LMS-Coupled Simulations and Assessments in a Digital Systems Course

The content, provided in Learning Management Systems (LMS), is often text oriented as in a usual textbook. We have added interactive components, such as smart design tools and online laboratories, in an LMS that allow exploring the learned content additionally to text parts interactively. The objective of our teaching concept is to empower the students to solve complex design tasks for digital systems and to validate the results. This requires at the one hand site knowledge about the mathematical background of the algorithms used by design tools and at the other hand side the experience from as much as possible examples. Commercial tools are too complex for teaching purposes and hide mostly the algorithms they use for the several design steps. Thatpsilas why we donpsilat use commercial tools. The connection to an LMS allows us to record all studentspsila relevant actions in the design process and to evaluate the student or to give individual tailored hints.