Based on computerized symbolic computation, a new method and its algorithm are proposed for searching for exact travelling wave solutions of the nonlinear partial differential equations. Making use of our approach, we investigate the Whitham-Broer-Kaup equation in shallow water and obtain new families of exact solutions, which include soliton-like solutions and periodic solutions. As its special cases, the solutions of classical long wave equations and modified Boussinesq equations can also be found.