Effective Learner-Centered Approach for Teaching an Introductory Digital Systems Course

In the Internet era, students have increasingly lost interest in traditional lectures; as a consequence, their learning motivation and exam performance have decreased. The widespread adoption of learner-centered teaching methods that address this issue faces certain barriers, including: 1) the significant faculty effort necessary to prepare e-learning materials; 2) significant extra time required for active online communication with students; 3) student resistance to taking an active role in their education; and 4) lecturers’ common belief that learner-centered teaching activities do not allow discussion of all the required topics. This paper presents a case study based on one offering of an introductory digital systems course taught with a combination of learner-centered strategies selected to overcome these barriers and improve student performance. These measures included: 1) improving the student-teacher relationship; 2) applying intriguing, inductive, and counterintuitive approaches to introducing new concepts; 3) adopting puzzle-based quizzes integrated with peer instruction; 4) using an audience response system; 5) replacing certain lectures with tutorials; 6) reducing course duration; and 7) using a graphics tablet. The results obtained demonstrate significant improvements in lecture attendance and in student performance. The author believes that the approach presented here can benefit other engineering educators in similar courses.