VCA-FND-101: Digital Foundations

Course Overview

VCA-FND-101 is the first course a Virtus Academy student takes. Its job is to give a student new to computing a correct, durable mental model of how a computer represents and manipulates information. The course is deliberately not "Intro to Coding". Programming comes in VCA-FND-102 the following semester. FND-101 is the under-the-software layer: how a byte stores a number, what Boolean logic actually does, what the parts of a computer are and how they communicate, and how to move through a Unix filesystem. A student leaves knowing what computing machinery is; they do not yet leave knowing how to write an interesting program.

Position relative to peer curricula. FND-101 sits between vendor-neutral IT-literacy courses (CompTIA Tech+, Code.org CS Discoveries, Khan Academy "Computers and the Internet") and the under-the-software rigor of Petzold's CODE. Tech+/CS Discoveries are vocabulary- first, the student learns to name a CPU; FND-101 is model-first, the student learns to simulate one. Petzold's book covers the same material more deeply but assumes a self-directed reader; FND-101 is its cohorted, lab-bound, entry-level-paced counterpart and is deliberately the entry point to a pipeline that ends, in CSA-101, with the student building a working CPU on a Tang Primer 25K FPGA.

This distinction matters for the pipeline. Students who leap directly into programming often hit a wall later. They know what the syntax does but not why the machine cares. FND-101 prevents that wall by putting the layers underneath Python in place first. Every later course in the academy, FND-102's automation, HW-101's electronics, CSA-101's silicon, RE-101's firmware reverse-engineering. Assumes the FND-101 mental model is intact.

Learning Objectives

From basics to mastery. Each is measurable against a specific lab or deliverable.

1. Remember. State the bit/byte/nibble/word relationships, the 16 hex digits and their decimal/binary equivalents, the eight common ASCII control characters, and the boundary between user-space and kernel-space at conceptual level. (Assessed: Week-7 midterm quiz; oral check-ins during Labs 2 + 4.)
2. Understand. Explain why binary is the native representation for digital hardware, why hexadecimal is the human-friendly grouping that emerges from binary's nibble structure, and why text encodings (ASCII/UTF-8) are a layered convention rather than a hardware fact. (Assessed: Lab 4 reflection; Lab 5 hex-dump decoding worksheet.)
3. Apply. Convert numbers fluently between decimal, binary, and hexadecimal under timed conditions; decode raw bytes from a hex dump back into ASCII or UTF-8 text. (Assessed: Labs 2-5; midterm quiz timed conversions.)
4. Apply. Construct truth tables for AND/OR/NOT/XOR/NAND/NOR; implement combinational circuits (multiplexers, half-adder, full adder, 4-bit ripple adder) in Logisim-evolution. (Assessed: Lab 6 truth-table worksheet; Lab 7 4-bit-adder simulator deliverable.)
5. Apply. Navigate a Unix filesystem from the shell (cd, ls, cat, grep, find); perform basic file operations and pipe composition; reach a remote system via SSH; use git to clone, commit, and push. (Assessed: Labs 12-13 hands-on transcript.)
6. Apply. Build a 1-bit memory cell from latch primitives in the simulator; trace a single instruction through a fetch/decode/execute cycle on a block-diagram CPU; identify persistent vs. volatile storage via lsblk and mount. (Assessed: Labs 9-11 simulator outputs.)
7. Analyze. Take apart a discarded consumer electronic device; identify each major component by block function (CPU, RAM, ROM/flash, I/O controllers, power regulation); produce a labeled block diagram. (Assessed: Lab 14 teardown worksheet.)
8. Synthesize / Create. Compose a 3-5 page lab-notebook teardown report at clear professional level, present it orally to the cohort in 5 minutes, and respond to two questions from peers. (Assessed: Capstone, the e-waste teardown report + presentation.)

Week-by-Week Topic Flow

Lab Manifest

Fourteen graded labs plus the capstone, each producing a concrete artifact the student commits to a personal Git repository.

