Summer II 2011 CSC 125 Syllabus
Instructor: Jan Pearce
Office Hours: MWF mornings by appointment in 304 B Draper
TA: Amber Poynter
TA Consultation Hours: MWF noon-12:50 by appointment in 301 Draper
Course Description
Best practices in web programming means generating web pages
which
are both attractive and easy to use regardless of whether they are
accessed by a traditional laptop or desktop computer, a high-resolution
smart phone, a low-resolution cell phone, or a "screen reader" which
reads the content of the page for visually impaired visitors aloud. All
these issues reduce to the matter of working with web standards. The
three main standards covered in the course are the HTML/XHTML
(Extensible Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and JavaScript which
is used to create dynamic effects.
Prerequisite: Completion or waiver of developmental
mathematics or the consent of the instructor is required.
The Course Goals
- Learn to create and maintain structured web sites with pages which are atethetically pleasing as well as valid and well-formed.
- Learn to create page designs using the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) design language
- Understand and apply "progressive enhancement" in web design tasks
- Apply course concepts and learn to articulate them to work with a web site for a community partner.
- To become familiar with widely used programming structures including structures such as variables and objects, as well as looping, assignment, and conditional statements.
- To learn to use appropriate criteria to evaluate reasoning
- To become more comfortable and effective working in a team setting and with a community partner
Required Text
HTML, XHTML and
CSS All-In-One For Dummies, second edition by
Andrew Harris (2010) ISBN-10: 0470537558 or ISBN-13: 978-0470537558
Technology Policies
Much of the work in this course will require use of the computer, so these policies are designed to help students better understand how to be effective in a technology-rich environment.
- Laptop and Software: Each student is required to bring his or her appropriately equipped laptop to class everyday except when otherwise announced.
- Unapproved Technology: The in-class use of unapproved technology will not be tolerated and in certain cases will constitute a violation of academic honesty. For example, no games are ever acceptable and communication programs, such as e-mail or instant messaging programs, are only acceptable for classwork during class, so must otherwise be disabled before class. Likewise, cellular phones and pagers must be disabled before class. To help students to appreciate the gravity of this policy, each and every in-class use of unapproved technology will result in a 1% reduction of the student's homework assignment grade.
- Citing: Team participation is a proven and useful means by which students can learn material. In addition, much information is easily accessible by searching the web. Students are encouraged to appropriately use information from other students, the web, and other resources. However, any information used from other students or any other resource MUST BE CITED. (See below for more information on this serious topic.)
- Email and Web: On the other hand, electronic communication programs are useful when used appropriately, so each student is required to use the course web page to access assignments and to use a Berea College e-mail account to facilitate electronic communication outside of class.
- Backups: All students are expected to back-up their work, which includes assignments, quizzes and exams daily. The best way to do this is to store a copy of all work on a DVD, CD, flash drive, or some other media, and not in another location on their laptop. The normally understanding instructor will not be at all sympathetic to loss of electronic work, so it is the student's responsibility to protect his/her work from such heartbreaking loss.
- Exceptions: Exceptions to any of these technology policies will be considered on an individual case-by-case basis but will only be granted under extremely unusual circumstances.
The Attendance Policy
Class lectures, discussions, and in-class laboratory work are considered to be a vital key to success in this course. It is the hope of the instructor that class sessions are both informative and useful, therefore attendance is expected at each class session unless a specific exception is made. This policy will be enforced in several ways. Quizzes will be announced and/or occasionally "popped," and because the lowest quiz grade will be dropped, under nearly all circumstances, make-up quizzes will not be given. Students who come late, leave early, or fail to fully participate during the class will be considered absent for that portion of the period, and such partial absences will accumulate. The final grade may be lowered by one third of a letter grade for each absence beyond the third. Thus, it is the responsibility of the student to speak to the instructor about each absence from class. This should be done as soon as possible, and if at all possible before the absence occurs. Students who miss class are held responsible for all of the material covered, assigned, and collected during their absence.
System of Evaluation
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Final Grading Scale
Grade ≥ 93 % A |
Evaluated Items Exam
1 |
Points 100
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Percentages ~16.7 % * |
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* The lowest 100 points of the exam and quiz grade items will be dropped as explained below. |
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Please refer to the GRADING section of the current Berea College Catalog for the College-wide interpretations of these letter grades. |
Grading Policies
- For the benefit of the students in the class, all course grade computations are continually updated by the instructor, so students may check frequently on their in-progress course grade during the term. Any questions/concerns regarding grading of any component of the course are to be addressed to the instructor only.
- After
having completed all work in the course, students who satisfy all of
the following conditions will have their lowest 100 point assignment
total, quiz total, or test score dropped before their final grade is
computed:
- They have completed all coursework, including all assignments, quizzes, and exams.
- They have not been excessively tardy to or absent from class.
- They have not had any noted incidents of disruptive behavior.
- The instructor may raise the grade of students who have demonstrated significant improvement in their performance. This is the sole discretion of the instructor, but a student is welcome to bring this possibility to his/her attention.
The Homework Assignment Bonus
Homework assignments will be assigned on a near-daily basis, since doing relevant work thoughtfully and conscientiously is one of the keys to success in this course. Through homework assignments students get the needed practice of application of the concepts. Because the instructor desires to strongly encourage a diligent effort on homework, students who turn in all of their assignments with no more than two homework assignments submitted late, will be awarded an additional 5% on the assignment grade!
