The Case for Case Study assignments in Undergraduate Operating Systems Courses

Abstract

Undergraduate operating systems courses can benefit form a plethora of pedagogical activities and approaches; system-level programming, kernel programming, algorithms simulations, etc. This paper explores the benefits of assigning students a semester-long case study in such a course and discusses the lessons learned from doing so for the past 4 years. We then propose to revisit the core objectives of such an activity and suggest a generic structure which can easily be adapted to fit institutions, courses and instructors requirements. The proposed case study assignment offers a scaffolding-based guidance to students and combines a high technical level with a good diversity of topics while addressing the issues which are typical in such assignment.