Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
1 Name of Course
2 Course Number
3 Semester and Year
Offered
4 Credit Units
5 Contact Hours
6 Pre-requisites (if any)
7 Co-requisites (if any)
8 Course Description
9 Program Learning
Outcomes
Information Technology/Computer Science Department
REF CIS-BSIT-IT131-2019
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Computer Architecture
IT 131, IT 131L
1st Year, Short Term
1 Unit Lecture, 2 Units Laboratory
34 hours lecture, 51 hours laboratory
IT 121, IT 121L
none
This course introduces students to the architecture and organization of computers on two
fronts:
1. In the lecture class, this course aims to teach students about the functional
principles and current development of the different hardware components that
comprise 21st century electronic computing devices ranging in scale from handheld
mobile device, desktop computers, up to warehouse-scale computers.
2. In the laboratory class, this course equips the students with the technical know-how
in measuring computer performance and writing low-level programs for computers
and simple microcontrollers.
At the end of the program, the BSIT Graduates should be able to:
1. Manifest understanding of computing, mathematical and scientific concepts related
to the IT discipline.
2. Use the appropriate tools and technologies in addressing the IT-related needs of an
organization or community.
3. Assess technical and user requirements in the analysis of given computing problems
and provide an IT solution suitable to the problem domain.
4. Design and implement an IT solution that applies current standards, tools and
technologies while taking into account user needs, the technical environment and
best practices.
5. Function effectively as an accountable individual and as a team player in a
multicultural and multidisciplinary environment.
6. Communicate effectively knowledge and ideas to the computing community and
society at large across a wide range of contexts and media.
7. Act in accordance with ethical, legal, and social responsibilities as an IT professional,
with recognition of the local and global impact of technology to individuals,
organizations and society.
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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

8. Adapt to emerging technologies in the pursuit of continuing professional growth.

9. Practice Christian, Louisian and Filipino values in their personal and professional
endeavours and actively participate in the service of the community.
10 Course Learning At the end of the term, the learners of this course should be able to achieve the following:
Outcomes 1. Understand the role of the computer hardware as a vital part of the computer
system
2. Understand the architectural design of individual hardware components that are
found in 21st century electronic computing devices
3. Explain the intrinsic relationship between the individual hardware components that
contributes to the overall architecture of the hardware device
4. Be aware of the current trends and developments in ICT and its commercial impact
to consumers of these technologies
5. Explain the role of computer architecture and its impact on the overall performance
of computer systems
6. Realize the role of ICT technologies as a medium for nurturing human development
while sustaining a green environment
7. Understand the hardware-software interface using microcontrollers and low-level
assembly programming

11. Alignment of Course Learning Outcomes with the SLU Graduate Attributes

SLU Graduate Attributes Course Learning Outcomes

Christian Spirited
Socially Involved
Professionally Competent
Creative and Critical Thinker

12. Course Learning Outcomes vs Program Learning Outcomes Mapping Table

Course Learning Outcomes Program Learning Outcomes
PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO PLO
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Understand the role of the computer hardware as  
a vital part of the computer system
2. Understand the architectural design of individual
hardware components that are found in 21st  
century electronic computing devices

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

3. Explain the intrinsic relationship between the

individual hardware components that contributes    
to the overall architecture of the hardware device
4. Be aware of the current trends and developments
in computer hardware technology and its      
commercial impact to consumers of these
technology
5. Explain the role of computer architecture in the
current state and future development of ICT         
technologies
6. Realize the role of ICT technologies as a medium
for nurturing human development while sustaining        
a green environment
7. Understand the hardware-software interface using
microcontrollers and low-level assembly  
programming

13. Course Learning Plan

TIME
TOPIC LEARNING ACTIVITIES/STRATE INDICATORS/ LEARNING
TOPIC ALLOTME ASSESSMENT TOOLS
OUTCOMES GIES RESOURCES
NT
Midterms
1. Understand the overall Review: Components 1 hour Lecture Seatwork Reference
concept of computer of the modern lecture books
architecture computer system

