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How the Open lab Works
| Today's fast paced lifestyle places many demands on your
time. Whether you are a full time day student or a part time evening
student, un-expected things happen. If you had a lecture scheduled and
had to miss it, you fell behind in the class. As an evening student,
missing a single night could put you a week behind the rest of the class |
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| Maybe you have been waiting for a specific Math
class and it is only offered at the same time as your Electronic
Communications class. Sometimes course conflicts can happen, but
what can you do?
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Day Session
11:20 am - 4:20 pm
Monday through Saturday
Evening Session
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Monday through Thursday
Hybrid Self-Paced Courses
605-113 DC/AC I
605-114 DC/AC II
605-120 Electronic Devices I
605-121 Electronic Devices II
605-130 Digital Electronics
Pure Self-Paced Courses
605-109 Fabrication Techniques
605-151 Electronic Communications
605-174 Digital Circuits II
605-176 Optoelectronics
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Our solution is a set of "Open Lab Courses"
offered during day and evening blocks of time. These sessions are offered
both in the fall and in the spring semesters. Five of the courses
are a Hybrid between a pure Self-Paced course and a standard Lecture / Lab
course. Students are surveyed, on the first day of class, and a
lecture schedule is developed. Typically the same lecture is four
times per week; twice during the day time block and twice during the evening
time block. If needed, a third lecture is offered during the day.
Students taking a Hybrid course attend the lecture of their choice, but are
welcome to attend all of the lectures for that course if they so desire.
They are then free to work on their Computer Based Training and Hands-on
laboratory assignments any time during the week that the Open Lab is in
session.
The other four courses are pure Self-Paced
courses. Students taking these three courses can set their own
schedule, during the day or evening blocks of time. The only caveat is
that the
course must be completed by the end of the semester. Students can
finish early if they complete the material before the end of the
semester.
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As you can see, the Day Session is a
total of 30 hours and the Evening Session is a total of 20 hours.
However students are not expected to be in the classroom for the entire
block of time. For the Hybrid courses, they only need to attend one of
the lectures each week and then they set their own schedule for the Computer
Based Training (CBT) and Hands-On laboratory.For the Self-Paced courses,
the student schedules
themselves for the appropriate number of hours during the Day or
Evening session. |
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| Each course has a
predetermined amount of time that each student can expect to spend in the
classroom. If additional time is needed, naturally the student is
welcome to stay for as much time as they require. |
| Estimated time per week |
Open Lab |
Homework |
|
Open Lab |
Homework |
| DC/AC I |
4 hours |
3 hours |
Fabrication Techniques |
2 hours |
1 hour |
| DC/AC II |
4 hours |
3 hours |
Electronic
Communications |
4 hours |
2 hours |
| Electronic Devices I |
6 hours |
4 hours |
Optoelectronics |
3 hours |
2 hours |
| Electronic Devices II |
6 hours |
4 hours |
Digital Circuits II |
4 hours |
2 hours |
| Digital Electronics |
5 hours |
4 hours |
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The flexibility of the Open-Lab setting gives the student ample opportunity
for individual attention. There is an instructor in the room at all
times. When the instructor is not lecturing, students receive individual
attention. All three of the Electronics instructors spend time in the
Open Lab. This gives the students multiple perspectives on the material
that they are covering.
With this flexible format, a student can complete more than one course per
semester. If you choose all Hybrid courses, you will need to work on them
concurrently. If you choose more than one Self-Paced course, we highly
recommend that you complete one Self-Paced course before starting the next one.
Please keep in mind, a course started in one semester must be completed before
the end of that semester. It is very important to work with the instructor
to set up a schedule that will allow for enough time to complete the Self-Paced
course. |
