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SYLLABUS
CIS101, INTRO. TO COMPUTER INFO. SYSTEMS
DR. W. BOUGHTON, SPRING 2016
wboughto@harpercollege.edu
OFFICE: I220, MTWR 9:30-11AM, M 2-4PM TR 2-3PM
POLICIES
Read this syllabus carefully. I will go over it completely in the first class only. If you have questions,
ask. There will be no waivers of policies in this syllabus.
IF YOU MISSED THE FIRST CLASS
It is your responsibility to read this syllabus ask questions as necessary. It is also your responsibility to
catch up on all material presented in the first class.
CIS101 COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course covers the fundamentals of computers and computer networks and how they are used in the
business world. CIS101 also covers computer programming concepts and basic use of a word processor,
spreadsheet, and database manager. This course transfers to most four-year schools, but if you want it to
transfer to a specific college you should verify that it does. CIS101 has no course prerequisite, but it
presumes a basic working knowledge of computers including how to run programs, handle e-mail, copy
files, and browse the Internet. This course does not include these basics, and any “catch up” on them is
your responsibility. If you do not have this basic knowledge, you should take CIS100 first or instead.
SECTIONS
003 - MW, 12:00P-1:40P, I235, lecture and lab
006 - TR, 12:00P-1:40P, I235, lecture and lab
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
Each class session consists of a lecture followed by a lab period. The lecture involves a slide presentation
of topics and multiple choice and T/F questions for you to answer. The questions are for review only;
they do not count for your course grade. The lab periods are time for you to work on assignments. The
duration of the lecture period may vary depending on the material being covered. You are responsible for
all assigned material, regardless of whether it is covered in lecture, and for all lecture material, regardless
of whether it is in the assigned readings. There is lecture material that is not in the assigned readings, so
you must take notes. Lecture material will not be repeated.
BLACKBOARD
This course uses the Blackboard on-line system. To get to Blackboard, open the Firefox Web browser (do
not use Internet Explorer), go to the Harper College website www.harpercollege.edu and select
Blackboard. Your Blackboard login is the same as your student portal login. Once you log into
Blackboard you will be able to select this course and get the course information. This will be
demonstrated in the first class. For help on Blackboard, see the Blackboard login screen.
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ASSIGNMENTS
Type
Number
Description
Unit
Take-home
13
There is one take-home assignment for each unit we cover. Each
assignment consists of 5-7 questions worth about 15 points. You do these
assignments on-line using a program in Blackboard. Each assignment
consists of "word" questions in which you explain concepts, run programs
and explain what happens, and solve simple problems. These are not "look
up the answer in the book" questions. On the day we finish a unit in
lecture, you'll get the take-home assignment for that unit. It will be due
one week from that day, at 9AM. It will be due at 9AM regardless of what
time your class starts. I'll grade your assignment by reading your answers
and assigning points. Graded assignments, including my answers to
questions, will be available in the Blackboard program.
Make-up
Take-home
1
There is one make-up take-home assignment. It will be given the last week
of the course, may have questions from any unit covered, will be worth
about 10 points, and will be due in one week. This is an optional or
“bonus” assignment, not a required assignment. Points obtained are added
to your take-home assignment points.
Unit Lab
13
There is one lab assignment for each unit we cover. Each assignment
consists of 10 one-word-answer questions, each worth 1 point. You do
these assignments on-line during the lab period of a class. In these
assignments you look up information on the web, do exercises on your
computer, etc. Each lab assignment will be available during one lab period
only, on the day the take-home assignment for that unit is due, and you'll
have about 30 minutes to complete it. Graded assignments will be
available throughout the semester in lab, but only in the lab.
Repeat Lab
2
There is one lab assignment covering the topics of exam 1 and another
covering the topics of exam 2. Each of these assignments will be given
about one week after the corresponding exam, e.g., one week after exam 1
you'll have the exam 1 repeat lab. Each assignment consists of 10
one-word-answer questions, just like the unit lab assignments. You have
only 15 minutes, though, to complete the repeat lab assignments since
they cover topics of the exam just taken.
Office tool
3
There is one word processing assignment, worth 15 points, one
spreadsheet assignment, worth 15 points, and one database manager
assignment, worth 10 points. Each will be given out on the day that topic
is completed in lecture and will be due at the start of class in two weeks.
