UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT BRADFORD
SPRING 1997 SYLLABUS
Course: Advanced Business Microcomputing
CS-0107-48468: Monday-Wednesday 3-5 p.m.
Location: Swarts Hall, Room 106.
Professor: Dr. Carl J. Case
Office: Swarts Hall, Room 235.
Phone (814) 362-5277
Electronic mail - CJC3
Office Hours: Posted on 235 Swarts (bulletin board)
Textbooks (Suggested):
Zimmerman, Beverly B. and S. Scott Zimmerman, Microsoft
PowerPoint 4.0 for Windows, 1995, Course Technology,
Inc., Cambridge, MA.
Long, Jeb. FoxPro 2.6 for Windows, Developer's Guide, 2nd
Edition, 1994, Sams Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Grade Determination:
Points Date Student Grade
Exam #1 100 2/17 ________
Exam #2 100 3/24 ________
Exam #3 100 4/30 ________
Software Project (100):
PowerPoint Outline 30 ____ ________
PowerPoint Presentation 20 ____ ________
Tutorial Handout 30 ____ ________
Software Instruction 20 ____ ________
Assignments (60):
World Wide Web 10 1/27 ________
A & D #1 10 3/03 ________
A & D #2 10 3/10 ________
A & D #3 10 3/31 ________
A & D #4 10 4/07 ________
A & D #5 10 4/14 ________
Quiz #1 10 ? ________
Quiz #2 10 ? ________
Participation 20 ________
--------
500
* Keep track of your grades and exam dates here so that you will
know exactly how you stand in the course.
Course Schedule:
Week Assignment
Begins Topic Due Software Package
---------------------------------------------------------------
1/13 Introduction, WWW Brief Resume
1/20 PowerPoint
1/27 Analysis World Wide Web
2/03 SDLC Package #1
2/10 Development Tools Package #2
2/17 Exam #1
2/24 E-R Models Package #3
3/03 Database Definition A & D #1
3/10 Normalization A & D #2 Package #4
3/17 **SPRING BREAK**
3/24 Exam #2
3/31 Screens/Reports A & D #3 Package #5
4/07 FoxPro A & D #4
4/14 FoxPro A & D #5 Package #6
4/21 FoxPro
4/30 Final Exam on Wednesday at 3-5 p.m.
* There is no class on Monday, January 20th.
Examination Policy:
There will be three exams, scheduled in 5 week intervals.
The actual date of each exam will be announced in class at
least one week prior to the exam. If, for a legitimate,
documented reason you anticipate missing the scheduled exam,
you must notify the professor both orally and in writing in
advance of your planned absence.
The final exam is not comprehensive.
All exams are closed-book and may contain a variety of
question types (e.g., multiple-choice, true-false, short
essay, and so on). Exams will cover hand-outs, in-class
lecture information, and material covered during the
software package reviews.
Grade Structure:
460 points = A
435-459 = B+
410-434 = B
385-409 = C+
360-384 = C
335-359 = D+
310-334 = D
0-309 = F
Assignments:
Homework will be assigned approximately one week in advance
of the due date. Specific requirements will be provided
either in class or through electronic mail.
All assignments are due on Mondays at the beginning of class
on the due date.
Assignments may not be weighted equally. Projects are
weighted on the basis of their level of difficulty.
All homework assignments must be typed and contain the
following information in the top right-hand corner:
Name Carl Case
Student ID Number 123-45-6789
Date 3/03/97
Course and Section Number CS-107
Assignment Identification A & D #1
You will need to purchase a minimum of 2 diskettes (I
recommend high density 3.5 inch), one to serve as a backup.
Diskettes and labels can be purchased at the campus book
store.
The World Wide Web assignment is designed to acquaint you
with the information highway of today. For the assignment,
you are to use the Web to locate a home page or server which
would be of interest to a business or computer science
student. The Web page should be one which could be used by
a student to assist in homework or research. Your
assignment is to provide a one-page critique of the site.
The analysis should include the page address, brief
description of the page, how the page is useful to a
business or computer science student, the most important
hypertext provided, and so on. In addition, the student
will conduct a brief (5 minutes or less) on-line
presentation of the page for the class. Both the critique
and presentation will be graded by the professor.
Software Project:
To succeed, today's professional must be a team member who
possesses technical, general, and presentation knowledge.
The individual needs to know what tools are available to
solve specific problems. In addition, the professional must
be able to work in concert with other members of the
organization. Finally, the worker must possess the ability
to communicate with or instruct others regarding the
technology.
As a result, this course has been structured to provide you
with these skills. Six packages, besides PowerPoint and
FoxPro, will be presented during the course. The packages
will serve as an informational foundation for assisting you
in your future coursework and in the business world.
Two-person teams will be formed early in the semester. You
are to provide the professor a brief resume by the second
class. This resume should contain your name and be no
longer than one page in length. In essence, you are
applying for a job and you need to briefly describe what
software assets you bring to the organization. The resume
should have three columns: novice, average, expert. Under
each column, list any microcomputer software packages as
they relate to either your experience or education. For
example:
Novice Average Expert
PowerPoint Word 6.0 for Windows FoxPro 2.5
Windows 3.1 Excel 5.0
You must have each of the previous column headings, even
though you may have no information to provide for an
individual section. The resume should be typed and spell-checked.
Due dates are listed in the "Course Schedule." Dates may be
modified, depending upon lecture pace. This project is a
team assignment and equal participation by all team members
is expected. Assignments are to be completed outside of
class time. You may find it convenient to meet before
and/or after class.
All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due
date.
Each deliverable should be prefaced with the following
information:
Project Identification (e.g., PowerPoint Outline)
Date
List of Team Member Names
Assignments should be created in a manner which would be
acceptable to upper-level management. Thus, spelling,
grammar, content, and appearance are important.
Two presentations are scheduled for the team. The first
presentation will use PowerPoint to present your review of
the selected microcomputer software package. You may
discuss aspects such as history, uses, advantages,
weaknesses/limitations, features, price, usability,
capability, and so on. A library, Web, or magazine search
may provide useful information. Your goal is to provide a
brief, yet comprehensive overview to an audience who has not
seen this package prior to your presentation. The
presentation must be 10-15 minutes in duration.
Presentations which exceed 15 minutes or are less than 10
minutes will have a 2 point deduction per minute. Thus,
present the most important aspects of your analysis in
succinct terms. In addition, you are to provide the
professor with a printed outline and a printed copy of the
notes entered into PowerPoint. The outline and notes will
be graded by the professor.
The second presentation will be a hands-on demonstration of
the software. You are expected to create a printed 1-3 page
tutorial in which you will guide the class. Your
presentation should cover the basic components of the
software package. The printed tutorial will be graded by
the professor. You will have between 30-45 minutes to
instruct the class.
Presentations will be peer-graded and each team member will
evaluate the other member's contribution. 60% of the
presentation grade is based upon presentation style and 40%
is based upon content. All team members are required to
participate in the presentation. Team members should dress
in attire consistent with a meeting with lower or middle-level
management. Remember, you are expected to be the expert regarding
the package which you present.
Class Attendance:
Class attendance is necessary for course understanding.
Attendance will be periodically taken although penalties
will not be enforced for non-attendance. However, missed
assignments, exams, and quizzes cannot be made-up.
Moreover, quizzes traditionally have occurred on days in
which attendance is low. Finally, individual participation
is a factor in final grade determination.
You are responsible for all material presented and
assignments made in class. You are expected to get lecture
notes, assignments, and other material covered during your
absence from your classmates. Your professor is not
responsible for providing this material to you.
You are responsible for knowing drop dates, etc., as
published by the University. Ignorance is no excuse.
Punctual attendance is expected. You are also expected to
attend class for the full class period. Late arrivals and
early departures distract and detract from the learning of
those individuals concerned about their future.
Academic Integrity:
The highest levels of academic integrity are expected at all
times. Any talking or cheating during exams or quizzes will
result in a grade of zero. Collaboration on weekly
assignments will result in a grade of zero for all parties
involved. Moreover, any violation of the above standards
will result in the maximum penalties as permitted by the
University.
Please keep the following points in mind when performing the
tasks associated with this course. Failure to follow these
guidelines will result in point deductions.
* Do NOT submit a cover page with each project.
* Submit your assignments in the correct page order. Put the
output in the same sequence as listed in the assignment.
* Assignments should be typed and spell-checked. Failure to
do so will result in a 1 point deduction PER occurrence.
* Label each output as instructed in the assignments.
* Do not hand-in extra output. It will be subject to grading.
* Staple assignments in the upper right-hand corner.
Paperclips and folders are not acceptable.
* Be prepared to hand-in projects during the class that they
are due. However, occasionally, an unannounced quiz on the
project will be given in class as a substitute for the
project output. In such cases, the quiz and not the project
will be graded. As a result, you need to not only perform
the project assignments but be able to demonstrate knowledge
during class. Neither the quiz nor the project can be made-up
if you are not attending class on surprise quiz days.
* There will be quizzes.
* Assignments are due at the beginning (by 3:10 p.m.) of
class. The professor will collect assignments in an orderly
row by row fashion. Do not wait until the start of class to
staple your pages, label your assignment, and so on.
Assignments or projects that are not handed-in at the
beginning of class are considered late and will be graded at
a 50% point deduction. Assignments or projects not handed-in
within 5 days of the due date will not be graded.
* If you plan on missing class, you may have a classmate bring
your project to class or you may, in advance of class, drop
it (at your peril) on my desk in Swarts Hall.
* Read your electronic mail regularly. There will be
announcements made periodically. Because the course meets
only two times per week, it is critically important that you
read your mail to note changes, etc., which I may send
regarding the coursework.
* Backup your work. You cannot have too many backups when the
inevitable problems arise.
* Your assignments (except the Software Project) are not group
projects. You are expected to work independently,
regardless of temptation. Any work in which collaboration
is evident will earn a zero grade for all parties involved.
All parties may also be subject to school and university
penalties. Remember, not only is collaboration considered
cheating (and thus unethical), it is extremely easy to
detect duplicate work!
* This course is not a theory course. It is a hands-on
experience in which you will leave the course with practical
knowledge. As a result, the harder you work in the course,
the more that you will benefit yourself.
* These rules are provided for your benefit. They will
provide structure and encourage you to organize your work,
an asset in the "real" world. Let's work hard and have a
good semester!