Lessons learned from teaching computer architecture to computer science students

Computer science students require more detail about computer architecture than a black box approach can provide. Teaching the appropriate level of detail and assuring that students understand why the subject is taught are nontrivial tasks. In the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago the approach taken is to present the material from the typical three course computer architecture sequence as a two course sequence. In addition, a variety of simulators are utilized to strengthen the material and help control the topic flow. The simulators used include a programmable logic array software package, a MIPS assembly simulator, and a locally created control code simulator. Teaching the two course sequence has been proven to be challenging. This paper presents lessons learned concerning: (1) the level of coverage required; (2) the simulators used, (3) how to maintain topic flow; and (4) future plans for improving the sequence.