CALS 002 Syllabus, Spring 2008
 Foundations: Information Technology

CALS  002  (3 Credits)	Dr. Jonathan Leonard
Spring Semester 2008	208H Morrill Hall, UVM
Lecture Section A (12830) Tuesday, 2:00-3:15 p.m., 105 Votey Building	jleonard@zoo.uvm.edu
Lecture Section B (12050) Thursday, 2:00-3:15 p.m., 103 Rowell Building	x62979 (w) 434-3787 (h)
Labs

General Course Goals:  To prepare students with a solid foundation of Information Technology (IT) skills and knowledge to enable them to use current and future software and hardware.

Specific Course Objectives:   Upon passing CALS 002 students will:

1.  Become familiar with information technology hardware including types of computers and telecommunication hardware.
2. Understand the role of Operating Systems and demonstrate knowledge of command-line UNIX, and Windows XP.
3. Demonstrate file and folder management on PC, disk, flash memory stick, and zoo home directory server and backup directory server.
4. Detect and elimination of Computer Viruses & Spyware and protect your PC with Zone Alarm fire-wall software.
5. Demonstrate proficiency with electronic communication: e-mail, etiquette, emoticons, attachments, and signature files.
6. Be familiar with the WebCT environment and post journal entries.
7. Demonstrate proficiency in presentation graphics applications by giving a PowerPoint presentation in front of a class.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in word processing applications including tab formatting, inserting symbols, hanging indents, and citing references for images and ideas.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in converting between decimal and binary numbers.
10. Demonstrate proficiency in spreadsheet and graphing applications including choosing the correct graph type for a specific audience, given a data set.
11. Understand and demonstrate how to present and interpret data in graphic form including basic descriptive statistics.
12. Understand what a peer-reviewed publication is, and the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary data.
13. Demonstrate finding reliable, credible sources of information on the web, and printed paper sources in the University library stacks.
14. Find useful data on the Internet, be critical of those data, and interpret those data.
15. Demonstrate knowledge of data classification (Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, etc.).
16. Understand and interpret X Y scatter plots, box plots, histograms, population pyramids, and choropleth maps.
17. Create World Wide Web Pages using HTML code and publish on the web using the zoo web server.
18. Understand the history and legacy of computing.
19. Appreciate the utility, benefit and limitations of computers and information technology.
20. Improve writing skills.

Required Texts and Readings

Textbook: Graphing Statistics & Data by Anders Wallgren, Britt Wallgren, Rolf Persson, Ulf Jorner, Jan-Aage Haaland.  1996.  Sage Publications, Inc.  ISBN 0-7619-0599-5 (Paperback)

Office Hours  Dr. Leonard's regular office hours are Wednesday mornings, 8:00 - 10:00 although there are many other possible windows of time to meet during the week.  It's best to make an appointment, although if you drop in I will make time for you if I possibly can.  Get your TA's phone number and e-mail address at your first lab meeting.  Phone numbers are listed in the LABS.  Send your TAs an e-mail message or give us a call.  If you can't reach Dr. Leonard or a TA and you need to speak with one of us after hours, don't hesitate to call us at home (before 9:00 pm please).  

Attendance  You are expected to come to all lecture and lab classes and be in your seat on time.   Unexcused lateness or absences of either lecture or lab will lead to at least a 1% reduction in your final grade for each absence.  Absences are excused only in cases of sickness, death in your immediate family, or other extreme documented circumstances.  In such circumstances, notify the CALS Deans office (Rose Laba, rlaba@uvm.edu, 656-0289), Dr. Leonard, and your lab TA within 24 hours of missing class.  

Religious Holidays  Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students should submit in writing to their TAs and Dr. Leonard by the end of the second full week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty will permit students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work.

Class Behavior  Students are expected to have a positive attitude and to arrive to class a few minutes early and be in their seat when class time begins.  Only one person should be speaking during class at any time.  You will be asked to leave the class and you will loose at least one percent of your course grade each time you: 1. continue to talk while the recognized speaker is talking, 2. fall asleep during class, 3. read the newspaper or do other assignments not related to our class,  4. leave the class early without prior permission of the instructor,  5. talk on your cell phone during class,  6. are late for class. Being late to class, leaving early without notifying the instructor, hurtful or strong negative criticism of others, is not appropriate or welcome.  Whining or excessive complaining about this or any other UVM course is not appropriate in class.
    You are expected to come to class with a pen and notebook and to take notes.   It is appropriate and acceptable to raise your hand and ask questions during class.  You may eat food and drink water during class. 

