RU Department of Information Technology

Syllabus - ITEC 100 Spring 2008 Sections 01/02/12

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: Mon/Wed 11am-NOON, Mon 2-3pm, Tue/Thu 10-11am, and by appointment
Instructor home page: http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/
Syllabus: http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/itec100/2008/spring/
WebCT: http://webct6.radford.edu/webct/logon/101151484001

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 Final Exams)

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.

Assignments are due Fridays at NOON. Partial credit (up to 80%) will be granted for any assignment submitted late up NOON 15-Feb, 28-Mar, and 25-Apr. The partial credit submissions are limited to assignments corresponding to the current exam material. All quizzes are open-book and open-notes and must be completed in lab. Partial credit (up to 80%) may be earned for one of every four missed quizzes.

There will be a total of 10 assignments, one a week on non-exam weeks (no assignments due the first and last weeks of class), based on the Office 2003 material. The 10 assignment grades each count 2% of the final grade. There will be a total of 12 quizzes, one a week on non-exam weeks, based on the computer concepts material. The 10 highest quiz 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.

Exams  toptop

Exams will be delivered via SAM 2003 Assessment and Training 3.1. All students must purchase an unused copy of SAM 2003 Assessment and Training 3.1 and bring that copy of SAM to Week 2 lab to complete the SAM login setup. 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, handwritten, or photocopied 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 (each counting 15% of the course grade), the student must notify the instructor prior to the exam. Students who fail to notify the instructor prior to an exam will not be allowed to make up that exam. Other than exams, the remainder of the work for the course that must be completed in class is structured so that students are expected to attend class approximately 75% of the time to receive full class participation credit.

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.

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

"Completion" for each of these three components for each of the three divisions of the semester is defined as completing the required work except for possibly one week. Students earn the full 5% participation portion of the grade by missing at most one weekly lecture, failing to complete at most one weekly discussion, or failing to complete at most one lab project. Extra credit of 1% each division of the semester is earned by doing all the work in the three areas detailed above.

Class attendance for Monday/Tuesday 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, 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 overall in the course that is still confusing or that the student would like to see started, stopped, or continued. If a student is in a class session less than an hour for whatever reason, the student is considered to be absent for that class session.

Online class discussion postings must be completed via WebCT each Friday by NOON for the concepts chapter for that 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 lab. All students will complete a SAM training module during week 2 lab. Starting with week 3 lab, each student may choose for that week whether to complete the tutorial(s) from the text or the corresponding SAM training module(s). Each student may choose to submit one extra credit lab project (any Case Problem 2, 3, or 4 assignment from the lab book) for 1 point extra credit by NOON 15-Feb, 28-Mar, and 25-Apr.

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

There is no lecture class Mon 21-Jan.

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

Revised: 17-Dec-2007   Don Braffitt Home   ITEC 100 Home   ITEC Home   CST Home   RU Home   toptop