My Teaching Methodology

Thoughts on Teaching

As a lecturer specializing in FPGA and hardware-software co-design-related courses, my teaching philosophy revolves around creating a student-centered atmosphere that promotes critical thinking, hands-on exploration, and practical problem-solving abilities. I view learning as an interactive process, where students should be actively involved in constructing their knowledge rather than simply receiving information passively. To achieve this, I strive to blend a strong theoretical foundation with hands-on projects, empowering students with the necessary skills and self‑assurance essential to excel in FPGA design and implementation.

My teaching technique involves providing a solid basis, balancing theoretical information and practice, explaining real-world examples, encouraging students to share their ideas and knowledge, and inspiring them to use their creativity. I often ask my students what they like about the course and how it can be improved. Their feedback further develops my teaching strategy and the content of my classes. 

Pedagogical Skills

As a dedicated educator in FPGA-related courses, I have pursued continuous self-improvement by extensively studying effective teaching methodologies. I have actively engaged with workshops organized by ETH Zurich and educational online materials, which are valuable resources to enhance my teaching practices. I participate in educational training courses by refresh-teaching at ETH Zurich (https://refresh-teaching.ethz.ch) to collect ideas on modern teaching methods. Through the training, I collected ideas on designing interactive lectures and motivating lab assignments, utilizing AI and Cloud computing in teaching, and providing inclusive and unbiased teaching environment to students. I had a chance to apply these ideas and improve my pedagogical skills by teaching courses and supervising numerous students.

Development of Teaching and Supervision Competence

As a dedicated educator in FPGA design, I actively engage in self-directed learning, exploring online textbooks, research papers, and YouTube videos to deepen my knowledge and keep me aligned with the latest advancements in the field and teaching methods. My materials present theoretical concepts and promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for success in learning FPGA programming and quantum control and measurement systems.

My lectures at ETH Zurich comprise theory and practice sessions. The practical sessions allow me to individually discuss with the students on their detailed understanding of the theory. Utilizing the feedback from these discussions, I continuously refine the course content and teaching methods to respond to students’ needs. Furthermore, ETH Zurich routinely collects feedback through anonymous surveys to understand students’ perspectives on the course structure and content. By carefully analyzing the feedback, I identify areas for improvement and implement necessary adjustments in the subsequent course in the following semester.

Social Development of Teaching

I actively collaborate with senior scientists, lecturers, PhD students, quantum engineering MSc students and the teaching assistants of my course to share insights and approaches to teaching my FPGA in Quantum Computing with Superconducting Qubits course. I introduce the quantum engineering companies that utilize FPGAs to my students to help them shape their careers. Furthermore, I invite the president of the Quantum Engineering Commission (a student association of Quantum Engineering MSc students) to the last lecture of my course to present the quantum engineering MSc program and their association. Students of my course gain firsthand knowledge about the program’s unique offerings, practical experiences, and potential career pathways.