Personal Computers and Their Uses
Course Syllabus – Summer 2009
Course Information
Instructor: Mike Jochen
Phone: 570.422.3036
Office: 337 Science & Technology
Building
Course Number: CPSC100
Class Time/Place: Distance Education
Semester Hours: 3
Email: mjochen@po-box.esu.edu
Office Hours: Email, Anytime during testing hours & by appointment
Resources:
Textbook: Grauer, Robert T. Exploring Office 2007 (written to Vista), Volume 1, Second Edition. Prentice Hall, 2007. ISBN: 0136070558.
Note: This is a special version of this textbook. This course uses a website for all learning activities. The ISBN above is for a book that is bundled with an access code for this website. If you buy a used book, or a book from other sources, you most likely will not receive an access code, which will cost you approximately $65.00 extra to purchase.
Course Learning Software: http://MyITLab.com
Computer Requirements:
The software that we will use in this class requires the following minimum system configuration:
Course Overview:
This course is designed to familiarize you with the organization/parts of a computer and how computers work. The majority of the course will focus on building skills within word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database software.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
1. Work within a window-oriented operating system to create, modify, copy, move, and delete files, to manipulate windows, to send/read/manage electronic mail, and to access information on the Internet.
2. Create a variety of documents, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations within the Microsoft Office 2007 suite.
3. Understand the basic components of a computer system, and the jargon associated with computers.
4.
Understand the
general concepts of data storage, computer security, operating systems, and
application software.
Instructional Approach:
This course is a distance learning course. The majority of learning activities will take place at your home (or where ever you decide to work). There are four exams that you must take to complete this course (in addition to the hands-on exercises and homework assignments). You are free to take as many (or as few) exams as you like during an exam session, with the following stipulation: by the half-way point of the course (for a 3 week course we will consider this the Friday of the second week), you must have taken at least half (two) exams. Dates for exam sessions are listed in the schedule section below.
Requirements:
The following work will be required of you throughout the semester:
Hands-on exercises will be graded these exercises will prepare you for the homework assignments and exams. Even though this is a home study course, your work is to be that of your own. You may receive no help from others on these assignments/exams.
There will be four exams in this course – one on each major module of the course (i.e., Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint).
Schedule:
The timeline for this class is fairly flexible in that you may do your work at your own pace with the following exception: by the halfway point of the class course (June 26) you must have completed at least two of the exams. By the end of the class (July 17), you must have completed all of the exams.
Test times are from 10:00-2:00, there are 6 exam dates to choose from:
June 12
18
26 - (you must have 2 exams completed by June 26 at 2:00)
July 1
9
17 - (you must have 4 exams completed by July 17 at 2:00)
Exams will only be administered on ESU campus, in Room 138 Science and Technology Center.
The exam room closes at 2 p.m. on exam day, thus, your exam must be completed by 2:00. Remember you can take as many exams as you want during an exam day. Tests are open book, so don’t forget to bring it to the exams. You are allowed 1 hour and 15 minutes for each exam.
The suggested sequence of completing your work is as follows:
Grading:
All exams and homework assignments count towards your final grade. No exam or homework grades will be dropped. If you fail to take an exam or do a homework assignment, you will receive a grade of zero for that work.
The make-up of the total number of points for your final grade breaks down as follows:
10% Hands-On Exercises
10% Homework
20% Microsoft Word Exam
20% Microsoft Excel Exam
20% Microsoft Access Exam
20% Microsoft PowerPoint Exam
Grading Policy:
I frequently feel that all too often, we artificially focus on the end of term grade rather than the content of a course. Nothing would please me more than to have a class full of students concerned solely with course material. I do realize however, that the pressure to maintain good grades for scholarships, awards, and applications for jobs and schools does indeed cause one to pay some attention to the end of term grade. A grade is the application of some arbitrary scale to reflect the amount and quality of work you, the student, accomplish during the semester. To that end, I do not assign or give you your grade – you earn your grade.
Rather than grading on a competitive, curve-based grading scheme, I use a criterion-based grade scale. Thus, if every student works sufficiently hard, and earns a letter grade of “A”, then all students will receive “A”s. Keep in mind, I generally view letter grades in the following light:
A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Fair
D – Poor
E – Failure
This means, to receive an “A”, you must perform excellent work. Excellent work is that work which is marked with distinction, going above and beyond that of merely meeting the requirements for an assignment. Your final grades will be decided based on the following scale:
A 90.0-100%
B 80.0-89.9%
C 70.0-79.9%
D 60.0-69.9%
E 0-59.9%
Assignment Lateness Policy:
While you may turn work in homework assignments any time before the end of the term, I strongly encourage you to complete all preparatory assignments (practice and graded assignments) before you take an exam. No work will be accepted for grade after the close of the semester.
Academic Honesty Policy:
All work submitted is to be completed individually (unless indicated as a group assignment), and is to be the sole product of your own efforts. Group work is to be the sole product of members of the group. Any perception of anything to the contrary or that violates the spirit of the Student Code of Conduct will be handled accordingly. This policy is very specific on what constitutes Academic Misconduct and provides a range of very unpleasant possible outcomes, should a violation be suspected. I encourage you to become familiar with this policy. Please refer to the relevant sections of the Student Code of Conduct for more information.
Special Needs:
If you need special accommodations or require additional assistance to fully participate and be successful in this class, I encourage you to contact me as soon as possible. I strongly desire each and every one of my students to be able to achieve their goals in this class. I will work with you and the Office of Disability Services to ensure that you have every opportunity to do well.
Five Tips for Success:
1. Work on your assignments every day
2. Do not let your exams “pile up” and try to take them all at the end of the class
3. Do the assigned reading and assignments
4. Ask questions when you are unsure of something
5. Contact me as soon as you have difficulty with any of the material we cover in this class