ITSC-1325 Personal Computer Hardware

Fred Lover

Credit Spring 2023

Section(s)

ITSC-1325-003 (56905)
LEC TuTh 6:00pm - 6:50pm HLC HLC4 1215.07

LAB TuTh 6:50pm - 8:45pm HLC HLC4 1215.07

Course Requirements

Course Description:  A study of current personal computer hardware including personal computer assembly and upgrading, setup and configuration, and troubleshooting.

Pre-requisite:  COSC 1301 and one semester of programming or instructional program approval.

 

Grade Policy:

Grade will be assigned based both on concepts and practical application. Exams, quizzes, and lab projects will be a part of the grade.  An overall grade will be assigned on the following grading scale:

90%  - 100%         A

80%  - 89%          B

70%  - 79%          C

60%  - 69%          D

0%    - 59%          F

 

Course Requirements

 

There are 4 exam that represent the total graded. Exams scheduled  priory to the due receive full credit. Exam past due date or retakes are also available however the total credit will be maximized at 80% credit. 

 

Attendance/Class Participation 

Regular and punctual class and laboratory attendance is expected of all students.  If attendance or compliance with other course policies is unsatisfactory, the instructor may withdraw students from the class.  

 

Readings

 

Approved Course Texts/Readings:

Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Sixth Edition

(Exams 220-1001 & 220-1002)

6th Edition

By Mike Meyers  

ISBN10: 1260455068  

ISBN13: 9781260455069  

Copyright: 2019

 

Instructional Methodology: This course will

Course Subjects

COURSE

 

Week

Topics

Readings and Exams

1

Overview of class and syllabus 

Safety and Professionalism
The Visible Computer

 Chapter 1 and 2

2

CPU’s

RAM

Firmware

Chapter 3, 4  and 5

3

Motherboards

Power Supplies

Chapter 6 and  7

4

Mass Storage Technologies

Implementing Mass Storage

Chapter 8 and 9

5

Exam 1

Essential Peripherals

Chapter 10

6

Building a PC

Windows Under the Hood

Chapter 11 and Chapter 12

7

Users, Groups, and Permissions
Maintaining and Optimizing Operating Systems
Working with the Command-Line Interface

Chapter 13, 14 and Chapter 15

8

Troubleshooting Operating Systems: 

Display Technologies
Essentials of Networking

Chapter 16, 17 and Chapter 18

9

Local Area Networking
 Wireless Networking

Chapter 19 and  20

10

 

The Internet

Exam 2

Chapter 21 

11

Virtualization
Portable Computing
Understanding Mobile Devices

Chapter 22,  23 and Chapter 24

12

Care and Feeding of Mobile Devices
Printers and Multifunction Devices

Chapter 25 and  26 

13

Securing Computers

Chapter 27

14

Operational Procedures

Chapter 28

15

Final Part 1 and Review

Review and Exam

16

Final Part 2

 Comprehensive Exam

 

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course Objectives / Learning Outcomes:  

This course maps fully to CompTIA’s 2019 A+ Exam objectives. The course is designed to be a complete, step-by-step approach for learning the fundamentals of supporting and troubleshooting computer hardware and software. Upon course completion student should be able to:

  1. Recognize the capabilities and limits of the microcomputer and OS.

  2. Explain computer architecture at the operating level - including expansion buses, operating speed, and memory addressing capability.

  3. Acquire the basic skills required to pass the A+ certification exam.

 

Office Hours

M T W Th F S Su 7:00 AM - 9:15 PM Virtual, RVS, HLC, RCG, and RRC

NOTE By Appointment (Virtual, RVS, HLC, RCG, and RRC), Book appt via https://calendly.com/fred-lover/

Office Hours

M T W Th F S Su 7:00 AM - 9:15 PM Virtual, RVS, HLC, RCG, and RRC

NOTE By Appointment (Virtual, RVS, HLC, RCG, and RRC), Book appt via https://calendly.com/fred-lover/

Published: 01/12/2023 09:14:00