CSC 125 / U13
Introduction to Computing
Section 2W1 - ONLINE ONLY 



Dr. Andrew Pounds, 


Office: 		 Rm. 105 Willett Science Center, (478) 301-5627 


Alt. Phone (SMS) : 		  (478) 227-3444  


E-mail: 		 pounds_aj@mercer.edu 


IM: 		 DrPounds 


Office Hours: 		 Chat sessions arranged upon request.


CSC 125 is the introductory course to computing systems with emphasis on the central processing unit, memory, input and output devices, data communications, operating systems, computer software, programming concepts, and the impact of computers on society. Students will learn to use popular software packages for word processing, spreadsheets, data base systems, organization, and presentation. Students will also be exposed to the most basic concepts of programming in a high level computing language.

While no prior computing experience is required, students in CSC 125 are expected to read at the college level and also demonstrate math competency.

Upon completion of this course, a student will demonstrate competence in each of the following areas. Specifically they will:

  1. Be able to describe the basic hardware and software components of a computer system.
  2. Use the WWW in a sophisticated manner to conduct research on a given topic.
  3. Use the operating system installed on their computer.
  4. Use application software for word processing, spreadsheets, database systems, and WWW page generation.
  5. Use application software to carry out common tasks in academic and business environments. This includes, but is not limited to, research papers, graphing, and financial calculations.
  6. Use internet tools and application software to work collaboratively.
  7. Understand the very basic function and purpose of a high level programming language. 


Class Meeting Times and Locations 


Lecture: 		 None.   


Chat: 		 Time arranged with other classmates and professor.   





Course Materials, 


An active G-Mail1account 

Libre Office1

Python1programming environment 

Adobe Reader1


A computer capable of running the above programs2


A BroadBand Internet connection 





Course Structure

Since this is an online course, you are ultimately responsible for learning the material in a timely manner yourself. The good news is that the course tools have been chosen to greatly enhance your abilities to pick up the material without the instructor having to intervene. My major roles in this process are to build the learning environment where you have the best chance for success and answer questions when you have difficulty. There are twenty five deliverables for the course. You must complete all of them on time to receive credit.

There is A LOT of material to be covered in this class - and it will seem very daunting at first to think that you are going to complete all of this on your own. However, you will quickly find that some of the assignments and exercises will take you less than fifteen minutes. Others, however, might take hours. Because I think each of you is the best manager of your time, I want to make things flexible. For that reason, I will open just about everything at the beginning of the semester so you can start completing assignments. To help you stay on track, I will post weekly due dates for the assignments. Once we pass the due date, I will grade the assignments submitted to me and update the BlackBoard gradebook.

Don't get behind. This course moves VERY fast and there is a lot of material to cover in our five weeks together.

Most assignments will be submitted via the BlackBoard dropbox. You will also find the directions for the assignment and any needed files in BlackBoard. Assignments will be graded on completeness and correctness using rubrics. Late assignments will receive a grade of zero.

A final exam will be administered at the end of the term. 


Grading 



Submitted Assignments
25 @ 35 pts each
875 pts



Final Exam
 
125 pts



 
 
 



Total Possible
 
1000 pts







 		 The following grading scale is assured but may be slightly lowered based on test results. 

A 		 $\geq$900

B+ 		 $\geq$880

B 		 $\geq$800

C+ 		 $\geq$780

C 		 $\geq$700

D 		 $\geq$600

F 		 $<$600 pts

I have been instructed by the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts to inform online students that there will be no incomplete final grades awarded in an online course. At the end of the term students will receive grades based on the work submitted. 


General Information

Honor Code: All students in CSC 125 are expected to adhere to the Mercer University Honor Code. Any suspected violations will be reported to the Honor Council for further investigation.

Many students have difficulty in determining how to apply the Mercer honor code to an online course. A few general guidelines should help you in deciding whether you are violating the honor code or not.

  1. You are allowed to receive help on your submissions from other students, provided the purpose of the help is to help you understand your own work better, not to do your work.

  2. You are NOT allowed to use copies of work submitted by other students, or copies of documents from published sources unless otherwise noted.

  3. You may not receive any help from others on the final exam.

Any violation of the above policies will be treated as academic dishonesty and a violation of the Mercer Honor Code.

