Challenges and Experiences of Converting an Assembly Language and Computer Organization Course into an Online Course

Weiying Zhu

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: ECE Division Technical Session 1: Online or Remote Teaching and Curricular Developments
Page Count: 17
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40410
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40410
Download Count: 624

Paper Authors

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Weiying Zhu Metropolitan State University of Denver

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Dr. Zhu is now a Professor of Computer Science and currently serving as the Associate Department Chair in the Department of Computer Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She received her Ph.D. at Old Dominion University, VA in August 2006. She was a software engineer at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies from 1999 to 2003. She joined MSU Denver in August 2011. She had been an Assistant Professor in Hampton University, VA from 2006 to 2011.

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Abstract

Teaching some courses online in non-online academic programs at traditional higher education institutions not only provides students more flexibility, but also is a possible solution to the increasing student enrollment when space or faculty is a constraint. However, how to address the challenges in online computer science and engineering (CSE) courses and whether student performance is compromised are two critical questions to be answered while considering offering online CSE courses. Our institution is a large public Hispanic-Serving Institution. Our computer science major program is ABET accredited. Our students have very diverse backgrounds and a wide range of learning capabilities and most of them are first-generation college students. Hopefully, our findings may provide useful information to institutions with similar settings.

This paper presents the challenges and experiences of converting a face-to-face Assembly Language and Computer Organization course, required for both computer science and computer engineering majors, into an online course in Spring 2021. In this paper, we first discuss how various course technologies were adopted and how various strategies were developed and used to support online teaching and learning.

To investigate whether the delivery mode change affects student performance, two face-to-face sections of this course, taught most recently by the same instructor, are used for performance comparison in this paper. A t-test is performed to compare online students’ cumulative GPAs with face-to-face students’ cumulative GPAs to assure neither group has an unfair advantage. Next, t-tests are used to determine whether there is any significant difference in homework scores and exam scores between online students and face-to-face students. Additionally, the box-and-whisker plots are used to graphically describe and compare online students’ homework scores, exam scores, and earned term scores with that of face-to-face students. An anonymous survey was designed to get student perceptions of their learning experiences in this online course. The survey analysis and results are reported in this paper. Three questions are about possible negative impact on students’ availability during the class time or on their time commitment, or about possible technical difficulty for taking lessons online. Followed are 15 Likert-scale questions on the use of tools, instructional materials, and hands-on learning activities. We found that 1) there is no statistically significant difference between the student performance in the online section and that in the face-to-face sections, 2) among three surveyed challenges, students’ time commitment to this online course was most negatively impacted by pandemic-related situations, and 3) student feedbacks on their learning experiences in this online course are generally positive or very positive.

Citation
Format

Zhu, W. (2022, August), Challenges and Experiences of Converting an Assembly Language and Computer Organization Course into an Online Course Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40410

TY - CPAPER
AB - Teaching some courses online in non-online academic programs at traditional higher education institutions not only provides students more flexibility, but also is a possible solution to the increasing student enrollment when space or faculty is a constraint. However, how to address the challenges in online computer science and engineering (CSE) courses and whether student performance is compromised are two critical questions to be answered while considering offering online CSE courses. Our institution is a large public Hispanic-Serving Institution. Our computer science major program is ABET accredited. Our students have very diverse backgrounds and a wide range of learning capabilities and most of them are first-generation college students. Hopefully, our findings may provide useful information to institutions with similar settings.

This paper presents the challenges and experiences of converting a face-to-face Assembly Language and Computer Organization course, required for both computer science and computer engineering majors, into an online course in Spring 2021. In this paper, we first discuss how various course technologies were adopted and how various strategies were developed and used to support online teaching and learning.

To investigate whether the delivery mode change affects student performance, two face-to-face sections of this course, taught most recently by the same instructor, are used for performance comparison in this paper. A t-test is performed to compare online students’ cumulative GPAs with face-to-face students’ cumulative GPAs to assure neither group has an unfair advantage. Next, t-tests are used to determine whether there is any significant difference in homework scores and exam scores between online students and face-to-face students. Additionally, the box-and-whisker plots are used to graphically describe and compare online students’ homework scores, exam scores, and earned term scores with that of face-to-face students. An anonymous survey was designed to get student perceptions of their learning experiences in this online course. The survey analysis and results are reported in this paper. Three questions are about possible negative impact on students’ availability during the class time or on their time commitment, or about possible technical difficulty for taking lessons online. Followed are 15 Likert-scale questions on the use of tools, instructional materials, and hands-on learning activities. We found that 1) there is no statistically significant difference between the student performance in the online section and that in the face-to-face sections, 2) among three surveyed challenges, students’ time commitment to this online course was most negatively impacted by pandemic-related situations, and 3) student feedbacks on their learning experiences in this online course are generally positive or very positive.
AU - Weiying Zhu
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Challenges and Experiences of Converting an Assembly Language and Computer Organization Course into an Online Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40410
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40410
ER -