Foundations of telecommunications: Prof. Gerhard Fettweis, Dipl.-Ing. Simon Friedrich (#SF1)
Format
- Synchronous online lecture
- Explanatory instructional videos
- Asynchronous exercise videos
- Synchronous online consultation
Keywords
Telecommunications, mobile communications, signal processing, systems of communications transmission
I-Q-Auf- und Abwärtsmischung eines komplexen Basisbandsignals © Simon Friedrich
Grundstruktur einer Datenübertragung © Simon Friedrich
Ausschnitt aus der Versuchsaufzeichnung zum Thema Pfadverlust © Simon Friedrich
Description
The module “Foundations of telecommunications” gives Bachelor’s students of the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering an insight into the principles of data transmission and the functionality of mobile communications. The principles developed here are elementary prerequisites for understanding current transmission standards such as 5G. At the same time, the presented models and concepts are underpinned with mathematical derivations and descriptions.
This important fundamental knowledge in the field of telecommunications was imparted in a weekly synchronous online lecture. In order to meet the different needs of the students, different didactic means were used. For the individual creation of a lecture transcript, the Blackboard transcript took place live on A4 paper and was shared via live capture video (see Fig. 1). Colorful felt-tip pens were used here, and each A4 sheet was created manually live. These sheets were scanned right after the lecture and made available on OPAL. Digital presentation slides were integrated into the lecture for visual support to show clearly presented diagrams and animation. All of these materials were then published for students online on OPAL. To make individual post-lecture work easier, they are recorded and made available to students directly via Videocampus.Sachsen. By embedding the videos directly on OPAL, they can be easily played back from any internet-enabled device. The consolidation and in-depth review of the lecture material is achieved by a detailed lecture script, which was written in both German and English. An extract from the script can be seen in Fig. 2. In addition to the digital version, a paper version was made available in the copy shop close to the university. The high practical relevance of the lecture content imparted was illustrated by the integration of a digital external guest lecture.
Due to the required social distancing, the experimental setups that are normally presented in the lecture hall which cover the basic topics of the lecture were instead made available in the form of educational videos (see Fig. 3). The measurement results of the experiments previously carried out at the Chair were recorded, explained and made visually accessible to the students.
In addition to the lecture, the course content was trained and applied in practicals. Thus, for each practical, students were given digital access to sample solution including the solution path. At the same time, tasks were calculated in detail in asynchronous exercise videos. For further reinforcement, a synchronous online consultation took place every two weeks, where the topics covered were summarized, important exercise problems were solved live, and students’ questions were addressed. At the end of the semester, the material was further consolidated during the consultation by means of synchronous precalculation of a former exam.
The exam preparation was rounded out by the offer of a synchronous online consultation a few days before the final exam. This gave students another opportunity to solve individual problems. Furthermore, a handwritten cheat sheet (A4, written on both sides) could be taken into the final exam, which further promoted learning the material taught. Furthermore, especially in the context of preparing for and holding the exam, the Chair pursues the basic philosophy of full transparency with respect to the students. For this reason, all previous examination tasks including detailed sample solutions and exact scoring are available online. This collection stretches back to the turn of the millennium and has also been available in English for the last 15 years.
Contact
Prof. Gerhard Fettweis ()
Dipl.-Ing. Simon Friedrich ()
Voting ID
#SF1