My HS senior D will be taking a DE class at our state flagship next semester. The two she has narrowed down to are these (both in the Electrical and Computer Engineering dept):
C and MATLAB Programming for Electrical and Computer Engineers
Introduces fundamental programming concepts with engineering applications using C at a lower level of abstraction and MATLAB at a higher, application-focused level. The course teaches the use of pointers, control flow, and data types. Example engineering applications include signal processing and the numerical computations. The course includes a weekly computer lab session.
Introduction to Digital and Analog Electronics
Introduces fundamental concepts in electrical and computer engineering such as Ohm’s Law, capacitors, LEDs and 7-segment displays, transformers and rectifiers, digital logic, Fourier decomposition, frequency analysis. Lab work exposes students to commonly used instrumentation. Includes a final project. Skills in wiring, soldering and wire-wrapping are developed.
It might come down to whichever (if either) has space. HS students are obviously at the bottom of the totem pole for registration. Right now though, both are looking favorable in space available.
I’m leaning toward the programming class because it seems like a more general way to give her a leg-up freshman year. (Also, her HS taught javascript the year she took programming.) She’s leaning toward the electronics class because scheduling-wise she’d be able to take Digital Art 3 at her HS and because, well, soldering.
I’m a freshman EE and I would do the programming class. She will get plenty of experience in circuits in physics and ee classes. An edge in programming will set you apart vs the other EEs. I’m one of the EEs who hates programming so liking that is a pro. You can’t go wrong and learn good soldering skills or you’ll end up like me: my first time I almost dropped the iron on my leg…
I think programming could be good too - my son learned MATLAB at a summer program and it is very useful. But I do think she’d get this this in college – soo if she wants to do the electronics course and is thinking about going into EE I think that would be lots of fun for here – and yeah, soldering!
^ I would suggest the C programming course as well. Just to clarify, I am a high school sophomore but I’m enrolled in college level engineering classes. I have experience in both of these topics, but I would go with what @10s4life says, as he is an EE major.
Programming can be self-taught. There are also a lot of free online resources to help. It requires a lot of mathematical theory and applications…if she is confident in this, then she should take that. Did she like her JavaScript course? Oh and one thing…programming requires A LOT of self motivation. (Errors can be a pain sometimes, but hey, there’s the Internet!) To be really honest, I find programming harder than the other course choice…it’s because it requires a lot of theoretical math thinking, and it’s unlike any math class you’ve ever taken. Matlab is VERY visual…as she taken any engineering drawing courses? When I first started doing that sort of thing, I struggled quite a bit with few engineering spatial skills. It’s a big learning curve, but can be done!
Digital and Analog Electronics as it says, is very lab based. You work in groups to complete projects that teach you the basics of soldering, wires, circuits, ECT.
Ohms law—just be careful with compound/parallel-series circuits. Those are TOUGH!
She will have to work with others that aren’t her age quite often with these labs. Will she be ok with that?
Personally, I find Digital and Analog Electronics to be more fun, but it is definitely more for the hands on learner.
The computer science courses are more for the mathematical problem solvers.
If you still are unsure, I would contact the engineering department and see what they suggest.
@equationlover You sound like a 4th year EE student. Impressive stuff. I learned C++ it’s a really difficult language cause it’s roots are archaic. Not a fan cause debugging was the worst.
Flip a coin. The Digital and Analog Electronics class seems more fundamental, so if it was me, I’d go with that. But ultimately she’ll probably have to take both classes to be an EE or CE, so it’s not that big of a deal if she does the programming class first.
@10s4life I guess that’s what almost two years of engineering class does to you. :PP My classes are all year, but putting it into semester terms, I have three done already; fourth semester of engineering class starts soon. I learn computer science on my own and through a separate class. (And yes, my oh my, debugging is the worst. I don’t know if I see myself in two years studying JUST computer science. I can see myself staying up past midnight debugging a program that’s due that day, LOL!)
@colorado_mom DE stands for dual enrollment. Her D is in her senior year and taking college classes while in high school.
In my experience from an FA internship and 1st+2nd year EE courses, building an intuition about circuits and devices is vital, so she should try to develop that ASAP if she’s going down a hardware route.
Of course, the same argument could be made towards programming, and I am also highly biased towards device operation, so the choice may depend on which area of EE she wants to focus on.
She’s in a 4-year engineering program at her HS. She enjoyed her javascript class and also did programming last year for robotics (I don’t know what language). According to her teacher (and herself - heh) she’s a very strong programmer.
Last semester she took a DE sustainable energy engineering class (in the ECE dept) and had no problem keeping up or working on group projects. She wants to work in renewable energy and is most interested (so far) in solar power and smart grid.
She’s never taken a visual engineering class like drafting or drawing. She did a lot of hands-on work in the robotics class.
Neither class lists Physics as a prereq. She’s taking AP Calc BC and AP Physics 1 in HS.
She will not be attending the same university next year – too close to home!
I don’t know if any of the above would sway opinions one way or another. But it sounds like either class would be a big positive. I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer – especially the busy students! (Maybe it’s good I asked during winter break…)
Haha not a problem. Winter break is still going on. Honestly with that let her choose what she enjoys more. Either will be a good choice. It’s great she has a love for engineering early on. I only did sports in hs so she is really way ahead. Since she likes hands on stuff and is strong in programming maybe the circuits class will be more fun for her. Once in college she should def get involved with projects right away. My first quarter I got involved in a rocket project that has been a lot of fun.
Are you sure you’re thinking of Matlab? Matlab is all text, like most programming languages, not counting some GUIs. Are you thinking of Simulink? Although, your comment about engineering drawing courses leads me to believe you’re thinking of something else altogether, namely CAD.
Either way, I’d cast my vote for programming. If she enjoys robotics and enjoys programming, then programming is the logical choice.
I’d probably go for the circuits class. The C++ and Matlab course would probably be more useful - those languages appear every so often in undergrad classes, and you only need to know them at a pretty basic level to do that work. One semester would be about all you need IMO. The circuits class sounds kind of scattershot, and it can’t really cover anything useful without calculus.
That being said, that second class hits on a lot of topics that are pretty central to EE. I would do that for a semester to make sure that EE is what your daughter wants to do - she would be far from the first student to change her mind on majors, and it would make it a lot easier and cheaper if you found that out before entering college as opposed to a couple semesters in. So I’d just give that one a shot first - the programming can be picked up pretty easily later.
Soldering is indeed a good time, once you get going it’s kind of therapeutic.
Thanks again for all the input. After some thought and discussion she’s going with the Digital and Analog Circuits as her first choice. But if it’s not available and the Matlab one is, it’s good to know it will be very useful as well.
Now I just have to hope that at least one of them will have space!
