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Assembly language in A Level computer science

CO501 Online course

What assembly language is? We will cover, how to utilise the Little Man Computer platform to demonstrate assembly language.

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Programming Post 16 Teach secondary computing certificate
Free online course 3 hours

Dive into the world of assembly language; this CPD will develop both your theoretical knowledge and practical skills in relation to the use of this fundamental, low-level mode of programming for A Level computer science. During this two-hour course, you’ll learn the essentials of assembly language including using the Little Man Computer simulator.

Who is it for?

This course is aimed at teachers delivering A Level computer science. It is advised you have some basic knowledge of the different types of programming languages available i.e. machine, assembly and high-level programming languages.

Topics covered

Assembly Language – during this section you’ll learn about the relationship between machine code, assembly language and high-level languages. You’ll compare and contrast programming paradigms and make links between assembly language and other topic areas within the A level computer science curriculum

Little Man Computer – during this section you’ll learn how to trace, construct, and execute simple assembly code programs in the Little Man Computer simulator. You’ll appraise a number of pedagogical approaches to teaching programming using the Little Man Computer.

How long is this course?

This course will last 2.5 hours, these sections could be studied across multiple days.

How will you learn?

This online, self-paced course can be completed flexibly. You can join and start this course at any time after the advertised date, and keep access for a year after booking.

Outcomes

By the end of this online CPD course you will be able to:

  • Identify the features of assembly language, comparing and contrasting these characteristics to that of other programming paradigms
  • Successfully recognise opportunities to create links between assembly language and other topics, feeding this into curriculum design and delivery
  • Trace the flow of execution of assembly language programs in the Little Man Computer, understanding how the contents of registers change and how this relates to the fetch-decode-execute cycle
  • Create assembly language programs in the Little Man Computer that utilise sequence, arithmetic operations, variables and branching.

This course is part of Teach secondary computing

Teach secondary computing

Our nationally recognised qualification will give you confidence to take your computing teaching to the next level and to apply those skills in the classroom.

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This course is from the National Centre for Computing Education and is delivered by STEM Learning.

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