Home > Courses > 2P32 > 2016-2017 Problem-based tutorial #1 What does this circuit do? start by examining M=High, Cn=Low; ignore X and Y. what is pin (14) ? what is pin (16) ? Why is it called Cn+4? What is Cn? Student feedback  -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Domenic Our group problem solving was not the most successful, we weren’t very organized and all worked together to try and solve one problem which caused us to waste a lot of time. We should have broken up to solve a task and see if anyone had any unique ways to solve the problem, Paul ended up having a good idea to each solve a certain truth table but we ended up not doing that. I had also suggested we should create a simulation in Multisim to figure out how it would work but others insisted it would take too long. This group mentality to only work as a group caused us to take way longer then it should’ve have and it held us back from completing the problem, because of that we had only completed half of the circuit. The next time we do group problem solving we should take everyone’s ideas and try and at least see how their solution would plan out if it will help solve the big problem. The other thing we should do is break into groups or do some individual work to help try and understand what is going on or to break up a big repetitive problem into small tasks that each person completes. Next time I believe that I should look into the questions we are supposed to answer more in depth, and then try to think about how I would answer them and explain to the class. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul This problem based tutorial session proved to be the most interesting yet. As opposed to previous sessions, I am confidant that each student (Martyn, Christian, Domenic, and myself) all had the prerequisite skills to be able to solve, understand and apply Boolean logic to any part of the circuit provided. However, the group failed to pool each others resources in an effective way, and as a result only an understanding of the function of the "select inputs" (s0-s3) on the An and Bn inputs was concluded, a very small portion of the task required of us. As enjoyable as the session was, better organization and communication amongst group members pertaining to task completion is required. I suggest for the next session that the group divide ourselves into a simulation team, and a whiteboard/theory team. The function of the theory team should be to tackle the questions asked of the group as part of the exercise and then too to delegate tasks to the simulation team that prove to be either too complex to understand by hand or too time consuming. Progress from each team should be reported at regular intervals (say 15 minutes) to ensure the group stays on task. I look forward to implementing a strategy similar to this for the next PBT. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Martin This PBT was an interesting and difficult endeavor. Starting to prepare for the PBT felt like an insurmountable challenge, but with heavy preparations before the group work started I felt capable of offering valuable insight to help the group process. Upon starting with the group I felt the objectives changed quite frequently and we struggled to identify a single problem to solve. In group work finding a direction and coordinating efforts is generally a challenging task. The group must be coherent and confident in their individual abilities to be able to do this effectively. Our group could have improved on this process by implementing a stronger effort assessing each members ideas and deciding on a direct flight path for each member. However, I feel the group persisted and broke valuable ground in a rather unorthodox manner, re-evaluating the circuit, writing general expressions, and recollecting after each new insight was achieved, and repeat. Certainly the group did not perform in an optimal manner, but, given the time constraints, preparation, and scale of the problem at hand, I feel the group achieved a moderate level of success, and I was proud to have had the ability to collaborate with my colleagues in this way. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christian (Late submission) Yesterday our class tried to decode the use and purpose of a complex circuit. Although we did not completely solve the method to how said circuit works, we did identify the circuit and its purpose. The circuit found was a 4-bit ALU capable of completing mathematical and Boolean operations. This write up is focused on a self-evaluation and a an evaluation of the groups operation as a whole. To start I will evaluate the group. About half the group came in highly prepared, one member spending all the time in between the release of the circuit diagram figuring out its purpose, with another member was also very prepared from prior learning and earlier found knowledge. Although it should be praised in both contexts it did make the group slightly less synchronized as myself and another member were not on the same page walking in. Another issue in the group was a disorganized flow of events; although, it was suggested to make a flow chart, or make a logical matrix of all possible outputs when this is a logical place to start. Next time I think it would be best to start with the recommended starting points from the assignment itself and work backwards with the possible outputs. In a self-examination I feel torn, prior to the tutorial I had put in about 2 hours of work and had determined the purpose of the circuit but had not fully grasped the methods to which it worked. When everyone immediately jumped in to technicalities and was already discussing future parts of the system such as the counters or the bit shifting design I immediately had nothing to contribute. When the group was stopped to trying to explain how they came to any conclusions the explanation was sometimes given to quickly or to general which only caused more problems as while I was trying to figure out their methods I was missing more conversation and missing more of their explanations. Next time I will prepare more and focus more on keeping the group on a single thread before starting new ones. --------------------------------------------------------------------