A teamwork-based education strategy for teaching lab of analog integrated circuits design

Abstract

This paper describes the education activities carried out to motivate students enrolled in a laboratory course focused on the design of analog CMOS integrated circuits. Instead of using the traditional method based on doing practical exercises, a teamwork methodology was followed that consisted on a chip design project implemented by a group of students, each one playing a different role in the design team and being in charge of different tasks. A short training period at the beginning of the course was used for a preliminary assessment of students in order to assign their task and role in the design project. One of the students was selected as the project manager, while teachers acted as project reviewers. A set of control mechanisms, including internet-based video conferences and chats, was established. These tools allowed students to coordinate their activities and also were used by professors to check the work in progress during the course - apart from those review sessions taking place on-site in classroom. As a result of all these initiatives, students become more encouraged to do the practical exercises required to fulfill the course objectives and - at the same time - they developed and improved other complementary competencies, like the ability to work in a team and to defend their work by means of oral presentations.