This paper presents the contents of a Special Topics Class used to introduce undergraduate students to the different approach to learning and thinking found in the graduate level Computer Systems environment. During the first half of the semester, the students received instruction in reading and writing technical documents, and had experience with professor-guided self-study. During the second half of the semester, the students presented an idea for a simulator, built it, and used it to conduct simple experiments. After completing the experiments, they were encouraged to brainstorm variations to the algorithms or architectures they simulated, which would improve performance. Student evaluations revealed that for 50% of the students, their interest in graduate school increased as a result of the class.

Simulation and analysis in the small: the case for simple models, metrics and microbenchmarks in computer architecture teaching and research

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Bridging the gap between the undergraduate and graduate experience in computer systems studies

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