Teaching computer networking with the help of personal computer networks

摘要

This paper describes an "experiential" learning approach to teaching a foundational course on Computer Networking. In additional to the traditional laboratory sessions and analytical problem-solving, I have introduced a class project based on personal computer networks for the last three years. Each project group sets up and owns an IP private network throughout the course, and they perform various experiments on it to verify and test the networking principles learned from the textbooks and lectures. The students' feedbacks collected so far are extremely positive. Not only they can acquire practical skills during the process, they are able to better understand the abstract networking concepts and protocols through their working experience with the personal computer networks.