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A290/A590 General Course Information.
General Course Goals.
I hope to accomplish several things in this course. Since this is the first time I've done it, while I think I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be covered and how, things could change as we progress.
In general, there are two areas I want cover: the conceptual/technical and the practical. In many cases, these are related, but not always. The conceptual amounts to the "why" and the technical amounts to the "how" aspect of any class. We want to learn why things work and how to use them. However, the "how" may be a bit different than you are used to, since there is not necessary a single "how."
The practical is the "hands on" component. This is what you will do primarily in the labs, where we will show you how to do use the software tools to create your apps.
"Technical" Course Goals.
The conceptual goal of this course is somewhat
challenging to explain. We want to be sure when we are done there is a
clear understanding of how Databases, Database Management Systems (DBMS) and SQL are related to each other and how each is also unique and different. This
includes the under-lying concepts of tables, records, fields, using Unix-based Databases, etc.
When you complete this course, you should have a basic understanding of databases, tables, records, fields, SQL statements and reserved words/phrases and how to write and run an SQL query "against" both a database provided to you and a database you have created.
Grading.
I know this is often what students want to know first. Here's what I have in mind at this point.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory if
you want to pass. If you skip any meetings on a regular basis,
thinking you can get by on the outlines or guides posted after class,
you will almost certainly fail. I know, it's happened many times in my
other courses where I make similar resources available. Attendance will be taken in every meeting in the form
of cards dropped off in class (you provide the cards), CAT exercises,
or other "hardcopy" work submitted in class. Attendance will be
counted separately from your Participation score, but it is CRUCIAL
that you understand if you are not in class, it is impossible for you
to participate.
EFFECTIVE FALL 2019:The Health Center will no longer issue "notes" simply indicating you went there, so such notes will no longer be accepted for an "excused" medical absence. Offical medical notices clearly indicating a medical absence was required, signed by a physician, will STILL be accepted to excuse an absence. In light of this new policy, each student will have 1 absence to use during the 8-week class period that can be used without explanation or documentation. All other absences will be noted in interpreted as laid out on this page.
Attendance will be worth 5% of your Final
Grade. ADDITIONAL NOTE on absences: Please note that,
while you can be excused from class with written confirmation due to
illness, interviews, or similar major events, that excuse applies only
to your attendance. If any work is done and submitted during class
(CAT, Quiz, etc.) that is not excused and cannot be made up. Because
these exercises are a small part of the grade, and because you should
not be absent, they are all considered "you need to be in class to
complete them" type exercises. Be sure you are clear about this
policy.
ACTIVE Course
Engagement: Because I expect this to be a course where we all
contribute, your Participation is crucial. To make sure this is clear,
your participation will be worth 10% of your final
grade. It will be based on how actively you participate in our
discussions and how well-prepared you are for those
discussions.
CATs: We will be using a
variety of Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) during this
course. Many of them will rely on every student being truly prepared
when each meeting begins. CATs will be done in the regular meetings
and not announced in advance. CATs cannot be "made up" under any
circumstances, even an excused absence. These are "current status"
exercises, designed to see where the class is at that moment. Either
you are present to particpate, or you are not. In other words,
even if you are excused from class for a well-justified and
well-documented reason, if a CAT exercise is held in classs that day,
you will not be excused from the exercise nor be able to make it
up. Because this will be such a crucial part of the meeting
experience, it will represent (together with the MINIs and JITs)
10% of the course grade.
Homework: JITs/Written MINI
Assignments There will be several regular written assignments
that I call MINIs. In general, you will be asked to do additional
research on a topic discussed on class. You will be encouraged to use
all available resources, as long as you give proper credit for what
you use. These will usually be due within 2-3 days after they are
posted. These will be submitted electronically to your OnCourse
Dropbox. There will be regular JIT exerices, usually related to a
MINI, that you will submit to me via email. The MINI + JIT exercises
(together with the CATs) will be worth 10% of the
final grade.
