General Information

• Instructor

  Alec J. Engebretson
  Professor of Information Science and Technology

  Doane College
  Crete, NE 68333

  Phone: (402)826-8216 (office)
  Phone: (402)826-9541 (cell)
  Email: alec.engebretson@doane.edu
  

• Schedule

  Thursday, August 21, 2008 - Thursday, October 9, 2008
  Class: Thursday, 6:00-10:30
  
  

• Text and supplements
  
  If you still have it from ISM 253, it would be useful to reference Introduction to Computing Systems from Bits and Gates to C and Beyond, 2nd Edition , by Patt and Patel, McGraw Hill Publishing.

  There will also be handouts given during class to supplement our discussion of digital logic, electronic circuits, architecture, and operating systems.

Course Description and Objectives

Information systems management is an exciting, dynamic field with numerous areas and applications that can lead to a wide range of challenging and rewarding careers.

Information systems process information. In order to be processed, information must be represented in such a way that it can be manipulated by a machine - the computer.  

This course answers the question, How does a computer work?

All instructions and information on a computer are ultimately represented as a series of binary digits - 0 and 1. Therefore, the computer is a physical device that must be based on binary digital logic. From this logic, physical components (hardware) such as memory and processors are designed. These components must respond to given instructions (software).

This course examines the organization and operation of a digital electronic computer from the digital logic used to build the hardware components to the instructions used to manipulate the hardware components. The course also examines general hardware and software components, with a specific focus on the operating system functions. Specifically, this course has the following objectives:

• Provide a basic understanding of how various types of information such as characters, numbers, pictures, sounds, movies, and instructions are represented on a computer system.
• Provide a basic understanding of binary digital logic including the basic Boolean functions and how they are used to build useful hardware components such as flip-flops, registers, counters, decoders, encoders, multiplexers, and adders.
• Provide an understanding of the basic organization of a computer system in terms of digital hardware components and how software instructions are executed using the digital components at the machine level.
• Provide an understanding of the fundamental hardware and software components of a computer system.
• Provide and understanding of the differences between application and system software focusing on the functions provided by an operating system such as process management, memory management, and how it performs those functions.
• Research and present information about specific information systems (hardware and software) showing the ability to effectively communicate acquired knowledge pertaining to this course.

Course Topics, Readings, & Assignments (subject to change)

 

Session	Date	Topic(s)
1	Thursday, 8/21	Course overview
		Information representation
		Fundamental digital logic
		Useful circuits in a computer system
2	Thursday, 8/28	Electronics lab - fundamental digital logic
		Electronics lab - fundamental digital logic
		Electronics lab - useful circuits
		Electronics lab - useful circuits
3	Thursday, 9/4	Hardware components of a computer system
		The execution of an instruction at the machine level
		Basic processing unit
		Basic processing unit
4	Thursday, 9/11	Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
5	Thursday, 9/18	Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
7	Thursday, 9/25	Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
		Project - Building a microprocessor
7	Thursday, 10/2	Software components of a computer system
		The operating system - a historical perspective
		The operating system - multitasking
		The operating system - memory management
8	Thursday, 10/9	Project presentations (current architectures)
		Presentations (current operating systems)
		Presentations (continued as needed)
		Class summary

Grading

Building a microprocessor project (100 points)
Architecture and operating system presentation (100 points)
Assignments, attendance, participation (100 points)

Scale

A+	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	D-	F
100-98	97-94	93-91	90-88	87-84	83-81	80-78	77-74	73-71	70-68	67-64	63-61	<=60

Attendance and Participation Policy

In order to maximize the benefit from this course, full attendance to and participation in all classes is necessary and therefore expected.

Attendance will be noted each class session. The attendance portion of your final grade will be determined by the percentage of classes which you attended and in which you fully participated.

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In accordance with Doane's academic dishonesty policy which articulates the college's stance on honesty in the classroom, any act of dishonesty in pursuing the work of this course will be penalized.

First confirmed act of dishonesty

• Report to Academic Affairs as required by college policy.
• Receipt of a zero (0) for the activity.

Second and subsequent confirmed acts of dishonesty will be forwarded to and handled by the Vice President for Academic Affairs in accordance with policy guidelines.

Remember, collaboration among classmates is necessary and expected as an integral part of the education process. Copying will not be tolerated!