Collaborative Research: Gamified Learning of Computing Hardware Fundamentals

该项目旨在通过设计一个新颖的动手和游戏化的课程，专注于计算硬件基础知识，为国家利益服务。电子产品在几乎所有生活领域的使用越来越多，这使得工程师、科学家和技术人员对复杂的设计和制造过程产生了巨大的需求。然而，对制造业工作周围硬件的误解，沿着分析和人工智能工作的日益普及，促使学生避免与硬件相关的大学课程。学生对电子硬件及其工作基本原理的认识没有受到重视。这导致了当前电子行业的显著技能差距。因此，迫切需要培训大学生通过动手方法从系统的角度学习硬件的基础知识。此外，还需要激发这些学生对硬件的兴趣。该项目旨在设计引人入胜，协作和发人深省的游戏化学习模块，这些模块将在电子硬件平台上播放。每个游戏化的模块，将单独或在团队中合作发挥，将针对训练学生对硬件的一个主要概念，使用一个引人入胜的和实验性的学习方法。游戏将介绍和练习计算硬件的基本概念之一。总的来说，游戏化模块将提供现代电子系统的系统级视角。该项目打算对两所大学和高中的课程进行评估。堪萨斯大学和佛罗里达大学之间的这个合作项目将研究一种新的模式，为本科生提供电子硬件的基本概念和系统操作的关键原理，包括基础物理（例如，信号传播，晶体管的切换）和数学（例如，布尔代数、逻辑门）。该项目旨在了解游戏化学习的能力，以激发不同学生群体的情境兴趣和硬件内容的学习，包括女性，社会经济地位低的学生，第一次上大学的学生和历史上代表性不足的少数民族。该项目有可能在半导体行业创造一个熟练和多样化的劳动力。将采用一种混合研究方法来评价本项目的拟议活动。项目活动还将包括为高中生开发类似的游戏化模块，这反过来又会为更多的电气和计算机工程本科专业创造一个招聘途径。该项目将通过门户网站、研讨会、教程和特别会议与教育和半导体社区分享游戏化模块、硬件平台设计、课程材料和其他成果。该项目有可能帮助学生采用具有更复杂功能的新兴技术，如增强现实和虚拟现实。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.