For each assignment you must submit your office file and its printout.
This will be explained when the assignment is given.
Programming
1
There is one computer programming assignment worth 10 points. It
involves a CPU simulator that you program using menus; you do not
"write code" in a programming language. You'll have one week to prepare
for this assignment, and you'll have 15 minutes to complete it during lab.
There are no group projects and no class presentation assignments.
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Assignment rules:
• I announce due dates for all assignments in class. I don't post these dates anywhere. If you miss a
class, you must send me an e-mail asking me whether I announced a due date. You are responsible
for the assignment at the due date regardless of whether you attended class.
• You can not turn in any assignment late, or "make up" any assignment, for any reason. As explained
later in this syllabus, I toss out lowest-scored assignments rather than accept assignments late.
• You can use the course readings, course slides, your notes, and the Internet for all assignments.
• You can not work with any other student on any assignment. The intent is for each student to learn
the material, not for a group of students together to learn the material. When in doubt, ask me a
question, not another student.
• If you have questions on an assignment, you should ask me questions either in class, during office
hours, or by e-mail. Do not use Blackboard messages. In response to your question, I will not just
give you the answer. I will try to point you in the right direction so that you can figure out the
answer. Figuring out the answer, doing the investigating and thinking and perhaps calculating, is a
fundamental part of the learning process. Once you have an answer, do not ask me if it is correct; if
you do, I will just ask you to be more specific in your question or give you a hint as to how you
could check whether your answer is correct. Your assignment answers must be yours, not mine.
EXAMS
Exam
Date
Description
Questions, Points,
Minutes
1
Announced in class,
after completion of
unit 3
75 questions, each 1 point, covering units 1, 2, and
3
75, 75, 45
2
Announced in class,
after completion of
unit 7
90 questions, each 1 point, covering units 4, 5, 6,
and 7, plus 10 bonus questions, each 1 point. The
bonus questions are the 10 most-missed questions
from exam 1, repeated word for word.
100, 90, 60
3
At the
regularly-scheduled
final exam time
during finals week
80 questions, each 1 point, covering units 8, 9, 10,
14, 13, and 12, plus 10 standard assessment
questions, each 1 point, plus 10 bonus questions,
each 1 point. The bonus questions are the 10
most-missed questions from exam 2, repeated
word for word.
100, 90, 60
• The only tool you may use during an exam is scratch paper, which you do not have to turn in. You
may not use ANY other tool or reference during an exam.
• Questions are multiple-choice and true/false.
• The repeat questions on exams 1 and 2 are the 10 questions most missed by all students. These
questions are repeated word-for-word, with no changes. You will have your entire previous exam
available on-line for review, but I won't tell you which questions were the 10 most missed.
• The 10 standard assessment questions on exam 3 are questions asked of all students in all CIS101
sections at the end of the semester.
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• Each exam starts at the start of class; if you come arrive late, you'll have correspondingly less time.
• A makeup exam must be arranged with me. You can not take an exam early; you must take it at the
scheduled time or as a makeup.
There are no exams on the word processor, spreadsheet, or database manager.
BONUS POINTS
There are three ways to get "extra" or "bonus" points in this course:
• On the take-home assignments, by answering questions correctly and with exceptional completeness.
“Exceptional” does not mean “lots of words " or just repeating what is in the readings or slides. It
also does not mean copying from the Internet, since that would be plagiarism. “Exceptional” means
you explained something, in your own words, with unusual clarity or added information beyond
what is presented in class. You can get multiple bonus points on each question. These points are a
very important way of improving your grade.
• By doing the make-up take-home assignment. Points you get on it are added to your take-home
assignment points.
• By correctly answering the 10 repeat questions on exams 2 and 3. These points correspond to a full
letter grade (10 points out of 90).
GRADES
Your course grade is based 50% on the exams and 50% on the assignments. Your course grade percentage
is calculated as:
%=
50% * (your exam points) / (possible exam points) +
35% * (your take-home assignment points) / (possible take-home assignment points) +
15% * (your lab assignment points) / (possible lab assignment points)
The grading scale is:
A: 90% to 100%
B: 80% to less than 90%
C: 70% to less than 80%
D: 60% to less than 70%
F: less than 60%
Grading rules:
• Your course grade can be no more than one letter grade better than the grade based on the three
exams alone. For example, if your grade based on the exams alone is a C, the highest course grade
you can get, with assignments included, is a B.
