SYLLABUS
CGS-2531 Problem Solving with Computer Software
Fall 2011
Course Home Page:
http://www.cise.ufl.edu/class/cgs2531fa11
This site contains an Announcements page. You must monitor this page regularly,
as all major course announcements will be posted there, and NOT on Myitlab.
Course Portal:
http://www.pearsoncustom.com/fl/ufl_cgs2531/
Course Coordinator:
Office:
Email:
Office Hours:
Dr. Manuel E. Bermúdez (www.cise.ufl.edu/~manuel)
E574 CSE
manuel@cise.ufl.edu
M,W,F: 8th and 9th periods (beginning at 3:30 p.m.)
Course Instructors: (all office hours are in CSE E309)
Name
Jeeyoung Kim
Jeeyoung Kim
Nuri Yeralan
Yibin Wang
Email
Jk2@cise.ufl.edu
Jk2@cise.ufl.edu
nuri@ufl.edu
yibwang@cise.ufl.edu
Section
0946
1060
1056
06FG
Schedule
Office Hours
MWF 3, CSE E222
MWF 4, CSE E309
MWF 5, CSE A101
MWF 4, CSE E309
MWF 7, CSE A101
MWF 6, CSE E309
MWF 10, CSE A101
MWF 9, CSE E309
Course Support TAs:
Name
Andrew Cordar
Abdullah Almutairi
Mahmudul Hasan
Email
acordar@cise.ufl.edu
aalmutai@cise.ufl.edu
mmhasan@ufl.edu
Office Hours
MWF 8, CSE E309
T 8,9, Th 9, CSE E309
Th 5,6,7 CSE E309
Admin TA:
Name
Anubhav Singh
Email
aksingh@cise.ufl.edu
Office Hours
MWF 5, CSE E309
Course Description: The goal of this course is to help the student gain proficiency in text editing and formatting,
spreadsheet and database management, and presentation preparation. An additional goal of the course is for the
student to gain basic knowledge of modern-day computing technology. We will use the Microsoft Office 2010
software package, including the following capabilities:
1. Text editing and formatting using Word 2010,
2. Spreadsheet and database manipulation using Excel 2010, and
3. Presentations using PowerPoint 2010.
Regarding computing technology, we will cover three chapters of Pearson’s “Technology in Action” book. These
chapters will be available on-line at the course site at Myitlab.com. Those three chapters are as follows:
1. TIA-2: The components of a modern-day computer
2. TIA-6: Understanding Hardware.
3. TIA-7: Networking and Security.
Textbook: Exploring Office 2010, customized package, Pearson. Purchase of the package is required. There are
two options for students to acquire package.
1. The primary option is the all-electronic package, acquired through the Pearson UF Portal:
http://www.pearsoncustom.com/fl/ufl_cgs2531. The package costs approx. $90, and consists of:
a. Exploring Office 2010 Vol I: Chapters Word 1-4, Excel 1-4, Powerpoint 1-3.
b. Exploring Office 2010 Vol II: Chapters Word 5, Excel 5,6
c. Technology in Action, Chapters 2,6,7.
d. Access code to the www.myitlab.com site.
2. You may purchase the Pearson access code for this package at the UF Bookstore, for approx. $140. The ISBN
is 9781256281207.
You must have access to the myitlab on-line system, in order to access assignments, course materials, exercises,
etc. All homework assignments are to be done on the www.myitlab.com site. No exceptions. To use the site, you
must be on a XP (SP2 or greater), Windows Vista, or Windows 7 computer, running Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 or 9.
(Mac users, see below). The myitlab software has been installed on the computers in all CIRCA labs on campus
(http://labs.at.ufl.edu/)
The process of registering with Myitlab and enrolling in the correct Myitlab course will be shown on the first day of
class. A Myitlab access code looks like this: DSSXCA-FLVGF-PRBYS-ADNAU-HXABT-LAVTX. You will use
your Myitlab access code to register with the Myitlab site. Once registered, you need to enroll in the correct Myitlab
course, using a course ID, given to you by your instructor. A Myitlab course ID looks like this: CRXAB4Y-815321.
