TY - GEN
T1 - Computer architecture and mental models
AU - Yehezkel, Cecile
AU - Ben-Ari, Mordechai
AU - Dreyfus, Tommy
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - The EasyCPU visualization environment was developed for teaching computer architecture to novice students of computer science. During the development, the process of choosing the appropriate conceptual model of the computer for the visualization motivated research on the mental models that arise in the students as they learn. These mental models come from attempts by the students to make sense of the conceptual models presented to them by the software tool and their learning materials (textbook and exercises). The research findings support the view that the visualization was critical in enabling the construction of a viable mental model, a process that did not occur from textbook learning alone, because for the majority of students, their mental models were based upon their end-user experience rather than on the theoretical learning.
AB - The EasyCPU visualization environment was developed for teaching computer architecture to novice students of computer science. During the development, the process of choosing the appropriate conceptual model of the computer for the visualization motivated research on the mental models that arise in the students as they learn. These mental models come from attempts by the students to make sense of the conceptual models presented to them by the software tool and their learning materials (textbook and exercises). The research findings support the view that the visualization was critical in enabling the construction of a viable mental model, a process that did not occur from textbook learning alone, because for the majority of students, their mental models were based upon their end-user experience rather than on the theoretical learning.
KW - Computer architecture education
KW - Mental models
KW - Visualization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=20444475048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/1047344.1047390
DO - 10.1145/1047344.1047390
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AN - SCOPUS:20444475048
SN - 1581139977
SN - 9781581139976
T3 - Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2005
SP - 101
EP - 105
BT - Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2005
PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
T2 - Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2005
Y2 - 23 February 2005 through 27 February 2005
ER -