UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT BRADFORD SPRING 1997 SYLLABUS Course: Advanced Business Microcomputing CS-0107-48468: Monday-Wednesday 3-5 p.m. Location: Swarts Hall, Room 106. Professor: Dr. Carl J. Case Office: Swarts Hall, Room 235. Phone (814) 362-5277 Electronic mail - CJC3 Office Hours: Posted on 235 Swarts (bulletin board) Textbooks (Suggested): Zimmerman, Beverly B. and S. Scott Zimmerman, Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0 for Windows, 1995, Course Technology, Inc., Cambridge, MA. Long, Jeb. FoxPro 2.6 for Windows, Developer's Guide, 2nd Edition, 1994, Sams Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Grade Determination: Points Date Student Grade Exam #1 100 2/17 ________ Exam #2 100 3/24 ________ Exam #3 100 4/30 ________ Software Project (100): PowerPoint Outline 30 ____ ________ PowerPoint Presentation 20 ____ ________ Tutorial Handout 30 ____ ________ Software Instruction 20 ____ ________ Assignments (60): World Wide Web 10 1/27 ________ A & D #1 10 3/03 ________ A & D #2 10 3/10 ________ A & D #3 10 3/31 ________ A & D #4 10 4/07 ________ A & D #5 10 4/14 ________ Quiz #1 10 ? ________ Quiz #2 10 ? ________ Participation 20 ________ -------- 500 * Keep track of your grades and exam dates here so that you will know exactly how you stand in the course. Course Schedule: Week Assignment Begins Topic Due Software Package --------------------------------------------------------------- 1/13 Introduction, WWW Brief Resume 1/20 PowerPoint 1/27 Analysis World Wide Web 2/03 SDLC Package #1 2/10 Development Tools Package #2 2/17 Exam #1 2/24 E-R Models Package #3 3/03 Database Definition A & D #1 3/10 Normalization A & D #2 Package #4 3/17 **SPRING BREAK** 3/24 Exam #2 3/31 Screens/Reports A & D #3 Package #5 4/07 FoxPro A & D #4 4/14 FoxPro A & D #5 Package #6 4/21 FoxPro 4/30 Final Exam on Wednesday at 3-5 p.m. * There is no class on Monday, January 20th. Examination Policy: There will be three exams, scheduled in 5 week intervals. The actual date of each exam will be announced in class at least one week prior to the exam. If, for a legitimate, documented reason you anticipate missing the scheduled exam, you must notify the professor both orally and in writing in advance of your planned absence. The final exam is not comprehensive. All exams are closed-book and may contain a variety of question types (e.g., multiple-choice, true-false, short essay, and so on). Exams will cover hand-outs, in-class lecture information, and material covered during the software package reviews. Grade Structure: 460 points = A 435-459 = B+ 410-434 = B 385-409 = C+ 360-384 = C 335-359 = D+ 310-334 = D 0-309 = F Assignments: Homework will be assigned approximately one week in advance of the due date. Specific requirements will be provided either in class or through electronic mail. All assignments are due on Mondays at the beginning of class on the due date. Assignments may not be weighted equally. Projects are weighted on the basis of their level of difficulty. All homework assignments must be typed and contain the following information in the top right-hand corner: Name Carl Case Student ID Number 123-45-6789 Date 3/03/97 Course and Section Number CS-107 Assignment Identification A & D #1 You will need to purchase a minimum of 2 diskettes (I recommend high density 3.5 inch), one to serve as a backup. Diskettes and labels can be purchased at the campus book store. The World Wide Web assignment is designed to acquaint you with the information highway of today. For the assignment, you are to use the Web to locate a home page or server which would be of interest to a business or computer science student. The Web page should be one which could be used by a student to assist in homework or research. Your assignment is to provide a one-page critique of the site. The analysis should include the page address, brief description of the page, how the page is useful to a business or computer science student, the most important hypertext provided, and so on. In addition, the student will conduct a brief (5 minutes or less) on-line presentation of the page for the class. Both the critique and presentation will be graded by the professor. Software Project: To succeed, today's professional must be a team member who possesses technical, general, and presentation knowledge. The individual needs to know what tools are available to solve specific problems. In addition, the professional must be able to work in concert with other members of the organization. Finally, the worker must possess the ability to communicate with or instruct others regarding the technology. As a result, this course has been structured to provide you with these skills. Six packages, besides PowerPoint and FoxPro, will be presented during the course. The packages will serve as an informational foundation for assisting you in your future coursework and in the business world. Two-person teams will be formed early in the semester. You are to provide the professor a brief resume by the second class. This resume should contain your name and be no longer than one page in length. In essence, you are applying for a job and you need to briefly describe what software assets you bring to the organization. The resume should have three columns: novice, average, expert. Under each column, list any microcomputer software packages as they relate to either your experience or education. For example: Novice Average Expert PowerPoint Word 6.0 for Windows FoxPro 2.5 Windows 3.1 Excel 5.0 You must have each of the previous column headings, even though you may have no information to provide for an individual section. The resume should be typed and spell-checked. Due dates are listed in the "Course Schedule." Dates may be modified, depending upon lecture pace. This project is a team assignment and equal participation by all team members is expected. Assignments are to be completed outside of class time. You may find it convenient to meet before and/or after class. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Each deliverable should be prefaced with the following information: Project Identification (e.g., PowerPoint Outline) Date List of Team Member Names Assignments should be created in a manner which would be acceptable to upper-level management. Thus, spelling, grammar, content, and appearance are important. Two presentations are scheduled for the team. The first presentation will use PowerPoint to present your review of the selected microcomputer software package. You may discuss aspects such as history, uses, advantages, weaknesses/limitations, features, price, usability, capability, and so on. A library, Web, or magazine search may provide useful information. Your goal is to provide a brief, yet comprehensive overview to an audience who has not seen this package prior to your presentation. The presentation must be 10-15 minutes in duration. Presentations which exceed 15 minutes or are less than 10 minutes will have a 2 point deduction per minute. Thus, present the most important aspects of your analysis in succinct terms. In addition, you are to provide the professor with a printed outline and a printed copy of the notes entered into PowerPoint. The outline and notes will be graded by the professor. The second presentation will be a hands-on demonstration of the software. You are expected to create a printed 1-3 page tutorial in which you will guide the class. Your presentation should cover the basic components of the software package. The printed tutorial will be graded by the professor. You will have between 30-45 minutes to instruct the class. Presentations will be peer-graded and each team member will evaluate the other member's contribution. 60% of the presentation grade is based upon presentation style and 40% is based upon content. All team members are required to participate in the presentation. Team members should dress in attire consistent with a meeting with lower or middle-level management. Remember, you are expected to be the expert regarding the package which you present. Class Attendance: Class attendance is necessary for course understanding. Attendance will be periodically taken although penalties will not be enforced for non-attendance. However, missed assignments, exams, and quizzes cannot be made-up. Moreover, quizzes traditionally have occurred on days in which attendance is low. Finally, individual participation is a factor in final grade determination. You are responsible for all material presented and assignments made in class. You are expected to get lecture notes, assignments, and other material covered during your absence from your classmates. Your professor is not responsible for providing this material to you. You are responsible for knowing drop dates, etc., as published by the University. Ignorance is no excuse. Punctual attendance is expected. You are also expected to attend class for the full class period. Late arrivals and early departures distract and detract from the learning of those individuals concerned about their future. Academic Integrity: The highest levels of academic integrity are expected at all times. Any talking or cheating during exams or quizzes will result in a grade of zero. Collaboration on weekly assignments will result in a grade of zero for all parties involved. Moreover, any violation of the above standards will result in the maximum penalties as permitted by the University. Please keep the following points in mind when performing the tasks associated with this course. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in point deductions. * Do NOT submit a cover page with each project. * Submit your assignments in the correct page order. Put the output in the same sequence as listed in the assignment. * Assignments should be typed and spell-checked. Failure to do so will result in a 1 point deduction PER occurrence. * Label each output as instructed in the assignments. * Do not hand-in extra output. It will be subject to grading. * Staple assignments in the upper right-hand corner. Paperclips and folders are not acceptable. * Be prepared to hand-in projects during the class that they are due. However, occasionally, an unannounced quiz on the project will be given in class as a substitute for the project output. In such cases, the quiz and not the project will be graded. As a result, you need to not only perform the project assignments but be able to demonstrate knowledge during class. Neither the quiz nor the project can be made-up if you are not attending class on surprise quiz days. * There will be quizzes. * Assignments are due at the beginning (by 3:10 p.m.) of class. The professor will collect assignments in an orderly row by row fashion. Do not wait until the start of class to staple your pages, label your assignment, and so on. Assignments or projects that are not handed-in at the beginning of class are considered late and will be graded at a 50% point deduction. Assignments or projects not handed-in within 5 days of the due date will not be graded. * If you plan on missing class, you may have a classmate bring your project to class or you may, in advance of class, drop it (at your peril) on my desk in Swarts Hall. * Read your electronic mail regularly. There will be announcements made periodically. Because the course meets only two times per week, it is critically important that you read your mail to note changes, etc., which I may send regarding the coursework. * Backup your work. You cannot have too many backups when the inevitable problems arise. * Your assignments (except the Software Project) are not group projects. You are expected to work independently, regardless of temptation. Any work in which collaboration is evident will earn a zero grade for all parties involved. All parties may also be subject to school and university penalties. Remember, not only is collaboration considered cheating (and thus unethical), it is extremely easy to detect duplicate work! * This course is not a theory course. It is a hands-on experience in which you will leave the course with practical knowledge. As a result, the harder you work in the course, the more that you will benefit yourself. * These rules are provided for your benefit. They will provide structure and encourage you to organize your work, an asset in the "real" world. Let's work hard and have a good semester!