It is essential that you enroll in the correct Mytilab course. Make sure you attend the correct section on the first day
of class. Do not get the course ID from a friend, or from anyone other than your instructor. Each section in CGS2531 has a different course ID. Students who enroll in the wrong section will receive zero credit for any
homeworks they submit while in the wrong section. Verifying that you used the correct course ID is easy: as soon as
you enroll in it, a course icon will appear, containing the UF section number. Details in class.
Class Calendar:
WEEK
DATES
1
Aug. 22
Aug. 24
Aug. 26
2
Aug 29
Aug 31
Sep 2
3
Sep 5
Sep 7
Sep 9
Sep 12
Sep 14
4
Topics
Myitlab, Syllabus
Office Fundamentals
Office Fundamentals
Computer Components
Document Formatting
Document Formatting
NO CLASS
Editing and Formatting
Editing and Formatting
Tables and Graphics
REFERENCE
Myitlab
Office Fundamentals Ch. 1
Office Fundamentals Ch. 1
TIA-2
Word Ch. 1
Word Ch. 1
Labor Day
Word Ch. 2
Word Ch .2
Word Ch. 3
HOMEWORK
Due: HW 1
Due: HW 2 (2 items)
Due: HW 3
Sep 16
5
Sep 19
Sep 21
Sep 23
6
Sep 26
Sep 28
Sep 30
7
Oct 3
Oct 5
Oct 7
8
Oct 10
Oct 12
Oct 14
9
Oct 17
Oct 19
Oct 21
10
Oct 24
Oct 26
Oct 28
11
Oct 31
Nov 2
Nov 4
12
Nov 7
Nov 9
Nov 11
13
Nov 14
Nov 16
Nov 18
14
Nov 21
Nov 23
Nov 25
15
Nov 28
Nov 30
Dec 2
16
Dec 5
Dec 7
Tables and Graphics
Tables and Graphics
Change Tracking
Footnotes
Captions
Mail merge
Templates
Review for Exam 1
Intro. To Excel (Exam 1 Oct. 3-4)
Formulas, Page setup
Formulas and Functions
Formulas and Functions
Financial Functions
Hardware
Charts
Charts
Charts
Worksheets and Tables
Worksheets and Tables
Worksheets and Tables
Review for Exam 2 (Nov. 1-2)
Networking and Security
NO CLASS
Intro. to Powerpoint
Presentation Development
NO CLASS
Presentation Development
Data Tables
Data Tables
Pivot Tables and Charts
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
What-if Analysis
What-if Analysis
What-if Analysis
Review for Exam 3
(Exam 3 Dec. 6-7)
Word Ch. 3
Word Ch. 3
Word Ch. 4
Word Ch. 4
Word Ch. 4
Word Ch. 5
Word Ch. 5
Excel Ch. 1
Excel Ch. 1
Excel Ch. 2
Excel Ch. 2
Excel Ch. 2
TIA-6
Excel Ch. 3
Excel Ch. 3
Excel Ch. 3
Excel Ch. 4
Excel Ch. 4
Excel Ch. 4
Due: HW 4
Due: HW 5
Due: HW6
Due: HW 7
Due: HW 8 (2 items)
Due: HW 9
Due: HW 10
TIA-7
HOMECOMING
Powerpoint Ch. 1
Powerpoint Ch. 2
VETERANS DAY
Powerpoint Ch. 3
Excel Ch. 5
Excel Ch. 5
Excel Ch. 5
THANKSGIVING
THANKSGIVING
Excel Ch. 6
Excel Ch. 6
Excel Ch. 6
Due: HW 11
Due: HW 12 (3 items)
Due: HW 13
Due: HW 14
Class Policies:
1. Attendance: Lecture attendance is not required, but is strongly recommended. You may well be able to
study and learn this material on your own, but we think you’ll find this course a lot easier and less timeconsuming if you attend class.
2. Exams: Exams will be online projects. You will have two days to complete each project, on October 3-4,
Nov. 1-2, and Dec. 6-7. Details will be posted on the Announcements page.
