COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROGRAM COURSE OUTLINE
SPRING SEMESTER, 2016
FACULTY NAME: Dr. Jay Lightfoot
OFFICE HOURS:
Tu/Th 11:00 – 12:00
Tu/Th 1:45 – 3:00
and by appointment
COURSE PREFIX/TITLE:
OFFICE:
Kepner 0095D
TELEPHONE: 351-1218
E-Mail: jay.lightfoot@unco.edu
Class Web Site:
http://mcbfaculty.unco.edu/lightfoot/bacs287/
BACS 287-029 Graphical Interface Programming
3 Semester Hrs.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Covers modern programming languages geared for graphical user interfaces and interactive processing. This course
introduces students to end-user computing, human factors, graphical programming environments and event-driven
programming.
PREREQUISITES:
Business majors/minors and Software Engineering majors only.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The student will learn the basics of programming in a computer language geared toward graphical user interfaces.
After taking this course, each student should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Understand the basic programming constructs of sequence, selection, and iteration as used to solve realistic
programming problems.
Design and write programs to solve business problems using traditional programming algorithms.
Develop and document robust event-driven program applications within a graphically rich programming
environment.
Understand the importance of the interface on end-user computing.
Understand the terminology and concepts associated with designing and creating object-oriented programming
solutions.
MCB Learning Goals
MCB Learning Objectives
This Course Coverage
Be knowledgeable of key
Students will demonstrate a firm understanding of core
concepts in core business
business concepts.
curriculum
Be effective
communicators
Students will prepare and deliver professional quality
presentations on a business topic.
Students will prepare professional quality business
documents.
Demonstrate conceptual
and analytical skills
Students will analyze data & information to identify key
problems, generate and evaluate appropriate alternatives, and
propose a feasible alternative.
2, 3
Be proficient with
technology
Students will demonstrate proficiency in common business
software packages.
2, 3
Demonstrate ethical
awareness
Students will be knowledgeable about ethics and social
responsibility.
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Students will correctly identify the ethical issue or problem,
analyze the consequences for various stakeholders, and
develop an acceptable resolution.
Be proficient with
discipline-specific
knowledge
Students will demonstrate a firm understanding of disciplinespecific knowledge within their emphasis.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Students will demonstrate competency with advanced topics
within their emphasis.
3, 5
COURSE TOPICS:
NOTE: All reading assignments should be completed before the class in which they are discussed. What follows is a tentative
schedule for planning purposes. Actual dates for tests and projects will be announced in class.
Week
Date
Chapters / Notes
Topics Covered
1
1/11 – 1/15
2
1/18 – 1/22
Class introduction, Syllabus
Intro to Computers, program design, & Visual Basic
Building a Simple Application
Creating a User Interface, Forms & Controls Basics
3
1/25 – 1/29
Chapter 1
1/15 Add Deadline
1/18 Martin L. King Holiday
Chapter 2
1/25 Drop Deadline
Lecture Notes, Supplemental readings
4
2/1 – 2/5
5
2/8 – 2/12
6
2/15 – 2/19
7
2/22 – 2/26
8
2/29 – 3/4
9
3/7 –3/11
3/14 – 3/18
10
3/21 – 3/25
11
3/28 – 4/1
12
4/4 – 4/8
13
4/11 – 4/15
14
4/18 –4/22
15
4/25 –4/29
16
5/2– 5/6
BACS 287 Spring 2016
Lecture Notes, Supplemental readings
**Test #1**
Lecture Notes
Chapter 3
Lecture Notes
Chapter 4
Lecture Notes, Chapter 5
Chapter 10 (just pp. 505-515)
3/7 - Withdrawal Deadline
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Programming Logic Part 1
Programming Logic Part 2
Programming Logic Part 3
Pseudocode Practice
Chapters 1, 2, supplemental readings, controls,
programming logic, pseudocode.
Variables, constants, strings, & structures
Statements and Expressions
Decision Structures
Decision Structures cont.
String Manipulation and string methods
Iteration Structures
Arrays and Array Manipulation
Spring Break – No Classes
Chapter 8
**Test #2**
Chapter 11, and pp. 614-615
Lecture Notes
Chapter 12
Lecture Notes
Chapter 14
Sub-Procedures and Functions
Chapters 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, slides, lecture notes,
programs
Files in VB, Structured exception handling
Files and basics of database
ADO .NET use
Introduction to SQL
Basic LINQ data access
Object-Oriented programming
Chapter 13
FINALS WEEK
** Test 3 (comprehensive) **
2
Introduction to ASP .NET programming
Tuesday May 3, 1:30 – 4:00
Dr. Lightfoot
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: 3 exams, 4 to 7 projects, homework/quizzes, attendance/participation.
GRADING REQUIREMENTS:
This course uses letter grades on an A through F scale (with the potential use of +/- grading). Your course grade will
be determined based upon your performance on examinations, projects, quizzes, and attendance/participation. The
weighting for these items is as follows:
Test 1
Test 2
Final
Projects
Quizzes/Homework
Attendance / Participation
Total
15%
15%
25% (comprehensive)
30% (combined)
10 %
5%
100%
Examinations:
Two 75 minute midterm examinations and a 2.5 hour comprehensive final examination will be given. The schedule
and format for tests will be announced in class. The final exam will be given at the time published in your schedule of
classes. The examinations will cover material from the textbook, lectures, projects, handouts, and outside assigned
readings.
A makeup exam will be given for test 1 or test 2 for those students who meet any of the following criteria:

