Artificial Neural Networks (ANN's) are nowadays a common subject in different curricula of graduate and postgraduate studies. Due to the complex algorithms involved and the dynamic nature of ANN's, simulation software has been commonly used to teach this subject. This software has usually been developed specifically for learning purposes, because the existing general packages often lack of a convenient user interface, and are too complex or inadequate for these goals. Since ANN's algorithms, types and applications grow regularly, this solution becomes more and more complex and inefficient. In this paper, we present Visual NNet, a learning-oriented ANN's simulation environment, which overcomes this problem by reusing Matlab Neural Networks Toolbox (MNNT), a well-known, comprehensive and robust ANN implementation. Visual NNet combines an on-purpose learning oriented design with the advantages of an ANN's implementation like MNNT. Furthermore, reusing MNNT has done Visual NNet development more cost-effective, fast and reliable.

Nowadays, Computer Science (CS) students must cope with continuous challenges related to programming skill acquisition. In some occasions, they have to deal with the internals of memory management (pointers, pointer arithmetic, and heap management) facing a vision of programming from the low abstraction level offered by C. Even using C++ and references, not all scenarios where objects or collections of objects need to be managed can be covered. Based on the difficulties identified when dealing with such low-level abstractions, the C-Sim application, aimed at learning these concepts in an easy way, has been developed. To support the tool, the C programming language was selected. It allows showing concepts, remaining as close as possible both to the hardware and the operating system. To validate C-Sim, pre and posttests were filled in by a group of 60 first-year CS students, who employed the tool to learn about memory management. Grades of students using C-Sim were also obtained and compared with those that did not use the tool the former academicyear. As main outcomes, 82.26% of students indicated that they had improved programming and memory management knowledge, and 83.64% pointed out that the use of this type of tools improves the understanding and quality of the practice lessons. Furthermore, the marks of students have significantly increased. Finally, C-Sim was designed from the ground up as a learning aid and can be useful for lecturers, who can complement their lessons using interactive demonstrations. Students can also employ it to experiment and learn autonomously.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract