Informed Teaching and Learning Using Thought-Bubbles for Focusing Student Attention in Engineering Courses

Generally, specialized knowledge, skills, and attitudes in students are developed using structured lectures, laboratory session, and projects. For most of the students, it is very difficult to see the connection between topics covered in the lectures or in the course. Thus, there is an urgent need for focusing student attention towards the fundamental or core ideas related to the topic under discussion as take away points. We implement a teaching approach with “thought bubbles”, commonly used in arts and cartoons, to present core ideas to students as discussion questions. “Thought bubbles” (aka clouds) are used to pose as introductory questions for initiating lecture/discussion and as concluding thoughts. This approach helps student to be attentive and to grasp what will be covered during the session and again summarize all concepts at the end. There are following benefits of using the proposed approach: a) The proposed approach helps students to prioritize the information and develop critical thinking skills; b) The proposed approach helps student to get a chance to see a clear picture of essential concept and content relevant to the topic as questions through “thought bubbles” posed at the start of each lecture session and revisiting them at the end of the session; and c) The proposed approach helps students to be motivated around key concepts and use that knowledge to connect the dots. This “thought bubbles” based teaching approach requires students to use critical thinking skill and communication skill while discussing the implications and interconnections between key terms and concepts linked to a topic. In this paper, we present a case study based on the “thought bubbles” approach for ‘Cybersecurity (for Networked Systems)’ and ‘Program Design for Engineers’ courses. Note that the proposed approach can be implemented in any other courses in a straightforward manner. Evaluation (qualitative and quantitative) of the proposed approach is performed through adaptive anonymous online-based feedback systems, assessments, and, pre-and post-surveys.