RU Department of Information Technology

Syllabus - ITEC 100 Fall 2007 Sections 01/02/19

intro | texts | goals | assignments | quizzes | exams | responsibilities | assessment | attendance | courtesy | honor code | disabilities | changes | schedule

Instructor: Don Braffitt
Office: B52 Davis Hall
E-mail: dbraffitt@radford.edu
Phone: 540.831.5072 Fax: 540.831.6706
Office hours: Tue/Thu 10-11am, Mon/Wed 11am-NOON, Mon 2-3pm, and by appointment
Instructor home page: http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/
Syllabus: http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/itec100/2007/fall/
Web CT: http://webct6.radford.edu/webct/logon/70881958001

ITEC 100 introduces students to the fundamental concepts in information technology that provide the technical foundation for state-of-the-art computer applications. A perspective on the range of information technology is presented through lectures, discussions, and lab assignments. Historical developments and social implications in information technology form an integral part of the course. Widely used computer applications, including word processors, presentation software, spreadsheets, databases, computer communications, and networking are used to supplement the IT concepts introduced in the course. Students who have received credit for INSY 181, CPSC 106, or CPSC 106P may not receive credit for ITEC 100. ITEC 100 qualifies as a General Education Requirement (3 credit hours) in the Mathematical Sciences.

Course Sections (all times 8-9:50am except for ITEC 100-02 Final Exam)

Texts, Online and Optional Materials, Technology Center, LARC  toptop

Goals and Objectives  toptop

Having successfully completed the course, the student will be able to:

Assignments and Quizzes  toptop

Assignments and quizzes will be delivered via WebCT. Students are expected to submit their own work for all assignments and quizzes by the due date. Assignments are based on Case Problem 1 from the Office 2003 Tutorials as detailed in the schedule below. For example, Word 2-1 is Word Tutorial 2 Case Problem 1.

All quizzes are open-book and open-notes and must be completed in lab except for quizzes on Chapters 4, 10, and 12 which must be completed by Fri NOON of the weeks those chapters are discussed in lecture. There are no makeups for quizzes. Assignments are due Fridays at NOON. Partial credit will be granted for any assignment submitted late up until NOON of the Friday for Exams 1 and 2 and up until NOON of the last day of class before final exam week. The partial credit submissions are limited to assignments corresponding to the exam.

At the end of the semester, the lowest assignment grade and the lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. There will be a total of 12 quizzes, one a week on non-exam weeks, on the computer concepts material. The 10 highest quiz grades each count 2% of the final grade. There will be a total of 11 assignments, approximately one a week, based on the Office 2003 material. The 10 highest assignment grades each count 2% of the final grade. Thus the assignments and quizzes given throughout the course will be worth 40% of the final grade. Assignments and quizzes will also help prepare students for exams. Late assignments will be graded for partial credit up until NOON of the Friday before the next exam date.

Exams  toptop

Exams will be delivered via SAM 2003 Assessment and Training 3.1. Students are expected to submit their own work for all exams. There will be two 100 minute in-lab exams given during the semester in addition to a 100 minute in-lab final exam. Each exam will be worth 15% of the final grade.

Exams are closed-book and closed-notes except for one 8.5x11 inch piece of paper on which each student may include typed or handwritten notes (front and back).

Student Responsibilities  toptop

Students are responsible for the information that is included in the assigned readings, lectures, discussions, assignments, quizzes, lab projects, and any additional information discussed in class or posted in WebCT. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the instructor's office hours and the online supplementary materials provided by the textbook publisher and the textbook authors. The best preparation for exams is to complete readings, assignments, quizzes, and lab projects and to participate in class and via WebCT by asking questions and participating in discussions.

In the case of an emergency, illness, religious holiday, or RU-sponsored travel that may cause a student to miss an exam or class, the student must notify the instructor prior to the exam or class. Students who fail to notify the instructor prior to an exam will not be allowed to make up that exam. There are no makeups for missed quizzes.

Assessment  toptop

The assessment will be weighted as follows: The final average based on this weighting will be rounded to the next higher integer.

The assessment will be according to the following scale:

During the semester, grades will be provided to students via WebCT.

Attendance, Participation, and Extra Credit  toptop

Class attendance (both lecture and lab) is expected and strongly recommended. Absences do not excuse students from the responsibility for subject matter missed or assignments, quizzes, lab projects, or online discussions to be completed. If you must miss a class, or if you expect to be late to class or need to leave class early, please notify the instructor via email prior to that class.

The 15% participation portion of the student grade is based on effort and is broken into three five-week parts each weighted 5%. The 5% participation for each five-week division of the semester is earned by

"Completion" for each of these three components is defined each five-week division of the semester as completing the required work on-time except for possibly one week. Students earn the full 5% participation portion of the grade by missing at most one lecture, failing to complete on-time at most one weekly discussion, and failing to complete on-time at most one lab project. Partial participation credit may be granted if a student completes two of the three parts depending on the effort expended completing the third part. Extra credit of 1% each five-week division of the semester is earned by doing all the work in the three areas detailed above.

