A338/A538 Main Menu

A338/A538
General Course Information.

General Course Goals.

I hope to accomplish several things in this course. Since this is the seventh year we've done it, I think I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be covered and how.

In general, there are two areas I want cover: the technical and the practical. In many cases, these are related, but not always. The technical amounts to the "how to" aspect of any class. We want to learn how things work and how to use them.

The practical is more ethereal. It's the sort of thing you can't or don't usually get in technical classes. Ideas about problem solving, professional growth and development on-the-job, all those things you need to know about if you're really going to do network administration as all or part of your job.

"Technical" Course Goals.

The technical goal of this course is very practical in nature. We want you to learn about networks. This includes (some) hardware, Networking Topologies, Networking Protocols, Network Operating Systems, and Desktop Operating Systems.

When you complete this course, you will have learned about or worked to some degree with: The OSI Model, Ethernet, 802.11, IPv4, IPv6 TCP/UDP, DNS, IP routing, Linux, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows Server with ADS. You will probably not have a "working knowledge" of some of these systems (some more than others).

I will try to make this experience as practical as possible, using what I know about systems currently in place in both business and education, so that when you are done, you can honestly say you have some useful networking knowledge and experience.

Grading.

I realize grading and evaluation is never an exciting topic to consider. However, it is important to have a structure in place at the start of the term so we all know what we will be working on and how it will impact our final evaluation. Here's what I have in mind at this point.

Attendance: Because I post the lecture outlines in advance, attendance is mandatory if you want to pass. If you skip lectures on a regular basis, thinking you can get by on the posted outlines, you will fail. I know, it's happened several times over the last 5+ years that I've been making the outlines available. I will take attendance at every lecture in the form of "attendance cards" that you will submit within the first 10 minutes of the official start of lecture. Your overall attendance average for all lectures (27 total) AND labs will represent 5% of your final grade.

Individual and Team-based Homework: There will be a variety of homework assignments throughout the course that will be graded and represent 20% of the course grade.

Just In Time (JIT) and MINI assignments: These will usually be made during or immediately after class and due by the end of the day. You are expected to take the time needed to give them your full attention. Since these will be an important component in how the class progresses, they will represent 15% of your final grade.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs): This will occur on a more or less regular basis and will take a variety of forms. Some possible formats include: A quick quiz, a short write-up of your "MUddiest point", a team or pair exercise on a current topic, etc. Since these will be unannounced and only offered during class, your attendance is crucial. Because they will provide a way to gauge our current status, they will represent 10% of your final grade.

Participation: This is the one more or less subjective component of the final grade. As such, it will be based upon my observations throughout the duration of the course. Participation doesn't just mean who asks the most questions or makes the most comments, but who is clearly prepared and engaged with the material. One thoughtful question or very salient comment is worth more than hours of "babble." Many of the other course components are specifically designed to aid you in being prepared to participate. The rest is up to you. Because this is such a key part of the course struction, it will represent 15% of your final grade.

Final Project: The Final Team Project will consist of a variety of components. Some will be due at different points during the course, culminating with a complete, team Final Report to be submitted near the very end of the course. Overall, the entire Project process will 35% of your Final Grade. This will be broken down into 2 graded parts: team evaluation (including your evaluation of the team and the team's evaluation of you) 10%, and the Final (team) Report 25%. Being a reliable and active member of the team will be an absolutely crucial part of your success in this course.

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 course before, these policies may seem inflexible. However, they are not unlike the sort of guidelines found in other courses in the School of Informatics or the sort of contract stipulations you would find associated with a job in the "real world."

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 a homework assignment in my possession before I leave the lecture hall the day it is due, it will be scored a 0 (zero). Similarly, if you miss the deadline on the Final Project, you should expect a score of 0 (zero) there as well, which would result in the loss of at least a full letter grade on your Final Grade.
This is an Information Technology 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. Please note that IU policy stipulates all faculty, staff, and students are expected to check email at least once daily. We are merely extending that policy to "twice daily." If an announcement is made in class regarding a schedule change, etc., we would expect you to check email at every opportunity. Just be sure you understand that "I didn't check email" or "I didn't come to class that day" 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 any major course event. Such non-emergencies that will not be excused include (but are not limited to): failed alarm clocks, missed buses, non-emergency illnesses, non-emergency doctor visits, dead pets, non-functioning automobiles, not "getting back to town in time," and just failing to show up or submit any assignment at the scheduled time for any other reason. My email and voicemail numbers are clearly indicated on the course HomePage and I am in my office by 8:30am on Meeting days. I try not to be totally unreasonable in this regard, but if you come to me a week after missing an major Homework Assignment and claim you missed the deadline because of car trouble, I will not be sympathetic at all. Again, this policy is similar to those for other courses in the School of Informatics and Computing. [Similarly, 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 class days by 8:30am and can be reached via email and my voicemail, both of which are posted on the HomePage.

Finally ...