Course Objectives

• develop competency in file management, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and Internet packages with a focus on mathematics and science appplications (You do not have to know any science; however, many of the examples will be drawn from science.)
• develop problem-solving techniques, e.g. design of a spreadsheet, create and interpret an x-y graph, perform statistical analysis, locate needed information electronically
• understand how a computer works
• understand computer-related terminology
• understand and adhere to the University computing policy
• appreciate the role of computers and information in our society
• understand some of the ethical issues involved in processing and using information

Materials:

You will need several 3 1/2 inch floppy disks. Disks are available at the checkout counter in the bookstore. Some assignments will require you to submit your disk. Thus, it is your responsibility to label your disks to ensure that the disk you submit contains the relevant file to ensure it is as clear as possible which file you intend for me to grade to ensure that the disk does not contain your only copy of a file you need while the disk is out of your possession. In addition, you should get into the habit of saving often and perhaps saving multiple copies of important files. (Saving a file is useless if you cannot retrieve it. You should know its name and location. If you save a file in a space that is not allocated to you, you risk losing it.) It is your responsibility to keep copies of all of your assignments, tests and so forth at least until you receive your final grade for the course.

Assessment:

There will be three weekly meetings. Approximately one-third of them will be lectures and/or demonstrations and two-thirds of them will be labs. In addition, there will be weekly homeworks, four exams and a final. The various components of the course will be weighted as follows: Homework: 12.5% Class: Lecture and Labs: 25% In-class Tests (on-line): 37.5% Final (on-line): 25% The lowest of the four in-class test grades will be dropped. (The final counts twice as much as a test; if the final is the lowest grade, it will be weighted equal to an in-class test and no test grade will be dropped.) Make-up tests are given only at the discretion of the professor. You should assume that a missed test will count as your drop test unless you see me and we make other arrangements. The exams will be on-line. They will be a mix of skills from the labs/homeworks and concepts from the lectures/homeworks. You are expected to save throughout the exam. I may not be sympathetic if you lose everything due to your own failure to save. Assignments will be posted on the course web page. A number of labs are out of the books, it is your responsibility to bring the appropriate book. Attendance will be taken. Absences, lateness, inattention to the tasks at hand, etc. will be reflected in the class component of the grade. Missed labs can be made up, provided it is done in a timely manner. (Missed lectures cannot be made up.) The plus/minus grading system will be used. Unless an extension has been granted, a late assignment will be penalized 5 points each class meeting. Please note that Word 2000 (Word, not Works), Excel 2000 and PowerPoint 2000 are the packages used in this course. Homework must be done in these packages. Homeworks can be turned in at the beginning of class or can be emailed. If you do not receive a response from me, you should assume I did not receive the assignment. You should keep a copy of my response on file until you receive you final grade for the course.

Cheating:

Claiming another's work as your own is cheating. A student caught cheating will receive a score of zero for the assignment. Serious cases of cheating may further result in my lowering your final grade. Asking another for help on a step or two in a many step homework or lab assignment is acceptable; handing in duplicate or nearly duplicate work is not. If you require a significant amount of assistance on a lab or homework, you should seek my help. Openly allowing your work to be copied is also cheating. There will be a few writing assignments: plagiarism, be it from a book, a web site or a fellow student, will be considered cheating. You must cite the sources you use. Sentences directly quoted require quotation marks,and so on. Changing one or two words per sentence is still plagiarism.