Hi guys,
There isn't a dedicated processor thread so I figured I will put this in with Micros and FPGA's.
I am studying Electronic and Communications engineering at RMIT University. For the most part the experience has been reasonable albeit expensive.
Something which has kind of irked myself and my fellow students is our perceived absurdity of our Digital signal processing micro apps class.
The instructor is having us program a
Motorolla DSP56800 processor using
assembly language.
This processor is older than most of my fellow classmates and as far as I can tell it isn't used in industry anymore. Learning to use a device that isn't used in industry
to me is absurd.
From an employers prospective i'm thinking why would I hire me who knows how to program on old hardware which isn't used over someone who can program current hardware....?
Moreover the device needs specific programming hardware not obtainable by students meaning we are limited to class specific lab time to have hands on with the tech.
Something like the Discovery Dave reviewed last week would be ideal as it's low cost and "all inclusive" layout means the students can purchase and learn via tinkering on the actual hardware itself rather than relying exclusively on theory and testing in class.
I am the Student Staff Consultative comity representative and have been asked by my Cohorts to raise this with the university.
We are wanting the class to teach ARM processors over this ancient tech.
Therefore I have a few questions i'm hoping someone on here can help with.
I need to demonstrate to the program manager / Dean that,
1) The hardware isn't used in industry / isn't in demand enough to warrant it's use in education.
2) The skills gained from learning on said hardware are not easily applied to learning current hardware.
3) The cost benefit of changing hardware is positive.
4) Changing the hardware will be of significant benefit to the students and the reputation of the university.
5) The fundamentals can be equally taught using modern ARM processors.
Can anyone offer any advise on how I can demonstrate the above 5 criteria?
If you cant could you just answer the following few questions, it may be helpful to show the answers to the Dean and Program manager.
A) Do you think it is reasonable to be teaching DSP processors using this old technology or would you personally prefer to be taught on more modern hardware?
B) Would you hire a graduate engineer who was taught to use 20 year old processors over someone who was taught to to program current technology?
C) How long do you think it would take the average person to re-learn to use modern technology after learning this older tech?
D) If you were hiring staff, would you rather them know how to use C++ or assembly to a high proficiency?
E) If you are designing an average project which uses a processor, which processor would you choose? (Keeping costs to the average)
Thank you all very much and we look forward to working with you in the near future. =D