Collaborative Research: Gamified Learning of Computing Hardware Fundamentals

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This project aims to serve the national interest by designing a novel hands-on and gamified curriculum focusing on computing hardware fundamentals. Growing use of electronics in nearly all spheres of life has created a great need for engineers, scientists, and technicians to contribute to their sophisticated design and manufacturing process. However, misconceptions of hardware surrounding manufacturing jobs, along with the rising popularity of jobs in analytics and artificial intelligence, motivate students to avoid hardware-related college courses. Students’ knowledge of electronic hardware and basic principles of their operation have not received much attention. This has contributed to a remarkable skill gap in the current electronics industry. Hence, there is a critical need for training college students to learn the fundamentals of hardware from a system perspective through a hands-on approach. Additionally, there is a need to stimulate these students interests in hardware. The project aims to design engaging, collaborative, and thought-provoking gamified learning modules that will be played on an electronic hardware platform. Each gamified module, to be played individually or collaboratively in a team, will target training students on one major concept of hardware using an engaging and experimental learning approach. Games will introduce and exercise one of the fundamental concepts of computing hardware. Collectively, the gamified modules will provide a system-level perspective of the modern electronic system. The project intends to evaluate the curriculum at two universities and high schools. This collaborative project between University of Kansas and University of Florida will investigate a new paradigm of preparing undergraduate students with foundational concepts of electronic hardware and key principles of system operation, including underlying physics (e.g., signal propagation, switching of transistors) and mathematics (e.g., Boolean algebra, logic gates) of computing. The project seeks to understand the ability of gamified learning to stimulate situational interest and learning of hardware content among diverse groups of students, including women, low socio-economic status students, first-time-in-college students, and historically underrepresented ethnic minorities. This project has the potential to create a skilled and diversified workforce in the semiconductor industry. A mixed research method will be used to evaluate the proposed activities in this project. Project activities will also include development of similar gamified modules for high school students, which in turn leads to creating a recruiting pathway for more electrical and computer engineering undergraduate majors. The project will share the gamified modules, hardware platform design, course materials, and other outcomes with the educational and semiconductor community through web portals, workshops, tutorials, and special sessions. The project has potential to help students adopt emerging technologies with more complex functionality, such as augmented and virtual reality. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.