A Web-Based Educational Interface for an Analog Communication Course Based on MATLAB Builder NE With WebFigures

Abstract

Experimental experience has a significant effect on students' engineering education and improves their practical skills. However, experiments are high-cost, requiring laboratory space, experimental sets, and so on. Computer-assisted learning (CAL) can provide a similar educational effect. Web-based interfaces, a type of CAL often used in distance education, are therefore economical solutions in that they require neither laboratories nor experimental equipment. In particular, they facilitate students' understanding of the practical applications of their engineering education. This paper proposes the Web-based simulation of analog modulation techniques using MATLAB. To this end, a Web-based educational interface, called AnalogWeb, was designed and implemented as part of an analog communication course. AnalogWeb was developed using MATLAB Builder for NE with WebFigures and ASP. NET platform; it can be easily accessed by users/students using only a Web browser and requires no installation of MATLAB or any special program on the server or the clients. AnalogWeb is a user-friendly educational interface providing advanced visualization tools such as zoom, moving graphics, and three-dimensional imaging. AnalogWeb was validated, and its educational contributions tested, with 60 undergraduate students at Sakarya University, Turkey; the results are presented here.