"Tris, could you handle the Electronics Course for the Sophomore Computer Science students? It is their only Electronics course in their four years here. Make it enjoyable for them!" - Dr Rosula S.J. Reyes, Chair ECCE Department, School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila UniversityAnd of course, my answer is, "Consider it DONE!"

"People are Process" is a term that
I coined to describe my approach to the human resource. It gives due respect to the person's dynamism and uniqueness, as an evolving individual.


In "developmental environments," as in a class room, or in a managerial or supervisory role, the facilitator/teacher/manager/supervisor approaches the person with utmost respect.

What do I want to teach? I teach the subject matter prescribed by the school.

How do I teach? I get my students to UNVEIL to me their learning aspirations. I have created a group process that enables them to hand these over to me on a "silver platter." 

The rest is all FUN. 

The Ateneo de Manila University gave me the "School of Science and Engineering 
Dean's Award for Teaching Innovation" in 2002, for this methodology.

As they saw the effect on the students, the
"Ateneo Schools Parents Advisory Council" (ASPAC) 
honored me with the
"Outstanding Part-time Teacher Award" in 2003.

My daughter, Tina Calasanz, studied my teaching methodology as she was taking her Master's Degree in Philosophy at the University of the Philippines. On March 16, 2002, she submitted her findings in a Paper to Dr Zosimo Lee, her Professor in Philosophy of Education, for which she received an "A" grade.

Click here to view her paper.

click here to go to
Our Academics Page

Some of the pages here contain the work of my students from year 2000 to 2009. The subjects covered are 

• Computer Interfacing for 
• Graduating Electronics and Communications Engineering students
• Graduating Computer Engineering students
• Basic Electronics Lab
• Electronics for Computer Science Students (also known as, "Enjoying Electronics")
• Faculty Thesis Adviser for 
• Undergraduate Research Theses on 
• Instrumentation and Control
• Automation
• "Instrumentation with a Humanitarian Dimension" 
• Undergraduate and Graduate Research Theses on Energy

The Very Very Start

I sometimes attend conferences. I also attend meetings. I also show up for appointments.

I remember this one time when I attended an Orientation Program for New Hires. I was like everybody else. I simply kept quiet. Deep down, "why should I reveal myself at all to these strangers?"

The first time may be like this for many people. In varying degrees, of course.

What does this have to do with "People are Process?" People Are Process acknowledges and respects this characteristic of people.

I build a barrier around myself. Even when the facilitator, teacher, or appointment comes, I make sure that I remember the details of what I was going to portray of myself. I make sure I also remember the sequence of my mental presentation.

It is the "I" that predominates, not anything else.

As a teacher meeting his/her students for the first time, THIS IS THE WALL that says "penetrate me!" Mind you, the teacher is in the same mode. At first it looks like a vicious cycle, and can be extremely intimidating, until the teacher realizes that he/she is the manager of this human process.

THIS IS WHAT I DO. It has simply been very effective for me, and that my students greatly enjoy the process.

In an atmosphere of "play"

• I ask the students to think of a project that they really, really want to do. Forget about this class. What you really really want to do. Period.
• "Say it out loud!" And I write them on sheets of manila paper that I have posted on the walls of the classroom.
• "The wilder the better!"
• 
  

====================

• First, we identify projects that they have always wanted to do.

• Second, the students group themselves into projects.

• Third, I discuss the elements of each project, in broad terms, with the whole class.

• Fourth, I give each group and the whole class the option to modify and/or re-align their projects. 

• Fifth, we agree upon specific dates within the semester, when all the groups would give status reports to the whole class, outlining their work and then describing them in such a way that everybody understands what each group is doing, the issues that they encounter along the way, the learnings that they have gained, and listen to questions and suggestions from the everybody, in the spirit of cooperation and sharing. They are free to work at any venue they want, but during these days each one must be present. 

• Sixth, I discuss the elements of each project with each group, in order to ascertain that each member provides a personal commitment to the project that they will undertake.

• Seventh, we identify "milestones" - specific self-contained modules for which input and output specifications could be written.

