CIS 130 • Introduction to Information Systems

Jefferson State Community College • Shelby-Hoover Campus • Spring 2017

Instructor: Mr. Tommy Battles
Office Health Sciences Building Room 427
Office Hours See Weekly Schedule
E-mail tbattles (at mark) @jeffersonstate.edu

Catalog Course Description This course is an introduction to computers that reviews computer hardware and software concepts such as equipment, operations, communications, programming and their past, present and future impact on society. Topics include computer hardware, various types of computer software, communication technologies and program development using computers to execute software packages and/or to write simple programs. Upon completion, students should be able to describe and use the major components of selected computer software and hardware.

Prerequisite None.

Required Materials The textbook for this course is required. If you cannot purchase the textbook within a reasonable amount of time from the beginning of the semester, you will not succeed in the course. Bring the textbook to each class meeting, as you will work on assignments from the textbook during most class meetings. In-class textbook sharing is prohibited.

CMPTR, third edition, by Katherine T. Pinard, Robin M. Romer, and Deborah Morley. ISBN-10: 1-305-86287-2; ISBN-13: 978-1-305-86287-6.

Please consult with your instructor should you wish to buy a variation on the textbook other than those listed above. Previous editions of this textbook contain different assignments and will not be usable with this course.

Bring a USB flash drive to each class meeting to save your work there; it may be a new flash drive dedicated to the course, or it may be one you've had for several years that contains files for other purposes. Occasionally your instructor may tell you to use the Documents folder instead of a flash drive, but this is rare. Do not share your flash drive with another student under any circumstance.

Software This course focuses on using Microsoft Windows 7 (the figures in the textbook use Windows 10 instead) and three programs from Microsoft Office 2016 (PowerPoint, Word, and Excel). This software is installed in your CIS 130 classroom as well as the open computer laboratory (room 451). Students enrolled in CIS courses at Jefferson State may obtain some Microsoft software titles free-of-charge through Microsoft Imagine (formerly DreamSpark); be looking for an e-mail message in your Pipeline account with your login information. For this course, Windows 7 is available through this program; PowerPoint, Word, and Excel are not. A four-year subscription to Office 365 (including Office 2016) is available at a discounted price for currently-enrolled students.

You may be able to complete the majority of the instructions using another recent version of Microsoft Office (2007, 2010, or 2013 for Windows; 2008 or 2011 for Mac), but you may need to use a computer with Office 2016 to earn full credit for each assignment. Note that Office Online contains feature-limited versions of the programs and may not match the figures in the textbook. Students are discouraged from attempting these assignments using earlier versions of Microsoft Office or any other office application suite.

Course Content The course will be divided between conceptual information on computers in general and practical work with specific applications. The three main application areas are as follows:

Schedule The following is a tentative schedule of lectures (see the calendar for other dates, including deadlines):

Grades Refer to the following table for the contribution of each course item to your grade.

Item Number / Points Total Pts.
Discussions 7 @ 10 pts. each (2 bonus) 50
Classwork 10 @ 15 pts. each 150
Homework 8 @ 25 pts. each 200
Exams 5 @ 150 pts. each, 1 drop 600
Total Points 1000

See the syllabus addendum for details on other bonus opportunities.

Discussions As you learn about computer concepts in several of the early chapters, you will reply to discussion board topics with your own perspective on various facets of hardware, software, and the Internet. You will receive full credit as long as your response adequately addresses the topic.

Classwork Assignments Each of the application-oriented chapters includes a classwork assignment that your instructor will go over step by step during class. Although your instructor will do his best to allow every student time to complete each step before moving on, some students may find it more beneficial to watch during the lecture and then complete the assignment individually after class. If one of your classmates has difficulty completing one of the steps in a classwork assignment, you may point to the relevant details on the screen or in the textbook.

Homework Assignments After eight of the classwork assignments, your instructor will assign one of several assignments at the end of the chapter to reinforce the material covered in the classwork assignment. The instructions for these assignments are more abbreviated than the classwork instructions, so you may need to return to classwork instructions earlier in the chapter to review the details of specific tasks.

General Guidelines Some assignments require the use of existing files; these will be provided via links on each assignment's page on Blackboard. You cannot use another student's file to continue work on an assignment. Your instructor will provide additional instructions on Blackboard detailing any differences between what the textbook requests and what he requires (e.g., sections or steps to skip).

Your grades on these assignments will be based on how closely you follow the instructions, with more important instructions weighted more heavily than those that are trivial.

Discussions, classwork assignments, and homework assignments are due at 9:59 p.m. on the date of the deadline. Any submission after this deadline will be accepted for half credit per the policy in the syllabus addendum.

Examinations Two of the five examinations test your knowledge of computer terminology, history, and general functionality with multiple-choice, true / false, and / or matching questions. The other three examinations focus more on your ability to complete specific tasks with one of the three applications; you may be required to create a file from scratch, or you may be given a "draft" file to modify in specific ways. Unless otherwise specified, examinations are closed-book and closed-note; you may not use your flash drive during an examination, and you must use a laboratory computer (not your personal notebook computer).

These are the tentative examination dates:

Your lowest examination score will be dropped. If you miss an examination, that will be your dropped score. If you miss more than one examination, you must contact your instructor to determine if, and how, you will be able to recover the points for the other missed examination(s).

Academic Honesty Students are expected to complete their own work regardless of circumstances. All assignments are individual exercises, not group work. Do not share your assignment-related files with any other student, and do not obtain any other student's files, whether on campus, on a home computer, or via electronic means! During lectures, you are allowed to assist your classmates with classwork assignments by pointing to relevant information on the display or in the textbook, but you are not allowed to take control of a classmate's mouse or keyboard. Following along as another student completes a homework assignment is prohibited, and any evidence that two or more students were working too closely (e.g., identical errors) will result in all students involved being penalized.

Under no circumstances should you post any portion of your solution to any assignment, even in progress, on a public discussion board, forum, or newsgroup. Making such information available on the Internet will be considered academic misconduct.

During an examination, all hats, caps, visors, headphones, and earbuds must be removed unless required for ADA accommodations; additionally, no portable electronic devices (cell phones, media players, etc.) may be used unless required for ADA accommodations.

Your instructor will follow the procedures outlined in the Academic Honesty Code section of the Catalog and Student Handbook should he perceive a violation of the Code. Unless there is evidence that the violation was not due to any action on the part of a specific student, each student involved in the violation will be penalized.