9th International Conference on Engineering Education M4E-1 A Never Ending Quest: Improving Students Learning

Abstract- I carried out action research on postgraduate unit of study “Reliability and Testability in IC design ” in an effort to improve students learning of the highly technical content in testing techniques for integrated circuits. A ‘Minute Paper ’ was used to determine whether the students were learning what is being taught. After this initial evaluation, it was relatively straightforward to determine which aspects required clarification. The students understood some of the important techniques but some elaboration of the testing concepts was required. In the second phase, a ‘Technology Chain ’ was used to determine if students understood the methodology of testing. The goal was to provide improved communication between students and to assess their ability to outline the steps in the testing methodology. The results indicated that students had difficulty putting the various testing techniques in context with industry practices. Students might obtain a better learning experience if the unit of study is structured around a theme, which in this case is the testing methodology