Bridge to Downstream Courses

FND-101's mental model is the substrate every later academy course assumes is already in place. Explicit cross-course skill-transfer threads:

• → FND-102 (Python and Automation). The Linux/SSH/git fluency from Labs 12-13 is the working environment FND-102 lives in. The ASCII/UTF-8 understanding from Lab 5 is what lets a Python str stop being magic.
• → HW-101 (Electronics & Microcontrollers). The block-diagram thinking from Lab 14's teardown is the same thinking HW-101 applies to the breadboard. The simulator-built circuits from Labs 6-7 anticipate the physical gates HW-101 wires up.
• → CSA-101 (Computer Systems Architecture I). The 4-bit ripple adder from Lab 7 is the structural ancestor of CSA-101's Chapter-1 capstone, the same NAND-built adder, now physical on a Tang Primer 25K (the canonical Phase-1 FPGA; Tang Nano 20K supported as advanced-track alt). The fetch/decode/execute walk from Lab 10 returns at byte-level rigor in CSA-101 Ch 4 (machine language) and Ch 5 (silicon CPU).
• → SEC-101 (Cybersecurity Principles). The hex-dump literacy from Lab 4 is the foundation for reading captured packet data, malware samples, and forensic images.
• → RE-011 / RE-101 (Reverse Engineering). Hex-dump literacy + block-diagram thinking are the practitioner habits RE-011 builds on; the teardown approach from the capstone is exactly what RE-101's SB6141 capstone produces at much greater scale.

Tool Journal: Originating Entries

FND-101 originates the practitioner-tool diary that grows through every subsequent academy course. Tools introduced here, with one paragraph each in the student's personal toolchain-diary.md:

• terminal / shell, the Unix command-line environment. The single most-used practitioner tool across the entire pipeline. Returns in every later course.
• ssh. Remote-shell access. Used in FND-102, NET-101, PEN-101, CSA-101 (against QEMU), and every infrastructure-touching course thereafter.
• git. Version control. Every course's deliverables commit to a course Git repository; the Lab 13 introduction here is the foundation.
• Logisim-evolution. Digital-circuit simulator. Used in FND-101 Labs 6-7-9; structurally previewed by CSA-101's Verilog HDL simulator.
• lsblk / mount / cat / grep / find, the Unix-filesystem inspection toolset. Returns at byte-level rigor in CSA-101 Chapter 6a (linker) and Chapter 12 (Virtus OS).
• Hex editor / xxd / hexdump. Byte-level inspection. CSA-101 Chapter 4 promotes xxd to mandatory; RE-011 + RE-101 use it as a daily working tool.

See handouts/cross-chapter-petzold-reading-guide.md in the course Git repository for the academy-wide diary lineage and tool-introduction order across all 12 courses.

Prerequisite Map

Depends on: basic algebra (number sense; comfort with simple symbolic manipulation). FND-101 is the entry point of the academy pipeline.

Feeds into:

• FND-102 (direct sequel; programming layer above the FND-101 substrate)
• HW-101 (concurrent-eligible; physical-electronics counterpart)
• NET-101 (concurrent-eligible after FND-101 alone; deepens after FND-102)

A complete Foundations Track sequence proceeds: FND-101 → FND-102 → SEC-101 → NET-101 → PEN-101. See the course prerequisite map for the academy-wide map and the five named track sequences.

Capstone: The E-Waste Teardown Report

Working in pairs, students select a discarded consumer electronic device from the instructor's supply (old router, defunct MP3 player, broken Wii remote, old cable modem, etc.), disassemble it safely, identify its major components, draw a labeled block diagram, and write a 3-5 page lab-notebook report. Students present the artifact orally to the class in 5 minutes and respond to two peer questions.

This capstone connects all the semester's abstractions to a physical object the student can hold. It previews the standard the Virtus Academy expects throughout the pipeline: take something apart, understand what's inside, explain it clearly.

Two-tier grading rubric

First, your project must work. The device is fully disassembled (without injury or property damage); a labeled block diagram exists; a written report of 3-5 pages is submitted; the oral presentation is delivered in under 7 minutes; two peer questions are answered substantively. A failing Tier 1 grade is rare and triggers a remediation cycle.

Then we score the report.

• Technical accuracy (40%). Component identification correct; block diagram reflects actual signal flow; voltage / data / control distinctions made where applicable; persistent vs. volatile storage correctly tagged.
• Visual + written clarity (30%). Diagram is legible; labels match report text; report's professional level is appropriate to a clear-formal context; spelling, grammar, and document structure clean.
• Reflective depth (30%), the "what surprised you" section names a specific, concrete observation rather than a generic reaction; the "what would you investigate further" section identifies an investigatable question, not a vague curiosity.

