As educators, professors have two essential duties: delivering quality lectures and facilitating students' learning. Teaching allows me to fulfill one aspect of my mission as I believe students attend universities to learn and become productive society members. My teaching mission is aimed towards: Helping students achieve their potential in academia and in the I.T. industry.
As a professor, I take it upon myself to assist my students in comprehending the fundamental principles of Computer Science/Engineering and their proper application in industrial projects and academic research. I also include exercises that cultivate technical problem-solving abilities and employ current industrial tools and technologies. It is the professors' duty to produce skilled professionals who can develop I.T. systems of varying complexity levels to meet their clients' needs. As a professor and student, I have reflected on my experience to develop my pedagogical style. I have also incorporated best practices from teaching training and certificate programs to enhance my style.
When I interviewed with TAMIU in March 2018, I shared my goal of helping to start a new B.S. degree in Computer Science and Engineering. At the time, TAMIU only offered a Computer Science minor. Five years later, TAMIU successfully launched the new B.S. degree in Computer Engineering and filed for ABET accreditation. As such, I contributed significantly to developing the curriculum and courses for the new B.S. degree and the minor. Table 2 above lists the 15 courses I developed, taught, and introduced into the two programs—some of which I designed for online environments that meet QM standards. The development of these courses involved designing learning outcomes, learning, and teaching materials, and assessment methods for face-to-face and online.
To promote active inquiry and encourage independent problem-solving skills among my students, I incorporate my research activities into my classroom teaching. This helps them gain an in-depth understanding of functional knowledge and explore interesting topics that may motivate them to pursue an academic career. One way I do this is by developing techniques and tools to enhance the development of complex software systems. To achieve this, I collaborate with interested students to build the tools or improve the applicability of the techniques. This approach has proven to be highly effective, as evidenced by consistently high course evaluations from my students.
| # | Course | Semester Taught |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algorithms & Data Structures | Fall 24, Spring 25 |
| 2 | Comp Eng Senior Design Project | Fall 22, Spring 23, Fall 24 |
| 3 | Electronic Devices & Apps | Spring 22, Summer 22 |
| 4 | Fundamentals of Programming | Summer 20, Summer 21, Summer 22, Summer 23, Summer 24 |
| 5 | Funds of Programming Lab | Spring 19, Summer 20, Summer 21, Summer 22, Spring 23, Summer 23, Summer 24 |
| 6 | Object Oriented Programming | Fall 18, Spring 19, Fall 19, Spring 20, Fall 20, Spring 21, Fall 21, Spring 25 |
| 7 | Object-Oriented Program Lab | Fall 18, Spring 19, Fall 19, Spring 20, Fall 20, Spring 21, Fall 21, Spring 22 |
| 8 | Programming Languages | Spring 22 |
| 9 | Machine Learning | Fall 21, Fall 22, Spring 23, Fall 23, Spring 24 |
| 10 | Software Engineering | Fall 19, Spring 20, Fall 20, Fall 21, Spring 22, Fall 22, Spring 23, Fall 23, Spring 24, Fall 24, Spring 25 |
| 11 | Software Engineering Lab | Fall 19, Spring 20, Fall 20, Fall 21, Spring 22, Fall 22, Spring 23, Fall 23, Spring 24 |
| 12 | Undergraduate Research | Spring 19, Summer 20, Fall 20, Summer 21, Fall 21, Summer 22 |
I like that we get to work on a important and relevant research. I feel like the professor really prepares us for the next steps in our careers.
I like the speakers that he brought to class.
There was a high degree of autonomy, but there was still constructive guidance so that we weren't lost in what we should be doing and focusing on.
What I liked most about this course is the professor wrote on the board/notes instead of just reading slides and How simple the explanations were.
The professor's insistence on learning concepts and instructions the right way without shortcuts really did permeate throughout the course for the better.
The amount of knowledge learned and how much effort the professor puts into helping us understand.
Project that we are doing is perfect, I believe It will help me to find my future career.
The class was very interesting and the professor was super helpful and was always putting the students first.
The assignments were well thought out and made us think about how to properly implement the things that we were working on.
The professor wants to make the students learn by providing challenging homework.
Dr. Al Lail was supportive and was always willing to help whenever we had questions. I once discussed with him how I was worried about an assignment but he gave me the reassurance I needed afterwards. He is a great motivator.
Dr. Al Lail kept the class engaged and made sure the content in the class was understandable.
I enjoy that we got to begin working on a project. I also enjoyed that we had in class activities to help understand how to use the machine learning tools.
The course was thoughtful, as the projects and assignments had purpose in teaching certain skills.
I learned about machine learning and python programming techniques.
Getting to learn about machine learning and getting to work on such a cool project.
I really liked the engagement of the professor with the class. The professor had a great way of teaching and the real life comparisons made machine learning a lot simpler to understand. The questions asked by the professor kept you engaged in the class, and although at times I answered with uncertainty, the professor always gave a good explanation if I was wrong. I recommend the students to engage with the professor as much as possible since Dr Al Lail is a caring professor who does his best to help you.
The way the course was organized was very beneficial to my process in learning python and machine learning, although the class was difficult the assignment were very helpful to fully understand the concepts taught during class.
Dr. Al-Lail makes classes very fun and interesting. It feels rewarding and engaging to be in his classes because you know for a fact that everything he teaches is of value in the class; there are not wasted lectures or content that does not serve a purpose in the class. Also, his assignments build upon these concepts, so it never feels like you were never provided the tools to solve the assignments or complete exams correctly.
The topics were interesting and we were able to learn python & Machine Learning. These topics are interesting and relevant in the industry.
