HP Tablet PC Project
This page presents an overview of our HP Tablet PC project and provides the information requested by HP to meet reporting requirements.
Project Overview
- Institution Name: University of Massachusetts
- Project Name: TabletPCs in a Freshman Engineering Course: Lectures, Discussions, and Labs
- Project Abstract: We have redesigned the Freshman "ENGIN 112 - Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering" course at UMass to leverage Tablet PC technology to improve student learning. We use HP mobile technology to encourage active learning and to perform formative assessment. Student surveys show a positive reception of this technology, good learning experiences, and a preference for Tablet PCs over traditional instructional methods.
- Principle Investigator: Prof. Tilman Wolf (wolf@ecs.umass.edu)
- Cohort: HP Technology for Teaching Grant 2006
- Project Web Pages:
- Impact on Student Learning:
- Academic Year 2006-07: In our assessment study, we have observed that using Tablet PCs for presentation in the lecture (1) increases student interest and (2) decreases the perceived pace at which material is presented. In discussions, we have observed that Tablet PCs lead to increased student participation and active learning. More details on our assessment study can be found here.
- Academic Year 2007-08: We used the Tablet PCs to "evangelize" other faculty in our and other departments and let them experience the benefits of teaching presentations using electronic ink. We have expended Tablet PC use to 13 courses involving 6 faculty and over 500 students. More details on the impact of this aspect of the project can be found here.
- Impact on Teaching:
- Academic Year 2006-07: The use of Tablet PCs in the classroom has improved the PI's teaching by giving the ability to adapt explanations to the need of the students. Rather than having a set of prepared slides, it is possible to create diagrams and mark-ups that follow the flow of discussion. The use of Tablet PCs in discussions has provided a great mechanism for formative assessment where the instructor can monitor student progress and adjust pace and explanations accordingly.
- Academic Year 2007-08: Classroom presentations with electronic ink have been used by multiple instructors and also improved their teaching. We are in the process of assess them impact on course ratings.
- Quick Facts:
- Number of students impacted to date:
- 2006-07: 110 students
- 2007-08: 573 students
- Number of faculty involved:
- 2006-07: 1 faculty
- 2007-08: 6 faculty
- Course impacted:
- 2006-07 and 2007-08: ENGIN112 – Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE122 - Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering II (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE232 - Hardware Organization and Design (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE242 - Data Structures and Algorithms in Java (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE324 - Electronics II (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE354 - Computer Systems Lab II (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: BIOL514 - Populations Genetics (discipline: Science)
- 2007-08: ECE580 - Feedback Systems I (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE581 - Feedback Systems II (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE604 - Linear Systems (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE655 - Fault Tolerant Computing (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE666 - Computer Arithmetic (discipline: Engineering)
- 2007-08: ECE697AA - Computer Network (discipline: Engineering)
- Number of students impacted to date: