CIT120 Syllabus–Spring 2014

Introduction to Computers – CIT 120All Face-to-Face Classes

John R. NorthOffice: T210Hours:
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
8:00 – 9:00 AM
12:00 - 1:00 PM / 11 AM – 1 PM
4:30 – 6:30 PM / 12:00 - 2:00 PM / 11 AM – 12 PM / 8:00 – 9:00 AM
Phone: 847-543-2507 (24 hour voicemail)Email: eb site:

Class Schedule:

Section / Time / Location
001 / MWF 9:00 – 9:50 AM / T241
002 / MWF 10:00 – 10:50 AM / T241
003 / MWF 11:00 – 11:50 AM / T241

Text:

Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow Comprehensive, 14th Edition, Deborah Morley and Charles S. Parker, Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2013, ISBN-13: 978-1-285-54693-3

Microsoft Office 2013 Brief, Misty E. Vermaat, Cengage Learning, 2014, ISBN-10: 1-285-16616-2

Supplies: Flash/Thumb Drivein case you need to do your work somewhere other than at home or make sure you know how to save your work and then email it to yourself or you have some type of cloud storage such as Dropbox or SkyDrive.

Software Use in the Course:
We use MS Office 2013 for the projects in this course. MS Office 2013 is available on the computers in our labs as well as in T221 and the LRC. If you are doing your projects at home, using MS Office 2013 there would be most convenient since what I show you during the lab, you could use directly at home. Unless you really have a need for MS Office 2013 at home, I suggest you consider using the MS Office 2013 software available in T221 or in the LRC rather than buying it. Be aware that not all editions of MS Office 2013 have all the components that we use in this course. Verify that your MS Office 2013 has the following components - MS Word 2013, MS Excel 2013, MS Access 2013, and MS PowerPoint 2013. If you do not have MS Office 2013 at home or all the components and you need to do the projects at home, you can obtain Office 365, which permits downloads of MS Office 2013either in the Bookstore or on the MS Office store site,

CLC is in the process of signing up students for Office 365 Pro Plus which would allow a student to download any of the MS Office components from MS Office 2013 Pro onto his/her personal computer for the duration of being signed up for AOS or CIT courses that use MS Office. In fact, the downloads can go on up-to 5 devices. The program may be ready by the beginning of the semester.

Most of the project assignments, about 95+ % can be done with Office 2003, Office 2007, Office 2008, Office 2010, Office 2011, Libre Office, and Open Office. Of course, the screen shots shown in the lab discussion documents are from Office 2013 so your use of earlier editions, Mac versions, or open source software will not have the same view. If you are going to use open source software, please let me know before I start grading your projects.

Course Objectives:
  1. Understand the function of hardware, software, operating systems, data, procedures and personnel in a business computer system.
  2. Demonstrate a familiarity with electronic data processing terminology and concepts.
  3. Understand basic systems analysis and design techniques.
  4. Understand basic file processing and database concepts.
  5. Understand the importance and the use of microcomputers in organizations.
  6. Understand and utilize several software applications for data analysis and communications.
  7. Understand and apply the electronic research and communication facilities (Internet) of computing.
Sources for Course Material:
  1. Most of the documents will come from links found on Blackboard but a few may come from links on my school web site (
Major Topics
  1. Information Systems
    a. Concepts and Terminology
    b. Components of Business Systems
    c. Systems Analysis and Design
    d. Microcomputer and Mainframe Systems
  2. Applications
    a. Electronic research and communications/Internet
    b. Word Processing/Text editing
    c. SpreadSheets
    d. Graphics
    e. Database Package
Student Responsibilities:
Attendance:

I expect regular attendance and participation in this class and have assigned 90 (almost 10% of the grade) points for attendance and participation. I am more interested in participation than just being there. Attendance means paying attention or participating, not putting your head down for a nap, texting your friends, listening to your iPod, working on material for another class, or zoning out. If you get an excused absence, you still get half of the points for attendance. Coming in late decreases the number of points you receive for attendance.

