A Multi-Purpose Simulation Project for Engaging Students and Teaching Object Concepts
Hossein Saiedian · Computer Science Education · 1998
This article proposes that laboratory projects which require group activities can be beneficial to undergraduate students in computer science. Team projects expose students to activities that otherwise might only be encountered in the workplace after graduation. A group project can provide better preparation and motivation than laboratory assignments which isolate students. A desirable project is one that allows the concepts of a course to be integrated into it as they are introduced in the lectures. The description of a simple networking simulation is given which exemplifies a project that is easily managed by students. This project possesses the ability to be expanded in a variety of ways so that it provides a suitable starting point for a wide spectrum of computer science courses such as computer networks, programming languages, object-oriented programming, and object-oriented software engineering.