2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

IC 7408, a Quad 2-Input AND Gate, is a good candidate for learning logic circuits. This IC is widely used in digital circuits and programmable logic controls to perform basic AND operations. Nevertheless, the domain knowledge could overwhelm the novice when considering the relationship between the built-in four AND Gates, the truth table, the interpretation of a given schematic, and the construction of the physical circuit.

This paper describes an ongoing project designed to gamify the students’ learning of IC 7408. An immersive virtual reality (VR) environment will help the learners visualize how the AND Gate works while familiarizing themselves with its user interface. The learners will then use the four AND Gates to construct a virtual 7408 chip by following its conceptual design, and this virtual 7408 chip will then be used to build a logic circuit. As the learner is miniaturized in the VR environment, connecting the water-hose-like wires to the virtual chipset to drive the components could be an exciting experience and might reinforce their learning.

In addition to evaluating the learner’s knowledge retention after six weeks, the effectiveness of the treatment will also be assessed by measuring the learners’ speed and quality in constructing a logic circuit with the physical IC 7408. A post-test survey will measure individuals’ self-efficacy in this subject and feedback on the VR app and lab exercises. Future work will be discussed to conclude this paper.