Digital Logic Course Themed Around Arithmetic

Work in Progress—In-depth coverage of arithmetic operations in an introductory digital logic course equips students with the background knowledge necessary for high-level Computer and Electrical engineering and Computer Science courses. In this paper, we propose a new method of teaching digital logic based on including a module on fixed-point and floating-point arithmetic operations during the first four weeks of the course, and then theming the whole course around this module without sacrificing the recommended course outcomes. The paper shows that theming the whole course around arithmetic operations helps students to achieve the course outcomes, makes the course interesting, ties the course to real-life applications, and teaches students how to implement and compare alternative designs.