CIT120 Syllabus - Fall 2014
Introduction to Computers – CIT 120
Sections 002 and 003
John R. North
Office: T210
Hours:
Monday
12:00 - 1:00 PM
Tuesday
Wednesday
10:00 – 11:00 AM
4:30 – 6:30 PM
Online Office
Hours via Lync
Thursday
Friday
12:00 - 2:00 PM 10:00 - 11:00 AM 12:00 - 1:00 PM
6:30 – 7:30 PM
8:00 – 9:00 PM
Phone: 847-543-2507 (24 hour voicemail)
Email: jnorth@clcillinois.edu
Web site: http://home.clcillinois.edu/bdv603
Class Schedule:
Section
Time
Location
002
MWF 10:00 – 10:50 AM
T241
003
MWF 11:00 – 11:50 AM
T241
Text:
Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow Comprehensive, 15th Edition, Deborah Morley
and Charles S. Parker, Cengage Learning, 2015, ISBN-13: 978-1-285-76727-7
Microsoft Office 2013 Brief, Misty E. Vermaat, Cengage Learning, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-1-28516613-1
Supplies: Flash/Thumb Drive in case you need to do your work somewhere other than at home
or make sure you know how to save your work and then email it to yourself or you have some
type of cloud storage such as Dropbox or SkyDrive.
Software Use in the Course:
This course uses MS Office 2013 during the lab sessions and for the projects. MS Office 2013 is
available on the computers in our CIT labs as well as in T221 and the LRC; it is not available in
all other CLC labs. If you are doing your projects at home, it would be best if you can also use
MS Office 2013. The AOS and CIT departments have established an Office 365 web site that
permits students to download Office 2013 Pro and install it on a maximum of five devices. You
must be running Windows 7 or a version of Windows 8 to install Office 2013 Pro. If you have a
Mac running without a Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system, then you can install only
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from Office 2011. If you have an earlier version of MS Office
such as MS Office 2003, 2007, 2010 and do not feel that you have a need to upgrade to acquire
Office 2013, you can still do almost all of the requirements for the projects in the MS Office you
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currently have. You can also use Open Office or Libre Office for almost all the project
requirements and, for Mac users, Office 2008 and Office 2011 will work as well but Office 2008
and Office 2011 do not include MS Access. Most of the project assignments, about 95+ % can be
done with Office 2003, Office 2007, Office 2010, Libre Office, and Open Office. Students using
Office for the Mac will not be able to do the MS Access projects at home. If you are going to
use open source software, please talk to me first. Unless you really have a need for MS Office
2013 at home, I suggest you consider using the MS Office 2013 software available in T221 or in
the LRC. Be aware that not all editions of MS Office 2013 have all the components that we use
in this course. It is critical that you verify that your MS Office 2013 has the following
components - MS Word 2013, MS Excel 2013, MS Access 2013, and MS PowerPoint 2013.
The Starter Edition of MS Office 2010 that had been shipped with some new computers has
reduced versions of MS Word 2010 and MS Excel 2010 and you will not be able to complete all
of the project requirements. If you do not have MS Office 2013 at home or all the components
and you need to do the projects at home, you can obtain MS 2013 in several ways.
1. Register on the clcillinois365.onmicrosoft.com Office 365 web site and download Office
2013 Pro. This software will be available to use for up to one year after you stop taking
eligible AOS and CIT courses.
2. Buy Office 365 down in bookstore for approximately $80.
3. Register online for Office 365 University at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftoffice-365-university-FX102918415.aspx for $79.99.
Options 2 and 3 will let you use the software for 4 years but I believe you can renew it for
another 4 years. In addition, options 2 and 3 permit downloads to only two computers rather
than the five computers provided by the Office 365 package.
The screen shots shown in the lab discussion documents are from Office 2013 so your use of
earlier editions, Mac versions, or open source software will not have the same view. If you are
going to use open source software, please let me know before I start grading your projects.
Course Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Understand the function of hardware, software, operating systems, data, procedures and
personnel in a business computer system.
