Integrating the Introductory Electricity and Magnetism Course at Kettering University with Amateur Radio at the Technician-Class Level*

Kettering University is an engineering-focused university in Flint, Michigan, with a strong tradition of integrating theory and practice. All undergraduate engineering majors are required to take a calculus-based physics course in electricity and magnetism. During the past year, I redesigned the course to include the content covering the Technician Amateur Radio license curriculum. While there was already significant overlap between the curricula in some areas (e.g., electric field, potential, current, DC resistor circuits, capacitors, magnetic fields), other new areas needed to be introduced (e.g., transceivers, repeaters, antennas, radio wave propagation, RF exposure). As part of the redesign, I am writing, remixing, and editing a freely accessible online textbook via the LibreTexts project. I have also created test banks of the license exam questions suitable for importing into common learning management systems. Finally, I have developed and tested in-class and out-of-class activities to give students hands-on exposure to the radio. Results from the Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 quarters were promising with 39 out of 44 students (88%) passing the Technician license exam.