Enhancing Education of Computer Systems with Flipped Lectures and Interactive Laboratories

Today’s computers are very complex. Students graduating from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department require a strong understanding of computers to be effective in their careers. Learning the many interrelated concepts required is challenging. The first goal of this project is to develop a set of interactive online lectures and accompanying in-class exercises to be used for a flipped-lecture treatment of the computer design subject matter taught in second year in EECE 259, an introductory course covering the related topics of digital design and computer organization. The second goal is to sustain development of a new interactive laboratory sequence that provides students with hands on exposure to the same concepts. These goals are complementary in that the envisioned laboratory sequence would be closely coordinated with the flipped-lecture sequence. Students will be presented concepts online, work through them interactively in class, and then apply them in the lab.

Tor Aamodt, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science