Abstract:

Nowadays, the greatest provocation for university educators is to entice the students’ attention to the topics studied in the course. This requires applying innovative ideas by the lectures in the universities for making the classroom experience more attractive to the students. Such innovative ideas are creative teaching, audio, and video tools, “real-world” learning, working in teams on projects, etc.

The paper presents solutions for making the courses in digital electronics in the University of Ruse more attractive and more effective in the final assessment of the students.

The courses “Digital Circuits”, “Pulse and Digital Circuits” and “Pulse and Digital Devices” introduce the students-bachelors of the specialties “Computer Systems and Technologies”, “Electronics”, “Internet and Mobile Communications”, “Computer Control and Automation”, and “Information and Communication Technologies” in the University of Ruse to the main topics in the field of digital electronics.

Different combinational circuits such as diversified arithmetic circuits (half-adders, adders, multistage combinational adders, and subtractors), encoders and decoders, multiplexers and demultiplexers, code converters, and comparators are studied in these courses.

This academic year, in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching team in the courses mentioned above decided to introduce project-based learning as one of the trends for future education, known as Education 4.0. The students had to work on different projects, getting acquainted with and implementing different digital devices not included in the curriculum of the course at the moment, for example, BCD adders, circuits for binary multiplication of 2-bit and 3-bit numbers, etc., via various computer-based tools. The applications described in the paper are planned to be included when updating the curriculum.

The paper presents the application of project-based learning on the topic “BCD Adders” implemented with different computer-based tools, such as MS Excel (electronic spreadsheets), Logisim, ISE Project Navigator, LearningApps, etc. as a way of presenting this topic to the students making the classes more attractive using active learning methods.

Creative teaching uses tools for stimulating creativity. Using visual exercises with simulations and laboratory boards excites students’ minds and capture their interest. This is a time-tested method for identifying student’s creative abilities and encouraging creative contributions.

Incorporating audio-visual materials during the classes, for example, multimedia interactive tests, movies, pictures, helps the students’ imagination grow and understand the concepts better.

Working together as a team during the classes also encourages the students to learn and think better, and of course, the end result of the collaborative effort is always immense.

Therefore, active learning methods engage students in learning, using activities such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem-solving, and promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the class content. Active learning methods also provide students with informal opportunities for feedback on how well they understood the material.

Keywords:

Education 4.0, project-based learning, digital electronics, BCD adders.