Submitted artifacts: the written report (PDF, committed to course Git repo); the labeled block diagram (image or vector); 5+ photographs of the device at progressive disassembly stages; the oral-presentation slide deck (3-5 slides); a one-paragraph self-assessment against this rubric.

Required Hardware & Software

• Linux environment. Program-provided Raspberry Pi at the student's bench, or SSH access to a shared course server from any laptop or Chromebook. The course does not require a personal laptop capable of running a VM.
• Instructor-stocked teardown supply, ~12 discarded consumer devices per cohort, sourced locally from e-waste or donations.
• Per-student hand tools. Small screwdriver set, tweezers, ESD strap (~$15 kit).
• Logisim-evolution. Free, open-source digital circuit simulator.
• Terminal emulator and a code editor (VS Code, nano, or similar).

No textbook required. Recommended reading-for-pleasure: Petzold, Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software (Microsoft Press, 2nd ed. 2022).

Certification Alignment

CompTIA Tech+ Cisco CCST Cybersecurity

Primary alignment, CompTIA Tech+ (formerly ITF+). CompTIA's explicit pre-career certification, designed for entry-level learners exploring IT. FND-101 covers the substantive Tech+ domains (data representation, basic computing concepts, OS fundamentals, basic infrastructure) at greater depth than the multiple-choice exam requires. Students who complete FND-101 can sit Tech+ on or near the same day with no additional study.

Secondary alignment (Cisco CCST Cybersecurity) partially reachable after FND-101 (the "how computers work" / "OS basics" portions); full readiness after VCA-SEC-101. Students taking the Foundations Track sequence reach the full domain coverage by the close of SEC-101.

Pedagogical-vs-vocational stance. FND-101's deliverables (capstone teardown report + oral presentation) exceed what any multiple-choice certification measures. The cert is earned as a side effect by students who choose to sit the exam; the academy does not require it. Employers evaluating Virtus Academy graduates should weight the capstone artifact, the personal Git repository of 14 graded labs, and the cohort-graded oral presentation alongside (or above) the cert, in the same way that a CS degree at a competitive university is weighted alongside (not instead of) any vendor cert the graduate happens to hold.

Certs are never required to complete a Virtus Academy course. The course transcript and the committed lab repository are the academy's primary credentials.

Format Prescriptions

Hour budget: ~26 lec hr + ~25 lab hr + ~52 indep hr (= ~105 hr total).

Live (standard cadence)

2 sessions/wk × 90 min each (45 min lecture + 45 min hands-on per session) + 30 min stay-after office time. 14 weeks total. Best for college-elective + adult-learning + homeschool-co-op cadence.

Night class (working-adult cadence)

1-2 sessions/wk in evenings; spread over ~28 weeks. Best for community-college + vocational-tech students with day jobs.

Bootcamp

8 hr/day × 5 days/wk = 40 hr/wk; total ~3 weeks. Foundationals (≤ 80 hr) fit in 2 weeks; FND-101's 105 hr lands at ~3 weeks. Best for adults / age-irrelevant students with prereq comfort + dedicated learning time.

Async self-paced

Lecture hours via recorded video; lab hours via monthly-block billing with remote-hardware access; indep hours = student pace. Includes Discord-group access (1-2 days/wk instructor-advertised availability). AI-assistant tier add-on. Live 1:1 tutoring premium tier add-on.

High school / homeschool co-op

Adapted live cadence over a school year (~18 weeks at typical school cadence) OR semester (14 weeks at college cadence). Detailed per-syllabus planning available on request.

Classroom

Full course content (weekly modules, labs, capstone packet, instructor guide) lives in the Virtus Cyber Academy classroom, which is in active build. The public preview is on the way.

Open in classroom

Interested in VCA-FND-101?

Cohort scheduling priority follows demand. Whether you're an individual learner, a parent, a school program evaluating pipeline adoption, or a corporate training program looking at digital-literacy baselines, send a note.

Email interested@virtuscyberacademy.org