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
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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:


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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.
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
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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)
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