Introduction to
computer
architecture

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

2. Understand the Introduction to the 5 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference

internal operations of Little Man Computer lecture + 6 books
Computer simulation Quiz
the computer (LMC) model hours
Little Minion
laboratory Program Programming
Programming in the Computer
demonstration activities
LMC model simulator
Hands-on Exams
Performing unsigned
programming
number arithmetic in
the LMC model
Branching logic in the
LMC model
3. Understand data Introduction to base 6 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
representation inside systems lecture + 6 book
Program Programming
the computer hours
Expressing numbers demonstration activities Java 1.8 SDK
laboratory
in decimal, binary,
Hands-on Quiz
octal, and
programming
hexadecimal notation
Conversion between
numbering systems
Elementary
arithmetic operations
in decimal, binary,
octal, and
hexadecimal notation
Representation of
signed numbers in
binary and
performing
subtraction using 2’s
complement
IEEE 754 floating-
point representation

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

4. Understand the Review of computer 1 hour Lecture Quiz Reference

functional definition of systems lecture books
computer architecture Functional units of
the computer
hardware
Mapping the LMC
model to the
functional units of the
computer hardware
5. Understand processor- Introduction to the 2 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
memory operations in central processing lecture + books
Programming Programming
the computer unit (CPU) and the 3 hours lab
demonstration activities Java 1.8 SDK
primary memory
Article review Quiz
Review of the von
Neumann
architecture and the
stored program
concept
Introduction to the
instruction cycle
FINALS
6. Understanding the Introduction to the 4 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
CPU architecture Intel x86 32-bit and lecture + books
Programming Programming
64-bit architecture 9 hours lab
demonstration activities
Macro
CPU metrics
Show and tell Quiz Assembly
Introduction to (MASM)
Video review
assembly language
programming

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

7. Understanding the Introduction to the 4 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference

memory architecture memory hierarchy lecture + books
Show and tell Programming
3 hours lab
The von Neumann activities [Review]
Article review
bottleneck “Memory
Reaction paper
Hierarchies in
Introduction to
Quiz the ARM
caching technologies
Cortex-A8
and cache
and Intel Core
optimization
i7”
Overview of
secondary storage
devices
Memory organization
Memory technology
and optimization
Computer
memory/storage
metrics
8. Understand the bus Introduction to the 4 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
architecture bus architecture of lecture + 3 books
Show and tell Quiz
the computer hours
laboratory
Classification of
computer buses
Types of bus
topologies and
modern bus
standards
Computer bus
metrics
Architecture of the
computer
motherboard

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

9. Understand data-level Introduction to 2 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference

and instruction-level pipelining and Flynn’s lecture + 3 books
Programming demo Programming
parallelism Taxonomy on parallel hours
activities [Review] “The
computing laboratory Article review
Switch from
Reaction paper
Introduction to data- Uniprocessors
level and instruction- Quiz to Multi-
level parallelism processors”
Review of multi-core [Review] “The
processors in mobile Intel Core i7
computing devices and ARM
and desktop Cortex-A8”
computers
10. Understand thread- Introduction to 2 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
level and request-level shared-memory lecture books
Article review Reaction paper
parallelism architecture
[Review] “A
Quiz
Introduction to Google
warehouse-scale Warehouse-
computers and cloud scale
computing Computer”
11. Understanding the I/O Introduction to I/O 3 hours Lecture Seatwork Reference
architecture of the lecture + 6 books
Classification of I/O Show and tell Reporting
computer hours lab
operations
Article review Quiz
The I/O bus interface
ICT Paper proposal
Overview of I/O and
modern network
technologies
I/O and network
metrics

14. Course Requirements

As evidence of attaining the learning outcomes stated, student-learners are required to submit the following requirement at the
end of the term.