Attendance: Every syllabus is supposed to state the professors attendance policy. Hmm. I don't have an attendance policy for my online course. You will be expected, however, to participate an any pre-arranged chat sessions. Missing more than one chat session will result in a 5% reduction of the final grade. If you know that you are going to miss a chat session, contact me and let me know.

BlackBoard Assignments and Availability: After a student notifies Dr. Pounds that they accept the syllabus policies, the student will be added to the BlackBoard class shell. Students will be notified when they have been added to the class in BlackBoard. The due date for each deliverable will be clearly marked in either the syllabus or on the BlackBoard calendar. Once the availability time expires on a BlackBoard assignment, you will no longer be able to access it or submit your work related to it. Do not wait until that last minute to get started on an assignment as BlackBoard will lock you out if you are late!

E-mail: All e-mail will be sent through normal internet e-mail protocols. With the exception of specific announcements related to the BlackBoard interface, BlackBoard will not be used for general class announcements.

E-mail Listserve: I maintain an e-mail listserve which I use use copiously to send information to the class and which you can use to communicate with each other. To sign up for the listserve and to learn how to send information to it, please go to: http://theochem.mercer.edu/mailman/listinfo/csc125.

Web Site: A Website for the course will be maintained at http://theochem.mercer.edu/csc125. In addition, the BlackBoard site information about assignments may be available on the class website. Specific content (such as videos and tutorials) will be made available on the class website.

Re-grading Policy: If a student suspects that an error was made in the grading of a submitted work, they should contact me for re-grading with the understanding that the entire work will be re-graded and not only the portion in question.

Posting of Grades: Grades will be periodically posted to BlackBoard.

American Disability Act: ``Students with a documented disability must inform the instructor at the close of the first class meeting. The instructor will refer you to the Student Support Services office for consultation regarding evaluation, documentation of your disability, and a recommendation as to the accommodation, if any, to be provided. Students must provide instructors with an accommodation form from Student Support Services listing reasonable accommodation to sign and return to Student Support Services. The Student Support Services office is located on the 3rd floor of the Conned Student Center. If you do NOT consult with the instructor and follow up at the Student Support Services office during the first two weeks of classes, as provided above, you will thereby waive any claim to a disability and the right to any accommodation pertaining thereto.''

Electronic Submission of Materials: ``Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that papers or assignments submitted electronically to a professor are received in a timely manner and in the electronic format(s) specified by the professor. Students are therefore obliged to have their e-mail client issue a receipt verifying that the document has been received. Students are also strongly advised to retain a copy of the dated submission on a separate disk. Faculty members are encouraged, but not required, to acknowledge receipt of the assignment.''

Tentative Class Schedule

Week of Topic
June 23 Adopt Syllabus
  Complete System Information Exercise
  Download and Install Software
  Word Processing Assignment 1 - A Personal Statement
  Spreadsheet Assignment 1 - GPA Calculation
  Programming Assignment 1 - GPA Calculation
  Forms Assignment 1 - A Service Trip
  Presentation Assignment 1 - A Service Trip
June 30 Word Processing Assignment 2 - MLA Formatted Document
  Spreadsheet Assignment 2 - Linear Regression and Graphs
  Forms Assignment 2 - Conversion to Spreadsheet
  Presentation Assignment 2 - A Business Proposal
  Database Assignment 1 - Intro to Database Tables and Queries
  Programming Assignment 2 - Games of Chance
July 7 Word Processing Assignment 3 - Letters and Mail Merge
  Spreadsheet Assignment 3 - Car Costs
  Presentation Assignment 3 - Slide shows
  Database Assignment 2 - Building Queries
  Programming Assignment 3 - A Taste of Graphics Programming
July 14 Word Processing Assignment 4 - A Scientific Paper
  Spreadsheet Assignment 4 - Stock Decision
  Database Assignment 3 - Calculated Queries and Reports
  Presentation Assignment 4 - Audio and Video
  Ancillary Assignment 1 - Online Presentation with Prezi
  Ancillary Assignment 2 - Building a Collaborative Online Document
July 21 Ancillary Assignment 3 - A UNIX Session
  Ancillary Assignment 4 - Google Tables
  FINAL EXAM (July 26)

About this document ...

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Footnotes

...G-Mail1
Freely available over the internet. The course webpage contains links for these items.
... programs2
These programs will run on Windows, Macintosh or Linux operating systems.

Andrew J. Pounds 2013-06-19