Demonstrate a familiarity with electronic data processing terminology and concepts.
Understand basic systems analysis and design techniques.
Understand basic file processing and database concepts.
Understand the importance and the use of microcomputers in organizations.
Understand and utilize several software applications for data analysis and
communications.
Understand and apply the electronic research and communication facilities (Internet) of
computing.
Sources for Course Material:
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1.
Most of the documents will come from links found on Blackboard but a few may come
from links on my school web site (http://home.clcillinois.edu/bdv603).
Major Topics
Information Systems
a. Concepts and Terminology
b. Components of Business Systems
c. Systems Analysis and Design
d. Microcomputer and Mainframe Systems
2. Applications
a. Electronic research and communications/Internet
b. Word Processing/Text editing
c. SpreadSheets
d. Graphics
e. Database Package
1.
Student Responsibilities:
Attendance:
I expect regular attendance and participation in this class and have assigned 90 (almost 10% of
the grade) points for attendance and participation. I am more interested in participation than just
being there. Attendance means paying attention or participating, not putting your head down for
a nap, texting your friends, listening to your iPod, working on material for another class, or
zoning out. If you get an excused absence, you still get half of the points for attendance.
Coming in late decreases the number of points you receive for attendance.
A lot of students assume that they do not need to attend classes or put much effort into this class
since they think they are already familiar with computers and the material. This is not the case;
the IT field is just too expansive and too evolving. The majority of the material on my tests will
come from the book so it would be an extremely good idea to read the chapters. A few items
on the test will come from the project material. My project requirements are quite explicit so
follow them. I will post an example of the project along with notes on how I did the project in a
lab discussion document. It would be a good idea to follow these project examples and lab
discussions before attempting your projects. About 10% of the material on my tests will come
from the classroom discussions, 80% from the book some of which I will cover in class, and
10% from project work in the lab. My project requirements are explained during the lab sessions
so if you decide not to attend the lab then there is a high probability that you will get a low grade
on your project.
I expect you to have read the material for that chapter so you can participate in the class
discussion on the chapter material and related items I will introduce. The class is intended
to be a discussion class about the material you read from the book, current IT information in the
news, and your experiences. This will be a more interesting class if you participate. I will post
information technology items that are currently in the news during the class and I will test on
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these as well as the material covered in the book. Tests must be taken between the dates
specified in the test announcement. I do not give make-up tests. If you miss a test, the makeup will be writing a paper. If you make prior arrangements if you will miss a scheduled test you
can still get full credit. Without prior arrangements, you can schedule writing a paper as the
make-up for the test but you will receive only 70% of the earned grade. The final exam, which is
a common final given to all students in all CIT120 sections for that semester, will have multiple
choice questions taken from the material covered in the Understanding Computers book and
from work done on your projects.
Outside Reading/Projects:
The schedule at the bottom of this document indicates the chapters to be read before attending
the class. It is strongly suggested that the student work the questions at the end of the assigned
chapters. The authors provide a web site for expanded material as well as online tests to check
your understanding of the material - www.cengagebrain.com/ and the link to UC14 CourseMate.
The book makes references to additional material to be found on CourseMate. If you bought the
loose-leaf edition of the book in the bookstore, then a CourseMate key will be part of the
package. Otherwise, the publisher has made CourseMate an additional cost beyond the price of
the book. You do get access to a few of their supplements such as the flash cards and a glossary
without paying the additional price.
Projects are assigned based on material similar to that presented during our class lab sessions and
the lab discussion documents. The MS Office book is used for reinforcing what is covered
during the lab sessions and the lab discussion documents. About 85% of the material that I cover
in the lab discussion documents is covered in the MS Office book. Project due dates are listed
on the schedule. A late project will be accepted up to the date when the second next project is
due but you only get 70% of the earned points. Projects can be submitted before the date due for
grading. I will reply with comments about what is wrong based upon the rubric (see the table at
the end of each project) for that project. You can use these comments to improve your work. If
you submit the corrected project before the due date, then you can still get all the possible points.
