Revised 1-13-10

----Preliminary ----

Syllabus
OEET 115 Wiring Methods and Materials
NMSU Grants Campus
Electronics/Electrical Department Web Site: mounttaylor.com

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Links to frequently-used sections of this syllabus. (Click on them.)
General course content Textbook and materials Classroom conduct policy Phone numbers, etc. Office hours
Attendance policy Grading Weekly topics

Master Syllabus (Information pertaining to the course regardless of which semester it is being taught, or which instructor teaches it.)
Course Description: Application of electrical code in selection of wiring materials; proper methods of installation. Corequisite: OEET 110 or consent of instructor.
Developing schematics and wiring simple manual and electromechanical control devices.
Credit Hours: 5
Contact Hours: 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of lab per week. (2+6P)
Prerequisites: OEET 110 (may be taken simultaneously) or consent of instructor.

Learning Outcomes
After completing this course, you should be able to successfully do the following:
  • Answer questions about safety as related to wiring.
  • Answer general questions about the National Electrical Code.
  • Answer detailed questions about wiring of the more important devices to be found in residential and industrial installations.
  • Demonstrate correct wiring of the more important devices to be found in residential and industrial installations.
  • Draw wiring diagrams for circuits of the type to be found in residential and industrial installations.
  • Design circuits involving switches and relays.
  • Simulate moderately complex circuits on the computer.
Course Overview/Content and Scope
  • Basic electrical concepts appropriate for the circuits used in this course.
  • Electrical symbols and diagrams.
  • Switches: Basic use; used to perform AND, OR, and NOT logic.
  • Contactors and motor starters.
  • Meters.
  • Electrical code as it applies to basic wiring.
  • Using electrical code tables to determine wire sizes.
  • Three-phase AC.
  • Circuit breakers and fuses.
  • Breaker boxes.
  • Ground-fault and arc-fault interrupters.
  • Wiring using Romex and conduit.
  • Conduit bending.
  • Troubleshooting shorts and opens that are not visually accessible (i.e., behind the wall).
  • Fluorescent lights.
  • Solar power-system wiring.
Performance Assessment – Grading and Evaluation
The following methods will be used to measure your performance and determine your grade for the course:
  • Points earned for homework, class exercises, lab work, attendance, etc.
  • Quizzes.
  • Final exam.
  • Instructor’s observation of your abilities during class and during lab time.
Textbook and Materials
  • Book: Practical Electrical Wiring by Richter & Hartwell. ISBN 0-9719779-1-7
  • Calculator. For this class, even a basic calculator is adequate. However, most phone calculators are inadequate. If you will be buying a calculator, here are some recommendations:
    • We recommend getting a calculator with a large display that allows you to enter equations the same way you’d write them.
      • If this type of calculator is too expensive for your budget, a single-line calculator that handles parentheses would also be good.
    • If you might be taking either the Electronics II or Intermediate Electricity class, we recommend you get a calculator with trig functions (sin, cos, tan).
    • We’ll be furnishing you with a list of recommended calculators.
  • Pencil and large eraser.
    • We’ll be drawing a lot of diagrams, and you’ll be erasing a lot. We recommend a mechanical pencil and an eraser pencil (an eraser that clips onto your pocket and lets you bring out more eraser material as needed).
  • Flash drive (sometimes called “jump drive”).
    • For saving computer circuit simulations we’ll be doing on the computer.
    • Even the smallest flash drive is more than enough for this class.
    • Floppy disks are too small, too slow, and too unreliable.
  • Optional (but highly recommended): 3-ring binder with dividers.
    • There will be a lot of handout sheets for this class, and you’ll need some way of keeping them in order. 
    • You might as well get a zip pouch to put into the binder. You can keep your calculator and other things in the pouch.
Special Fees: ?????

Web sites
Philosophy of Teaching for This Department
We believe an instructor’s job is to help everyone succeed. You’ll get lots of one-on-one help from us. Also, we’ll do our best to make the course exciting. And, we encourage students to help each other (but, of course, not by doing work for other students!). If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, and are tempted to be absent a lot, talk to us! Or, if you think you understand the material so well that you can miss a lot of class, talk to us! If you’re bored, we can give you some interesting extra credit projects to work on. Electronics books are usually written with a one-size-fits-all approach, and they are often overly theoretical. Material we present during class will help overcome these deficiencies.