Course Learning Outcome Required Output Due Date

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

1. Understand the role of the computer
hardware as a vital part of the
computer system
2. Understand the architectural design
of individual hardware components
that are found in 21st century
electronic computing devices
3. Explain the intrinsic relationship
between the individual hardware
components that contributes to the
overall architecture of the hardware
device
4. Be aware of the current trends and
developments in computer hardware
technology
5. Explain the role of computer
architecture and organization in the
current state and future
development of ICT technologies
6. Realize the role of ICT technologies
as a medium for nurturing human
development while sustaining a
green environment
7. Explain the interface between high-
level/low-level programs and the
computer hardware
Throughout the course of the semester,
different requirements will be submitted
by the students:
 [Programming Requirement]*  A week before the middle term
Program compilation of solutions to exams
LMC problems using the Little Minion
Computer simulator
 [Programming Requirement]*
 A week before the middle term
Program compilation of solutions to exams
bitwise-operation problems in Java
 [Programming Requirement]*  A week before the final term exams
Program compilation of solutions to
low-level programming problems
written in Borland Turbo Assembly
(TASM) and/or Microsoft’s Macro
Assembly (MASM)
 Within two weeks from the date after
 [Reaction Paper]* Reaction paper the presentation of the
on popular and trending issues in material/article
computer architecture
 A week before the final term exams
 [Technical Specification]*
Technical specification of ICT
resources based on a use-case
scenario for a simple clientele model
* NOTE: See scoring rubric in
Assessment and Grading

15. Assessment and Grading System

Each student will be assessed based on the grading policy enforced by the University with the following grade distribution:
Subject Grade = 20% of Prelim Grade + 35% of Midterm Grade + 45% of Final term Grade
Course requirements will be assessed using the following rubrics:

Scoring rubric for PROGRAMING REQUIREMENTS:

Criteria Excellent Good Satisfactory Needs Improvement

8

School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department
Correctness of Program solved the
solution problem for majority of
the test cases [9-10 pts]
Appropriateness Program applied the most
of solution used appropriate solution for
the given problem [5
pts]
Scoring rubric for REACTON PAPERS:
Criteria Excellent [9-10 pts]
Introductio Introduction clearly
n provides an accurate and
concise summary of the
article being reviewed
Critique Critiques the main points
of the article using
evidence to back up
arguments
Conclusion Conclusion incites the
reader to mostly agree
with the opinion of the
author
Structure, The document is well-
organizatio developed and organized
n and while mostly adhering to
format prescribed format
Scoring rubric for TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:
Criteria Excellent [9-10 pts]
Processor Proposed CPU specification
specs is sufficient; it matches the
baseline computing
requirement of the
business
Saint Louis University
Program solved the
problem for all common
cases and most rare
cases [7-8 pts]
Program applied a
stereotypical solution for
the given problem [4
pts]
Good [7-8 pts]
Introduction at least
covered the central issue
that is presented by the
article being reviewed
Critiques the main points
of the article but lacks
resolve in backing up
arguments
Conclusion elicits an insightful
debate for or against the issue
raised by the author
The document is well-
developed and organized
with some noticeable
formatting errors
Good [7-8 pts]
Proposed CPU specification
is overrated; it somewhat
exceeds the computing
requirement beyond the
need of the business
9
Program solved the
problem for all common
cases but did not
consider rare cases [5-6
pts]
Program applied an
unconventionally solution
for the given problem [3
pts]
Satisfactory [5-6 pts]
Introduction covered most
of the central issue that is
presented by the article
being reviewed
Critiques most of the main
point of the article while
loosely citing evidence to
back up arguments
Conclusion at least
summarizes the overall idea
behind the reaction paper;
evokes neutral response
The document is properly
developed but needs
better organization
Satisfactory [5-6 pts]
Proposed CPU specification
is underrated; it somewhat
falls a little bit short of the
computing requirement
needed by the business
Program solved the
problem for most
common cases [1-4 pts]
Program did not apply a
solution that is
appropriate for the given
problem [0-2 pts]
Needs Improvement
[1-4 pts]
Introduction fails to
satisfactorily inform the
reader what the article
being reviewed is all about
Critique does not really
address the central
message that is being
pointed out by the article
Conclusion does not
completely resolve any of the
issues that the author is
attempting to raise
The document is not well-
developed and needs
better organization
Needs Improvement
[1-4 pts]
Proposed CPU specification
is underrated; it falls short
of the computing
requirement needed by
the business

