Syllabus - CIS 150 - Jefferson State Community College

Course Information
CRN	Date and Time	Location
42357	TR 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.	HSB 442

Instructor Information: Tommy Battles
Office	Health Sciences Building Room 427
Office Hours	See Weekly Schedule
E-mail	tbattles (at mark) jeffstateonline.com
Telephone	(205) 983-5977
Your instructor only checks voicemail during office hours; an e-mail message may receive a more prompt response. Your instructor does not check Blackboard e-mail.

Old Course NumberCIS 110 (prior to Fall 2009).

Catalog Course DescriptionThis course includes logic, design and problem solving techniques used by programmers and analysts in addressing and solving common programming and computing problems. The most commonly used techniques of flowcharts, structure charts, and pseudocode will be covered and students will be expected to apply the techniques to designated situations and problems.

TextbookI highly recommend that you bring your textbook to each class meeting, as diagrams are often easier to see in the textbook itself than on the presentations used during class.

Programming Logic and Design, Comprehensive, fifth edition, by Joyce Farrell.
ISBN-10: 1-4239-0196-7; ISBN-13: 978-1-4239-0196-9.

This textbook may be available in different bindings and / or with different ISBNs. Please consult with your instructor should you wish to buy such a variation on the textbook. This textbook is required; homework will be assigned from the textbook, and not having the textbook is insufficient grounds for a homework deadline extension.

SoftwareYou may wish to make use of diagramming / flowcharting software such as Microsoft Visio. Students enrolled in CIS courses at Jefferson State may obtain the software free-of-charge through the MSDN Academic Alliance; be looking for an e-mail message in your Pipeline account with your login information.

Other MaterialsUSB flash drive for saving documents between classes. Lab computers are used for various classes throughout each day, so you are not guaranteed that any files saved on a given computer will remain there in the future. Additionally, you are not guaranteed to be sitting at the same computer during each class meeting. Having your files on a flash drive protects your files from loss and from academic misconduct. Under no circumstances should you share your flash drive with another student.

PrerequisiteBasic computer skills (CIS 130 or equivalent background). You should be familiar with fundamental computer concepts such as accessing the Internet, opening files, saving files to a specific storage device or folder, and printing the contents of a file.

Course ContentThis course will deal with good practices for program design. Initially the focus will be on overall design structure, with later lectures delving into specific design elements. Interspersed in the lectures will be opportunities to apply design principles to a particular situation, with individual and / or group exercises culminating in a discussion of what possible correct answers exist.

AttendanceAttending class will be one of the key factors in determining your success in this course. Although the textbook will provide most of the information you need to perform well on assignments and examinations, your instructor will hold you responsible for additional information provided in class. Attendance will be taken promptly at the beginning of each class.

Official Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes for which they are registered. Students who are unable to attend class regularly, regardless of the reason or circumstance, should withdraw from that class before poor attendance interferes with the student's ability to achieve the objectives required in the course. Withdrawal from class can affect eligibility for federal financial aid.

Course WithdrawalA student who wishes to withdraw from a course after the official Schedule Adjustment period and prior to the official start of final exams may do so by completing a "Withdrawal from Course" form. Students who withdraw before the beginning of the twelfth (12th) week of the fall or spring semester or seventh (7th) week of the summer term will receive a grade of "W" for any course withdrawn. After this time, the student will receive a grade of "WP" if doing satisfactory work at the time of withdrawal or "WF" if doing unsatisfactory work at the time of withdrawal.

The deadline for withdrawal with an automatic "W" for the Summer Semester 2010 is July 10. After this date, your instructor will assign a "WP" only if your performance through the date of withdrawal was satisfactory or if extreme unforeseen circumstances hampered your ability to perform satisfactorily. Students with excessive absences, especially those who miss exams or project deadlines, will not be assigned a "WP" and should withdraw before the automatic "W" deadline. Your instructor cannot withdraw you from the course; you must complete the withdrawal form yourself.

WorkThe requirements for this course are non-negotiable. You are expected to complete all assignments by their deadlines regardless of other obligations. You are responsible for ensuring that your schedule allows enough time to satisfy the course requirements. Work scheduling is not considered sufficient grounds for failing to submit assignments on time or being absent during an examination.

AssistanceYour instructor is available in his office at set times for student assistance and can be reached promptly during these office hours. Additionally, you may send an e-mail message or leave a message on voicemail should you have any questions. You will receive a better response if you seek assistance as soon as you experience trouble with an assignment. Your instructor does not guarantee an expedient response to e-mail or telephone messages outside of office hours. You are discouraged from seeking assistance from or giving notice to your instructor between classes -- it is much better to do so when your instructor can focus on you without distraction.

