  Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are a new technology that has received a
substantial attention from several academic research fields in the last years.
There are many applications of WSNs, including environmental monitoring,
industrial automation, intelligent transportation systems, healthcare and
wellbeing, smart energy, to mention a few. Courses have been introduced both at
the PhD and at the Master levels. However, these existing courses focus on
particular aspects of WSNs (Networking, or Signal Processing, or Embedded
Software), whereas WSNs encompass disciplines traditionally separated in
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. This paper gives two original
contributions: the essential knowledge that should be brought in a WSNs course
is characterized, and a course structure with an harmonious holistic approach
is proposed. A method based on both theory and experiments is illustrated for
the design of this course, whereby the students have hands-on to implement,
understand, and develop in practice the implications of theoretical concepts.
Theory and applications are thus considered all together. Ultimately, the
objective of this paper is to design a new course, to use innovative hands-on
experiments to illustrate the theoretical concepts in the course, to show that
theoretical aspects are essential for the solution of real-life engineering
WSNs problems, and finally to create a fun and interesting teaching and
learning environments for WSNs.
