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One of the key knowledge areas in Computer Science (CS) is Digital Logic and Computer Architecture where the learning outcome is an understanding of Boolean algebra, logic gates, registers, or arithmetic logic units, etc. and explaining how software and hardware are related to a computing system. Experimental Centric based Instructional Pedagogy (ECP) with portable laboratory instrumentation might provide real hands-on experience to obtain a practical understanding of those concepts at a lower cost compared with virtual hands-on laboratories that lack direct interaction with real apparatus or no integration of labs in the course. This work presents the initial adaptation of ECP to introduce the fundamentals of digital logic concepts in a Computer Architecture course in Spring 2022 for the first time in a CS department at a university teaching such courses without a lab and serving predominantly minority students. To establish a conducive and dynamic classroom environment by discovering course content through exploration, students majoring in CS were introduced to several logic gate types, worked with breadboards to connect circuits, and carried out operations to produce the necessary output using the commercial ADALM 1K Active Learning Module. To evaluate the impact of the ECP on students; performance in the class, three different evaluation methods were used, such as classroom observation, a signature assignment, and a Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) survey. The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) findings indicated greater student engagement when ECP is used; the Signature assignment results indicated improved learning outcomes for students; and the MLSQ survey, which measures students; motivation, critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration, and metacognition, determined a positive impact of the ECP on the CS participants.
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Vertically Integrated Computing Labs Using Open-Source Hardware Generators and Cloud-Hosted FPGAs
The design of computing systems has changed dramatically over the past decade, but most courses in advanced computer architecture remain unchanged. Computer architecture education lies at the intersection between computer science and electrical engineering, with practical exercises in classes based on appropriate levels of abstraction in the computing system design stack. Hardware-centric lab exercises often require broad infrastructure resources and tend to navigate around tedious practical implementation concepts, while software-centric exercises leave a gap between modeling and system implementation implications that students later need to overcome in professional settings. Vertical integration trends in domain-specific compute systems, as well as software-hardware co-design, are often covered in classroom lectures, but are not reflected in laboratory exercises due to complex tooling and simulation infrastructure. We describe our experiences with a joint hardware-software approach to exploring computer architecture concepts in class exercises, by using opensource processor hardware implementations, generator-based hardware design methodologies, and cloud-hosted FPGAs. This approach further enables scaling course enrollment, remote learning and a cross-class collaborative lab ecosystem, creating a connecting thread between computer science and electrical engineering experience-based curricula.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2016662
- PAR ID:
- 10290039
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 5
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCAS51556.2021.9401515