The Tests and Quizzes
Three tests and frequent short quizzes will be given in this course. Quizzes will be given nearly every class day. Quiz questions will include questions relating to the reading assignment for that lesson. Students will take these quizzes individually at the start of the class period. On some quizzes, after everyone has completed taking the quiz individually, students will take the quiz again in groups, coming to consensus on the answers to each of the questions. Thus, evidence that you have engaged and retained the information you have read will be reflected in your quiz scores. By keeping track of group and individual scores separately, you will have measures of your ability to listen and to learn from others as well.
The most likely time of the three exams will be:
- Exam 1: Wednesday, June 29, 2011
- Exam 2: Wednesday, July 13, 2011
- Exam 3: Monday, July 25, 2011
Problems that appear on the tests will be more varied in nature, ranging from homework or lab-like problems to problems that require a deeper synthesis of ideas and from true or false questions to short-answer questions.
Final Web Project
During the course, student teams will work with a community partner on a major web project. A project such as this requires a much more substantial time commitment than regular homework assignments, and so will have more extended deadlines. Students are reminded not to procrastinate. Because students have access to professional state-of-the-art computers and application software, completed webpage, and the final write-ups of the project should be professional in both appearance and content. The community partner should be considered a "client" with whom students will work collaboratively.
Because there is a final project in which students synthesize the material, there will be no comprehensive final examination in this course.
The Class Atmosphere
The members of this class constitute a learning community. Learning in such a community best takes place in an atmosphere in which instructor and the students treat everyone with mutual respect. Students need not always raise their hands in order to ask questions or to make comments, but they should not interrupt the instructor or fellow students in doing so. Students typically find the atmosphere set by the instructor to be a sometimes playful and nearly always relaxed one, but students will still need to work hard and consistently both in and out of class in order to do well. If at anytime you have thoughts, comments, or suggestions about how the class atmosphere could be improved or made into one which is more supportive of your learning, please come by or drop me a note about it. I welcome such suggestions.
On Homework and Lab Collection
All written work should be neat, organized, and should show sufficiently many steps to demonstrate a clear understanding of the techniques used. Homework and labs are due at the beginning of class on the announced date due. If a student must miss class due to either a sickness or a planned absence, homework is still expected to be submitted on time. Homework is posted on the web and may be requested in advance.
Late homework will be accepted for reduced credit up until the homework assignment is returned, and late work must be labeled as late. Written or printed homework assignments may be turned in before class or at the instructor's office, but should NOT be sent through the CPO, attached in e-mail, or given to a student assistant. A selection of the homework problems will be graded for credit, and homework submissions not meeting the above standards may receive reduced credit.
On Teamwork
Learning to work in teams effectively is strongly encouraged. Some homework and all labs will be specifically designed for teamwork, others for individual work, but on most homework assignments you can choose to work alone or in a team. All homework assignments must clearly include all of the authors' names at the top of each page. On any homework assignment in which half or more of the work was completed in a team, a single copy of the homework submission should be handed in with all of the team's participants listed as authors. Teams can generally consist of one, two, or three members due to the nature of the work in this course. Unless otherwise stated, teams shall not consist of more than three members for most work. On any homework assignment where less than half of the work was completed in a team, individual homework assignments should be handed in with the author acknowledging all of the help received for each problem. This includes significant help received from the instructor or the teaching assistant. This is meant to be a sharing process; do not "give credit" to other students who have not attempted to contribute to the work or to the team's work, because it is ultimately not a help for the student who did not contribute to the work. Thoughtful practice, not (even mindful) copying, is ultimately the best way to learn. Note that on all team-completed homework assignments, students must describe the roles played by each author on the homework submission.
Warning: Please be careful to conform to these standards for teamwork, since they are designed to encourage good learning practices. (Furthermore, copying another person's work or otherwise failing to adhere to these standards may even result in a charge of academic dishonesty.) The College statement on academic honesty can be found online in the Berea College Student Handbook http://www.berea.edu/cataloghandbook/sturegs/srr/academichonesty.asp. We will be vigilant in not tolerating either sloppy documentation or outright plagiarism.
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty
Plagiarism is the use of anyone else's work or ideas without adequate citation. It is a sin which is both easy to commit and easy to avoid. Ideas taken from other people include those from published or unpublished books, articles, websites, TAs, or friends' homework. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite ALL your sources! If you are not sure whether or not to cite a source, you should cite it! Simply put, plagiarism is not only cheating, it is stealing because it constitutes theft of someone else's ideas. It is a serious offense, and Berea College takes it seriously. Plagiarism will not be tolerated! At the first offense, the student will receive an F for that assignment. At the second offense, the student will fail the course. In addition, ALL offenses of plagiarism will be reported to the Associate Provost for Academic Services as detailed in the Berea College Student Handbook.
For Additional Help
The teaching assistant for this course will be Amber Poynter. She will be able to answer questions about the content in the course during her noontime consultations hours when she is available by appointment in Draper 301. Students are strongly encouraged to make use of the help available for the instructor and TA. Best results are obtained trying to solve problems alone or in a group before asking for help, so in either place, students should be prepared to show what they have already tried. Topics in this course build throughout the course, so students should be sure to do their best to keep up with the class, so as to not get behind and possibly forever lost. No question to which one does not know the answer is "dumb" unless it goes unanswered because it remained unasked.
Students who have a disability that may prevent them from fully demonstrating their abilities should contact the Disability Services Coordinator, Cindy Reed, at (859) 985-3212, or email cynthia_reed@berea.edu, to discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation in this course. Upon request, this syllabus can be made available in alternative forms.