the test was missed because of severe documented illness (doctors note required),

a recent death in your immediate family (verification required),

other extraordinary situations (judged on a case-by-case basis).
The makeup test must be given no later than three weeks following the original exam date. Failure to do so will result
in a grade of zero. It is the student's responsibility to pursue and coordinate a mutually convenient schedule for the
makeup exam. You may only makeup ONE examination. This procedure does not apply to the final examination.
Projects:
This class will use Microsoft Visual Basic as found in Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Enterprise Edition for all
projects as the vehicle to teach graphical interface programming. The projects will be discussed and due dates
assigned during class. Some of the projects will be assigned as "individual projects" while others may be assigned for
"group work." On the group projects, each team member is expected to understand and be able to explain the designlevel details of the solution. All members of a group project team will receive the same grade for the project. If a
project is designated as “individual work only”, you cannot work with anyone else beyond incidental discussions
about Visual Basic in general. Students who violate this rule will, at a minimum, receive a significantly reduced grade
for the project. You may turn in projects early, but late projects will not receive full credit. For each 24 hour period,
or fraction thereof, late projects will lose an additional 25% off the initial project score. Late projects will not be
accepted after graded work is returned to the class. In exceptional cases, the late project rule will be waived; however,
these cases are rare and must involve an exceptional situation or documented physical or mental impairment of a longterm and serious nature. Failure to attend class does not excuse you from assigned work nor does it grant you an
extension. For best results, start working on the projects as soon as they are assigned and ask questions if you need
help.
Attendance / Participation:
Class attendance is required. Participation in class discussion is desired. In addition, students are expected to arrive
to class on-time and stay until the end of the period. To achieve these goals, a portion of the grade will be determined
by on-time attendance and voluntary participation in class activities. You are allowed up to 3 absences without
penalty. For each absence over this, you will lose one percent of your total grade, up a maximum of 5 percent.
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Quizzes:
Several short, timed quizzes will be given during class. These will be unannounced and will cover recent material
over which you have had an opportunity to ask questions. The quizzes are not comprehensive. If you miss a quiz
then you will receive a grade of zero for that quiz (i.e., NO make-up quizzes). At the end of the semester, your
lowest quiz grade will be dropped and the remainder of the quizzes will be averaged to determine your overall quiz
grade. Only ONE quiz grade will be dropped.
Lab Assignments:
Lab assignments are periodically assigned to correspond to chapter readings and lecture coverage. While these
assignments will not be collected or graded; students should work through these labs in order to better understand the
content of the chapter.
Homework:
Homework will be assigned during the semester. The intent is to allow students extra practice on programming
concepts. This homework will be graded. The instructor will also occasionally assign extra problems (which are not
graded) to help students understand programming concepts. In addition to this, each chapter in your textbook contains
a set of programming exercises, review questions, and case study projects. Students are encouraged to take advantage
of these resources. Any questions related to homework can be brought to the instructor either during class or office
hours. Note that the instructor reserves the right to substitute several graded homework assignments for one or more
programming projects. If this change is made, clear notification will be given in class prior to its implementation.
General:
Please remember that your grade is your responsibility. This means that you should do all the assigned work and turn
it in on time. If you are unable to attend class when assigned work is due, you should make arrangements in advance
to turn it in via some other mechanism. If you have problems, it is your responsibility to tell me before the work is
due so I can help you. If you do not understand the material covered in class, it is your responsibility to bring it to my
attention so I can help you.
This class requires you to complete computer projects. Computer projects can take a significant amount of time to
complete. Be sure to set aside time to do your lab projects and start early! Remember that you are graded on the
results you produce, not on the effort you expend. You may use the software found in the Kepner computer labs or
use a personal copy of the software. Be aware that class projects are designed to use Microsoft Visual Basic 2015
Enterprise Edition. Other versions may not be compatible. Always backup your work on another disk. Failure to
backup your work is not an excuse for turning in a project late.
REQUIRED TEXT AND/OR SUPPLEMENTS:
Required:
Diane Zak, Microsoft Visual Basic 2015 Reloaded, 6th Edition, Cengage Learning, 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-285-86019-0.
Required:
Two removable “thumb drive” media for project turn-in. These should be relatively “small” (4GB or less).
The media should be dedicated to this class. (Please avoid SanDisk Cruzer drives if possible.)
STANDARD STATEMENTS:
The following standard statements are available for review at http://mcb.unco.edu/Faculty/pdf/standard_statements.pdf.




