COURSE SYLLABUS
Teaching Assistants:
- Brent Dahlen
- Office EE/CS 4-205
E-mail: dahlen@cs.umn.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Friday: 2:30-3:30.- Dave Doyle
- Office EE/CS 2-209
E-mail: ddoyle@davedoyle.com
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday 1:00-2:00
Textbook:
Using Information Technology: A Practical Introduction to Computers & Communication, 2nd Edition;
by Williams, Sawyer, and Hutchinson
Objectives:
The basic objective of this course is to familiarize students with many of the concepts behind today's computer applications and to provide an overview of important problems and issues in computing, including the history and social impact of computing technology. Through hands-on laboratory exercises, this course also seeks to familiarize students with a variety of software applications in use today.
Labs:
Weekly labs held each Wednesday in room 2-120, EE/CS Building. You must attend the lab section for which you are registered. The purpose of the labs is to provide hands-on experience with several application programs, including word processing, spreadsheets, and Internet applications. Lab assignments will be completed and turned in during the lab. You need to purchase 2 floppy disks (double-sided, double density) and printer access cards. You will also need to obtain a university computer account for the purpose of sending and receiving electronic mail and accessing the Internet.
Assignments and Exams:
In addition to the lab assignments there will be some additional homework problems assigned during the lectures. These assignments will always be turned in during the next lab session after the homework has been assigned. We will have one midterm exam and a final during the quarter. For the tentative exam dates please refer to the tentative schedule below. The final exam will be comprehensive. For the exams, you are responsible for all the material covered in class and in the assigned readings as well as the material discussed in the labs. No make-up exams will be given, except in cases of emergencies or with prior approval. Late assignments will be penalized 10% for each day that they are late (weekends counting as 1 day) up to one week. After one week no late assignments may be turned in. All the work submitted for this course is expected to be original work, except when group work is explicitly permitted (please see the policy on scholastic conduct in the I.T. Bulletin).
Midterm Exam = 20% | Final Exam = 30% | Labs & Homework = 50% |
The general grading scheme will be as follows: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 50-69%)However, at the end of the quarter, and especially in borderline cases, I may make small adjustments based on signs of individual effort or improvement throughout the quarter.
The Course Web Site:
Much of the information about the course, including this syllabus, the lab descriptions and assignments, the course grades, and other useful information is available in the course Web site: http://www.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/csci1001. You should consult this site on a regular basis to find out about each of the labs, the latest course announcements, and other course information.