EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS

Physics of Semiconductors was included for the first time in the Curriculum of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, at the National Autonomus University of Mexico, for the academic year 2007. Teaching the subject to second year (forth semester) students of engineering, who lack a previous education in modern physics and who take simultaneously their first courses in Electricity and Magnetism and Probability and Statistics, both of which would provide a sound background for Semiconductor Physics if they were taken earlier, but are not, turned out to be a real challenge for the instructors of this new course. A variety of teaching strategies and learning activities have been proposed and tested to achieve an effective learning of the subject. Some of the learning activities which have rendered successful results are presented and discussed in this work. These range from classical strategies such as reading assignments and discussion, problem solving and physical demonstrations in class, to the use of modern resources like videos, simulation applets, and web-quests, all of this within the frame of a robust education platform based on Moodle. The efforts are worth because of the leading role that the School of Engineering of the National University plays among the institutions dedicated to engineering education in Mexico, and the key importance that the subject has for the eventual development of a national semiconductor industry, that would make it possible for the country, among other things, the massive fabrication of photovoltaic panels for solar energy use.