I am currently on the second year of OU (computing) and they are teaching us several stuff.
I would like to know how useful or garbage is each one of those, bear in mind translation might be slightly off:

1) propositional logic
2) predicate logic
3) combinatorics
4) Numerical systems (hex, decimal, operations, conversions)
5) Boolean Algebra
6) Circuits (this is a huge chapter from carnaugh maps to adders, half adders, decoders, MUX, flip flops)
7) Digital Communication (AM, FM modulation, filters, fourier transformation, circularity)

These are what we've been taught so far (in second year). there is much more to come.
Is there something I should be focusing on? or just storm through and focus on something else?

i assume you want to be a computer engineer? working on hardware instead of software? i would guess your hardware classes are more important then. Like you said, there are a lot more classes coming up. I'm not really sure what you're asking.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Jan 27 2014 07:33am

I would say the degree is supposed to cover all aspects of computer science. it is broader than just engineer or programmer.

The question is, as I am keep learning, what should I focus on, and what should I just study just enough to pass.

This post was edited by Mythos on Jan 27 2014 08:38am

Depends on what you want to be, an engineer or programmer

I don't know. Consider the original question as if looking for a mentor.
A mentor that experienced that would or could say with certainty screw "these" and focus on "these"

Of course there is no thing such as certain, but you could make claims with minimum risk like:

Roger Federer is one of the most entertaining tennis players ever.
Larry Bird was one of the most versalite players in the history of NBA.
Sir Alex Ferguson, while disgusting, is one of the most succesful football managers ever.

It heavily depends on the question that 0n35 asked

If you want to be a software programmer you want to focus more on algorithms, data structures, operating systems, computer architecture, software design / engineering