Wenbing Zhao

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Washkewicz College of Engineering

Poster #1: Enhancing Communication with Students with a Teaching Method Based on Topical Guide Objectives

Poster#2: Design and Implementation of Project-Based Courses on Cutting-Edge Computer Technologies

We report a case study on employing and adapting a teaching method based on topical guide objectives (TGOs) in a senior-level undergraduate computing engineering course. According to this method, course materials are divided into a list of TGOs. Homework assignments are given to students at the end of every lecture. The assignments are designed explicitly around the TGOs that have been covered by each lecture. Each TGO consists of a learning objective, a set of key-points and basic concepts, relationship between them, and one or more exercise problems.  This new form of assignment encourages students to focus on key points and concepts they learned in the lectures, and learn how to apply them to solve complicated problems. This method helps build up a positive relationship between students and the instructor such that students could focus on learning instead of testing.