Engagement in topics throughout the course, straight forward guidance.
The instructor was very organized and interactive with the lectures. The assignments give practical experience about the subject and are challenging enough to reinforce the lecture material.
Dr. Al Lail was supportive and was always willing to help whenever we had questions. I once discussed with him how I was worried about an assignment but he gave me the reassurance I needed afterwards. He is a great motivator.
The various examples that were provided helped me understand how each function worked. Writing on the board also changed the pacing of the lecture that was satisfying. I also liked that you wrote with a marker on the smart board to emphasize key points.
Although the class is online Dr. Al Lail had everything organized in a way that we could always go back and watch the video or read a chapter again if there were any questions. During the videos he took us step by step as if we were actually taking the class presently which is something that i enjoyed. Him constantly updating us and reassuring us through emails that we could reach out to him or the SI mentor was something that I enjoyed and it made me feel less nervous about asking questions. The material was hard but we were always motivated to ask questions if there were any which is something I was very thankful for.
The lessons provided a clear and concise presentation of concepts, making it easy to follow along. Practical examples and step-by-step explanations helped me understand how to apply the language in real-world scenarios. The interactive learning elements, such as coding exercises and quizzes, allowed me to actively participate and reinforce my understanding.
I like that the professor gives you a guide for when each work is due, so you can be more organized.
The professor does a really good job in engaging with his students and he has a good way of getting his message across.
I really liked how the professor would explain what we didn't understand on the programming assignments and how he loves to help those who are willing to learn in his class.
What I liked most about this course was that the professor put the effort to make sure that we understood the content material and how he raised the creative challenge.
How engaging the professor was throughout the course. His videos provided for each section were helpful.
Everything about this course fun, cool, and intriguing. Within the first 30 min of the first lesson you are already writing a code, basic though it may have been, but to see a program output what your code told it to made me smile. This course has been hands down my favorite while here at TAMIU. Great Job Professor!!! Another key factor was the response time from the Professor, if you had a question or concern, it was answered within the hour. Great course.
What I liked the most about this course was the way that the work was organized. Despite the course covering what would normally be covered in three months, I didn't really feel too rushed or anything. I am not a computer science major, so I thought I was going to have a really hard time with the material, but I found the textbook for the class to be really helpful. I am actually surprised at how much I enjoyed the class. I am not saying everything was ridiculously easy, but I did like how it was challenging enough for me. I also really appreciated how understanding Dr. Al Lail was when it came to the extension of some due dates. He also replied fairly fast whenever I had a question, and I really appreciate it since this was an online class.
The course flowed nicely and the calendar was very helpful in staying up to date.
The amount of thinking and creativity it takes to complete some of the assignments.
What I liked most about his course is the immediate opportunity to apply what your learning.
I liked that the instructor encouraged participation and really made the learning process much easier. I also liked that the instructor provided feedback to his students in a way that they could learn from and improve their work. Honestly, this has been one of the most organized and professional instructors I have had. I also had a great time learning in this course and think it is one as it. Overall, I think this course is excellent and is well organized. Zybooks exercices definitely help.
The instructor did amazing at explaining things, and he made it look simple and easy to comprehend.
I felt like I really improved on my programming skills thanks to this course.
Dr. Al-lail was exemplary in his explanation of the course material, giving us enough information at a good pace while challenging us accordingly. The small nature of the class made it very engaging and I feel that the class benefited from the closer atmosphere.
I really enjoyed how the course went into depth in certain topics such as the arrays, classes, and such. The professor was well organized throughout the course. He simplified the assignments and lectures for students to understand.
I liked the depth of the programming assignments and amount of code used in the course.
The professor engaged the students in order to confirm that we understood the lesson.
I think the labs helped solidify the material covered in the lecture portions of the class as well as the additional information given to us in the lab portion. The lab assignments were well detailed and I feel that they were very helpful in understanding the nature of the assignments given to us.
We truly got good feedback on every assignment. The professor really wants to help us improve.
I liked the projects given and the pair programming assignments helped me learn more from my partner.
I like the quality of teaching and understanding of the concepts.
Tophat questions were very helpful in practicing the concepts of programming.
Dr. Al Lail is very good at motivating students and providing feedback; while the project was difficult to work on at times, he made sure to provide assistance and guidance as we went along.
I enjoyed learning about software engineering and the processes that go into development. I also liked learning a new programming language and building simple software with it with the assignments. I enjoyed working as a team, learning and developing new skills that will help us become better in software engineering.
The challenge pushed me as a programmer.
Dr. Al Lail challenges you and encourages you to do better. He is a very supportive professor and it is exciting to work on novel, esoteric projects like TPV and USE.
The concepts covered were very immersed in the various techniques that have been developed over time. These techniques were developed to create projects with a higher chance of success. The concepts helped me realize that communication is an important factor of success when developing software. I also liked the various presentations we held to explain certain topics or discuss our work.
Interactiveness between professor and students while lecturing and also attending the Pathways conference was a great learning experience.
What I liked most in this course is that the professor encouraged students to attend and present at the Texas A&M Pathway. The experience was positive and as a result I can use that experience beyond the class.
Constant engagement in the subject. Professor asking questions to students to make sure they are learning. Providing challenging assignments to learn. eview.
The professor included opportunities to about the design process of projects in interesting ways including a trip to show off our work. Furthermore, there was a couple of topics taught throughout the class that were explained well even though they were originally very difficult.
The class allowed us to work on a project as software engineers and begin immersing ourselves in how real-world applications are developed and worked on throughout their life cycle.
The professor would ask us to do class discussion which helped to understand different material as well as become informed about different subjects since we each had our own topic to discuss.