The Classroom Computer: a role-playing educational activity

Computers are among the most exciting technical systems for younger students. Many students are keenly interested in learning how a modern computer works, but are unable to because of their limited background. The authors have developed a series of activities that mimic the operation of a digital computer to teach computer architecture concepts without the need for expensive equipment that are beyond the resources of most schools. Students role-play parts of a digital computer to accomplish a given task, and follow a given set of rules (their program). Student roles include: a processor, a cache memory controller, main memory, mass storage devices, system buses and input/output devices. Student activities include displaying a multimedia movie, exploring cache memory, and processing an image. Preliminary testing indicates that the Classroom Computer allows students to understand the basic operations of a digital computer.