You can submit the project as many times as you feel necessary. If you submit it after the due
date and before the second next project is due, you will get 70% of the corrected points added to
the current total.
It would be best if your submitted projects use the Microsoft Office 2013 Suite of tools. The
computers in the LRC and the open lab in T221 have Microsoft Office 2013 on them and can be
used for the projects. I do not accept paper documents for the projects. Rather, all project
documents are sent to me through Blackboard’s assignment manager. You attach the file you
want sent to me for project part in the Projects assignment area. The attachment must have your
initials and the project number as the filename. For example, if I were submitting the MS Word
document for project 4, it would have jrn_project4.docx as the filename on the attachment. All
my comments and your grade will be found in Blackboard’s gradebook for the course.
Warning: My project examples are similar to what is specified in the project but they are not the
same. If your submission for the project is just a copy of my example project with a few
changed items, you will get a 0 for the project. I have had students submit my example project
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or the output from the lab discussion, sometimes not even changing my name as the author. You
only learn if you do the work.
There are nine projects due. These are the goals for the projects. The actual details of the
project are provided in Blackboard under the Projects button for this course. You must follow
the requirements specified in the project descriptions since most of the points come from using
specific MS Office techniques. The content of the projects are a vehicle for using the required
Office techniques and the content is worth only a few points.
Project General Description of Projects' Goals
Due Date Points
1
This project is intended to familiarize yourself with the
9/8
30
Blackboard Assignment Manager which is used to submit all
the projects. You should create a 5 paragraph description of
yourself that includes
1. your educational and career goals
2. your expectations from the course
3. your familiarity with computers
4. jobs you have had
5. and your interests.
It also includes data on a form regarding the hardware and
software information about a computer in the lab and one that
you use.
2
This project utilizes Web searches to collect information
9/15
30
reported in a word processor document. You must choose an
information systems topic and you must visit 5 different Web
sites and use at least two different search engines. The critical
word processing element is defining and using two new
paragraph styles.
3
In this project you create a cover letter and a resume using the
9/24
35
guidelines posted in the project description. I expect you to
use your imagination in entering information into your cover
letter and resume for a job position 15 to 20 years in the future.
4
You need to create a multi-column announcement using clip
10/6
40
art and an image file. In addition, you will use text boxes to
document your images, footnotes to document your synonyms
and apply the readability index for your writing.
5
In this project you create a payment schedule using a
10/15
35
spreadsheet with mostly formulas. You only need 4 pieces of
data, everything else is a formula or cell reference.
6
Create a more typical spreadsheet with a data table, embedded 10/27
40
charts, aggregate functions, an if statement and conditional
formatting.
7
Create a simple database consisting of two tables using MS
11/10
35
Access. Use data field properties to control data integrity.
Establish a relationship between these two tables. Populate the
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tables with data.
Create a form, queries and a report against a multi-table MS
Access database
Create a presentation using MS PowerPoint that covers how IT
is used in your career choice or a hobby. Use shapes, smart
art, animations to enhance the presentation.
11/24
40
12/9
50
I will accept these projects early and provide feedback and a grade on any project you submit to
me. By early, I mean more than two days before the due date. I assign a point score so you can
see the value of correcting the items. You may resubmit the corrected assignment and still
receive full credit until the due date. It takes anywhere from hours to several days to get all the
students' projects back after the due date has passed.
Once the due date for a project has passed, you can resubmit the project with the corrections to
regain some of the lost points. I will give you 70% of the corrected points. For example, if you
submitted a project and received 25 out of 40 points and then you resubmitted it and you
corrected 12 out of the 15 points in error, then you would receive 12 * 0.70 = 8.4 points back
towards the points for the project and end up with a 33.4/40 rather than a 25/40. You can
continue to resubmit a project for additional points up to the due date for the next project. I
suggest that you take advantage of this. If you turn in a project late, you will receive only 70%
of the correct items since I consider you having a 0 for the first submission by the due date.