Classroom Conduct Policy
In this department, we like to run our classes in an informal manner. However, sometimes there are students who interfere with the learning of others. Thus, we have the following rules:
  • Electronic devices: Use of cell phones, mp3 players, etc., is prohibited during lecture time.
    • If you must be available for your children, etc., you may set your cell phone to vibrate-only mode during lecture time. If you have forgotten to set your phone to vibrate-only, and your phone rings during lecture time, please exit the room immediately and answer the phone once you are outside.
    • Tell those who might call you to avoid times you’re in class. (You’ll have an easier time learning if you’re not interrupted.)
  • Texting is only allowed during officially declared break times.
    • This is also true for other uses of your phone, PDA, etc.
  • Computer use: We’re supposed to be teaching good work habits, and we’ll expect you to conduct yourself as if you were at a workplace. The following are a few of the things you shouldn’t do during our classes or when at a job:
    • View pornographic or hate Web sites.
    • Play computer games, except during breaks.
    • Listen to music out loud. (The instructor will indicate whether or not it’s OK to listen with earphones.)
  • You’re expected to contribute to a positive learning environment. Conduct that is detrimental to this end can lead to your dismissal. Examples of such conduct are rudeness, disruptive behavior, poor hygiene &/or distractive clothing. In extreme cases, we may ask you to leave.
Academic Misconduct
Any student found guilty of academic misconduct shall be subject to disciplinary action. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following actions: CHEATING; PLAGIARISM; UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF EXAMINATIONS, RESERVE LIBRARY MATERIALS OR LABORATORY MATERIALS; UNAUTHORIZED CHANGING OF GRADES ON AN EXAMINATION, INSTRUCTOR’S GRADE BOOK OR GRADE REPORT; NONDISCLOSURE OR MISREPRESENTATION IN FILLING OUT APPLICATIONS OR OTHER COLLEGE RECORDS. The following disciplinary actions and sanctions may be imposed for any of the above infractions or regulations: disciplinary probation, disciplinary suspension, dismissal, expulsion.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
If you have, or think you may have, a disability that interferes with your performance as a student in this class, you are encouraged for academic reasons to discuss this on a confidential basis with your instructor, and/or The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator in the Main Office, or at 287-7981. If you have a condition which may affect your ability to exit from the premises in case of an emergency, you are urged, for safety reasons, to notify the ADA coordinator.

Last reviewed by Bruce McDowell on 1-13-10
 
Operational Syllabus (Information pertaining to the course as it is being taught this semester and by this instructor)
Spring 2010
Instructor: Bruce McDowell

Recommended Preparation
In addition to having taken OEET 110 (Electronics I), you will have an easier time in this course if you have basic skills at using a computer; we’ll be simulating many circuits on the computer. We’ll be glad to help you if your present computer skills are limited. If you do not touch-type well at present, we recommend that you either take a course in keyboarding (through the Business Office Technology department) or learn to touch-type well by using a typing tutor program such as Mavis Beacon. The Student Success Center has Mavis Beacon installed on some of their computers. Being able to type well is an important skill in today's workplace.

Contact Information
Office phone: 287-6636; Bruce’s home phone: 285-4600; Bruce’s e-mail: bruce@mounttaylor.com; Mark’s e-mail: meversol@nmsu.edu .

Office Hours
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Class Meetings
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Attendance Policy
Electronics/electrical classes are not like some other classes where you can simply read the book and catch up. Much of the learning in our class will be of a hands-on nature, with class exercises and interaction with the instructor being an important part. Being absent or arriving late will make grasping the concepts of this class difficult for you.

During most lecture periods, there will be at least one class exercise, for which you will get points. Because of the interactive nature of class exercises, they may not be made up if you are absent. (If there is a handout for a class exercise you missed, you are welcome to get a copy of the handout. However, completing the work on the handout will not earn you any points.)

For each hour of class you will receive 5 points for being there to participate. This course meets for a little less than two hours each time. Thus, you will receive xxxxxxx points each time you attend class. These points reflect the fact that you were present and learning something. No matter how good your reasons are for being absent, you still won’t get attendance points for class periods you miss. If you are sick or have some other legitimate reason for missing class, you can compensate by coming in during office hours to earn attendance points. Except for special circumstances, you must come in within seven days from the time you were absent in order to make up points. (Special circumstances will need to be verified by a doctor’s note, etc.)


