Abstract:

Phasors are a valuable tool in studying circuits in sinusoidal steady state, yet students find it difficult to conceptually understand the relevant notions and, in most cases, tend to use them in a rather mechanical manner.

The paper proposes a teaching scenario for a 2-hour lesson on phasors supported by the gaming tool “Kahoot”. The lesson is included in the 2nd-semester course “Electric Circuits II” offered at the Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Educators of the School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPETE), Athens, Greece. Kahoot was mainly chosen for being a mobile-device application (with a usable free version) that could be easily incorporated into an electrical engineering course and it is mainly used to visualize concepts and as a tool for revision and self-checking of obtained knowledge.

The use of Kahoot is focused on the following topics:
• The fact that phasors can be only used when a circuit is linear, has sinusoidal sources of the same frequency and operates in the steady state.
• The exact relation between a phasor and the actual sinusoidal signal.
• The fact that the phasor V = A exp(jφ) of, say, a cosine function of the form v(t) = A cos(ωt+φ) “deliberately” includes the amplitude A and the initial phase φ (that are to be affected by the linear circuit) and leaves out the circular frequency ω which remains unchanged.
• How a phasor is affected by the differentiation and integration processes induced by inductors and capacitors.

The learning benefits of the use of Kahoot are mainly associated with (a) the visualization of the phasor concept (which causes difficulties to several students) and (b) the possibility for revision and self-checking of obtained knowledge (which can be performed in an active learning manner). An additional benefit is that the students can combine content’s comprehension together with the development of their aptitude in teaching and using information technology tools (in the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge –TPACK– framework) which is particularly important given that the department’s graduates have the option to be employed as teachers in technological high schools.

Students’ response was encouraging since, despite the practical difficulties and the time consumed for learning Kahoot, the great majority (about 80%) stated that the use of Kahoot helped them enhance their understanding of phasors in a pleasant and rather relaxed manner. They also stated that they found reasonable the use of Kahoot to take place after (rather than before) the conventional presentation of phasors in the class since the latter had given them the necessary insight into the relevant notions which, in turn, helped them utilize Kahoot in a more effective way.

Keywords:

Engineering Education, Electrical Engineering Education, Electric Circuits, Gamification.