Each project needs to be submitted to me through the Assignment Manager with the document as
an attachment. The project document needs to contain your name, project number, the date
completed, and in most instances, page numbers. In other words, use page headers and footers
for Word and Excel, a form header and footer for Access, and a Title slide for
PowerPoint. Projects are graded based on the quality of the document, meeting assigned due
dates and following instructions from the project description and shown during the lab session. I
use the rubric listed at the bottom of each project as a basis for grading. Please use the rubric to
check that you have met all the requirements for the project.
Here are several important things to consider. First, not turning in an assigned project drops you
almost a half of a grade, so turn in all your projects even if you can't do part of it. Students that
have failed my course in the past have been the ones who do not turn in their projects. Second,
turn in your projects early since I will provide feedback so you can correct any problems before
the actual grade is determined. Students who have earned an A have tended to submit their
projects early for comments and then made the corrections. Third, take advantage of
resubmitting your work for correction points. This can raise your project grade a full grade level.
You can get help from me by sending an Email with the word "Help" in the subject line, a
description of where you are stuck, and the work (as an attached file) that you have attempted so
far. I usually look at my Email messages twice a day. Some weekends I will not be available
since I have family that live out of state and I like to see them once in a while. If you are on the
Grayslake campus, you can stop in T221 and the person in the Business Division lab can help
you some. You can also check with the Tutoring center in the LRC when the tutors are
available.
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CIT120 Syllabus - Fall 2014
Grading:
There are a number of assessments used in the course.
Type of Assessment
Points
Projects – There are nine projects using MS Office components. The important
part of the project is the use of the techniques being taught; the content is
minimal and is primarily used as a vehicle to demonstrate the use of the
requested techniques.
Syllabus Test – This test is used to ensure that you have read the syllabus. It is
worth 20 points. It is untimed and can be taken twice.
Chapter Tests – There are four tests covering the material in the chapters. Test
1 will cover chapters 1 thru 4; test 2 will cover chapters 5 thru 8; test 3 will cover
chapters 9 thru 12, and test 4 will cover chapters 13 thru 16. Each of these tests
consists of 75 questions. The tests are mostly multiple choice with a few
True/False questions. There are no fill in the blank questions. You may
substitute a paper on an approved IT topic for each of these chapter tests or you
may do both, take the test and write the paper, and get the better of the two
grades.
Common Final – The CIT department uses a common final test for all sections
of CIT 120. It consists of 200 multiple choice questions and will be taken on
Blackboard in the classroom at the end of the semester. The test is broken into
two 100 question tests and must be completed in two hours. Studying for this
test is critical since it has an impact on your final grade. Below is the table
describing the relationship between overall points for the course and the points
achieved on the common final exam. This is strictly enforced throughout all
sections of CIT120. For example, if you receive 58% on the final, the best grade
you can receive for the course is a C.
Point Total For Class
335
20
300
200
Percentage on the Final
Letter Grade
Received
>= 90% of total points
>=70% on final exam
A
>=80% and < 90% of total points >=60% on final exam
B
>=70% and < 80% of total points >=50% on final exam
C
>=60% and < 70% of total points >=40% on final exam
D
<60%
<40%
F
Participation and Attendance – This means attending the lectures and the labs
and participating. 15 weeks @ 6 points per week.
