A laboratory is being developed for teaching two concentration courses: Computer Organization and Principles of Design for Large Systems. The laboratory consists of a network of three NeXT workstations, with an additional workstation for faculty development work. The new lab uses a combination of the C programming language, with its low-level features, together with MC68040 assembly code in the Computer Organization course. Simulators are used to work with microcoding and I/O and interrupt facilities. The new equipment enables the use of UNIX tools for controlling the development of large projects. In the Design course, C++, which comes with the NeXT, is used to introduce and provide the facilities of object-oriented programming in the design process. By having the workstations connected via an ethernet, students are better able to coordinate their work for large system design projects. A new course, Computer Modeling: A Tool for the Mind is being developed. In this course, the computational speed and the accessible user interface of the NeXT enables the non-science students to be introduced to the important current applications of computer science such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, chaos theory, and, in general, the "information processing" paradigm for thought.
