Macro-I: Instrumentation education with projects

We have developed pedagogical tools for the teaching of instrumentation grounded on the use of instrumentation projects. This approach provides students with a practical working knowledge of a wide range of topics. This paper describes our evolving approach to education that attempts to remain directed toward a systems-level view, thus the name "Macro" as in Macro-Instrumentation. The objectives of the approach focus on giving students the tools they need to understand and use relevant theoretical and practical concepts, and to impart the background and motivation to encourage students to create useful electronic instruments. Specifically, we seek to (i) introduce fundamental concepts of a topic through the use of a systems view and the incorporation of instrumentation projects, and (ii) employ a project-based learning environment to increase motivation and to highlight instrumentation topics that are important and useful, and that may help integrate core content.