to use it... :D

Great! Now I know what I am going to do with those two six-foot long slide rules which I hung on the wall in the Math & CS Conference Room. 

:) Jan