CA120: Introduction to Computer Applications Syllabus
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Course Information
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CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Introduces computer concepts and techniques applicable to various disciplines. The course
covers the most widely used software packages while providing students hands-on experience
with current computer applications. 3 semester hours.
This course will focus on the use of the following software: Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and
Word. We will use the 2010 version of the Microsoft Office suite.
Course Prerequisite: None, but CA106 or knowledge of Windows is strongly recommended.
Assessment levels: EN 101/101A, MA 097/099, and RD 110.
TEXTS/MATERIALS:
(Required) Marquee Series: Microsoft Office 2010 Brief, by Nita Rutkosky, Publisher: Paradigm,
ISBN: 9780763837709 or 9780763837723.
Software: The software used in this course is Microsoft Office Professional 2010. If you do not
own this version of the software, you may need to use College lab facilities to do your work or
to practice for quizzes and exams. Locations, hours, rules and guidelines are available online at:
http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/oit/InTech.aspx?id=216
Saving your work: Be advised—our computers WIPE CLEAN the hard drive when the machine is
restarted, so the C: drive or My Documents folder is NOT a wise place to store your work. You
should store your work on a flash drive, and you can keep back-up copies of work in progress by
emailing them to yourself or storing them in Blackboard.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course a student will be able to:
Apply file management skills such as: create, save, copy, move, rename, delete, and organize data files
Utilize real-world models and examples to create, format, edit, and print professionally-formatted word-
Upon successful completion of this course a student will be able to:
processed documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases
Analyze, synthesize and evaluate numerical data with spreadsheet applications
Create a relational database, table structure, queries, reports, and forms
Organize information by inputting and updating data in a relational database
Incorporate various types of visual elements such as images, tables, charts, audio, or video for effective
communication
GRADING:
Attendance/Participation
Homework Assignments
Quizzes
Midterm Exam
Final Project
Final Exam
15%
20% (lowest grade will be dropped)
20%
15%
10%
20%
Course Grade: <60=F, 60-69=D, 70-79=C, 80-89=B, 90=A
CLASS ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION:
Students are expected to attend all class sessions. In the case of absence, it is the student’s
responsibility to get class material/work assignments from the course Blackboard site or other
class members. You will be responsible for all work assigned whether you are present or
absent. Course notes, announcements, and sample files will be stored on the website. Check
the notes regularly, as you are responsible for all information in them, whether you were in
class or not. Students who miss more than three hours of class may be dropped from the
course by the instructor.
Students are expected to spend class time working on activities for this class. Use of the
Internet shall be strictly limited to activities for this class. Behavior that impedes the learning of
others or failure to participate in class activities will cause your attendance/participation grade
for that day to be reduced.
Class begins promptly at the scheduled time. Students are expected to be on time, return
promptly from breaks, and remain until the end of class. If you miss more than five minutes of
class, your attendance/participation grade for that day will be reduced.
WITHDRAWAL POLICIES
If you decide not to continue in the course, it is your responsibility to use MyMC to drop the
course. Non-attendance of classes or failure to pay does not constitute an official withdrawal.
To view specific drop deadlines (refund date, date to remove class from transcript, date to earn
a W instead of a letter grade), log into your MyMC account:
1) Click on "My Class Schedule" under Student Quick Links
2) Select the current term
3) Click on "View Drop Deadline Dates" at the bottom of the page
AUDIT POLICY
All students registered for audit are required to consult with the instructor before or during the
first class session in which they are in audit status, and students are required to participate in
all course activities unless otherwise agreed upon by the student and instructor at the time of
consultation. Failure to consult with the instructor or to so participate may result in the grade
of "W" being awarded.
ASSIGNMENTS/QUIZZES/EXAMS
Information about assignments, quizzes, and exams will be posted on our course Blackboard
site. Check the site at least once a week to be sure you are up to date. Blackboard has known
problems with the Internet Explorer browser, so use Firefox or Chrome to submit your
assignments in Blackboard.
Due Dates: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. If the assignment
instructions tell you to print out, you must submit both on paper AND as an attached file to the
assignments page in the course Blackboard site. Any papers handed in must contain your name
and be stapled in order. No folders, please.
Late assignments: After an assignment is due, if you did not have a DOCUMENTED, legitimate
emergency, you will lose points for late submission as shown below:
If you turn in:
You lose this percent of your grade:
Up to 24 hours late
5
1-2 days late
10
2-3 days late
20
3-4 days late
30
5-7 days late
40
More than 7 days late
No credit
Keeping Your Work: DO NOT throw away any graded work until you have received your official
grade in MyMC at the end of the semester. Leave your submissions in the Blackboard
assignments page until the semester is over. In the event of any dispute or question, if you do
not have the graded copy of the work, I will simply have to assume that whatever I recorded in
my gradebook is correct.
Missed Quizzes/Exams: In the case of legitimate, documented emergencies, the instructor
may, at her discretion, offer a make-up. If no documentation is available, and the instructor
does permit a make-up, you will automatically lose 20% on the grade of that quiz or exam.
TUTORING: You are encouraged to use the free tutoring in HU320 provided by faculty and
contracted tutors of the Computer Applications Department. Hours of availability can be found
online by clicking TUTOR SCHEDULE at
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/InTechRV/.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Unless a project has specifically been assigned as a group activity, you are expected to do your
own work. All computer work must be done with your own hands. You may ask other students
or tutors to advise you or demonstrate a process for you in a separate file, but you must do all
file creation and editing YOURSELF.
Any occurrence of academic dishonesty, including copying others’ work, copying assignments
off the Internet, submitting someone else's work, plagiarism, or letting another student copy
or submit your work, or any violation of the Code of Conduct will result in a zero for that
assignment as well as an automatic 10-point reduction of your total semester grade. Refer to
the Student Code of Conduct, available online at
http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/pnp/#Chapter_4.
DISABILITY SUPPORT: If you have a disability that will require accommodations, please contact
the Disability Support Services office (CAB 231), to obtain a letter authorizing your
accommodations. Please speak to me after class or during office hours to let me know how I
can help you learn.
VETERAN SERVICES
If you are a veteran or on active or reserve status and you are interested in information
regarding opportunities, programs and/or services, please visit the Combat2College website at
www.montgomerycollege.edu/combat2college.
OTHER:
Cell Phones and Electronic Devices: Cell phones and other personal electronic devices may not
be used in the classroom. Please set your cell phone to vibrate or turn it off before entering the
class.
Email
All Montgomery College students have been assigned a College email account that you can
access from within MyMC. I will use this email address to contact you if I need to reach you
outside of class hours. If you do not check this account at least twice weekly, you should set up
the account to forward messages to your more regularly-read email account.
If you send an email to me, be sure to include “CA120” in the subject line, along with a few
words that indicate the content of the message. To avoid problems with viruses, worms, and
spam, I do not open messages with blank or vague subject lines.
College Closure or Emergency Alerts
Occasionally it becomes necessary to delay the opening of school, send students home early, or
close the College entirely because of bad weather. The Montgomery College Website will have
closure announcements posted at http://www.montgomerycollege.edu. You may also sign up
for Montgomery College’s Alert service, which can send emergency messages to your email or
cell phone, at https://alert.montgomerycountymd.gov/register.php. Please be aware,
Montgomery College does NOT follow the closure policy of the Montgomery County Schools or
government offices.