| Instructor Information: Mr. Tommy Battles | |
|---|---|
| Office | Health Sciences Building Room 427 |
| Office Hours | See Weekly Schedule |
| tbattles (at mark) @jeffersonstate.edu | |
General Information This course replaces the combination of CIS 268 (Software Support) and CIS 269 (Hardware Support) that were offered prior to Fall 2015.
Catalog Course Description This course provides students with hands-on practical experience in installing software, operating systems, trouble-shooting, and maintaining systems. The class will help to prepare participants for the A+ Certification sponsored by CompTIA.
Prerequisite Basic 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. You do not have to complete CIS 146 prior to taking this course.
Textbook and Access Code You are advised to bring your textbook to each class meeting, as your instructor may refer to material in the textbook during lectures.
Textbook: CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, eighth edition, by Jean Andrews (ISBN 978-1-133-13508-1); this textbook corresponds to the sixth edition of the textbooks used for CIS 268 and CIS 269. Access Code: LabConnection Online Printed Access Card for A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, eighth edition (ISBN 978-1-133-70375-4; digital form ISBN 978-1-133-72822-1). The textbook and access code are available in a bundle (ISBN 978-1-285-48438-9; digital form ISBN 978-1-305-52770-6). The CertBlaster code included with the textbook will not give you access to the assignments; make sure you purchase the LabConnection code, either bundled with the textbook or separately. Note: earlier editions of the textbook are not compatible with the course; only the eighth edition covers CompTIA's A+ 2012 examinations.
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.
Software Students enrolled in CIS courses at Jefferson State may obtain some Microsoft software titles free-of-charge through DreamSpark; be looking for an e-mail message in your Pipeline account with your login information.
The LabConnection website requires a browser capable of displaying pages with Flash content.
Course Content In this course students will become familiar with installing, configuring, and troubleshooting various elements of computers. The majority of class time will be dedicated to lectures on the course material; any remaining time at the end of a lecture will be available for work on laboratory assignments designed to reinforce the material for that lecture.
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. |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes | 21 @ 10 pts. each (1 bonus) | 200 |
| Labs | 28 @ 10 pts. each (8 bonus) | 200 |
| Exams | 4 @ 150 to 180 pts. each (30 bonus pts.) | 600 |
| Total Points | 1000 | |
LabConnection Assignments The LabConnection website contains at least one laboratory assignment for each chapter. If there is more than one for a given chapter, your instructor will choose one or more to count for a grade; the rest will be available for practice. These assignments present a virtual environment that will walk you through the process of identifying, installing, configuring, or troubleshooting some hardware or software element. At the end of each exercise, you may be presented with a series of questions based on the task you completed. Your performance of the task and your answers to the questions both contribute to your score on each assignment; in your overall grade for the semester, each score will be scaled to ten points. You have up to three attempts on each laboratory assignment; the website will keep your highest score.
The class code for this section of CIS 263 is 201630-34783. You will not be able to access these assignments without purchasing a LabConnection access code, either bundled with the textbook or by itself. Follow the instructions that come with your access code to set up your LabConnection account; the code requires you to establish an account on the textbook publisher's website first.
No late assignment submissions are accepted; however, the total points on the laboratory assignments includes bonus points that will allow you to recover points missed on earlier assignments.
Quizzes For each chapter, you will complete a quiz on Blackboard consisting of ten questions that range from using correct terminology to applying PC support techniques in solving specific problems. These quizzes will be timed; you must submit your responses within a certain time of starting the quiz. There are no opportunities to make up missed quizzes; however, there are extra points in the course total that will allow you to recover points missed on quizzes.
Examinations After every five to six chapters, you will be given an examination that tests your knowledge of PC support vocabulary as well as your ability to apply troubleshooting techniques to specific problems. The questions on these examinations will be similar to those from the quizzes, but their contents may not be identical.
These are the tentative examination dates:
In the event of an excused absence, you may make up one exam provided that the make-up occurs within one week of the scheduled exam date. If logistics prevent the scheduling of a make-up within one week, your instructor may choose to substitute your final exam grade (adjusted as necessary) in place of that exam grade. 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).
Grade Availability Quiz scores are available immediately upon completion. Assignment grades should be available immediately in the LabConnection website but are only periodically migrated to Blackboard. Examination scores are available at the deadline to complete each examination. If you have completed a quiz, assignment, or examination for which the grade should be visible, but the grade appears blank in the My Grades tool or on the LabConnection website, contact your instructor immediately; do not wait until the end of the semester.
Academic Honesty Students are expected to complete their own work regardless of circumstances. All quizzes and assignments are individual exercises, not group work. Do not discuss a quiz or assignment with any individual (e.g., classmates, former students, tutors, or others familiar with the course material) other than your instructor! Do not share your assignment-related files or work with any other student, and do not obtain or look at any other student's files, whether on campus, on a home computer, or via electronic means! This includes time during class when you are able to work on assignments. Peer assistance should be limited to the concepts discussed in class and should never include the specifics of a quiz or an assignment; contact your instructor if there is a question as to how much assistance can be offered.
Under no circumstances should you post the details of any quiz or assignment on a public discussion board, forum, or newsgroup. Likewise, you should not post any portion of your solution to any quiz or assignment, even in progress, on such a public resource. 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.