The Use of MARIE CPU Simulator in the Computer Architecture Course: A Brief Exploratory Study of the Students’ Perception Learning

Abstract

The teacher has to always bear in mind that he/she has to present educational contents regarding his discipline always trying to present it an attractive way through new teaching dynamics. The challenge is to not to distance from the curricular content by using a broader educational proposal, intensifying the interaction with the students with the problems related to the professional area with artifacts and tools. Under such circumstances, the computer simulation can be a valuable teaching tool for the necessary contents in the formation of students. The preliminary studies based on students opinions indicate it as a promising practice. Through exploratory research it is possible to exemplify the strategy of using a simulator in the presentation of specific content, in the case presented here the introductory study of the operation of the CPU and data bus in the architecture of a hypothetical processor. The data collection instrument, in relation to the students' perception of their learning experience interrelating the theoretical part with the simulator seeking to capture a first impact on the use of the simulator. The quantitative and qualitative data present in the questionnaires were processed using IBM SPSS® software. The analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics, standard measures of dispersion and percentiles, absolute and relative frequency and Spearman correlation coefficient. With respect to the teacher, their activity in the classroom changes considerably, in the sense of not requiring the various repetitions of the concepts involved that usually occur, requiring an assistance that seeks to facilitate the use of the simulator.



Author Information
Luis Tadeu Mendes Raunheitte, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil
Jorge Fernando Maxnuck Soares, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil
Takato Kurihara, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil

Paper Information
Conference: ACTC2016
Stream: Instructional Technology

This paper is part of the ACTC2016 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon