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Situated Learning in Systems-Level Coursework

Published: 22 February 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Computer science coursework at the undergraduate level at most institutions includes low-level systems coursework. Such coursework is often largely theoretical. When students complete assignments which involve writing software, they often do so in the context of operating systems not identified and/or connected with their everyday experiences (e.g., Minix or XINU). Approaches also tend to focus on kernel-level operations - leaving out the connections to higher levels of the OS (e.g. graphical user interfaces). To connect systems concepts and assignments to students' personal experiences and provide a mechanism to discuss high-level layers of interactive operating systems, we assembled a Linux/Android operating system variant specifically geared to be accessible to students taking introductory systems courses, dubbed "Reptilian". Reptilian, available as an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) image, provides both an Ubuntu-derived user-space and the standard Android GUI user-space. The appliance provides a typical Linux kernel development environment for assignments while facilitating demonstration of connections between layers in a modern operating system. To investigate the impact of the use of Reptilian, we compared questions on student evaluations between two semesters - one using Minix as the target system for student assignments and another using Reptilian. The curricula topics were identical, and both courses were taught by the same instructor. Students the cohorts completed comparable projects focused on the process table and filesystem, while the Reptilian cohort also completed a GUI layering assignment. We found that students rated content relevance, learning, and engagement of critical thinking more highly in the Reptilian cohort compared to the Minix cohort.

References

[1]
Biggers, M., Brauer, A. and Yilmaz, T. 2008. Student Perceptions of Computer Science?: A Retention Study Comparing Graduating Seniors with CS Leavers. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin. 40, 1 (2008), 402--406.
[2]
Ben-Ari, M. 2004. Situated Learning in Computer Science Education. Computer Science Education. 14, 2 (2004), 85--100.
[3]
Margolis, J. and Fisher, A. 2002. Unlocking the clubhouse: women in computing. MIT Press.

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cover image ACM Conferences
SIGCSE '19: Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
February 2019
1364 pages
ISBN:9781450358903
DOI:10.1145/3287324
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 22 February 2019

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  1. android
  2. operating systems
  3. situated learning

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SIGCSE '19
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SIGCSE '19 Paper Acceptance Rate 169 of 526 submissions, 32%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 1,595 of 4,542 submissions, 35%

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SIGCSE TS 2025
The 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
February 26 - March 1, 2025
Pittsburgh , PA , USA

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