Assessing the Use of SBCs as Teaching Tools
This study assesses the effectiveness of Single Board Computers (SBCs) as teaching tools for parallel computing concepts. Researchers from various colleges evaluated students' confidence levels in topics such as parallel programming and race conditions. Pre- and post-survey results indicate significant improvements in understanding key concepts, highlighting the value of using inexpensive multicore computers like the Raspberry Pi in educational settings.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
csinparallel.org Assessing the use of SBCs as a Teaching Tool Joel Adams, Calvin College Richard Brown, St. Olaf College Suzanne Matthews, West Point Elizabeth Shoop, Macalester College
csinparallel.org Pre- and Post-Survey Questions 1. How confident are you that you can describe how to decompose a problem using multiple threads and implement it using a parallel loop? 2. How confident are you that you could describe the advantages and disadvantages of using parallel programming on shared memory multicore machines to someone familiar with programming? 3. How confident are you that you can define speedup and describe it to someone familiar with programming? 4. How confident are you that you can describe what a race condition is and how to avoid it when writing parallel programs that use shared memory? 5. Post-survey only. To what extent did using an inexpensive multicore computer (e.g. the Raspberry Pi) to run parallel programs motivate you to learn more about parallel computing in the future?
csinparallel.org Q1: Confidence in describing Q1: ... how to decompose a problem using multiple threads ... Pre-Survey Post-Survey 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Not Confident At All Somewhat Confident Very Confident Pre: n = 49, x = 2.22; Post: n = 48, x = 3.83; p = 1.41e-11
csinparallel.org Q2: Confidence in describing Q2: ... advantages & disadvantages of using parallel programming ... Pre-Survey Post-Survey 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Not Confident At All Somewhat Confident Very Confident Pre: n = 49, x = 2.71; Post: n = 48, x = 4.08; p = 2.85e-9
csinparallel.org Q3: Confidence that you can Q3: ... define speedup and describe it to ... Pre-Survey Post-Survey 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Not Confident At All Somewhat Confident Very Confident Pre: n = 49, x = 2.45; Post: n = 47, x = 4.19; p = 3.71e-10
csinparallel.org Q4: Confidence that you can Q4: ... describe what a race condition is ... Pre-Survey Post-Survey 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Not Confident At All Somewhat Confident Very Confident Pre: n = 49, x = 2.59; Post: n = 47, x = 4.06; p = 4.95e-8
csinparallel.org Q5: To what extent did using Q5: ... Raspberry Pi ... motivate you to learn more ... Post-Survey 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 No Increase Some Increase A Lot of Increase Post: n = 48, x = 4.19
csinparallel.org Open-Ended Comments I love microcontrollers, but this is my first time using a Raspberry Pi I'm more motivated to use a Raspberry Pi... I enjoyed programming on the Pi and have gained more of an enthusiasm with it. It's fun to see it work on a small machine and get to play with the tech I keep hearing about (raspberry pi). Not having to have an expensive computer to try this stuff on is really motivating. Awesome seeing how easy this was to teach.
csinparallel.org Open-Ended Comments I learned more about the type of devices that are capable of parallel programs. I would like to look at parallel computing on a super computer. I think it is great for education. I always thought that you need expensive HPC to do parallel programs. I have been interested to learn about this for a long time but never knew where to begin. I'll probably try to get my own Raspberry Pi to practice more and write my own code for it.
