CSC242 Syllabus

  1. Course number and name

    CSC242 – Computer Organization

  2. Credits and contact hours

    3 Credit Hours

  3. Instructor’s or course coordinator’s name

    Instructor: Dr. Xiaojun Ruan, Associate Professor of Computer Science

  4. Text book, title, author, and year

    The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, Linda Null and Julia Lobur, ISBN-13: 978-1284045611 ISBN-10: 1284045617 Edition: 4th

  5. Specific course information

    1. brief description of the content of the course (catalog description)

      This course teaches introductory topics in computer architecture and hardware design as well as the basics of assembly language. Students will learn the principles of Computer Organizations such as: Digital Logic and Data Representation Topics, Computer Architecture and Organization, I/O Strategies, Memory Architecture, and CPU Architecture.

    2. prerequisites or co-requisites

      Prerequisite: CSC142 Computer Science II, MAT151 Discrete Mathematics.

    3. indicate whether a required, elective, or selected elective course in the program

      Required course.

  6. Specific goals for the course

    1. specific outcomes of instruction

      • Computer architecture and hardware design.
      • Basics of assembly language.
      • Data Representation Topics.
      • CPU Architecture and design.
      • Memory Architecture.

    2. explicitly indicate which of the student outcomes listed in Criterion 3 or any other outcomes are addressed by the course.

      Course addresses Student Outcomes a), (b), (c), and (i).

  7. Brief list of topics to be covered
    • Introduction to Computer Organization and Architecture
    • Data Representation in Computer Systems
    • Boolean Algebra and Digital Logic
    • MARIE: An Introduction to a Simple Computer System
      • CPU Basics
      • Instruction Processing
      • Memory Addressing
    • Memory Architecture
    • Input/Output