Abstract for HONS 06/14
Network Communication Protocols for High School Students
Samuel Jarman
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
University of Canterbury
Abstract
Computer Science was introduced to New Zealand schools as an NCEA topic for the first time in 2011. Development of resources for both teachers and students has been crucial in the topic’s success. The Computer Science Field Guide is an open source, online textbook aimed at solving this problem. This project describes the design and development of the final chapter of the textbook on network protocols. The textbook includes a video, classroom activities, online games, and a tutorial, which are made up on existing resources that have been improved and new content which has been developed as needed. The content covers what a protocol is, what they can achieve and how protocols can be layered to achieve suitable abstractions. Through a pilot study, metrics and teacher feedback, we are confident the content will be useful and engaging for students studying Computer Science at Level 3.