A lot of students assume that they do not need to attend classes or put much effort into this class since they think they are already familiar with computers and the material. This is not the case; the IT field is just too expansive and too evolving. The majority of the material on my tests will come from the book so it would be an extremely good idea to read the chapters. A few items on the test will come from the project material. My project requirements are quite explicit so follow them. I post an example of the project along with notes on how I did the project in a lab discussion document. It would be a good idea to examine these sample projects and follow the lab discussions before attempting your projects. About 10% of the material on my tests will come from the classroom discussions, 80% from the book some of which I will cover in class, and 10% from project work in the lab. My project requirements are explained during the lab sessions so if you decide not to attend the lab then there is a high probability that you will get a low grade on your project.

I expect you to have read the material for that chapter so you can participate in the class discussion on the chapter material and related items I will introduce. The class is intended to be a discussion class about the material you read from the book, current IT information in the news, and your experiences. This will be a more interesting class if you participate. I will post information technology items that are currently in the news during the class and I will test on these as well as the material covered in the book.

Tests must be taken between the dates specified in the test announcement. I do not give make-up tests. If you miss a test, the make-up will be writing a paper. If you make prior arrangements if you will miss a scheduled test you can still get full credit by writing a paper. Without prior arrangements, you can schedule writing a paper as the make-up for the test but you will receive only 70% of the earned grade. This paper used to make up a test will not be accepted after a week has passed from the test due date. The final exam, which is a common final given to all students in all CIT120 sections for that semester, will have multiple choice questions taken from the material covered in the Understanding Computers book and from work done on your projects. Even though the final exam is on Blackboard, for face-to-face classes, this exam must be taken in the classroom during one of the times posted at the bottom of this document.

Outside Reading/Projects:

The schedule at the bottom of this document indicates the chapters to be read beforeattending the class. It is strongly suggested that the student work the questions at the end of the assigned chapters. The authors provide a web site for expanded material as well as online tests to check your understanding of the material - and the link to UC14 CourseMate. The book makes references to additional material found on CourseMate. If you bought the loose-leaf edition of the book in the bookstore, then a CourseMate key will be part of the package. Otherwise, the publisher has made CourseMate an additional cost beyond the price of the book.You do get access to a few of their supplements such as the flash cards and a glossary without paying the additional price.

There are nine projects that use MS Office during this semester. They are described in my project description documents found on Blackboard. The majority of the points for these projects are awarded for using specific MS office techniques as described in the project descriptions. Only a few points are awarded for the content so please concentrate on using the MS Office techniques properly in your project submissions. During the lab sessions scheduled for Fridays, I will cover the specific MS Office techniques I expect you to use in your projects. There are Lab Discussion documents for each project that cover the same MS Office techniques that I use during the Friday lab sessions. The MS Office book is used for reinforcing what is covered in the lab discussions.About 95% of the material that I cover in the lab discussion documents is covered in the MS Office book. Project due dates are listed on the schedule. A late project will be accepted up to the date that the next project is due but you only get 70% of the earned points. Projects can be submitted before the date due for grading. I will post your grade with comments about what is wrong based upon the rubric (see the table at the end of each project) for that project. You can use these comments to improve your work. If you submit the corrected project before the due date, then you can still get all the possible points. You can submit the project as many times as you feel necessary. If you submit it after the due date and before the next project is due, you will get 70% of the corrected points added to the current total. The critical point is to do your projects early so if you have any questions, you can ask me during or after the class sessions. Most people who fail this course do so because they either don’t turn in the projects or wait to the last minute to do the project and then hurry through it thus earning a poor grade.

Projects should use the Microsoft Office 2013 Suite of tools, although I accept the use of earlier editions of MS Office or Open Office or Libre Office. The computers in the LRC and the open lab in T221 have Microsoft Office 2013 on them and can be used for the projects. I do not accept paper documents for the projects. Rather, all project documents are sent to me through Blackboard’s assignment manager. You attach your project fileby using the Browse My Computer button found in the Assignment Submission section under that project’s link in the MS Office Projects section. The attachment must have your initials, the project number as part of the filename, and the correct file suffix for that type of project. For example, if I were submitting the MS Word document for project 4, it would have jrn_project4.docx as the filename on the attachment. All my comments and your grade will be found in Blackboard’s gradebook for the course.

