The award recognizes outstanding courses from higher education institutions worldwide for their innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) in instructional design, teaching methods and learning experiences. This year, 10 courses received the GMA Award, while another 10 received the AI Special Recognition Award. The Electronic Circuits course was selected in the GMA Award category. During the conference, Lu also shared the course’s development and teaching practices at the China-ASEAN Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Education.
Xuyang Lu (sixth from left) receives the award
In his presentation, Lu explained that the course is designed around the real-world needs of the integrated circuit industry. Drawing on Shanghai’s position as a major hub for China’s integrated circuit industry, the teaching team brings frontline research experience and industry cases into the classroom. As AI reshapes engineering design processes, the course has undergone a comprehensive redesign of its teaching approach. The team has developed an accompanying course website featuring an AI teaching assistant, revised and newly developed teaching materials, and explored more authentic ways to assess students’ abilities through closed-book examinations. Scenario-based learning runs throughout lectures, assignments and final examinations. Rather than working on isolated textbook exercises, students tackle practical problems drawn from industry, applying their knowledge to engineering challenges.
This approach extends beyond the classroom. The course provides students with a continuous hands-on learning pathway, beginning with theoretical study and circuit simulation, progressing to printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication and debugging, and ultimately reaching chip tape-out. At the undergraduate level, students have the opportunity to design their own chips and receive the fabricated devices. With AI tools providing support, many of the problems they work on are drawn directly from industry, allowing them to engage with real engineering challenges before graduation.
Throughout the learning process, AI serves as an assistant rather than a substitute for students’ own engineering judgment. Students define design objectives and constraints, and use AI tools to explore possible solutions and conduct simulation and verification. However, they remain responsible for determining whether circuit parameters are appropriate, operating points are stable, and the final designs are technically viable. The course aims to cultivate engineers who can take responsibility for their design outcomes, rather than simply operate intelligent tools. By integrating AI-assisted learning with hands-on engineering practice, it seeks to strengthen students’ ability to apply fundamental knowledge, solve real-world problems and make sound engineering decisions.
The 2026 Global MOOC and Online Education Conference was held under the theme “Reallocating Intelligence: Transforming Education for a Human-AI Future.” Co-organized by the Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), the conference brought together more than 300 representatives from 35 countries and regions. The award recognizes GC’s continued efforts to connect fundamental scientific principles, engineering practice and industry needs in undergraduate education, and highlights the international recognition of its innovative approach to engineering talent development.