Free Points
Total
90
5
950
Since people have different learning styles, you are given a choice about how you will be
assessed for the covered material. There are four tests and a final scheduled for the course
besides the 9 projects. For each of the four tests, you can substitute a paper but you are
required to take the final. The paper must concentrate on some aspect of IT and is usually
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about a topic picked from my Paper Topics. It is due no later than 11:59 PM the day after the
completion date of the test. I will not accept a paper late without previous agreement between
the student and me. If you will not complete your paper in time, you will have to take the test or
receive a zero. You can do both - take the test and write a paper. You will get credit for the
higher score. Choosing the Paper alternative, you will need to Email me as an attachment a well
written paper with your name and the test this paper is substituting for in the footer section, a
header section with the title of the paper, endnotes showing your references, and the body of the
document using Normal paragraph style or No Spacing paragraph style with acceptable
margins/indents. The endnotes must make specific references to the source of the
material. For example, stating that you found your information via www.yahoo.com is not
acceptable. It requires a site and document that I can access. These endnotes do not need to be
formal endnotes as required in a research project. I will not accept a cut and paste paper. I will
not accept a paper if you have less than two references. I want you to analyze the material and
give me your thoughts about it. If you take a small piece of the writing verbatim from one of
your sources, you better put quotes around it and give it a reference. Plagiarized papers will
receive a 0. A paper substitution for the tests requires around 2 to 3 pages, single-spaced with a
minimum of 1200 words. You can choose one of the topics listed in my Paper Topics list or
choose your own topic as long as you get it approved by me before starting work on it. I will
not grade a paper if it does not have a minimum of 1200 words and/or it does not include at
least two references. An email will be sent to you stating that you need to complete the paper
and you will lose 15 points. You will get 2 days to return the completed paper.
I strongly suggest that you consider the paper alternative to taking the test if you are not a good
test taker. When you write a paper, you pick a topic that interests you. This allows you to focus
on a narrower subject which facilitates writing a good paper. You also do not have the same
time constraint. I do expect well-structured sentences and paragraphs and a document that has
been run through spell check. I will not accept distillations of the material from the book. I
expect some research done using the Internet or other sources.
The paper can be turned in early for my comments. So, once again you can improve your grade
by getting early feedback and correcting it before the final grade is assigned to the paper. If you
are not sure that your writing style matches my expectations, definitely turn in your paper early
so you can get my feedback. Another good source for objective analysis of your paper is the
Writing Center in the LRC. I have had a number of students who have used the Writing Center
and felt that it improved their writing.
There is a syllabus test which covers the content of the syllabus, the project descriptions, and
structure of the course. This test is available on Blackboard during the first week and will be due
by Sunday, 8/31, at 11:59 PM. It is worth 20 points.
Tests will be taken on Blackboard. Check the schedule at the bottom of this document for when
the tests will become available and when they must be completed. I suggest taking the test early
and then deciding whether you need to write a paper to make up for the poor test grade. No
matter when you make your decision to write the paper, it is due by 11:59 PM the day after the
date of the test.
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CIT120 Syllabus - Fall 2014
The Final is a Departmental Common Final for all CIT 120 classes. It will be conducted online
(using Blackboard) during the last week of the course. The Final has 200 questions covering all
the chapters in the book as well as questions covering MS Office concepts learned during the lab
sessions. Since the Final is so important, I strongly suggest that you take the tests even if you are
writing the papers as substitutions for the tests. Taking the tests will help prepare you for the
Final.
I provide two extra credit projects. The first is to give a presentation to the class using your
PowerPoint project. This extra credit is up to 40 points. The second is on-going where you can
post a link to some news article about Information Technology from online newspapers,
magazines, other articles, or websites. This posting is done on Blackboard (clc.blackboard.com)
under the Discussion Board menu item and in the extra credit forum that matches the topic of
your article. You just add a new thread to the forum with a subject line indicating your topic and
your link pasted in the message area. Make sure the link works. You get up to 5 points for each
article that you post (as long as it is a reasonable article about computers). It must be to a site that
I do not need to register at to view the material. You can get a maximum of 50 points for these
news articles. These news article links must be posted throughout the semester. Here is the
schedule.
Weeks
Maximum Points still available
1–4
50
5–8
40
9 – 12
25
13 – 15
15
No extra credit posts accepted after December 15th.
Policies:
I have had several cases of cheating in my previous CIT120 classes. This includes plagiarism and
outright copying. If you decide to write a paper then make sure that any copied material is quoted
and given an endnote reference to the source. Do not provide your work to another student. You
will receive a zero for that work. Copying another student's work will result in a zero for that
project or paper. A second incident of cheating will result in failure of the course. Both giving
your work to somebody else to copy and the copying of somebody else's work is considered
cheating. Plagiarism is also considered cheating.
