An Interactive, Graphical Simulator for Teaching Operating Systems

We demonstrate a graphical simulation tool for visually and interactively exploring the processing of a variety of events handled by an operating system when running a program. Our graphical simulator is available for use on the web by both instructors and students for purposes of pedagogy. Instructors can use it for live demonstrations of course concepts in class, while students can use it outside of class to explore the concepts. The graphical simulation tool is implemented using the React library for the fancy ui elements of the Node.js framework and is available as a web application at https://cpudemo.azurewebsites.net. The goals of this demonstration are to showcase the demonstrative capabilities of the tool for instruction, share student experiences in developing the engine underlying the simulation, and to inspire its use by other educators. An article describing this software simulation and demonstrating its pedagogical capabilities is available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.05160

MiniOS: an instructional platform for teaching operating systems labs

Delivering hands-on practice laboratories for introductory courses on operating systems is a difficult task. One of the main sources of the difficulty is the sheer size and complexity of the operating systems software. Consequently, some of the solutions adopted in the literature to teach operating systems laboratory consider smaller and simpler systems, generally referred to as instructional operating systems. This work continues in the same direction and is threefold...MiniOSoperating systems laborator

Developing a Contemporary and Innovative Operating Systems Course

This birds-of-a-feather provides a discussion forum to foster innovation in teaching operating systems (os) at the undergraduate level. This birds-of-a-feather seeks to generate discussion and ideas around pedagogy for os and, in particular, how we might develop a contemporary and innovative model, in both content and delivery, for an os course—that plays a central role in a cs curriculum—and addresses significant issues of misalignment between existing os courses and employee professional skills and knowledge requirements. We would like to exchange ideas regarding a re-conceptualized course model of os curriculum and related pedagogy, especially in the areas of mobile OSs and Internet of Things; concurrent programming and synchronization; and cloud computing and big data processing

Increasing Material Coverage in Software Engineering through the Introduction of the Flipped Classroom

Software Engineering represents a rapidly changing engineering discipline. As a young discipline, the field has reached the same level of maturity as other engineering disciplines. Furthermore, as a rapidly evolving field, it also is encountering greater change than many other disciplines of engineering. This change leads to a much greater challenge meeting the needs of diverse engineering constituents. More material must be taught in each course and at a faster pace in order to ensure that students are ready for the demands of industry. At the Milwaukee School of Engineering, curriculum changes have resulted in a reduction in lab content and credit for courses. In one course, Operating Systems, the lab component has been removed entirely. However, through prudent course design and the usage of the flipped classroom, the same amount of content was able to be covered in less time. This article will present an analysis of the findings of applying the flipped classroom to teaching operating systems to software engineering students. Included will be analysis of student performance from control groups prior to the curriculum conversion, as well as observations from students on the usage of the flipped classroo