School of Science and Technology, United States International University (USIU)

The Project Title - Leveraging Laboratory Experiments with Raspberry-Pi `Lab Mfukoni`

Abstract

A lot has been said about teaching with experiments set up with virtual Labs environment. While this is an effective way of demonstrating concepts, it is not very different from teaching a four-stroke combustion engine with only diagrams, or using emulators and simulators. It is very different from working with the real engine. The Raspberry-Pi is a single board computer almost the size of a credit card, having the capability of desktop or laptop computer functions. What is good about it is the portability, ability to make and break the experiments, which cannot be easily done with the desktop or laptop computers. As such it is suitable for computer applications kit, ranging from sensor environment, microcontroller environment, and programming environments. The United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) is proposing to adopt the Raspberry-Pi experimental environment with the objective of giving both the students and the lecturers the desktop power at a very low price. USIU-A intends to collaborate with University of Nairobi’s Institute of Computing and Informatics. It is expected that through well-designed experiments, 60 students will acquire hands-on experience for both in-lab and post-lab experiments on this first case. In the latter case, the students may continue with open-lab experiments or homework since they will be able to carry the kits to their homes on the concept of ‘Lab-Mfukoni’. USIU-A intends to use the Raspberry kits for both undergraduate and post graduate courses with target outcome of developing problem solving application and teaching modules for scalability.

About USIU

USIU-A is a private, independent, non-profit university located on 120 acres of land in the Kasarani District of County of Nairobi. The University’s mission includes a strong commitment to providing students an education with a global understanding and multicultural perspective through its formal curricula and the experiences of studying, working, and living cooperatively in a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse environment. The proposed Raspberry-Pi project will be aligned with the University’s current strategic plan. An aspect of one of the strategic goals in the current Strategic Plan is concerned with program and course curriculum development where USIU plans to broaden and deepen its programs. The proposed project will be made consistent with the institution’s mission i.e.to promote the discovery and application of knowledge, acquisition of skills, and development of intellect and character in a manner that prepares students to contribute effectively and ethically as citizens of a changing and increasingly technological world through the Mission outcomes of Higher Order Thinking, Literacy, Global Understanding and Multicultural Perspective, Preparedness for Career, Community Service, Leadership and ethics. Furthermore, the mission is carried out in an environment which encourages intellectual and scholarly development; fosters openness to a wide range of ideas, cultures, and people; and enhances personal growth.

Courses

In the initial stages, the kits will be experimented within the following courses:

Computer Organization and Programming

Offered in the Information Systems Technology Programme (IST), this course outlines the fundamental way in which a computer works: starting with simple logic and progressing to a simple model of a microprocessor.

Digital Electronics

Offered in the Applied Computer Technology (APT) program, this course describes the basic integrated circuit building blocks from which digital circuits and systems are assembled. This unit is intended to help the students keep pace with the rapid advances made in the field of Digital Electronics. The course will be the first to experiment on using the RPi

Applied Computer Technology Project

This project course utilizes teams and/or individuals working from problem requirements and specifications to produce a solution. This requires exploration of suitable information technologies to produce a solution that improves the problem situation. Students/teams analyze, plan, and report on the project and implement a prototype.

IT Infrastructure (MSc.IT)

This course studies the evolution of computer architecture and the factors influencing the design of hardware and software elements of computer systems. Topics include: instruction set design; processor micro-architecture and pipelining; cache and virtual memory organizations; protection and sharing; I/O and interrupts; in-order and out-of-order superscalar architectures; VLIW machines; vector supercomputers; multithreaded architectures; symmetric multiprocessors; memory models and synchronization; embedded systems; and parallel computers.