Assessment Statement
Classroom Technology Guidelines
Computer Utilization
Ethical Dimension Coverage
BACS 287 Spring 2016
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Dr. Lightfoot






Food and Beverage Guideline
Global Dimension Coverage
Library Utilization
MCB Statement
Monfort College of Business Student Code of Professional Conduct
Students with Disabilities
SEMESTER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Job & Internship Fair – 02/18/2016 | 1:00PM—4:00PM | University Center
Career Services hosts a campus-wide Job & Internship Fair each semester, connecting soon-to-be graduates with
employment opportunities. Senior Business Administration students are required to attend the spring fair,
occurring Thursday, February 18, 2016, from 1:00PM—4:00PM in the University Center. All business students
are encouraged to attend, especially those seeking internship opportunities. Business Administration students should
check-in with Cassandra Shearholdt once at the fair in order to record their attendance.
If an irresolvable conflict or emergency prevents a student from attending the fair, that student should contact their
department chair for an alternative assignment. For questions or additional details about the Job & Internship Fair,
please contact Career Services (www.unco.edu/careers | (970) 351-2127).
Networking Night – 02/18/2016 | 5:30PM—7:00PM | Kepner Hall
Networking Night’s focus is bringing together business students and business professionals from various industries to
help build students’ soft skills and learn about different organizations and available career paths. Sophomore and
Junior Business Administration students are required to attend Networking Night, occurring Thursday,
February 18, 2016, from 5:30PM—7:00PM in Kepner Hall. All business students are encouraged to attend in order
to broaden their professional network. A prep workshop will be held the week prior to Networking Night, to aid
students in developing strategies to successfully navigate the event.
If an irresolvable conflict or emergency prevents a student from attending Networking Night, that student should
contact their department chair for an alternative assignment. For questions or additional details about Networking
Night, please see the Networking Night website (www.mcb.unco.edu/events/networkingnight) or contact Cassandra
Shearholdt (cassandra.shearholdt@unco.edu | (970) 351-4589).
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