Teaching Charge Coupled Devices Using Models as Part of the Engineering Design Process at Maui Community College

TL;DR

This paper describes an educational activity at Maui Community College that uses models to teach students how Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) operate, enhancing understanding through hands-on learning within an engineering curriculum.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model-based teaching activity for CCDs integrated into an engineering program, supported by collaborative teaching efforts.

Findings

Students gained practical understanding of CCD operation.

The activity effectively supplemented traditional curriculum.

Challenges in implementation were identified and addressed.

Abstract

The CCD Modeling Activity was designed to supplement the curriculum of the Electrical and Computing Engineering Technology program at the Maui Community College. The activity was designed to help learners understand how a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) works. A team of visiting graduate students was invited to teach an activity through the Teaching and Curriculum Collaborative (TeCC) as part of the Center for Adaptive Optics/Institute for Science and Engineer Educators Professional Development Program. One of the primary goals was to have students gain an understanding of the function of a CCD by constructing a model representing the CCD readout process. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of the activity and the challenges we faced.