A simple project for teaching instruction set architecture

This paper presents a teaching method for a possible computer architect by using a simple project for an undergraduate-level computer architecture course. The goal of the project is to let students (two or three students per team) understand the concept of computer hardware and how to design a simple RISC-type 16/32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA). The project has worked well for students since they responded favorably to the project and indicated that they learned the concepts of computer hardware and how to design computer architecture as a professional engineer.