There are nine projects due. These are the goals for the projects. The actual details of the project are provided in Blackboard under the Projects button for this course. You must follow the requirements specified in the project descriptions since most of the points come from using specific MS Office techniques.

Project / General Description of Projects' Goals / Due Date / Points
1 / This project is intended to familiarize yourself with the Blackboard Assignment Manager which is used to submit all the projects. You should create a 5 paragraph description of yourself that includes your educational and career goals, your expectations from the course, your familiarity with computers, jobs you have had, and your interests. It also includes filling out a form regarding the hardware and software information about a computer that you use. / 2/3 / 30
2 / This project utilizes Web searches to collect information reported in a word processor document. You must choose an information systems topic and you must visit 5 different Web sites and use at least two different search engines. The critical word processing element is defining and using two new paragraph styles. Some simple formatting is also done in this project. / 2/10 / 30
3 / In this project you create a cover letter and a resume using the guidelines posted in the project description. I expect you to use your imagination in entering information into your cover letter and resume for a job position 15 to 20 years in the future. Some additional word processing formatting is done in this project such as inserting a table, using different font characteristics, and using tabs. / 2/24 / 35
4 / You need to create a one page, two-column newsletter document that includes a clip art file and an image file. In addition, you will use text boxes to document your images, footnotes to document your synonyms and apply the readability index for your writing. / 3/3 / 40
5 / In this project you create a payment schedule using a spreadsheet using formulas for almost all the data values. You only need 4 pieces of data; everything else is a formula or cell reference. / 3/17 / 35
6 / Create a more typical spreadsheet with a data table, embedded charts, aggregate functions, an if statement and conditional formatting. / 3/31 / 40
7 / Create a simple database consisting of two tables using MS Access. Use data field properties to control data integrity. Establish a relationship between these two tables. Populate the tables with data. / 4/14 / 35
8 / Create a form, queries and a report against a multi-table MS Access database / 4/21 / 40
9 / Create a presentation using MS PowerPoint that covers how IT is used in your career choice or a hobby. Use shapes, smart art, animations to enhance the presentation. / 5/6 / 50

I will accept these projects early and provide feedback and a grade on any project you submit to me. By early, I mean more than two days before the due date. I assign a point score so you can see the value of correcting the items. You may resubmit the corrected assignment and still receive full credit until the due date. It takes anywhere from hours to several days to get all the students' projects back after the due date has passed.

Once the due date for a project has passed, you can resubmit the project with the corrections to regain some of the lost points. I will give you 70% of the corrected points. For example, if you submitted a project and received 25 out of 40 points and then you resubmitted it and you corrected 12 out of the 15 points in error, then you would receive 12 * 0.70 = 8.4 points back towards the points for the project and end up with a 33.4/40 rather than a 25/40. You can continue to resubmit a project for additional points up to the due date for the next project. I suggest that you take advantage of this. If you turn in a project late, you will receive only 70% of the correct items since I consider you having a 0 for the first submission by the due date.

Each project needs to be submitted to me through the Assignment Manager with the document as an attachment. The project document needs to contain your name, project number, the date completed, and in most instances, page numbers. In other words, use page headers and footers for Word and Excel, a form header and footer for Access, and a Title slide for PowerPoint. Projects are graded based on the quality of the document, meeting assigned due dates and following instructions from the project description and shown in the lab discussion. I use the rubric listed at the bottom of each project as a basis for grading your projects. Please use the rubric to check that you have met all the requirements for the project.

Here are several important things to consider. First, not turning in an assigned project drops you almost half a grade level, so turn in all your projects even if you can't do part of it. Students that have failed my course in the past have been the ones who do not do the projects. Second, turn in your projects early since I will provide feedback so you can correct any problems before the actual grade is determined. Students who have earned an A have tended to submit their projects early for comments and then made the corrections. Third, take advantage of resubmitting your work for correction points. This can raise your project grade a full grade level.