School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department
Memory Proposed memory
specs specification is sufficient
to match the expected
load of computing
requirements of the
business
Storage Proposed storage
specs specification is sufficient
to handle the storage
requirements of the
business
I/O specs I/O specification also
includes other peripherals
beyond the standard
mouse-keyboard-and-
monitor combo
Network
specs (to
be decided)
Overall The overall hardware
specs specification is just
enough to meet the
computing needs of the
business
Overall All the hardware
setup components in the specs
is compatible
Pricing The pricing can be justified
by the specifications of the
proposed hardware set-up
Saint Louis University
Proposed memory
specification is overrated
and does not contribute
any discernible
improvements in the
performance of the
proposed hardware set-up
to support the computing
requirement of the
business
Proposed storage
specification is overrated;
this may case the storage
device to be under utilized
Standard I/O device was
included in the
specification
The overall hardware
specification exceeds the
computing needs of the
business
One element in the
hardware specification is
not compatible with the
whole set-up
Pricing of the hardware
set-up is undervalued
10
Proposed memory
specification is
underrated; it somewhat
falls a little bit short of the
memory requirement in
the proposed hardware
set-up to support the
computing requirement of
the business
Proposed storage
specification is
underrated; specification
may be insufficient when
considering storage
requirements of the
business in the long run
The overall hardware
specification is insufficient
to fulfill the computing
needs of the business
Two elements in the
hardware specification is
not compatible with the
whole set-up
Pricing of the hardware
set-up is overpriced; the
costing is a little bit high
compared to the proposed
hardware setup
Proposed memory
specification is underrated;
memory specification
impedes the performance
of the proposed hardware
set-up
Proposed storage
specification is underrated;
specification falls short of
the storage requirements
of the business
I/O specs is incomplete
The overall hardware
specification is not feasible
Most elements in the
hardware specification is
not compatible with the
whole set-up
Pricing of the hardware
set-up is overpriced; the
costing is too high
considering the specs of
the proposed hardware
 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

setup

Policies and guidelines of SLU on grading will be used. Specific weights will be assigned to various course requirements.

16. Course References

A. Main References
Computer Architecture : A Quantitative Approach, 6th Edition, Patterson and Hennessy, 2017
Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface, Patterson and Hennessy, 5 th Edition, 2014
The Architecture Of Computer Hardware, System Software & Networking: An Information Technology Approach, 5 th
Edition, Englander, 2015
Intel x86 Assembly Language and Microarchitecture, Free eBook, StackOverflow contributors

B. Books
Computer Organization and Architecture: Designing for Performance, Stallings, 10th Edition, 2015
Computer Organization and Architecture: Themes and Variations, Clements, 2014
Borland Turbo Assembler 5.0 User’s Guide, Borland International, 1998
Assembly Language for x86 processors, Irvine , 7th Edition, 2014
Assembly Language Tutorial, Simple Easy Learning by tutorialspoint.com

C. Online Resources
LappyList – The Free Laptop Buying Guide and Comparison Tool, Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
http://www.lappylist.com
Little Minion Computer (Simulator and Desciption), Durham University, UK,
https://community.dur.ac.uk/m.j.r.bordewich/LMC.html
Modern x64 Assembly, Chris Rose - What’s A Creel?, Australia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsBghsrvpI
GUI Turbo Assembler (TASM): A 32-64bit MuItilingual IDE for Assembly Language with TASM & TLINK,
https://sourceforge.net/projects/guitasm8086/

Revised and Updated: Date:

Prepared by Reviewed by Approved by

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 Saint Louis University
School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies
Information Technology/Computer Science Department

Balmeo, Laurence
Mendoza, Kasima Rose Ma. Concepcion B. Clemente, MIT Cecilia A. Mercado, Ph. D.
Faculty Department Head Dean

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