Grade for the Course  

Points grade (Homework, class exercises, lab work, attendance, etc.)  70%
Quizzes 10%
Instructor’s evaluation (A subjective assessment taking into account observations of your knowledge in the classroom and the lab, attendance, giving help to other students, getting help from other students, and classroom behavior. Will normally be used only to raise your grade if warranted. It can have a negative effect on your grade if your attendance or behavior has been a problem.)  10%
Final Exam 10%
Total 100%


Grading Scale for the Course
95 - 100%    A
90 - 94%    B
70 - 89%    C
60 - 69%    D
0 - 59%    F

Why This Grading Scale?

We believe that the basics are highly important, and we stress them a lot in quizzes and assignments. Our quizzes and assignments are easier than they would be with the more common 90%=A, 80%=B, etc. grading scale. Because of this, the 90%=A scale would result in too many A’s and B’s. The good news is that with this grading scale, you’d have to be a total goof-off to get lower than a C in the class! We feel that anyone who has mastered the basics deserves at least a C.

Homework, Class Exercises, and Lab Work, and Other Ways of Earning Points
The main part of your Points Grade is determined by homework, class exercises, and lab work. The following are some rules regarding these types of work:
  • For the first day a homework or lab assignment is late, you will lose 10%. After that you will lose 10% for each week the assignment is late.
  • Class exercises cannot be made up. You can compensate for a missed class exercise by spending additional time doing lab projects (so that you'll get more finished).
We realize most of our students do not need encouragement to have good study habits. However, there are often some who do need such encouragement and we want to see them do well. Thus, we have the following items that contribute to your total points:
  • Occasionally, there will be surprise “ready for class” checks. When these checks are made you’ll get the maximum number of points if you have the following: Calculator, pencil, eraser, paper, and handout sheets kept in such a way that you can quickly find any one of them that’s needed.
  • You can lose points if your behavior is a problem. (For more about this, see the section on Classroom Conduct above.)
At the end of the semester, we will tally points for everything to get a total for each student. We will then make a grading curve for the class (i.e., so many points = A, so many = B, etc.)

Quizzes
  • Most or all of the quizzes will be surprise quizzes. We give surprise quizzes in order to gauge what’s actually in your head to stay (as opposed to what was crammed in there the night before!). These surprise quizzes will be easier than if they were announced quizzes. Also, about 70% of the problems will be based on the fundamentals for this course—in other words, you should be able to earn at least a C if you understand the fundamentals.
  • Instead of makeup quizzes, we will use your final exam grade for any quizzes you’ve missed.
Weekly Topics
The following list is only an approximation. Even though classes are composed of several individuals, each class has its own “personality.” Different classes require different amounts of time on each concept. Concept A may be difficult for class #1 and easy for class #2. Similarly, Concept B may be easy for class #1 and difficult for class #2. Thus, the topics actually covered during any particular week will differ from those shown below. Assignments will be listed on the class’s Web site (go to mounttaylor.com and click the link for this class). This Web site assignment list will contain due dates, and assignments will be added to it as the course progresses.
Week Topics Week Topics
1
  • Basic concepts of electricity.
  • Switches and lights.
  • Single phase AC.
  • Ground.
  • Stripping and fastening of wires.
 9
2
  • Current, voltage, and resistance.
  • Safety; electrical shocks.
  • Hot, neutral, and ground wires; polarized plugs.
  • Wiring: Two outlets in parallel.
  • Wiring: Switch and one outlet.
 10
3
  • Meter characteristics; using a multimeter (including measuring voltages at a wall outlet).
  • Ohm's Law basics.
  • Electrical code as it applies to very basic wiring.
  • Wiring: Switch, one always-on outlet, and one switched outlet.
  • Introduction to Multisim
 11
4
  • Schematic re-drawing; shorts; opens; wiring diagrams.
  • Wiring up switches and lights on a breadboard and in Multisim.
  • Basic relay circuits: pencil & paper; real; multisim.
  • Power formula.
  • Troubleshooting a Multisim circuit.
 12
5
  • Electrical code as it applies to Romex.
  • Mock-up room: Switch, one always-on outlet, and one switched outlet.
13
6 14
7 15
8 16

Modifications to This Syllabus
This syllabus may be modified as necessary during the semester to meet the needs of the class. Major changes will be discussed and announced a minimum of one week in advance.

Reviewed by Bruce McDowell 1-13-10

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