Teaching Digital Electronics at Ashesi

Ashesi University is developing a masters program in Mechatronics Engineering in collaboration with ETH Zurich, where lecturers from ETH travel to Ghana to teach half of the program. Unlike the semesters that we’re used to, teaching there happens in blocks - one course at a time, with a week to recover in between. While I went as the sole lecturer to teach first-year Digital Electronics last year, this year I co-lectured with Cindy Karina, also a PhD student affiliated with the Computational Nanoelectronics group.

This block-course format makes teaching at Ashesi is truly a unique experience. As the students do our course full-time, they have no time to turn a concept over to understand it - they are constantly aware that the next lecture is tomorrow. It’s stressful, but creates an intense environment where active participation and real-time learning are heavily incentivized.

I could really take advantage of this increased partitipation to deliver a version of the course that would really only work in that environment. Digital logic, is, fundamentally, logical. Given the building blocks, a push in the right direction, some time, and a quiet mind, it’s possible to rediscover many of the core concepts independantly. Enabling 20+ motivated students to re-derive a lot of the basics of digital logic this way was immensely satisfying. If I do more teaching in the future, this will be the experience to build from.

While the students learnt about flip flop circuits, Cindy and I were learning about Ghananian food and history. Apparently we were an entertaining teaching team.

Teaching evals (2024-2025):

“This course was critical for me (who doesn’t have background in electrical engineering). However, through the lecturers, I was able to do well.”

“Not only did Manasa teach, but she also challenged us to think critically while approaching digital electronics problems. After not coming up with viable solutions in the first attempt, she was ready to listen to our ideas while guiding us through the whole process. This appeared to me as an interesting way of learning.”

“She exposed us to real-world applications of digital electronics concepts, broadening our perception of the digital world.”

“She explains course content well but should not assume everyone in class knows something in particular if a few people have answered. She should talk about it a bit regardless.”

“It was so nice being taught by you and Cindy; I wish your friendship grows stronger”

“I am having FUN!!”