• Eighth, we assign a date to these milestones. 

• Ninth, on their own, they elect a group leader, agree upon the project scope that each of the members will undertake.

• Tenth, I design the curriculum that each project contains. 

• Eleventh, For each subject matter in the curriculum, I gather those groups that have need for it and conduct hands-on learning sessions with them. Member of other groups have the option to attend these individualized sessions. 

Enjoying the Dance with the 1's and the 0's

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) sent out an invitation, in 2011, for its members to submit a course recommendation for freshmen electronics engineering students. I submitted an entry, below:

Enjoying the Dance with the 1's and the 0's - A Course for Beginners.

A project proposal that I submitted to the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE)

call for project proposals for an electronics course for freshmen.

Introduction and Impact: Human beings generally pursue an undertaking that gives them a general feeling of accomplishment and of success.  An effective teacher will design the learning methodology in such a way that learning takes place at a fast rate.  In Calculus, we refer to this as the slope "dy/dx", where "dy" is incremental learning that takes place within an elapsed time, "dx".  After some time, the learning slope bends, and the teacher must be so attuned to this phenomenon that he/she introduces another learning process that will prevent the motivation slope from becoming asymptotic.  This proposed project is so broken up into modules that are introduced one after another to build upon the accomplishments and successes of the ones that came before.  The heights of motivation and of joy are reached at the point that the students present their projects, preferrably to persons of authority.

Students, who have experienced such joy in learning will, more likely, pursue courses that challenge them to excel because they have already developed high levels of confidence in themselves.

Hands-on-Project.  This project, therefore, is designed for the "enjoyment of the discovery" of the behavior of electronic devices on a "100% hands-on" environment.  And is to be done by students, who are interested in learning electronics.  A group with no electronics background at all will greatly enjoy and benefit from this course.  The project brings the students to get acquainted with "WHO" the "1's" and the "0's" are.  Once acquainted, the students will teach these 1's and 0's to "dance", varying in tempo and beat.  Then the 1's and the 0's will "teach" the students to COUNT from ZERO to any number, first in binary, then in hexadecimal, or any numbering system, you want!  Then the 1's and 0's will produce dancing lights, sequencial lights, and bar-graphs.  Then the 1's and 0's will tell time and produce alarm signals with varying audible pitch, dancing lights and whatever else you want.  Then the students will read the time or set the alarm from their PC's.  And finally, the students WILL CONTROL lights and appliances remotely FROM their PC's, still on the basis of the 1's and the 0's.  And the students may go almost anywhere on their own from here! 

The framework to facilitate the student experience is shown on the "Milestones" figure on the right.  Students are encouraged to branch out to different projects of their choice.  Thus one session may be facilitating many projects, after having completed the common experiences.

It is awesome to see students without background in electronics build such things as a vehicle that goes towards a sound source, or one that deposits boxes carried by a conveyor, into three bins in accordance with their colors (red, white, and blue), and so on.  These are feats that are often conceivable for students in the senior year.

Framework

This is a work in progress and is in the process of "becoming"  . . . 



In the art of teaching and learning we strive with our own persons as teachers, in order to engage the whole person of the students. Our authenticity as teachers is visible to them. 


A - The External Forum

B - The Internal

C - The Human Person

Should we Look and Discover How a Child Leans?

Among a child's earliest joyful interaction with the world is its joy at seeing "1's" and "0's". 

And I highlight "joyful".

Don't they immensely enjoy peekaboo? And how they laugh their hearts out during the game! 

If children enjoy Ones and Zeroes, could a teaching methodology be developed as a substrate that provides this atmosphere to the learning process?

Feel Our Enjoyment

This page is still being edited. More images and texts will be added here.


My ACADEMICS Page
-- This site gives you the opportunity to feel the enjoyment that we experience as we perform our experiments.
-- A Sample Semester of Computer Interfacing
-- Sample Methodology
-- Sample Syllabus
-- Sample Listing of Group Thoughts in a Brainstorming Session
-- Project Turnover Ceremonies
-- Closing Statement