One-Credit Breadth at the Edges Courses

A unique and distinguishing feature of the ECE project-track MS is our suite of 1-credit courses which has been developed and is being expanded to meet the needs of potential students and their prospective employers.

In conversations with various stakeholders, one theme that emerged often was the critical need for “breadth at the edges”.  Success in 21^st Century electronics not only requires technical depth in selected areas, but also the ability to communicate with those who work in adjacent areas and, when needed, to dive in and become an expert on a new topic.

Obtaining this breadth from traditional 3-credit courses is simply impossible. These courses typically require a string of prerequisites and includes material that is focused on the specific needs of the discipline. A new kind of course is needed.

Our approach is to complement the traditional curriculum with an innovative suite of 1-credit courses that are not simply a trivial “watering down” of material in longer courses. They require re-thinking a topic and identifying new organizing principles so as to convey the essence without requiring a long string of prerequisites.

The goal is to provide a general framework that sticks with an individual and that can be filled in and deepened with self-study when needed.  Most of these courses will also be available online to provide a resource for just-in-time education for students working on design projects and for working engineers as they tackle new problems.

A list of our currently offered one-credit courses can be found here.