Experiences in Digital Circuit
Design Courses:
A Self-Study Platform for Learning
David Bañeres, Robert Clarisó, Josep Jorba and Montse Serra,
Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications Department,
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya,
1
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
• Motivation
• Contribution
• Learning methodology
• Experimental results
• Current and future work
Outline
2
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
7
Motivation
6
Dout Banc
de
Registres
SL
E
SE
3
3
8
Din 8
clk
AND
8
8
A B
8
R NOT
8
A
8
R
Md
Memòria
ROM
64x8
M@
6
8 +
A B
6
Cin
S
Cout
6
0
1
8 7
+
jump @ PC+1
next @
3 -
+
VAL
1
3 REG (PC) load clear
6
E
S clk
ld_PC reset
6
+
-
3
+
3 Rd@
Rf@
+ A B
Cin
S
Cout
8
0
ld_BR
Q
Q'
D
S
R
load
clk
zero?
reset
0
+
-
VAL
+ -
1
8
6
+
1
- +
VAL
6 6
6
REG (B) load clear
8
E
S clk
ldB reset
8 8
Unitat
de control
selAdrBR
q6
ld_BR,
ld_Z ld_P
C selOpBR1
selOpBR0
selOpPC
q7 z
2
selAdrBR
A simple microprocessor
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
8
Motivation
How to design a simple microprocessor
Computer Fundamentals
How to use a simple microprocessor
Computer Structure
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
9
Motivation
Computer Fundamentals
Course in the first semester on Degrees in Computer Science and
Telecommunication Engineering
High dropout of students (near 50% of enrollments)
Low student performance
Pass rate Computer Fundamentals
34,20
44,00
34,00 34,00 34,00
42,00
32,00
40,00
30,00
35,00
40,00
45,00
20101' 20102 20111 20112 20121 20122 20131 20132
Semestre
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
10
Problem
Students have difficulties on learning:
• How a circuit works
• How to design a circuit
A PPT was used
to design a circuit No simulation was
performed
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
11
Contribution
An Intelligent tutoring system to learn
digital circuit design
Simulation is
possible Graphical interface
to design a circuit
Automatic validation
towards the correct
solution
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
13
Learning Methdology
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
INCORRECT when
in1 = (0); in2 = (1)
Problem definition
DESIGN
VERIFY FEEDBACK
Design an AND gate
Experiential learning: trial-and-error
14
Experimental results
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
Students performance
Continous Assessment Final Mark
2011 2012 2011 2012
Percentage
(%)
Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall
Pass Act./
Used
88,7 83,2 85,2 80,2
Pass Act./
Not used
68,5 61,0 67,5 61,9
Total Pass
Act.
74,4 69,4 74,7 77,4 74,2 69,5 73,7 76,5
15
Experimental results
Continous Assessment Final Mark
2011 2012 2011 2012
Percentage
(%)
Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall
Pass Act./
Used
88,7 83,2 85,2 80,2
Pass Act./
Not used
68,5 61,0 67,5 61,9
Total Pass
Act.
74,4 69,4 74,7 77,4 74,2 69,5 73,7 76,5
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
Students performance
16
Experimental results
Continous Assessment Final Mark
2011 2012 2011 2012
Percentage
(%)
Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall Spr. Fall
Pass Act./
Used
88,7 83,2 85,2 80,2
Pass Act./
Not used
68,5 61,0 67,5 61,9
Total Pass
Act.
74,4 69,4 74,7 77,4 74,2 69,5 73,7 76,5
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
Students performance
17
Current and Future work New types of exercise
Karnaugh maps Time chart simulation
Finite state machines Hardware description
languages
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
19
Current and Future work
Competition
Rewards: additional points in the final mark
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
20
Current and Future work
Dissemination
VerilUOC is used in a MOOC in Coursera (jointly with UAB)
First edition: ~20.000 enrollments
Second edition: Starting15th of february
Experiences in Digital Circuit Design Courses
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