Experiment on Student Teamwork

Teaching and learning electronics can be accomplished in myriad of different ways. In this paper, we report ongoing teaching experiment in classical electronics 1 and electronics 2 courses. The classical way of lectures, independent homework and summative assessment is a one way of teaching. Exploring ways to make learning these difficult subjects easier and more fun is an ongoing challenge. At the University of Iceland we have been experiencing with teamwork and peer assessment instead of independent homework as well as class presentations instead of midterms. In this paper, we discuss how the peer-pressure caused by teamwork and presentations affects students' final outcome in electronics 1 and 2 courses. Moreover, in this paper we examine dropout, failing grades and grade distribution as well as course structure. Furthermore, several adjustments have been made during the past three years of this experiment to hone out best practices. The experience of these adjustments will be discussed and reported. The same approach can be used in other courses. Results from this experiment shows that this method helps students effectively with understanding threshold concepts and master the material.