CS160InClassWeek2

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In-class discussion/activities 1st hour

Note, I usually start out each week with a quick overview of the weekly outline for the week and talk about readings, assignments, quiz, etc.

MGF 093012: BINARY SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION. I didn't quite get through Moore's Law and discussion on the computing singularity, so I will start with that and use that to introduce binary systems. Briefly talk about transistors as switches, the equivalence of power on-off, 0-1, and T-F. I will then talk about three representations: Boolean algebra, truth tables, logic gates (today only AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR). Then cover the fundamental logic gates (AND, OR, NOT), and then the common additional gates (NAND, NOR, XOR). Show the Boolean algebra for each of these, the truth tables, and gate for each. Finally if there is time I will pull up the Logic gate practice applet to demo it (using only 1 gate for today). Mostly a lecture and discussion day, no real student activities other than have those with laptops and tablets follow along with the practice applets.

Here is an excellent resource, I may add this in the notes section of Week #2 as a resource for students who wish to go much deeper into this: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_4/index.html

In-class discussion/activities 2nd hour

MGF 093012 NUMBER SYSTEMS: I will focus on multi-digit binary values and representations. Talk about number systems in general, then different base systems, and focus on base-2 and base-10 number systems. My preference is to teach the meaning/function of number systems and use that to do binary to decimal and back conversions rather than memorizing the conversion algorithms (which can be forgotten or used incorrectly). Refer students to the Khan academy video on this topic for them to review/study. Finally I will probably do a student activity of having groups of 3 students and giving each group a decimal value (between 128-256) to convert to binary and then go through each group to explain their conversion to the class. There is an interesting binary conversion activity in "Computer Science Unplugged". I have thought about using it in a college level class, but it might be viewed a bit silly (or maybe not)..thoughts on this?

In-class discussion/activities 3rd hour

MGF 093012 COMBINATORIAL CIRCUITS: Introduce combining logic gates to create logic circuits (combinatorial circuits). Start with using the practice applet with 2 gates and carefully explain the equivalence of three difference representations: combinatorial circuits, truth tables, and boolean algebra statements. Do several 2, 3, and 4 gate circuits, trace the logic, construct the truth tables, write the boolean algebra statements. Finally pull up an adder circuit and trace it. Using this to introduce binary addition (single digit, and then multi-digit). Class activity if time, do several 8 digit additions, and walk through the entire class having each student give the answer for the next column to be added. For any errors, trace back through the adder circuit or truth table. OTHER IDEAS ON PRESENTING THIS TOPIC?




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