Submitting all exams is required. Unjustified failure to submit an exam will earn a grade of zero on that
exam. Justifications for not submitting an exam include serious illness, medical and/or family emergencies,
official UF sponsored events taking place out of town, and major religious holidays. Such justifications
MUST be made, in advance, in writing to the course coordinator. In case of an illness, a doctor’s note
explaining the nature of the condition, the dates involved, and the expected time of recovery, is required. A
doctor’s note that does not contain ALL these elements will not be accepted. Students cannot claim they’ve
been too ill to submit an exam, but not ill enough to go see a doctor or the infirmary. Failure to notify the
course coordinator in advance will result in a grade of zero on the exam. Only the most dire (and
documented) circumstances can excuse a student from the requirement of advance notification. Justification
for not submitting an exam does NOT include family reunions, vacations, or attendance at weddings, no
matter the location of the event, or how long it has been planned. For justified exam absences, makeups will
be arranged on a case-by-case basis.
We have scheduled the exams so that they do not conflict with known, major, work-prohibited religious
holidays. The UF policy on religious holidays appears HERE. The 2011-2012 UF calendar of religious
holidays appears HERE. If you wish to be excused from an exam or homework assignment due to a major
religious holiday (one that is listed on the UF calendar), you must notify the course coordinator at least one
week in advance. If you wish to be excused from an exam or homework assignment due to a major religious
holiday that is NOT listed on the UF calendar, you MUST notify us at least one month in advance, as these
cases require special scrutiny on the part of the University.
3. Homework: We will have 14 homework assignments. Homeworks 2, 8 and 12 will have multiple parts, but
will count as ONE homework. The following rules apply:
a. All assignments are to be done on the Myitlab site. No exceptions. To use the site with a Windows
PC,, you must be on a Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista, or Windows 7 computer, running Internet
Explorer 6, 7, 8 or 9. You MUST purchase your access code through the UF portal. If you purchase
it elsewhere, you will not have access to the e-book.
b. Mac users: You MUST purchase your access code through the UF portal, USING A WINDOWS
COMPUTER. Then, after registering with Myitlab, and enrolling in the correct section, you can use
your Mac to login: Go to www.myitlab.com (not the UF portal). Under “For Students”, at the
bottom, click on “Mac User”, and login using your Myitlab login and password. Then follow the
instructions. You will download, install, and run a “Remote desktop” application that lets your MAC
run a Windows simulation remotely. NOTE: this is a new, experimental facility provided by
Pearson. It limits sessions to 90 mins, and CANONT be used for the exam projects in this
course. Those must be done on Windows machines.
c. The Myitlab software has been installed on all the Windows computers in all CIRCA labs
(http://labs.at.ufl.edu/)
d. Homeworks will be weekly, typically assigned on Mondays, and due the following Monday at
11:59:00 p.m. Unsubmitted homework counts as a zero. No late homework is accepted. The
deadline for homework is at 11:59:00 p.m. Eastern Standard/Daylight Time exactly. The deadline is
strictly enforced by the Myitlab site. Exceptions must be justified in advance: i.e. advance
notification is required. If you miss a homework for a justified reason, arrangements must be made
with the course coordinator immediately (i.e. at most one business day) upon your return. Failure to
make arrangements promptly will void the justification. The course coordinator will give you a
reasonable amount of time (typically three business days after you are back) in which to complete and
submit the homework. At that time, your homework will be marked as late and assigned a grade of
zero, but the course coordinator or the head TA will change it manually.
e. Before attempting the homework, we recommend you do the exercises on the myitlab site; they’re
there for a reason.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
You may submit your homework as often as you like; Myitlab will record the highest grade earned.
You may also do only part of the homework, and save it for later. Important: Myitlab has a known
bug: after answering all questions in the homework, do not click on the “Save for Later” button. If
you do, Myitlab will not let you complete (or submit) it later if all questions have been answered. If
you haven’t answered all the questions, it’s OK to save your homework for later.
No extra credit homework will be assigned, so make sure you do them ALL. Also, no homework
grades will be dropped.
STRONG ADVICE: finish a day early. Unacceptable excuses for not doing your assignment
include (but are not limited to): “my machine broke”, “there was a power outage”, “I lost my hard
drive”, “I lost my Internet connection”, and “I forgot my password”. One major educational goal of
this course is to have students develop the necessary skills to meet deadlines with computers. When
dealing with computers, and meeting a deadline, planning is essential. You should plan on having
hardware failures. You should plan on failing Internet connections. You should plan on the dog
eating your homework 
Sometimes Myitlab accepts only a limited number of ways (or even ONE way) in which to
accomplish the task at hand, even if there are other ways to do it in Office 2010. It is your
responsibility to determine what that procedure is, before the deadline. This means you must allocate
enough time to get started on your homework, to get stuck on a technical issue, and to need an extra
day to go get some questions answered, by email or during office hours.
