Entering the world of electrical engineering: A gateway course for first-year students at Wuhan University, China

Abstract

Chinese students, unlike those in western countries, have little control over their majors or courses. Many students are registered in electrical engineering based on GaoKao test scores, not personal interest in the field. As a consequence, many first-year students know little, or even nothing, about electrical engineering. To increase disciplinary knowledge among these students and improve retention rates, a gateway course, named Entering the World of Electrical Engineering, was established in the school of Electrical Engineering at Wuhan University, P.R. China especially for freshman electrical engineering students. To stimulate and inspire these new entrants to the World of Electrical Engineering, this course underscores the relevance of electrical engineering to everyday life and directs the attention of these newcomers to the dynamic and interesting research areas of the field. This paper describes the contents of this gateway course, the structure of the teaching materials, and analyzes the results of a feedback questionnaire administered at the end of the term. The results show that the gateway course successfully engages students’ interests in electrical engineering.