Information Representation in Computer Systems Course Syllabus
Full curriculum breakdown — modules, lessons, estimated time, and outcomes.
Overview: This course provides a foundational understanding of how computers represent and process data, starting from basic number systems to complex digital encoding of text, images, audio, and video. Designed for beginners, it balances theory with hands-on practice to build intuition without heavy mathematical prerequisites. The course spans approximately 15 hours of engaging content across eight modules, each building on the last to solidify your grasp of information representation in computer systems.
Module 1: Introduction to Number Systems
Estimated time: 1.5 hours
- Decimal, binary, octal, and hexadecimal number systems
- Understanding base conversions
- Converting between decimal and binary
- Converting between binary, octal, and hexadecimal
Module 2: Binary Arithmetic
Estimated time: 2 hours
- Binary addition and subtraction
- Binary multiplication and division
- Carry and overflow in binary operations
- Hands-on practice with binary arithmetic
Module 3: Negative Numbers and Two's Complement
Estimated time: 1.5 hours
- Sign representation in binary
- One’s complement method
- Two’s complement representation
- Performing operations with negative binary numbers
Module 4: Floating Point Representation
Estimated time: 2.5 hours
- IEEE 754 standard for floating point numbers
- Normalized and denormalized formats
- Understanding precision and rounding errors
- Encoding and decoding floating point values
Module 5: Character Encoding
Estimated time: 1.5 hours
- ASCII character encoding
- Unicode and UTF-8, UTF-16 formats
- Control characters and their roles
- Converting text to binary using encoding schemes
Module 6: Image, Audio, and Video Encoding
Estimated time: 2 hours
- Pixel representation and RGB color model
- Image compression techniques
- Audio sampling and quantization
- Basics of video encoding and formats
Module 7: Logic and Boolean Algebra
Estimated time: 2 hours
- Logic gates and truth tables
- Boolean expressions and evaluation
- Simplification using Boolean algebra
- Building simple logic circuits
Module 8: Applications and Review
Estimated time: 2 hours
- Real-world applications of data representation
- End-to-end encoding scenarios
- Review of key concepts
- Practice problems and final assessment
Prerequisites
- Basic familiarity with computers
- No programming experience required
- Minimal math background—basic arithmetic sufficient
What You'll Be Able to Do After
- Convert numbers between decimal, binary, octal, and hexadecimal systems
- Perform binary arithmetic and understand two's complement for negative numbers
- Explain how floating point numbers are represented using IEEE 754
- Encode and decode text using ASCII and Unicode standards
- Analyze how images, audio, and video are digitized and stored in binary form