Effective Learning with Usage of Simulators – A Case of NCTUns Simulator in Computer Networks

The outcome of any good curriculum design should be better learning to student community. In this regard, some of the science subjects need to be taught with the help of simulator so that students can feel “hands on” learning instead of traditional way. In Computer Science which is one of the predominant branches under science stream, Computer Network is one such subject which makes the tutor job tough in understanding the concepts. In this regard we used a network simulator called NCTUns, as add on with our course. This network simulation is an important tool in developing, testing and evaluating network protocols. Simulation can be used without the target physical hardware, making it economical and practical for almost any scale of network topology and setup. It is possible to simulate a link of any bandwidth and delay, even if such a link is currently impossible in the real world. With simulation, it is possible to set each simulated node to use any desired software. Results are also easier to obtain and analyze, because extracting information from important points in the simulated network is also done by simply parsing the generated trace files