An incomplete grade, “I”, is normally not an option and will be given only for situations
involving serious personal emergency or lengthy personal illness. The student must be working
currently at a “C” level or above and must also agree, in writing, to a completion date within 120
days of the end of the semester, 4/18/15.
The school has altered its policy on withdrawing from a class. If you plan to discontinue
attending your class anytime during the semester, it is strongly recommended that you take
responsibility for dropping the class. Grades of W will only be assigned to students who drop
themselves. Instructors are required to report noticeable non-attendance of students. If you
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discontinue attending class and are dropped by the institution, the following grades will be
assigned:
WN – Withdrawal, student never attended – no impact on g.p.a.
WS – Withdrawal of students who stop attending – no impact on g.p.a.
WF – Withdrawal of student who stop attending after the official withdrawal deadline (68%) and
instructor deems failing - impact on g.p.a. is equivalent to a grade of F.
The last date to withdraw and receive refund for the class is 9/10/14 and the last date to withdraw
and receive a 'W' for the class is 11/12/14. If you withdraw after that date, you will receive an 'F'.
If something comes up that forces you to withdraw after 11/12/14 you can still receive a 'W' from
the instructor if you were passing at the time you withdraw and you receive the instructor's
permission to withdraw.
I expect each student to treat other students and me with respect. This means that when you are
replying to another student, you show respect for the other student in the content and tone of the
reply. I will remove any content that I do not consider appropriate.
If you are a student with a documented disability and may need academic accommodations such
as extended time for exams and/or an in-class note taker, please present documentation to the
Office for Students with Disabilities in L112 at the Grayslake campus. To schedule an
appointment, please call:
voice (847) 543-2055
TTY 223-0134
If you have already contacted the Office for Students with Disabilities and have completed the
Instructor Notification Form, please schedule a time to meet with me and discuss your needs.
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Proposed Schedule
Week Class Reading Lab Reading and Project
Assignment
Work
1
Ch 1
Office – Email
2
3
Ch 2
Ch 2, 3
Office - Searching
Office - Resume
4
Ch 3, 4
Office – Resume, Newsletter
5
6
7
Ch 5, 6
Ch 6, 7
Ch 7, 8
8
Ch 8, 9
Office – Newsletter
Office - Payment Schedule
Office – Payment Schedule
Functions, Charting
Office – Functions, Charting
9
10
11
12
Ch 9, 10
Ch 10, 11
Ch 11, 12
Ch12,13
Office - Access Tables
Office – Access Tables
Office – Form, Queries
Office – Queries, Report
13
14
15
16
Ch 14
Ch 15
Ch 15,16
Ch 16, Review
Office - PowerPoint
Holiday
Office –PowerPoint
Presentations
17
Final Exam
John R. North
Exams and Project due dates
Syllabus Test – Covers syllabus &
projects Available 8/25 to 9/2 at 11:59
PM
Project 1 due by 11:59 PM, 9/8
Project 2 due by 11:59 PM, 9/15
Test 1 - Covers Chapters 1 – 4
Available 9/17 to 9/20 at 11:59 PM
Project 3 due by 11:59 PM, 9/24
Project 4 due by 11:59 PM, 10/6
Project 5 due by 11:59 PM, 10/15
Test 2 - Covers Chapters 5 - 8
Available 10/15 to 10/18 at 11:59 PM
Project 6 due by 11:59 PM, 10/27
Project 7 due by 11:59 PM, 11/10
Test 3 – Covers Chapters 9 - 12
Available 11/12 to 11/15 at 11:59 PM
Project 8 due by 11:59 PM, 11/24
Project 9 due by 11:59 PM, 12/9
Test 4 – Covers Chapters 13 – 16
Available 12/10 to 12/13 at 11:59 PM
Departmental Common Final - Covers
all chapters, 200 questions
001 – 12/17 8 – 10 AM
002 – 12/15 10 AM - 12 PM
003 – 12/17 10 AM – 12 PM
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