A290/A590
Tools for Computing:
Interface Design and Programming for the Web with C# and .NET.

Instructor: Jeff Whitmer

• Office: Lindley Hall 201G.
  
• Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 8:30 - 10:30am in Informatics WEST 013 (in the basement). Appointments also available..
  
• Office Hour Special NOTES:
  • Any changes to my office hours will be posted here.
    • Monday, January 9, 2012: Classes begin
    • Monday, March 5, 2012: This class begins
• Phone: 855-3974.
  
• E-mail: jwhitmer@cs.indiana.edu.

MEETING Times:

MEETINGS: Monday and Wednesday: 1:00pm - 2:15pm in INFO West 109 (sections 26938 and 26940)

Spring Semester 2012 Students
Please note the following:
[Updated: 5/3/12]

Final Averages and Final Grades: are now posted on OnCourse. Final Grades have been submitted to the Registrar and should be visible to you tomorrow, 5/4/2012.

Here are a few details on Final Grades. Grading Scale Adjustment: I made a small adjustment to the Final Grading Scale, by expanding the "B" range by one point, the "C" range by 2 points, and the "D" range by three points. The new scale is 90-79-67-54 with the top and bottom 2.5% still being the +/- grade. Everyone worked hard and I think that is reflected in the final grades. Again, I think most of the students were actively involved and this is reflected in the scores. It is important to note, however, that there is no way to completely separate Participation from Attendance. If you were not in class, there is no way you could participate.

Remember, your final average was based on the following "weights" for each course component as published on the website the first day of class:

Attendance: 5% (.05)
Assignments: 25% (.25)
MINI/CAT/JIT/Quiz: 15% (.15)
Participation: 20% (.2)
Final Project: 35% (.35)
Together, these add up to 100% and if you multiply your averages by these percentages, you will get your final average. NOTE: While final averages are published to 2 decimal places, they are stored and calculated to 6 decimal places.

The final distribution of grades was: 5 A, 4 A-, 2 B+, 7 B, 1 B-, 1 C+, 1 C, 0 C-, 2 D, 1 D-, and 1 F. Overall, this means there were 9 A, 10 B, 2 C, 3 D, and 1 F. Thanks to everyone for their hard work. I hope you found the course interesting and useful. Best of luck in the future to each of you.

A NOTE ON "BORDERLINE" GRADES: After the new grading scale was set and initial final grades were determined, several students were on the "borderline" for a higher grade. PLEASE be careful to note that "borderline" in this course means within .2-.4% (tenths of a percent), NOT within 1-2% (full percent). For each student, I looked carefully at every aspect of the course, from projects to attendance to assignments. If the work was of consistent quality in all areas, the higher grade was probably given. HOWEVER, if there were one or more areas where the scores/averages were consistently lower, or if there was missed work, then the higher grade was not given. Just so you are clear, since I have taken the time to review all this information already, unless you find a mathematical error in your averages, I will not be open to a request for a grade change.

Again, thanks to everyone who partcipated in the course. I hope you found it fun or interesting or useful, or even all three.

Final Project Phase 3 scores posted and emails sent, Final Project Total scores posted and Partcipation Scores posted: Final Project Phase 3 and Project TOTAL scores are posted on OnCourse. Everyone should have received an email with their Phase 3 score and some comments. This was a good set of submissions as a group, with some distressing exceptions. Most showed a good deal of effort and learning on your own, as well as a clear understanding of what was expected. However, some students seemed to lose sight of the fact this was a course on web-programming as well as web-design and that 50% of their Phase 3 score was based on "Programming Components." Some submissions were just plain website that could have been created with almost any tool. Hence they did very, very poorly on the Programming components because there was nothing to grade. Scores ranged from 70 to 28 of of a possible 70, with 1 70, 7 in the 60s, 7 in the 50s, 4 in the 40s, 5 in the 30s and 1 below 30. Final Project TOTALS were also very good, ranging from 100 (1) to 54 with 7 in the 90s and 7 in the 80s, 3 in the 70s, 6 in the 60s, and 1 below 60.

A note on the Participation Score: The A290 Participation score represents my evaluation of your preparation and participation in the class meetings. As noted on the first day, just being the one saying the most doesn't mean you will get the highest rating. Similarly, being quiet doesn't mean you'll get a low score. I see a great deal from my position, including who is paying attention, who is asleep, who is using their laptop to take class notes and who is using their laptop to surf the Web or check Facebook. ALSO NOTE that you cannot expect a high participation score if you missed 30% or more of the class meetings. You can not participate when you are not there. With a couple of exceptions, the Participation scores ranged from 70% to 95% and the class average was 85.4%. This means most of you were there most of the time and engaged most of the time. Thank you.

I plan to have Final Averages and Final Grades posted either late today or early tomorrow. Watch OnCourse and the website for updates.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Spring 2012:

John Rudzinski

Email: jwrudzin@indiana.edu

• Office Hours: Usually part of class. Appointments also available.