Simple does not mean easy.
The textbooks, lectures and tutorials you’ll find on these pages are intended to simplify your education in electrical and computer engineering (and related fields). These materials will not make your education easy; rather, these materials will help you progress toward a mastery of the foundations of electrical and computer engineering in a compelling, well-reasoned and systematic manner. We’ve organized and presented the material in a way that should help you proceed more rapidly than might otherwise be possible. You, however, are the one who will do the learning. You are the one who will understand the concepts, master the techniques, and attain a level of understanding that is consistent with a formal education in a field of applied science.
The framework of this subject is built upon a foundation of mathematics and science; however, your mastery of this field will require much more than memorizing and reciting a collection of mathematical formulas and physical relationships. You will need to develop a sound and systematic method of reasoning. To do this, you’ll need to practice.
“I understand everything that you said in the lectures, and every step of the problem solutions makes perfect sense. But when I see a problem on a quiz or examination, I just can’t get started. This is so frustrating, because I know that I understand this material.”
This is one of the most common concerns that professors hear from their students. The root of this problem is nearly always a superficial understanding of the material, and a lack of experience with the subject matter. This problem can almost always be overcome with hard work and a structured approach to learning:
- Don’t wait until a day or two before a quiz or exam. Study the subject regularly.
- Don’t wait for your instructor to give a quiz or exam to test your understanding of the material. Use homework problems and examples to test yourself. Do this often.
- Write frequent outlines and summaries of the subject, and think of ways that you would explain the subject to a fellow student. Anticipate questions that someone might ask, and develop your own examples to illustrate the key principles. How well you can explain a subject to another person is one of the best ways to measure your understanding.
As teachers and writers, we cannot make it easy for you to learn this material; but we will try to make it as simple as possible.