Your instructor is happy to assist you during his office hours, but he must divide his time fairly between students seeking assistance, class preparation, and grading. Please use the other resources available to you (textbook, lecture notes) before coming to see your instructor!

Americans with DisabilitiesThe Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 state that qualified students with disabilities who meet the essential function and academic requirements are entitled to reasonable accommodations. It is the student's responsibility to provide appropriate disability documentation to the College.

Please note that requests for accommodations must be placed with the ADA Office on campus. Additionally, accommodations should be brought up with the instructor on a case-by-case basis (that is, as each assignment or examination requiring accommodations arises during the semester). Receiving ADA accommodations does not relieve a student of the responsibility to attend class on a regular basis and to meet deadlines given by the instructor.

From the ADA Student Handbook: An instructor is not obliged to provide accommodations to a student with a disability until he/she receives the ADA Office accommodation letter from the student. In addition, it is the student's responsibility to discuss scheduling and details of the requested accommodations with his/her instructor(s). If a student delivers an accommodation letter to an instructor within a few days of an assignment or exam, the instructor may not be able to provide the optimal accommodation requested.

GradesRefer to the following table for the contributions of each course item to your grade.

Item	Number / Points	Total Pts.
Participation	5 @ 10 pts. each	50
Homework	20 @ 20 pts. each	400
Projects	3 @ 50 pts. each	150
Exams	4 @ 100 pts. each	400
Total Points		1000

Grade ranges will follow the traditional pattern (900 points or more for an A, 800 to 899 points for a B, 700 to 799 points for a C, 600 to 699 points for a D, 599 points or less for an F). Rounding up is at the discretion of the instructor based on a student's dedication to the course and mastery of the material.

Grades will be released via Blackboard (see below). A description of the deductions taken will accompany each grade. Grade disputes must be submitted via e-mail within one week of a grade's release. Your instructor will not respond to general inquiries about grades -- you must consult the instructor's comments on your returned papers and ask specific questions about the point deductions. Please let me know if you have difficulties accessing grades via Blackboard -- it is very easy for me to overlook a setting required for you to be able to see your grades.

My priorities in grading your assignments will be (1) providing valuable feedback to aid you in understanding concepts, and (2) releasing grades in a timely manner. I will make every effort to satisfy both of these priorities, but occasionally one of these priorities may suffer in favor of the other.

Class ParticipationYou are expected to focus on any exercise presented during a lecture. You may be working individually or in groups of two to five students. Your instructor will choose some of these exercises at random from which to collect responses. These will not be graded as much for accuracy as for effort.

HomeworkFor each chapter you will be expected to complete related assignments, the majority of which will come from the textbook. There are three main types of assignments in this course, each with its own grade:

Review Questions (RQ): These multiple-choice questions focus both on general terminology and on identifying correct solutions and tools to solve specific problems. For each question, list both the letter and the content of your answer choice, and you may wish to write / type out the question itself for retention and understanding.
Find the Bugs (FB): One of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks in programming is to find errors in the syntax and / or logic of a program. It is important that you are able to identify common problems to make the debugging process easier. Examine the code, listing each error and how it should be corrected. Providing the corrected code in itself will not be sufficient for credit.
Exercises (EX): You will be presented with various scenarios for which you are to generate some program-related output, possibly including a flowchart or pseudocode to represent your logic, documentation of the program's input and / or output, and / or a hierarchy chart showing the relationship between the various components of your program. Diagrams such as flowcharts must be handwritten, but pseudocode may be typed.

Assignments are due promptly at the beginning of each class period unless otherwise noted; do not attempt to turn in an assignment mid-lecture. Homework deadlines are posted on Blackboard, so you should be able to submit an assignment on time even if you miss the day it was announced. If you are unable to come to class the day that an assignment is due, you should e-mail the assignment to your instructor by 9 p.m. the evening of the due date. If you are in class on the day that a particular assignment is collected, you will not be allowed to submit it later.

Your lowest three homework scores will be dropped. If you fail to turn in an assignment by the deadline, this will count as one of your three drops. Only under extreme circumstances and with prior permission will a student be allowed to submit a homework assignment late.

Unless otherwise specified, homework assignments are to be submitted in hard-copy form (printed or neatly handwritten; no fringes from notebook paper). Because of supply issues or other technological problems, you may not be able to print your assignment in the minutes leading up to class, so you are advised to print each assignment as soon as possible. Please staple your work prior to bringing it to class if it consists of more than one piece of paper, and keep the pages in order according to the assignment description.

ProjectsThree times during the semester you will be given a set of exercises related to the chapters recently completed, similar to the homework assignments. Each project will be distributed prior to a weekend, with your solution due at the beginning of the next class. You will be allowed to use your textbook and notes, but you may not collaborate with your classmates. The projects will not be made available electronically; you must come to class on the date each project is distributed or obtain the project during your instructor's office hours.

