Joanne Dugan is a fun and cool lady. I wish she were my aunt.
On the whole this class was interesting. Towards the end of the semester I had a hard time focusing on the lectures, but I still did fine in the class.

Professor Dugan knows what she's doing. She has a sense of humor that I definitely appreciated. The studio assignments are straightforward; do them before studio so you can just walk in and check them off (tip: get to studio early to be at the head of the queue). Tests were also fairly straightforward. Granted, you need some creativity when figuring some problems out, but that's the entire course. Go to lecture as you'll sometimes have assignments in class. Don't worry all that much on quizzes (still learn the material of course) because she ends up dropping like 5 of the 15 quizzes. As that might indicate, you have a lot of opportunity to make up points so don't fret if you take one bad quiz. Do your work, pay attention, enjoy the class, and you'll do just fine.

Dugan is a great professor, but this class was my own personal hell as I am CS and not CPE/EE. She's really great and tries to make the class manageable, so just do your best and shoot for a B- if you're CS too. Watch out for the high cutoffs for each grade too. I thought I'd be getting a B+ for an 87.5, but it was really a B because of the way her grade scale works. She doesn't make it clear in the beginning either, so just beware.

Basically: if you're CPE/EE, you'll love this class. If you're CS, good luck and try to survive!

The professor is very engaging and makes the class very interesting. However the material is all cumulative. The class starts off very easy, but don't let that catch you off guard because the difficulty increases quickly. At the end of the course you will be able to design a processor which is pretty cool. Overall, I would highly recommend this course.

When I went to class on the first day I really liked it, that same Friday I took the first quiz and I got a 100, I was happy af. Today is the last day of finals and... I failed the class.

Dugan is a great professor and really makes the class fun. The class is really interesting in that you gradually build a processor from simple transistors, which means it's a very logical curriculum. However, this does mean that you need to have a good knowledge the week's material before you go to class on Monday, since it all builds off itself.

The studios aren't too bad, although a couple of them will take several hours. The way she grades the quizzes means that you have a really good chance of getting points from them-it's nice not to have to worry about every single quiz since they're every week. Explorations are basically your 'homework,' though you should watch out-getting a low grade on a couple of minor explorations can damage your grade significantly.

The tests were pretty stressful and you really need to know what you're doing for those. The final is cumulative, and Dugan does Dutch Knockout, so take advantage of that if you can. Overall, great class.

This class is a good introduction to Digital Logic Design. Some of the material might be a little daunting, but if you go see the TA's you'll be fine.

Absolutely wonderful professor. Dugan is laid back and manages to take you from zero knowledge of logic gates to building a processor pretty comfortably. Labs are relatively easy, and you can usually work with another person on homework.
Tests and quizzes aren't really difficult, but will catch you off guard if you aren't comfortable with the material. So definitely review a little outside of class.

Hands down one of the best courses I have taken at UVA. Dugan really cares about the class, and the TAs were fantastic. By the end of the course, you will understand how to build a simple processor from your detailed knowledge of a lot of different logic components.

There are 5 lab assignments; the first three are built using physical breadboards and logic chips while the last two are built exclusively on the logic simulator software (Logisim). All of the pre-lab work can be done in a day, but the fifth and final lab assignment will take significantly longer to complete than the other labs. The in-lab demonstrations are straightforward and you can usually leave lab early after you show your TA your properly working implementation of the lab. The post-lab report is easy to write and as long as you cover everything on the rubric, you should be well off.

The grading is very fair and Dugan will allow you to override your test average with your final exam score if it is higher, making the final count for 55% of your grade rather than 25%. Only the top 10 quiz grades are kept (about 15-17 quizzes are given).

Going to the TA review sessions is a great source of help for exams, lab assignments, and general questions. Also, Dugan/TAs respond quickly on piazza for any other questions that come up.

The course was very fun overall and has inspired me to apply for a TA position! I cannot recommend it enough.

The Course:
Starting from no assumed knowledge of digital logic, this course provides the necessary knowledge to build a processor. There's a big emphasis on Boolean algebra (particularly simplification with Karnaugh maps), followed by design of larger components (e.g. comparators, registers, etc.)

You have lab every other week (which week depends on your section), and labs have a fairly quick turnaround time. She also assigns "explorations," which are guided experiments/design problems using the Logisim digital logic simulator.

I, personally, found the final to be substantially harder than all the other tests, so don't put off studying.

The Professor:
She's awesome! Professor Dugan is an engaging lecturer, really helpful/approachable in office hours, and takes a genuine interest in her students (which is especially impressive considering the size of the class). She has a relaxed demeanor in class (enough to put students at ease, but still professional) and answers students' questions clearly. I cannot recommend her enough.

Best way to prepare:
Since some people find this course difficult, I thought I'd mention that the book CODE by Charles Petzold covers most of the essentials of this course--unlike a textbook, it can be read without pen/paper in hand. I was "coasting" for much of this class because I read CODE in high school. Knowing what a finite state machine is before the class can help, too. (If you have the Discrete Math book by Epp, skimming the section on automata will give you a big head start.)