Project Title: Wireless Tablet PC-Based Enhancement to Teaching and Learning in Engineering and Computer Science Courses.

PI: Dr. Weiying Zhu (Electrical Engineering Dept.)
Co-PI: Dr. Chutima Boonthum (Computer Science Dept.)
Team members: Dr. Jean Muhammad (CS Dept.), Mr. Robert Willis (CS Dept.), and Dr. Nesim Halyo (EE Dept.)

Funding: This is a project funded by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP) through its program of “2007 Hewlett-Packard Technology Grant for Teaching Initiative”.  The total value of this grant is $68,000 for two years (August 2007 to August 2009).

Project Abstract: We are using HP mobile technology to redesign five freshman/sophomore level engineering (EGR) and computer science (CSC) courses including Digital Electronics, Engineering Analysis, Intro to Structure Programming, and Computer Programming I/II.  Faculty from two departments will collaborate on developing in-class tutorial, formative assessment, and mobile interaction within/across EGR / CSC classrooms.  This project is expected to address the following learning and teaching issues: (1) in traditional lectures, there is no way for instructors to interactively teach students design and programming in a real software environment; (2) the freehand presentation skills of engineering students are not trained and assessed efficiently in class; (3) only a few students have the opportunity to answer in-class questions, and sometimes it is not convenient to verbally describe the answer; (4) instructors cannot promptly identify the difficulties students face and dynamically adapt to students’ needs; and (5) being busy in writing in-class notes might distract students from listening to the lecture and thinking, and students missing the class can not get complete and accurate lecture notes.

Impact on Student Learning: In the Fall of 2007, HP mobile technology was used to deliver classroom presentations, save and publish lecture notes, and facilitate in-class activities.

• Classroom Presentations: The use of computer “Whiteboard” saves more in-class time for lecturing and discussion by allowing the instructor to prepare part of the lecture notes prior to the class.  During the lecture, writing free-hand lecture notes to demonstrate problem solving process step by step, showing figures and annotating on them, and highlighting key points are very helpful for students to understand.
• Saving and Publishing Lecture Notes: The saved & posted lecture notes are useful for students to review the content taught in class a second time, and to see what is covered in class if students are not unable to come to class.  Students can focus on listening to the lecture and thinking since lecture notes are saved and posted.
• Tablet PC-based In-class Activities: In-class activities are helpful to capture students’ attentions on lecturing materials.  Students’ critical thinking capabilities are stimulated and cultivated. The instructor gets real time interactive feedback from students for formative evaluation.  The difficulties that students may face are identified and resolved in real time.   In programming courses, students are allowed to interactively practice in a real software environment.

Impact on Teaching: On the computer “whiteboard”, it is convenient for the instructor to write teaching materials such as outlines, figures, concepts and definitions, and problem statements prior to the class. During the lecture, the instructor can easily and freely write notes to demonstrate problem solving process step by step, annotate figures, and highlight key points. Archived lecture notes are easily re-displayed to demonstrate connections between current and previous topics, or review topics covered before.
Conducting Tablet PC-based in-class activities helps the instructor to obtain the real-time feedback. Based on the interactive feedback, the instructor can adjust the speed of teaching and the content covered in a class in an adaptive fashion.
Discussions were and will continuously be held among the instructors on their perception, lessons learnt, and future plan. A survey or observation report will be done by instructors to express how their teaching preparation and in-class lecturing are impacted by the HP mobile technology.

Technology Implementation: The computer “whiteboard”, consisting of a Tablet PC and a LCD projector, replaces the traditional whiteboard and PowerPoint in classroom presentations. Microsoft Office OneNote is used to edit and save lecture notes. Prior to the class, the instructor prepared teaching materials. During the lecture, the instructor wrote free-hand lecture notes. After the class, those lecture notes are posted on the university Blackboard.

A free software, UW Classroom Presenter 3.0, is used to support the Tablet PC-based in-class activities. All the Tablet PCs are networked wirelessly through a wireless access point. The instructor initiates a networked presentation to show the in-class assignment. Students connect to the presentation, work on the problem individually or in a group of two people, write down the solution on their Tablet PCs, and submit their work to the instructor’s Tablet PC.