• Your one lowest-scored take-home assignment is excluded. (It does not count for your course grade.)
For the purpose of excluding the lowest-scored assignment, the office assignments and the
programming assignment are considered to be take-home assignments.
• Your two lowest-scored lab assignments are excluded. (They do not count for your course grade.)
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• At the end of the semester there will not be any "extra" points available other than the make-up
take-home assignment. You won’t be permitted to redo any assignment, do any “new” assignment,
write a paper, or do a presentation to get more points. Your grade will be based entirely and only on
the assignments and exams indicated previously.
You can get your score for an exam or lab assignment on-line, immediately after you submit your exam
or lab assignment. You can get your score for a take-home assignment on-line, with the Blackboard
program, after I have graded it. Your course grade, including all assignment and exam scores, will be
available in a Blackboard program. These grades will be updated regularly but not after every assignment.
Grades are intended to reflect mastery of the material, not effort put in. On a assignment, for example, it
does not matter directly how much work you put in. What matters is the quality of the assignment you
turned in. An A grade indicates excellent understanding of the material, not merely good or satisfactory. A
C grade does not indicate failure; it indicates satisfactory understanding of the material.
LECTURE QUESTIONS
For each unit of material, the lecture includes multiple choice and T/F questions for you to answer during
lecture. The questions are review exercises only; your answers do not count for course grade. You use a
software program to answer them; the program will be demonstrated in class at the first lecture. The
questions will be spaced throughout the lecture, not all at the end. The questions may come from the
lecture material or from material that is in the assigned readings. When in lecture I get to a question, I will
pause lecture for you to answer the question, then I will explain the answer. To answer questions correctly
you will have to pay attention to lecture and take notes. You will not be able to just look up the answer
somewhere. You can answer the questions only during lecture, and they can not be made up; if you miss a
class, you have no opportunity to answer them later.
LECTURE SLIDES
The lecture slides for a unit will be available in Blackboard after the unit is completed in lecture. The
slides are in Adobe PDF format. You should take notes, as you want, to explain the lecture material in you
own words, especially material not in the assigned readings. You should not, however, waste time copying
each slide, since they will be made available to you after we complete the unit. You should focus on the
lecture, not copying slides.
ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION
I do not take role or go round the room asking questions. Your grade is not based directly on attendance
or class participation. Regular attendance is required, however, to participate in lecture and do lab
assignments. If your schedule does not permit you to attend class regularly, meaning every time, or if you
do not plan on attending class every time, you should sign up for an on-line section of CIS101 if one is
available. If you miss a class you are responsible for all material presented, for all assignments made, and
for all exams announced or given. The requirements for this course are the same for all students,
regardless of your employment status or work requirements.
GETTING YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
You should have questions during this course and you should not hesitate to ask them. If you find yourself
never asking any questions, you should seriously think about what you might be missing. By far the best
way to get your questions answered is to ask them in class. If you are not able to ask a question during
class, you should send me an e-mail. Every Harper student has a Harper e-mail account. To get to your
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account, log into the Student Information System, click on the MyHarper Email tab, and follow the
instructions. Do not use Gmail, Hotmail, Comcast, etc., because if you do your e-mails may get blocked
as spam. Do not use Blackboard messages. I respond regularly to e-mail, except Sunday. Exam and
assignment due dates do not slip due to e-mail problems or my response to e-mails, since all exam and
assignment dates are announced in class. When you send an e-mail:
• Do not leave the subject blank. I do not read e-mails with no subject.
• Identify yourself by name and section, e.g., CIS101-001.
• Use full sentences, not text message abbreviations.
I check voice mail only during office hours, so my response to voice mail may be slower than e-mail. I
respond to a voice mail message by e-mail, not voice mail.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Tests and assignments, both take-home and lab, must be entirely your own work. If any cheating occurs
on a exam, all students involved will receive zero for that exam. As indicated previously, assignments are
not group projects; every assignment must be your own work entirely. You must not share assignments,
get an answer from another student in any way, or give an answer to another student in any. You should
not work with another student on an assignment. If you have questions on the assignment, ask me. If two
or more students turn in assignments that are copies, even in part, in a situation where a copy is not
required by the assignment, all students involved will receive zero for that assignment. A “copy” means
either an exact duplicate or a version that clearly has been derived from another student. For example, if
you just change or reorder words it is still a copy. If you cheat or copy and you have cheated or copied
previously, or helped another student cheat or copy previously, you will receive an F for the course.