Lab Assignments	60%
3 Exams (2 in lecture, 1 final)	30%
WebCT discussion journal	5%
Attendance, participation, and attitude	5%

Download grading template here.

Lab Assignments vary in point value; the Final Lab Project is worth 150 points, the other assignments vary from 10 to 50 points each.  Exceptionally creative work may earn a grade above the point value of the assignment.  Paper Lab assignments should be stapled together and handed in at the beginning of scheduled lab time.  YOUR NAME AND LAB SECTION SHOULD APPEAR ON ALL ASSIGNMENTS.  You may re-submit assignments for re-grading WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF THE DUE DATE (not accepted later); please include your old, already graded assignment, along with the re-done work.  The sooner you re-submit, the more generous your lab instructor will be in re-grading.  Save your graded homework assignments for one year after the course.  Assignments emailed as attachments are not accepted unless specified in the lab assignment.  It is your responsibility to find a printer that works and print the assignments BEFORE lab.  Do not rely on public printers in the library or the computer labs. 

Lab Late Penalty and Resubmission:  Lab assignments are due at the beginning of lab.  If they are late, -10% the first week, -20% the second week, No Credit thereafter.  Lab assignments may be redone and resubmitted for re-grading within TWO WEEKS of the due date (not accepted later).

LAB USE POLICY:
Students may use the labs whenever there are no scheduled classes or workshops.  Schedules are posted on lab doors.

LAB ROOM HOURS (Unless posted otherwise):

  Morrill Lab Schedule: http://www.uvm.edu/~jleonard/labsched.html   Hours 8am-12midnight M-F. Sunday 6-10pm

  Waterman Lab Schedule: http://scripts.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/lab.pl    Waterman Lab Hours

Exams: Exams will cover material from lecture, lab, video/DVDs, and reading/online assignments.  Questions will require students not only to be familiar with the material, but also to apply concepts, information, and skills they have learned to new problem situations.  Students must be on time for the exams, or they will lose points. Any requests to take the exam at other than the scheduled time must be discussed with Dr. Leonard no later than one week prior to the exam.  Only in cases of extreme emergency such as death in the family, extreme illness, or near fatal accident, are exams excused and re-taken.  In these cases students must contact their instructors within 24 hours of the exam.  Keep your old graded exams for one year after the course.

Attendance, participation, and attitude:  Five percent of your grade is determined by attendance, online discussion on WebCT, class participation (how you contributed to the class), and your attitude.  In order to earn full credit you must attend all the lectures and labs and contribute to the class in a positive way by helping other students and participating in class discussions.  Unexcused absences will result in a deduction of at least 1% of your course grade per unexcused absence.  Absences are excused only in cases of sickness (Dean's Office notification), death in the family, or other extreme circumstances.  In such circumstances, notify the Deans Office and your lecture and lab instructor within 24 hours of missing class.  You are expected to have a positive attitude in class and lab.  Being late to class, leaving early without notifying the instructor, hurtful or strong negative criticism of others, is not appropriate or welcome.  Whining or excessive complaining about this or any other UVM course is not appropriate in class.  You are expected to come to class with a pen and notebook and to take notes.   It is appropriate and acceptable to raise your hand and ask questions during class.  You may eat food and drink water during class. 

What to post on WebCT Discussions:  Post links to interesting sites you find on the web about information technology and news.  Post thoughts or questions about our class or other classes or experiences you have had such as: readings, lab or lecture material, and life experiences that were interesting.  Postings about class-related material that is confusing, or makes you think of connections to other courses or experiences in your life, are welcome.  Contact lab mates, or reply to their postings giving your own opinion or suggestions to questions they posted.  Organize study sessions or review of our class or other class material.  Constructive criticism or suggestions for future labs is welcome.  To earn full credit, you should post at least once every week during the semester (14 postings minimum).  Replies to other postings count as postings.

What not to post on WebCT Discussions:  Hurtful, thoughts or strong negative criticism of others in our class, are not welcome.  Whining or excessive complaining about this or any other UVM course is not appropriate.  Do not post about drinking, drugs, or sex.  

