INF 385T – Dynamic Hypertext Spring 2013 Unique ID: Class Time: Class Room: 28425 Tuesdays @ 12:00-15:00 UTA 1.204 Professor: Office: Phone: E-mail: Office hours: Luis Francisco-Revilla UTA 5.536 512.232.2983 revilla@ischool.utexas.edu by appointment Web site: Class materials and announcements will be posted on BlackBoard http://courses.utexas.edu Please check this site regularly as you will be responsible for any information posted on this site. Contents 1 Course Description ...................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Academic Objectives ........................................................................................ 2 1.2 Professional Goals ............................................................................................ 2 2 Class Structure and Organization ................................................................................ 3 3 Academic Integrity ...................................................................................................... 3 4 Documented Disability Statement ............................................................................... 4 5 Amendments to Syllabus ............................................................................................. 4 6 Texts ............................................................................................................................ 4 6.1 Recommended Texts ........................................Error! Bookmark not defined. 7 Grading ........................................................................................................................ 5 7.1 Class Participation ............................................................................................ 6 7.2 Reading Assignments........................................................................................ 6 7.3 Presentations ..................................................................................................... 6 7.4 Final Exam ........................................................................................................ 6 8 Class Schedule ............................................................................................................. 6 i 1 Course Description This course covers the research, theoretical and practical aspects of dynamic hypertext. From a theoretical perspective, the course introduces students to the most relevant concepts in navigational hypertext, spatial hypertext, dynamic hypertext, adaptive hypertext, and user modeling. From a research perspective the course provides a overall survey of the most relevant research works in the field, starting with the origins of the field and ending with the most recent publications. From a practical perspective this course will foster the development of the programming skills that students need in order to become active participants in the field. Specifically, the course focuses on JavaScript. The course assumes that students are familiar with HTML and CSS. Developing sophisticate hypertext systems requires that people: work in teams; communicate effectively with clients, users and other programmers; understand the problem space; find a solution for the problem space using logical thinking; design system architectures; implement the solutions in an efficient manner; work in teams; communicate effectively with clients, users and other programmers; and verify and validate the solution. Furthermore, since the computer technologies used in the field – HTML, CSS, and JavaScript– are constantly evolving, the course highlights the need for self-learning. 1.1 Academic Objectives At the end of the course, students will: 1. 2. 3. 4. understand the concepts and differences between different types of hypertext understand how the field originated and evolved know the topics and challenges that researchers in the field are trying to address be able to create functional dynamic hypertext systems using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript 1.2 Professional Goals This course aims at helping students develop and improve their professional skills for: Teamwork/Groupwork Design and implementation Communication Analytical thinking Project building Self-learning On successful completion of the course, students will be able to create dynamic hypertext Web applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. More importantly, students will be empowered to learn by themselves other Java technologies or programming languages 2 2 Class Structure and Organization The goal of this course structure is to create a learning environment where questions, concepts and skills are discussed, analyzed, and developed collaboratively. This format depends on the participation of all class members, therefore, all students are expected to: Participate actively in all class discussions and all group activities. Attend all class sessions; if a student misses a class, it is his or her responsibility to obtain all notes, handouts, and assignment sheets. Read all material prior to class; students are expected to use the course readings to inform their classroom participation and perform the course activities. Hand in all assignments fully and on time. Late submissions will not be accepted (in the event of an emergency, students must contact the instructor). Educate themselves and their peers. The successful completion of this course and their participation in the information professions depend upon the students’ willingness to demonstrate initiative and creativity. The class uses a combination of readings, assignments, presentations, activities and discussions to cover and examine the course contents. The intention is to create a group learning environment in the classroom where concepts and questions are discussed and problems are solved collaboratively. This course has three parallel narratives: Independent readings ………… individual In-class activities ……………... whole class Final group project ……………small group ALL students are expected to read and understand ALL assignments All class members are expected to complete the weekly reading assignments before class starts. Reading assignments include book chapters and research papers from scholarly publications. 3 Academic Integrity University of Texas Honor Code The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. Academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, cheating, or academic fraud, will not be tolerated and will incur severe penalties, including failure for the course. If there is concern about behavior that may be academically dishonest, consult the instructor. Further information about plagiarism and its consequences can be found at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism/ 3 4 Documented Disability Statement Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. 5 Amendments to Syllabus The instructor reserves the right to make amendments to the syllabus as the semester progresses in order to improve it and to respond to unexpected events. 6 Texts David Flanagan (2011) “JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition. Activate Your Web Pages”. O’Reilly Brain P. Hogan “HTML 5 and CSS3” The Pragmatic Programmers Additionally, a list of all readings including research papers and other scholarly materials will be provided in Blackboard. 4 7 Grading The purpose of the grade is to assess each student’s acquired knowledge and skills in relation to the course goals. This assessment is calculated based on the evidence provided by each student’s performance. The final letter grade for the course is determined by the final numeric score. Table 1 specifies the required numeric scores for each letter grade. Table 1. Letter Grade Requirements Letter Numeric Grade Score A 97-100% A- 90-96% B+ 87-89% B 84-86% B- 80-83% C+ 77-79% C 74-76% C- 70-73% D+ 66-69% D 60-65% Final Numeric Score The final numeric score for the course is computed based on the five deliverables for this course: 5% Class Participation 30% Assignments 15% Programming Assignments 15% Reading Assignments 30% Presentations 35% Final Project 100% Final Numeric Score 5 7.1 Class Participation All students are expected to participate in class activities and discussions. 7.1 Programming Assignments Throughout the course, students will be assigned various programming assignments designed to help them develop their skills designing and building dynamic hypertext systems. These assignments will be implemented as Web applications. As such, students will submit their assignments by sending an email to the instructor with URL for their assignment. 7.2 Reading Assignments The goal of the reading assignments is that every student develops the ability to appreciate and understand research, with particular focus on human-centered studies. It is expected of every student to read all chapters and papers, understand them, and participate actively in the class discussions. Consequently, every student must submit 3 reading points for every reading assignment. Discussion points must be submitted using the online submission system available in Blackboard. Reading points should be 2-4 lines of text. Point 1: identify the strengths of the reading Point 2: identify the weaknesses of the reading Point 3: discuss the implications of this work Reading points must be submitted 24 hours before class starts This strong deadline is necessary in order to anonymize, combine, and sent them to the student in charge of presenting the paper in order to facilitate the in-class discussions. 7.3 Presentations Each student will be assigned to present 2 to 4 research papers (8-10 pages each). Students are expected to comprehend the papers in depth. When presenting each paper, students must perform the following three roles: Hunter-Gatherer Explain the paper’s background and discuss the context: who, where, when, what of authors, project, and research area Reviewer Present a brief synopsis, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of work. Guide the class discussion based on the discussion points submitted by all other class members Lead discussant It is expected to have a visual presentation support for the hunter-gatherer and reviewer components of the presentation 7.4 Final Project The purpose of the final project is to demonstrate the students’ capacity to design and build dynamic hypertext systems. The Final Project is due on the day of the Final Exam (as scheduled by the university) 6