A constructivist framework for operating systems education

A conventional teaching approach, when applied specifically to the discipline of Operating Systems (OS), seems to fall short of attaining the overall objective, sometimes leaving the lecturer unsure about the students' actual understanding of the dynamic nature of OS concepts and mechanisms. This paper presents a pedagogical proposal, based on constructivist ideas, as a means of making the process of learning OS more efficient and interesting. The framework presented here uses the SOsim graphical simulator as a support tool, creating a teaching and learning environment in which practical experiments can be undertaken as each OS topic is introduced and explained.