Homework: Individual
Assignments: There will be one or more (as many a 4)
significant assignments in the course. These will ask you to create
something on your own that is related to materials developed in our
meetings, or on your own. They will probably be submitted via the
Canvas system. These Project(s)/Assignment(s) will be worth
75% of the final grade.
Overall Grade: So, your overall grade will be based on the following:
Regular Attendance: 5%
Active Class Participation: 10%
Regular Written MINI + JIT Assignments + CAT Exercises: 10%
Individual Homework ASSIGNMENTS (done on your own): 75%
Grading Scale:We will begin with the standard 90-80-70-60 grading scale. +/- grades fall in the upper and lower 2.5% of each range, respectively. This scale could drop by the end of the term, but it will never rise. This mean if you earn a 90.00% average, you are guaranteed an A-.
Important Course Policies.
Be absolutely sure you understand the following course policies. It will be assumed that you have read and accept these policies before the end of the first week of class.
If you have never been in a CS/Informatics course
before, these policies may seem inflexible and severe. However, they
are not unlike the sort of guidelines or contract stipulations you
would find in the "real world" and that's the way I run this
course. Consult the Important Course
Guidelines for a more complete list.
- You are solely responsible for your performance
in this course. We are here to help you whenever possible, but all of
your choices have logical consequences. Make sure you take interest in
your scores and Final Grade before you earn them.
- No work will be accepted late, period. If I do
not have any assignment in my possession before I leave the meeting
room the day it is due, it will be scored a 0 (zero). Similarly, if
you miss the deadline on any material submitted electronically, even
by .01 second, you should expect a score of 0 (zero) there as well,
because Canvas will lock the assignment and only Canvas-based
submission will be accepted for evaluation. Should this occur with
something like the Homework ASSIGNMENTS, the result would be at least
a full letter grade on your Final Grade.
- I do not accept work electronically, UNLESS specifically
requested. While there some things, like MINI and Homework
ASSIGNMENTS, MUST be submitted electronically, no other work will be
accepted eletronically. If it is due on a certain day/date, I expect
it in legible hard-copy form before the end of the meeting period at
that time. Anything else will probably result in a score of 0. [See #2
above].
- This is an Computer Science course, and we expect you to use
the technology. What this means, specifically, is we expect
you to have an IU Email account and we expect you to use it. We expect
you to check email at least twice daily, under normal
circumstances. If an announcement is made in class regarding a
schedule change, etc., we would expect you to check email at every
opportunity. Additionally, we expect you to monitor the
Canvas A290/A590 environment. This can be an
important resource and you should learn how to use it if you don't
already know how. Just be sure you understand that "I didn't check
email" or "I didn't check the website or "Canvas" will not be
acceptable reasons for not getting work done on time or failing to
meet other course requirments.
- Emergencies: I realize emergencies
will arise, but it is still your responsbility to notify me as quickly
as possible should such an emergency occur. NOTE: I
consider an emergency to be something like a death in the immediate
family in the last 24 hours or severe personal injury requiring
hospitalization. In all other circumstances, I think you should be
able to contact me before an exam or other major course event. My
email and voicemail numbers are clearly indicated on the course
HomePage and I am in my office by 7:30am every day. I try not to be
totally unreasonable in this regard, but if you come to me a week
after missing an exam and claim you missed the exam because of car
trouble, I will not be very sympathetic. [If you missed a project
deadline at work and didn't contact your Supervisor for week, would
you expect her/him to be very sympathetic? If you had a major
presentation to a client and failed to notify your Manager in advance
that you could not attend, what would you expect the consequences to
be?] Again, I am in my office on all class days by 7:30am and can be
reached via email and my voicemail, both of which are posted on the
HomePage.
Finally ...
Don't let any of the above scare you away. I just wanted to be sure anyone enrolled in the course this summer has a decent amount of information to make an informed decision.
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