If you’re still working on your assignment with only minutes (or even hours) left until the deadline,
you’re asking for trouble (Murphy’s Law: everything that can go wrong, will go wrong). In
particular, if you’re still working on your homework at the deadline, Myitlab will not submit it for
you at 11:59:00 p.m.
After submitting your homework, you are not done until you check that your grade is recorded
accurately. You can find your grade in the folder “GRADES → HOMEWORK”. You MUST check
that your grade is recorded properly, before the deadline. Students cannot claim later that they were
unaware that their submission and grade had not been recorded by Myitlab.
The Myitlab site is quite reliable, but on rare occasions the site goes down. We will compensate by
extending homework deadlines only in cases of major failures of the Myitlab site, lasting at least 4
hours.
All questions or issues related to a given homework must be resolved within one week of the deadline
for that homework.
4. Grades: 40% of your grade will consist of your homework, and 60% will be your exams (3 exams, 20%
each). No homework grades will be dropped. The final point total will be rounded to the nearest whole
number. For grading questions, contact your instructor TA. Grading questions and re-grading issues must be
resolved within 1 week of the due date of the assignment.
5. Grading scale:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
92-100
90-91
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
DE
60-62
0-59
75 or higher is required for a
grade of S (S/U option)
A C- will not be a qualifying grade for critical tracking courses. In order to graduate, students must have an
overall GPA and an upper-division GPA of 2.0 or better (C or better). Note: a C- average is equivalent to a
GPA of 1.67, and therefore, it does not satisfy this graduation requirement. For more information on grades
and grading policies, please visit: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx
6. Honesty Policy:
All students admitted to the University of Florida have signed a statement of academic honesty committing
themselves to be honest in all academic work and understanding that failure to comply with this commitment
will result in disciplinary action. This statement is a reminder to uphold your obligation as a UF student and to
be honest in all work submitted and exams taken in this course and all others.
7. Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. That
office will provide the student with documentation that he/she must provide to the course instructor when
requesting accommodation.
8. UF Counseling Services:
Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear career and
academic goals. The resources include:
-
University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575, Personal and Career Counseling.
SHCC mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, Personal and Counseling.
Center for Sexual Assault/Abuse Recovery and Education (CARE), Student Health Care Center, 3921161, sexual assault counseling.
Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development assistance and counseling.
9. Software Use:
All faculty, staff and student of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and legal
agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties
for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary
action will be taken as appropriate. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to
uphold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.
10. Contacting Us:
For technical assistance with myitlab, contact Pearson by phone, email or chat session (contact information
is on the myitlab site). For academic questions, contact your Instructor or a Course Support TA in their
office hours or by email. Important: Please do not use Myitlab messaging. Use our email addresses (listed
above) instead. We will not be checking messages through Myitlab. Also, please do not use or access any of
UF’s Sakai or e-Learning websites for this course. Whenever you send email to us, the email must have
“CGS-2531” as its subject. Don’t forget to include your name and your section number. Before emailing or
asking questions, always read the syllabus, the announcements, and the schedule. It is quite possible that your
question has already been answered in one of these places. We will answer your questions and resolve your
issues the quickest, and most clearly, during office hours. We receive many emails and reply to them in their
order of importance. Normal response time is up to one business day.
11. FAQs:
a. Can I use Office 2008 for the MAC? Not directly with Myitlab.com, as mentioned above. For your
own use, yes (almost). Office 2008 (MAC) and Office 2010 (PC) are quite similar, but there are some
subtle incompatibilities. Our platform of choice, for better or worse, is Windows and MS Office
2010. On exam projects, we won’t make provisions for anything done differently on a MAC.
b. Do I need to buy Office 2010? We recommend it, but it’s not required (you can work in one of the
CIRCA labs). Microsoft offers a trial version of Office 2010, good for 60 days.