Requirements for the effective application of personal instrumentation in ECE undergraduate courses

Over the last few years, ECE education has been undergoing some dramatic changes made possible by the availability of low cost personal instrumentation such as Mobile Studio (RPI), myDAQ (National Instruments), Analog Discovery (Digilent/NI) and others. All of these devices were designed to free ECE undergrads from the constraints of fixed space, equipment and course scheduling so they can conduct experiments whenever and wherever they wish. Instructors are now also able to design the learning environment for their students that focuses on student doing and learning rather than on whether a lab meeting can be scheduled as part of their course. Experimental activities can be incorporated in lecture classes and be included in homework assignments. The freedom for both students and instructors to do what is right rather than what has historically been possible is what has positively impacted student learning. In addition, there are many other areas of application including high schools, outreach/recruitment activities, etc. that are only realistic if the unit price is much less (e.g. less than $50). Clearly, a much lower price requires reducing performance in some way. The question addressed in this paper is then whether the reduced capabilities that come with a lower price are sufficient for student learning. The specific low cost device addressed is the most readily available product priced under $40, Analog Devices ADALMIOOO (aka M1K). Its performance and use will be compared with both the Analog Discovery and a commonly used benchtop scope.