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The main goal of the research presented in the paper is to study the Electrical Engineering (EE) and Computer Engineering (CE) curriculum in order to improve its coverage, with the goal of better preparing graduates to pursue a wider range of professional careers. The research deals with the differences in studying subjects related to computer architecture by two groups of students having different prior knowledge: EE students and CE students. This research establishes the implications of hands-on studies and considers the gap in knowledge, and whether these studies reduce the gaps. This research was conducted for the same "Microprocessors practicum" course. The first group (CE students) acquired a large body of knowledge in computer architecture, while the second group (EE students) acquired knowledge mainly in "Introduction to programming" prior to the practicum course, and this fact was reflected in a pretest conducted for the two groups. The official test that was taken at the end of the semester, which examined the knowledge that was acquired during the course's lectures, revealed no difference between the two groups. However, a posttest, specifically arranged for the purpose of this study, strongly indicated that the Computer Engineering students have an advantage over the Electrical Engineering students. Regarding the objective that the lab should provide students with an understanding of computing processes, it seems that lack of prior knowledge hinders it. The lab is meaningful provided that the students are exposed to prior studies, in which case, the lab serves to reinforce the subject matter. At the university in which the research took place, suitable changes in the curriculum have already been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolvement of the computing domain has posed challenges in attempting to bridge the gap between school and the contemporary world of computing, which is related to content, learning culture, and professional norms. We believe that the interaction of high-school students who major in computer science or software engineering with leading representatives of the computing community of practice may motivate them to pursue their studies further or pursue a career in the field. Accordingly, our program aims at exposing talented high-school students "directly by leading experts" to state-of-the-art computing research, advanced technologies, software engineering methodologies, and professional norms. The interaction between the students and the experts, who actually become role models for the students, occurs at two levels: (a) during enrichment plenary meetings, and (b) through one-to-one interaction in which students develop software projects under the apprenticeship-based supervision of professionals from the computing community of practice. In the last four years, six hundred students participated in enrichment activities; 86 of these students accomplished high-level software projects under the supervision of experts. A long-term formative evaluation of the program has been conducted regarding: (1) students' attitudes towards the "different-from-school" style of learning that characterizes the program, and (2) students' performance in developing projects. In this paper, we specifically discuss the contribution of resources that students used for various phases of the project development activity. We found that the following categories of resources were employed by the students: self-learning, mentors, bibliographic resources (the Web, professional articles, professional books), school resources (a school teacher, school learning, and materials), and other human resources (i.e., a classmate the student's age, a family member, a grown-up acquaintance). Importantly, the findings indicated that during the entire development process the students exhibited self-efficacy, since they relied more on themselves than on other resources. Interestingly, during the entire development process, the web was perceived as the most significant bibliographic resource. Specifically, regarding the need to achieve adequate acquaintance with the theoretical knowledge that was required, self-studying and the web were perceived as the most significant resources, which may imply that the mentors' guidance inspired the students' self-inquiry and self-study. However, during the problem-solving activities, students relied more on the mentors than on bibliographic resources. Based on the study findings, we concluded that professional experts who supervise students in project development may motivate them to acquire in-depth knowledge in computing, promote creativity, as well as enhance self-learning and inquiry ability. In addition, the interaction with role models may contribute to establishing professional norms. We hope that further implementation of the program, along with recruitment of more representative experts from academia and hi-tech industry, will promote a culture of learning and work befitting the dynamic world of industrial computing, thus providing the students with an entry point into the computing community of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]