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The Nuts and Bolts of Computer Science
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Contributed by Dave Wittry
Troy High School
Fullerton, California
My school has a one-semester course that is focused on the nuts and bolts of computer science. All freshmen in the tech program take it. The course includes topics such as:
- Numbering systems
- Logic diagrams and logic gates
- Boolean algebra
- DeMorgan's laws
- Shift registers
- Adders/subtractors
Most students do not study these topics in high school. An introductory computer science course is a perfect time for students to experience some (or all) of these topics because we are not pressed to cover a large number of topics in a small amount of time.
We study each of the topics above in detail. For example, we do not simply show students how to convert numbers from base 10 to base 2, 8, and 16; we teach how to convert any base to any other base, and the tricks for converting within the 2, 8, and 16 bases. Similarly, we cover just about every Boolean algebra law and technique. We generally cover more material than one might be able to cover in an introductory course. Some of these topics are less likely to be included in most high school computer science curricula (flip-flops, Karnaugh maps, shift registers, counters, adders/subtractors). Our course includes really great labs that are all hands-on. We have students prototype using a breadboard, wires, and, of course, the ic's (the basic logic ic's we use are: and, or, not, xor, nand, nor). The labs are very detailed and the hardware needed is not costly. It is not necessary to do the labs; one could just go through the topics listed above in a lecture/discussion manner.
We find that this course is extremely helpful to us in preparing students for AP CS. Complete course details are available on the Troy High School CLA Web site, including homework, take-home quizzes, class handouts, worksheets, and lab problems.
 Computer Logic and Algorithms
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