An integrated curriculum for Internet of Things: Experience and evaluation

While most universities have courses in computer networks, embedded systems, and other related topics, few have courses dedicated to the uprising area of the Internet of Things (IoT). During the Fall quarter of 2014, Santa Clara University offered a graduate-level course on Internet of Things, whose curriculum was designed using an integrated approach in order to reflect the inter-disciplinary nature of the topic. The course composes of a series of lectures, which are taught by the instructor and guest lecturers, and a laboratory component. In this paper, we will first define the description and the learning outcomes of the course, followed by our design rationale. We will then present the curriculum in details, and show the weekly schedule. We will also include a list of reference materials used in the course for easier adoption. Since the course is accompanied by a series of hands-on laboratory projects to enrich the learning experience, we will describe the design and development projects in details, including the vehicles used and the assessment criteria. Finally, we will present the feedback and comments received from the students as a form of initial evaluation of the performance of the course.