You can get help from me by sending an Email with the word "Help" in the subject line, a description of where you are stuck, and the work (as an attached file) that you have attempted so far. I usually look at my Email messages twice a day. Some weekends I will not be available since I have family that live out of state and I like to see them once in a while. If you are near the Grayslake campus, you can stop in T221 and the person in the Business Division lab can help you some. You can also check with the Tutoring center in the LRC if they have tutors for CIT120.

Grading:

There are a number of assessments used in the course.

Type of Assessment / Points
Projects – There are nine projects using MS Office components. The important part of the project is the use of the techniques being taught; the content is minimal and is primarily used as a vehicle to demonstrate the use of the requested techniques. / 335
Syllabus Test – This test is used to ensure that you have read the syllabus. It is worth 20 points. It is untimed and can be taken twice. This is the only untimed and multiple opportunities test given in this course. / 20
Chapter Tests – There are four tests covering the material in the chapters. Test 1 will cover chapters 1 thru 3; test 2 will cover chapters 4 thru 7; test 3 will cover chapters 8 thru 11, and test 4 will cover chapters 12 thru 16. Each of these tests consists of 75 questions. The tests are mostly multiple choice with a few True/False questions. There are no fill in the blank questions. You may substitute a paper on an approved IT topic for each of these chapter tests or you may do both, take the test and write the paper, and get the better of the two grades. / 300
Common Final – The CIT department uses a common final test for all sections of CIT 120. It consists of 200 multiple choice questions and will be taken on Blackboard but in the classroom at the end of the semester. The test is broken into two 100 question tests and must be completed in two hours. Studying for this test is critical since it has an impact on your final grade. Below is the table describing the relationship between overall points for the course and the points achieved on the common final exam. This is strictly enforced throughout all sections of CIT120. For example, if you receive 58% on the final, the best grade you can receive for the course is a C.
Point Total For Class / Percentage on the Final / Letter Grade Received
>= 90% of total points / >=70% on final exam / A
>=80% and < 90% of total points / >=60% on final exam / B
>=70% and < 80% of total points / >=50% on final exam / C
>=60% and < 70% of total points / >=40% on final exam / D
<60% / <40% / F
/ 200
Participation and Attendance – This means attending the lectures and the labs and participating. 15 weeks @ 6 points per week. / 90
Free Points / 5
Total / 950

Since people have different learning styles, you are given a choice about how you will be assessed for the covered material. There are four tests and a final scheduled for the course besides the 9 projects. For each of the four tests, you can substitute a paper but you are required to take the final. The paper must concentrate on some aspect of IT and is usually about a topic picked from my Paper Topics. It is due no later than 11:59 PM the day after the completion date of the test. I will not accept a paper late without previous agreement between the student and me with a fixed due date. If you will not complete your paper in time, you will have to take the test or receive a zero.You can do both - take the test and write a paper. You will get credit for the higher score. Choosing the Paper alternative, you will need to Email me as an attachment a well written paper with your name and the test this paper is substituting for in the footer section, a header section with the title of the paper, endnotes showing your references, and the body of the document using Normal paragraph style or No Spacing paragraph stylewith acceptable margins/indents.The endnotes must make specific references to the source of the material. For example, stating that you found your information via is not acceptable. It requires a site and document that I can access. These endnotes do not need to be formal endnotes as required in a research project. I will not accept a cut and paste paper. I will not accept a paper if you have less than two references. I want you to analyze the material and give me your thoughts about it. If you take a small piece of the writing verbatim from one of your sources, you better put quotes around it and give it a reference. Plagiarized papers will receive a 0. A paper substitution for the tests requires around 2 to 3 pages, single-spaced with a minimum of 1200 words. You can choose one of the topics listed in my Paper Topics list or choose your own topic as long as you get it approved by me before starting work on it.I will not grade a paper if it does not have a minimum of 1200 words and/or it does not include at least two references. An email will be sent to you stating that you need to complete the paper and you will lose 15 points. You will get 2 days to return the completed paper.