CIS101 SOFTWARE PROGRAMS
You use CIS101-specific programs to do reviews, do assignments, take exams, and to get your course
grade. Each program will be explained in class the first time it is used. Programs in Blackboard are
explained in Blackboard. You log into each program using your Harper student id, which consists of the
letter h followed by 8 numbers. The id is listed on your Harper ID card and your class registration form.
You can also get it from the Student Information System; select My Registration View Student
Schedule Summary. Your student id is displayed in the top right corner. To do take-home assignments
and view your course grade, you use a password in addition to your Harper student id. This password is
for doing take-home assignments and viewing your course grade only: it is not your Blackboard
password (though you can make it the same if you want to). Your default password is your Harper
student id. You can use the Password Changer program in Blackboard to set your password to something
other than your Harper student id (i.e., set it to be the same as your Blackboard password) .
HOME OR WORK COMPUTER
A home or work computer is helpful for this course but not required. You can use the computers in the
Harper I Building lab; all programs required for this course are available in the I Building lab. These
programs are not available in the Y Building lab.
• If you have a home or work computer, especially a Windows computer, all programs used in this
course likely will work after some setup. The setup instructions are in Blackboard. If for whatever
reason your home or work computer will not run the programs required by this course, you will have
to use a computer in the Harper I lab. No support is provided for home or work computers.
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Availability of a home or work computer does not affect the requirements for this course; the
requirements are the same for all students, regardless of availability of a home or work computer.
• On either a Windows or Apple computer, either in the Harper labs or elsewhere, you must use only
the Firefox or Chrome Web browser, not any other browser. Learning Chrome or Firefox, if
necessary, is part of this course. Firefox is installed in the Harper I lab and is available for free.
ACCESSIBILITY
If you have a disability affecting participation in this course and have not contacted Access and Disability
Services (ADS, 847-925-6266), you should do so as soon as possible.
COURSE MATERIAL AND READINGS
Each unit of this course has required readings. See the course schedule below. You have two options:
• You can buy the optional textbook and do the readings from the book. The optional textbook is
Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow, Comprehensive, 14th Edition, Morley and Parker,
Course Technology. This book is available in the Harper bookstore. The specific textbook readings,
unit by unit, are listed in Blackboard.
• Or, you can do the Web page readings listed, unit by unit, in Blackboard, without buying the
textbook. The readings come from many carefully-selected sources, not from an on-line textbook.
The textbook readings and Web page readings both provide the information necessary for this course,
when combined with the course slides. The choice of which readings to use is entirely up to you. If you
would prefer to have a book to mark up or as a reference, you can buy the textbook. If you would prefer
to use only the Web readings, buying the book is not necessary. The decision to buy the textbook or not is
entirely up to you, based on your personal preference.
TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE YOUR GRADE
• Take lecture notes, but do not merely copy down every lecture slide, since they will be available in
Blackboard after that unit is completed. Concentrate on taking notes on the explanations and
demonstrations I give in lecture. The demonstrations supplement and reinforce lecture material; they
are not done just to “pass the time”. The exams and assignments may have questions on the
demonstrations. Remember also that good note taking involves paraphrasing the information in your
own words, not just copying it down.
• Do the readings fully and thoughtfully. Do not merely read them: take time to understand them and
relate them to the lecture material. Some readings involve lots of details and terminology. You
should focus on understanding concepts and fundamental terminology, not on minutia. Your goal
should not be to just memorize all the details and terminology.
• Answer take-home assignment questions thoroughly. Do not just “scratch off” a phrase or two. Your
take-home assignment answers are graded on completeness as well as correctness. Answering these
questions correctly and with exceptional completeness is the only way of getting bonus points.
• Attend every class, ask questions, and answer all lecture questions.
• Work on take-home assignments during lab. It is the best time to get questions answered.
• Do not wait until the last minute to do assignments or study for exams. Keep in mind that you can
not turn in any assignments late.
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• When studying for exams, focus first on the material from lecture and assignments, and focus on
understanding concepts as well as memorizing facts.