Class attendance for Tuesday/Wednesday class lecture sessions will be recorded via attendance cards which each student completes at the end of each weekly class lecture session. At the end of each of the weekly class lecture sessions (20-Aug week excluded), each student puts the date on his or her attendance card, initials the card, and writes at least two brief sentences describing something learned that class session and something confusing that class session. If a student is in a class session less than an hour for whatever reason, the student must indicate on the attendance card the class times actually present. A student who initials an attendance date with no times is indicating that he or she was present in class at least one hour that weekly class lecture session. If you contact the instructor prior to class via email, some absences may be considered excused (see Student Responsibilities above).

Online class discussion postings (one per concepts text chapter) must be completed via WebCT each Monday by NOON for the chapter covered during lecture the previous week.

Lab projects may be either tutorials from the Office 2003 text or SAM training modules. All students will do a tutorial from the Office 2003 text during week 1. All students will complete a SAM training module during week 2. Starting with week 3, each student may choose for that week whether to complete the tutorial from the text or the corresponding SAM training module.

Class Courtesy Policy  toptop

Please set cell phones, pagers, and notebook computers to silent during class (lecture and lab). Computers should primarily be used for work relevant to ITEC 100 during ITEC 100 classes. Please refrain from any activities while in class that would be disruptive to the class.

Honor Code  toptop

By accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception. Violations of this academic integrity will not be tolerated. Refer to your Student Handbook for details. Each of these classes will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code.

Students With Disabilities  toptop

A student seeking classroom accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act is required to register with the Disability Resource Office (DRO). The DRO is located on the first floor of Tyler Hall, phone number 540.831.6350. To receive academic accommodations for this class, a student should obtain the proper DRO forms and meet with the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

Changes to Course Syllabus or Class Schedule  toptop

All changes to either the course syllabus or the class schedule will be posted in WebCT and announced in class. Students are responsible for any announced changes even if absent or tardy when the announcements are made. Sometimes changes will be posted in WebCT prior to a class announcement (e.g., schedule adjustments if the university closes due to inclement weather).

Schedule  toptop

Note that quizzes are in lab except for the last quiz just before an Exam. Students take a quiz the lab after a chapter is introduced in lecture. This means that students with Monday lab take quizzes the Monday of the week after a chapter is introduced in lecture. Quizzes on Chapters 4, 10, and 12 (Weeks 5, 10, 16) must be completed by Fri NOON those weeks (completion in lab is not required).

Concepts Text              Skills Lab Projects
(in lab)		 Assignments
(due Fri NOON)		 Quizzes      
(in lab)		 Exams       
(in lab)
Week 1
20-Aug		 Syllabus
Information Technology History		 WebCT; H drive
Word		 Tutorial 1
Week 2
27-Aug		 Introduction Chapter 1
pages 21-55		 SAM 2003
Word		 Tutorial 2 Word 1-1 Chapter 1
Week 3
03-Sep		 Hardware Chapter 2
pages 56-109		 Word Tutorials 3 and 4 Word 2-1 Chapter 2
Week 4
10-Sep		 Software Chapter 3
pages 110-173		 PowerPoint Tutorial 1 Word 3-1 Chapter 3
Week 5
17-Sep		 Internet and World Wide Web Chapter 4
pages 174-229		 PowerPoint Tutorial 2 PowerPoint 1-1 Chapter 4
Week 6
24-Sep		 Science and Technology Jobs Class 1
Partial credit		 Exam 1
Week 7
01-Oct		 Networks Chapter 5
pages 230-281		 Excel Tutorials 1 and 2 Excel 1-1 Chapter 5
Week 8
08-Oct		 Digital Media Chapter 6
pages 282-339		 Excel Tutorial 3 Excel 2-1 Chapter 6
Week 9
15-Oct		 Special Purpose Systems Chapter 9
pages 436-475		 Excel Tutorial 4 Excel 3-1 Chapter 9
Week 10
22-Oct		 Systems Development Chapter 10
pages 476-523		 Excel and Word
Integration		 Tutorial 1 Int 1-1 Chapter 10
Week 11
29-Oct		 Information Technology History Class 2
Partial credit		 Exam 2
Week 12
05-Nov		 Database Systems Chapter 7
pages 340-387		 Access Tutorials 1 and 2 Access 1-1 Chapter 7
Week 13
12-Nov		 E-Commerce Chapter 8
pages 388-435		 Access Tutorial 3 Access 2-1 Chapter 8
Week 14
19-Nov		 Fall Break
Week 15
26-Nov		 Computer Crime and
Information Security		 Chapter 11
pages 524-579		 Access Tutorial 4 Access 3-1 Chapter 11
Week 16
03-Dec		 Digital Society, Ethics,
and Globalization		 Chapter 12
pages 580-623		 Access
Integration		 Tutorials 2 and 3 Class 3
Partial credit		 Chapter 12
Week 17
10-Dec		 Exam 3 /
Final Exam

Revised: 20-Aug-2007   Don Braffitt Home   ITEC 100 Home   ITEC Home   CST Home   RU Home   toptop