PLAGIARISM: It is expected that you will help your fellow students with techniques of computer use, but always hand in original work.  For example, if the assignment for the week was to create a population pyramid, you are expected to help students who are not as familiar as you with the use of the spreadsheet graphing software.  This does not mean that you can copy work or take it off the Internet without crediting it to the original source.  ALL STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO HAND IN THEIR OWN ORIGINAL WORK.  Students have been severely penalized in the past for not following these instructions.  You must cite any information that is not common knowledge in any homework assignment.  See examples of what is plagiarism and what is not here.

Spring 2008 LECTURE Readings and Assignments  

Week beginnings:	Material Covered	Reading Due
Jan 14	Welcome!,  IT Knowledge Quiz, Lab Preview Power Point Presentation,  OS History Video.	None
Jan 21	Information Technology in Perspective:  Time Line 1, Anatomy of PC, Operating systems, OS History Video, Lab Preview FTP folder & file management.	Google article from Newsweek , How Search Engines work from Sci Am.  Use your UVMnet-ID (zoo login and password) to read online with Adobe Acrobat.
Jan 28	Types of computers. Anatomy of PC.  Units of Memory and Storage, .	How Internet e-mail works.  Text Sections 1-2 (pages 0-16)
Feb 4	Lab Preview Pine on zoo. Difference between memory & storage.  Types of Data, Graphing Exercise 1,  OS History Video.	Digital cameras from How Things Work ,   How digital cameras work from Sci Am .  Text Section 3 (pages 17-23)
Feb 11	Graph Exercise 1 Review, Anti-Virus strategies, Binary Numbers.  First Exam Review. Lab Preview Resume construction. Class Histogram.	CD Players,   Sound coded as bits. Laser Printers, Scanners, Optical character readers.  Text Sections 4-6 (pages 24-45)
Feb 18	First Exam!  You must be on time for class or lose points! NOTE: Monday labs go to another lab just for this week (Presidents Day)!
Feb 25	Tuesday lecture catch-up: Graph Exercise 1 Review, Anti-Virus strategies, Binary Numbers.  First Exam Review. Lab Preview Resume construction. Class Histogram.	CD Players,   Sound coded as bits. Laser Printers, Scanners, Optical character readers.  Text Sections 4-6 (pages 24-45)
March 3	TUESDAY lecture and labs meet! Exam Return, Lab Preview spreadsheets.  Backup disk array.  Descriptive Statistics.  ASCII code, Converting Decimal to Binary numbers.  Graph Exercise 2 review.	Digital thermometers and scales, Analog to digital converters, Digital to analog converters  Text Section 7-8 (pages 46-53)
March 10	Spring Break, No lectures, No labs this week.	None
March 17	Lab Preview web pages.   Graphing Exercise Three.   History of the Internet Video.   Protocol and packets.  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary data.	Voyager II article, Sci. Am. Nov. 1986, Optical fibers, Competing technologies for broad band home access.  Text Sections 9-10 (pages 54-63)
March 24	Second Exam!   You must be on time for class or lose points
March 31	Exam Return.  Lab Preview web pages.  Graph Practice Three Review.  Binary used in Images.  History of the Internet Video.	How Hackers Break In  Sci. Am. October 1998, The Zombie Hunters (New Yorker, Oct 10, 2005)
April 7	Packet error checking algorithms: Sum check details, parity check. Modems.  Lab Preview Final Lab Project.  History of the Internet Video	Keyboards, How roller mice work,  How roller and optical mice work, How touch pads work, How active-matrix screens work.  Text Sections 11-13 (pages 74-87)
April 14	Physical Media. TCP/IP stack, Modems (how they work), History of the Internet Video. Index vs no Index.html.  Class Evaluations & Surveys,   Exporting Harm video.	RFID Tags, RFID in Passports?,and Verichips,Text Sections 14-15 (pages 88-91)
April 21	Last Lecture: Buying a computer system: Mice & Keyboards, Monitors. Current pricing and components. History of Internet video finish.	Study all readings above for Final Exam!
Tuesday Section A	Final Exam for Tuesday lecture: Thursday 8 May 3:30pm Votey 105	Prepare yourself!
Thursday  Section B	Final Exam for Thursday lecture: Thursday 8 May 3:30pm Rowell 103	Prepare yourself!