• If you miss a class, send me an e-mail asking whether I announced an exam or assignment.
There is also tutoring available for CIS101, at the Tutoring Center, F315, 847-925-6539. I recommend,
however, that you ask me questions first ,rather than the Tutoring Center, to avoid possible
misunderstanding about what I am expecting.
WITHDRAWAL
The last date to withdraw from this course is Apr 24. The decision to withdraw from the course must be
yours alone. I will not recommend that you do or do not withdraw, regardless of your current grade. If
necessary, you should calculate your best possible grade based on the number of exams and assignments
remaining and their points. Once you withdraw you can not participate in the course.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
You are not permitted any behavior that disturbs another student or the instructor, impedes lecture or lab
progress, abuses Harper property, or that is otherwise contrary to a learning environment. Rules you must
follow include but are not limited to:
• The only electronic device you are permitted to use during lecture is the lab workstation. You are not
permitted to use a cell/smart phone, tablet computer, notebook computer, music player, voice
recorder, or any other electronic device. If your ADS accommodation plan includes recording of
lecture, you must let me know.
• Your cell/smart phone must be off and out of your sight, not merely on silent. If you bring out your
phone for any use whatsoever, I will stop lecture and tell you to put it away. You may not use your
phone to take lecture notes; you are provided software for note-taking. If you have an emergency
that requires you to be checking your phone, talk to me about it at the start of class that day.
• During lecture, the only program you are permitted to run on the lab workstation is the one to
answer lecture quiz questions, which you can also use to take notes. If you choose not to run this
program, you must turn off the monitor on your workstation. If you start browsing the Web, handing
e-mail, etc., during lecture, I will stop lecture and tell you to stop.
• Do not do printouts during exams or lecture, due to printer noise.
• Do not enter the classroom at the start of class until I am in the room. I will open the classroom 5 to
10 minutes before the start of class. Until then, wait in the hallway, not in the megalab. Do not enter
the lab until I am there, and do not line up outside the classroom door in the megalab since that
interferes with students working in the lab.
• If in a special circumstance you must leave class, do so quietly so as not to disturb the instructor or
other students, including when you return.
• Do not disturb other students in any other way, including talking.
By attending class, you are also agreeing to Harper’s lab rules. For example, no food or drink of any kind,
including water, is permitted in the lab. If you violate a rule in this syllabus or any Harper lab rule and
refuse to start obeying, you are subject to disciplinary action through the Office of Student Affairs, as
specified in the Violations of Student Code of Conduct section in the Harper Catalog.
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SCHEDULE
The following is the course schedule. Exam and assignment due dates will be announced in class, and the
schedule is subject to change based on class progress. The exams are designed to each cover roughly the
same amount of material, not the same number of units. There are no exams on the word processor,
spreadsheet, or database manager programs.
Unit
Topic
Readings
Assignments
1
Introduction to Computers
Unit 1
Unit 1 take-home and lab
2
The Digital Computer
Unit 2
Unit 2 take-home and lab
3
Storage
Unit 3
Unit 3 take-home and lab
Exam 1 covering units 1 – 3
-
Word Processor
none, lecture only, and help
links in Blackboard
Word Processor
-
Units 1 - 3
none
Exam 1 repeat lab
4
Input and Output
Unit 4
Unit 4 take-home and lab
5
Operating Systems
Unit 5
Unit 5 take-home and lab
6
Application Software
Unit 6
Unit 6 take-home and lab
7
Computer Networks
Unit 7
Unit 7 take-home and lab
Exam 2 covering units 4 – 7
-
Spreadsheet
none, lecture only, and help
links in Blackboard
Spreadsheet
-
Units 4 - 7
none
Exam 2 repeat lab
8
The Internet and Web
Unit 8
Unit 8 take-home and lab
9
Internet Security
Unit 9
Unit 9 take-home and lab
10
Web Multimedia
Unit 10
Unit 10 take-home and lab
14
Databases
Unit 14
Unit 14 take-home and lab
-
Database Manager
none, lecture only
Database Manager
13
Software Programming
Unit 13
Unit 13 take-home and lab
12
Programming
Information Systems
Development
Unit 12
-
Unit 12 take-home and lab
Make-up home
Exam 3 covering units 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14