ABSTRACT
The rapid transition to online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic left many instructors needing to redesign their course projects as students no longer had access to physical hardware. This paper describes the development of an open-source containerized RISC-V based game console emulator that replaced physical hardware for use in course projects. The tool was initially designed and used in a graduate operating systems course and then subsequently used in a lower division computer organization and machine-dependent programming course. The container provides a full toolchain with gcc compiler, RISC-V game console emulator with integrated debugger, example program, and input recording/auto-run tool designed for auto-grading. The use of a container reduced the barrier to entry for the students allowing them to get up and running in a relatively short period of time. Given the successful deployment of the tool in the previous courses, the tool was used both again in the lower division course and in the upper division undergraduate operating systems course this past fall. © 2022 Owner/Author.
ABSTRACT
Domain-Specific Architectures (DSAs) and hardware-software co-design are greatly emphasized in the CS community, which demands a significant number of participants with Computer System (CSys) capabilities and skills. Conventional CSys courses in a lecture-lab format are limited in physical resources and inherently difficult to cultivate talents at a large scale. Online teaching is a potential alternative to instantly enlarge the face-to-face class size. Unfortunately, simply putting the lecture contents in CSys courses online lacks 1) personal attention, 2) learner-instructor interactions, and 3) real-hardware experimental environments. To tackle the above challenges, we introduce a four phase online CSys course program and the related teaching methods for a cloud-based teaching platform. The four-phase course program included two basic/required stages and two advanced/optional stages to promote students' knowledge and skill level with appropriate personal attention. We studied if online interaction methods, such as in-class chat and one-on-one online grading interview, can strengthen the connections between teachers and students in both lectures and labs. We created a heterogeneous cloud platform to enable students nationwide to reliably conduct labs or projects on remote programmable hardware. We believe that our proposed course design methodology is beneficial to other CScourses in the post-COVID-19-era. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
We present a design and implementation of a lower-level computer organization and architecture course with hands-on components presented as blended-learning modules that are collectively designed to introduce core computer design concepts primarily to college students studying applied science and technology programs, such as computer science and information technology. With a particular focus on single-board computers and associated hardware modules, students are introduced to core computer components early in their coursework, and encouraged to study advanced engineering concepts as higher elective courses to help them better understand the underlying design of hardware modules. Hands-on activities and problem-based modules are re-designed with the flexibility to be applied in settings that involve all in-classroom cohorts, as well as courses offered in synchronous and/or asynchronous online learning methodologies, which is becoming of particular importance to educators under COVID-19 implications. First cohort of this newly redesigned course was offered in Fall 2019, when, in the middle of the semester, all instructional methodology had to be switched to fully-online after health measures in October-November 2019. Second and third cohorts of the course are currently being offered in 2020-2021 academic year. Anonymous research data collected with these three cohorts of the revised course show that redesigned of the course improved overall course reviews, while meeting educational goals to introduce students to core knowledge areas in computer organization and architecture. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021