ExaminationsAfter roughly every two or three chapters, you will be given an examination that tests your knowledge of design principles as well as your ability to apply them to specific problems. The questions on these examinations will be similar to the Review Questions, but the contents will not exactly match the homework.

Make-up examinations must be scheduled with your instructor within one week of a missed examination and will only be offered for those with significant grounds for missing the exam (illness, family emergency, an automobile accident that occurs on the way to class, etc.).

BlackboardYour instructor will communicate course requirements, grades, and other important information via Blackboard. You should check the course home page on Blackboard frequently to ensure that you receive this information in a timely manner. You may access Blackboard from the link in Campus Pipeline. Your instructor will demonstrate the use of Blackboard during the first week of class; should you have additional questions, contact him during his office hours or via e-mail. Your instructor is not responsible for miscommunication caused by your failure to consult Blackboard on a regular basis.

The Lab EnvironmentThe computers in this classroom are used throughout the week for two sections of this course and for other activities. Thus it is important that you are careful not to leave any files containing, or related to, assignments on any lab computer once you leave the classroom. Use alternate means (e.g., e-mail attachments or USB flash drives) to store your files between class periods. Assignments found on lab computers after class ends are subject to an automatic zero due to the potential for academic misconduct.

The intent of having this primarily lecture-oriented class in a computer laboratory setting is to enable you to follow along with the lecture notes made available for each chapter, as well as to allow you to type notes and / or in-class exercises as class is in session. You should not be using the computers for any other purpose during class hours. Abuse of the availability of computers during class time could result in the lectures being moved to a traditional classroom.

In order to protect classroom equipment from vandalism and theft, all classrooms will be locked when not in use. If you need to use a computer beyond class time, please use the open computer lab (HSB 451).

HonorStudents are expected to complete their own work regardless of circumstances. Peer assistance (whether from current students, former students, or those otherwise knowledgeable of the programming field) should be limited in scope; consult with your instructor if there is a question of how much assistance can be offered. Access to official solutions (other than as provided by the instructor for demonstration purposes) is forbidden. Any student involved in cheating on an assignment or examination will receive a zero for the assignment and may be subject to additional penalties, such as being assigned an F with notation of the academic misconduct on your permanent transcript.

RespectWhile in the classroom you are expected to show respect both to your instructor and to your classmates. Harassing, threatening, or otherwise disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. Students who engage in such behavior will be asked to leave the classroom and may suffer grade penalties. We all have different perspectives on what is "in good fun" and what "crosses the line", so keep in mind the diverse makeup of the class as you make comments.

Statement on Discrimination / Harassment: The college and the Alabama State Board of Education are committed to provide both employment and educational environments free of harassment or discrimination related to an individual's race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Such harassment is a violation of State Board of Education policy. Any practice or behavior that constitutes harassment or discrimination will not be tolerated.

DisturbancesDuring lectures, students are expected to remain silent unless recognized by the instructor for a question or comment. When completing in-class exercises, conversations that relate to an assignment are allowed so long as they do not reach a disruptive volume. However, students should not carry on loud and / or personal conversations in the classroom during class time. Lab computers should be used to complete assignments or to follow the lectures, not for personal entertainment that may distract adjacent students. Cell phones and pagers should be placed in silent mode or turned off, and calls should be answered outside the classroom. In addition to sound, students should avoid causing sight-based (clothing) or smell-based (cologne, perfume, etc.) distractions. Causing a disturbance shall be considered disrespectful behavior and will be treated as such.

PrintingThe Department of Business and Information Systems maintains the lab printers, including the addition of paper and toner when necessary. The department has a limited budget with which to purchase additional toner and paper. When students abuse the privilege of unrestricted printing, supplies may run out before the department is able to order replacements. Please use our print supplies in a responsible manner. If you would like assistance in reducing the number of pages required to print a document (especially PowerPoint slides), please let an instructor or lab assistant know.

ScheduleA tentative schedule is available on Blackboard. Changes to this schedule will also be communicated on Blackboard. Reasons for schedule changes may include, but are not limited to, instructor illness, inclement weather, or classroom unavailability. Students are responsible for following the schedule regardless of prior class meeting attendance.

After This ClassIf you plan to pursue a degree that requires a programming language class (C++, Java, or Visual Basic), I highly recommend that you enroll in one of these classes during the term following completion of this course. These skills will stay with you much better if you apply them to a particular programming language as soon as possible.

Overall, my advice to you is to do your best! If something unforeseen comes up during the semester, I'm much more likely to work with you if you've proven to be a trustworthy student. Don't hesitate to ask questions on any topic relevant to the course.

CIS 150 • Introduction to Computer Logic and Programming

Jefferson State Community College • Shelby-Hoover Campus • Summer 2010