ALGORITHMS AND COMPUTER METHODS IN DIGITAL …



Session 3532

AN INTEGRATED WEB SITE FOR A DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN LABORATORY

Dean R. Johnson, Associate Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, Michigan

johnson@wmich.edu ()

(616) 387-4061

FAX (616) 387-4024

INTRODUCTION

A web site providing on-line materials for a freshman level digital logic design laboratory in electrical and computer engineering is presented. The web site is designed to integrate the laboratory program with other components of the digital logic class, such as the lecture and on-line testing materials. The class web site provides laboratory materials to 130-180 engineering and computer science students each semester. Laboratory materials are formatted in Adobe portable document format and are provided on a weekly basis. The web site provides a mechanism of integration between the lecture and laboratory in a manner not possible by traditional publishing means.

PAINTING NEW VISTAS WITH ON-LINE MATERIALS

The advent of on-line lecture and laboratory materials for university courses has changed the kind of course materials students may readily obtain for classes. The new publishing mechanisms has also opened up new vistas for course content creation and distribution not possible through traditional means. No longer are students limited to information provided by prepared textbooks and laboratory manuals. New instructional media tools such as digital video (DV), not possible with traditional paper publishing methods can now be employed in the course. Using on-line mechanisms, instructors have also new additional time-use capability to prepare and distribute class materials before as well as during the semester that the course is being taught. The flexibility to change and enhance laboratory exercises in "real-time" is especially useful in cases where new equipment or software is introduced and procedures need to be evaluated and modified.

In our example, a web site for a course in digital logic was first put into existence by the Department of Electrical Engineering at Western Michigan University in the Fall of 1995. Currently, the web site provides a number of support elements associated with the lecture and laboratory programs, including a calendar, a download area (where lecture and laboratory materials may be obtained), and on-line quizzes to review. Integration between lecture and laboratory is provided through the "schedule of events" section and download area, which provides coordination and structure for both components.

In the early years of the web site, the laboratory program materials were distributed by traditional means, employing a laboratory manual which the students purchased from a photo-copy store. Starting with the fall of 1997, however, the lab exercises were encoded into Acrobat pdf format and presented alongside the class lecture notes as buttons in the "download" area of the web site. The reformatting of the laboratory exercises to an on-line form allowed us to incorporate DV training clips in the pdf documents that helped explained procedures for writing laboratory exercises and downloading sample Altera logic design software. The freshman undergraduates in electrical, computer engineering and computer science populating the course found the training videos to be very useful. In the Winter of 1998, was precipitated by some major equipment and software changes we were anticipating on making to incorporate the Xilinx [1] logic design development system into its laboratory program. Because of the complexity of the Xilinx system, we decided to change the laboratory exercises in an incremental manner, week by week. In the first semester of these changes

EMPLOYING ADOBE'S VERNERABLE PDF FORMAT

Laboratory exercises are posted in the download area every week. The exercises are encoded in Adobe portable document format (pdf), an example of which is shown. For on-line reading, it is best to format the text with small marginsThe laboratory program in ECE 250 Digital Logic is coordinated with other elements of the course through the class web site. The web site provides a number of support components associated with the lecture and laboratory programs, including a calendar, download area, and scheduler. Tight integration between lecture and laboratory is coordinated through the scheduler and download area, which provides on-line timing and materials used in both components.

Laboratory exercises are posted in the download area every week.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank Dr. S. Hossein Mousavinezhad, WMU Chairman of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department for his help and encouragement.

REF E R E N C E S

[1]. “The Practical Xilinx Designer Lab Book”, by Dave Van den Bout, Prentice Hall, 1998.

[2]. “Publishing Via PDF”, Special Pull-out, Computer Arts, December 1998, Issue 26.

Biographical Information

DEAN R. JOHNSON

Dr. Johnson is Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western Michigan University.

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