A database of course materials in computer architecture

Teaching computer architecture, like any course at the college level, requires the instructor to spend much time in preparation outside class. This time is spent in writing lectures, making up homework problems and labs, and devising and grading exams. This involves much duplication of effort, since the same problems and labs are, in principle, usable in courses at different universities. Although a small amount of sharing has gone on an ad hoc basis, until now, there has been no way to search for and retrieve a very wide variety of course materials.

Instructors teaching computer architecture have been surveyed, and several dozen have expressed interest in participating in this project. Contributors to the database will be asked to supply a pathname(s) for the location of their course materials. For security's sake, problem solutions will be kept in encrypted archives. The unencrypted portion of the database will be managed very similar to the technical-report databases now available for browsing over the World-Wide Web. It will be possible to search for problems, lectures, or other material, containing arbitrary keywords. The encrypted portion of the database will require new interfaces, or possibly new browser software to be written. Development of this database will encourage reuse, and aid in improving the quality of courses and decreasing the time required to teach them well.