An Android Application for Simplifying Boolean Functions

Abstract

Students who are enrolled in computer-related courses need to have a fundamental knowledge and application of Boolean expressions. Learning Boolean algebra and digital logic are somehow difficult for students to grasp especially because these disciplines highly require them of critical thinking and logical understanding. To address this need, the researchers designed and developed a mobile application for Android-enabled phones that will assist the teacher in explaining the concepts of Boolean expressions to students. Developmental-experimental designs of research were used. The data gathered from the respondents were analyzed and utilized in the application development where it accepts Boolean expressions and displays the generated simplified expression, truth table, Karnaugh map, and logic circuit diagrams. The application does not require a network connection and runs only on the Android operating system. The researchers used the following tools in the development of the mobile application: Eclipse as editor, Android Software Development Kit (SDK) as a development tool, and SQLite as its database. The mobile application was tested, evaluated, and used by the respondents. Respondents agreed that the application is better than the manual procedures in simplifying Boolean expressions. Thus, this Android-based application is highly recommended as a tool for teaching Boolean expressions. Keywords- Information Technology, Boolean algebra, descriptive-developmental method, Philippines