CALS 002/085 Syllabus, Spring 2010
 Foundations: Information Technology

CALS  002  (3 Credits)	Dr. Jonathan Leonard
Spring Semester 2010	208H Morrill Hall, UVM
Lecture Section A (11605) Monday, 12:50-1:40 p.m. 108 Terrill Hall	jleonard@zoo.uvm.edu
Lecture Section B (11167) Wednesday, 12:50-1:40 p.m. 108 Terrill Hall	x62979 (w) 434-3787 (h)
Lecture Section C (12014) Friday, 12:50-1:40 p.m. 108 Terrill Hall
CALS 85 Lecture Section A (11189) Thursday, 1:00-1:50 p.m. Living/Learning Commons Room 315
Labs

Important message for all students: I will communicate with you often via email.  Be sure to check your UVM email daily.  Please purge your deleted messages regularly to avoid a full mailbox.

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 the basic internal anatomy of a personal computer.
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, attachments, and signature files.
6. Be familiar with the Blackboard^® 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 tabs, hanging indent, and citing references for images and ideas.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in converting between decimal and binary numbers and an understand of using binary to code for text, images, and sound.
10. Demonstrate proficiency in spreadsheet and graphing applications including choosing the correct graph type, given a data set.
11. Understand and demonstrate how to present and interpret data in graphic form including basic descriptive statistics (central tendency and variation).
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, create, 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 Tuesday  mornings, 8:15 - 10:15 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.  Save 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 a few minutes early, and stay the entire class time.   Unexcused lateness or absences of either lecture or lab will lead to a 1% reduction in your final grade for each absence or lateness.  Athletes are excused only for Varsity Games (and work is expected to be made up within one week).  If you are late, you will be marked absent. Absences are excused only in cases of extreme 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 who will contact Prof. Leonard with an official excuse), 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 and stay for the entire class time.  Talking or texting on your cell phone during lecture or lab is not permitted.  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. text or 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, pencil and notebook and to take notes by hand.   It is appropriate and acceptable to raise your hand and ask questions during class.  You may eat food and drink water during class. 

Laptop or Notebook Computers, cell phones, or any other electronic devices are not to be used during lecture.

Lab Assignments	60%
3 Exams	30%
Blackboard IT discussion postings	5%
Participation, and attitude	5%
In addition, you must be present for all lectures and labs.  -1% per absence

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.  Save your lab assignments for one year after the class.

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 Attendance: Students are expected to go to the labs they are enrolled in, arrive early, and stay the whole time until the lab instructors are finished.  Only in extreme cases of accident, sickness, or special circumstances approved in advance, may student go to another lab.  Students who miss lab should try to go to another lab during the week so they don't miss lab altogether that week, but stick to their regular lab time whenever possible.

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/lab/spring2010/assist2010spring.html  

  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.

Participation, and attitude:  Five percent of your grade is determined by 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.  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 Blackboard 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 (to get clarification), 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/comments they posted.  Organize study sessions or review of our class or other class material.  Constructive criticism or suggestions for future lectures or labs are 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.  Emails to the TAs or Dr. Leonard do not count as a posting.

What not to post on Blackboard 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.

Offenses against the Code of Academic Integrity are deemed serious and insult the integrity of the entire academic community.  Any suspected deliberate violations of this code are taken very seriously and will be forwarded to the Center for Student Ethics & Standards for further investigation.

Students are expected to be familiar with the Code of Academic Integrity at UVM.

Spring 2010 LECTURE Readings and Assignments  

Week beginning:	Material Covered	Reading Due
Jan 18	NOTE: Monday lecture cancelled because of Martin Luther King Holiday Welcome!,   Lab Preview Power Point Presentation, IT Knowledge Quiz.	None
Jan 25	NOTE: Monday lecture meets, Wed, Thurs (CALS 85), Fri lectures cancelled Labs will meet this week.  Labs begin Monday 25 January.	Google article from Newsweek , How Search Engines work from Sci Am.  Use your UVM net-ID (zoo login and password) to read online with Adobe Acrobat.
Feb 1	Information Technology in Perspective:  Time Line 1, Anatomy of PC, Operating systems, OS History Video, Lab Preview WinSCP folder & file management.	How Internet e-mail works.  Text Sections 1-2 (pages 0-16)
Feb 8	Types of computers. Anatomy of PC.  Units of Memory and Storage. OS History Video. Lab Preview Pine on zoo.	Digital cameras from How Things Work ,   How digital cameras work from Sci Am .  Text Section 3 (pages 17-23)
Feb 15	NOTE: Monday lecture cancelled because of Presidents' Day Holiday.  Wed, Thurs (CALS 85), Fri lectures cancelled.  Monday lab students go to another lab just for this week.  Labs available Monday 10-noon, 2-4 in Morrill 005.	CD Players,   Sound coded as bits. Laser Printers, Scanners, Optical character readers.  Text Sections 4-6 (pages 24-45)
Feb 22	Lab Preview Resume construction.  Difference between memory & storage.  Types of Data, Graphing Exercise 1, Exam Preparation.	Study all previous readings, lecture, and lab notes
March 1	First Exam!  You must be on time for class or lose points!	Digital thermometers and scales, Analog to digital converters, Digital to analog converters  Text Section 7-8 (pages 46-53)
March 8	Spring Break, No lectures, No labs this week.	Study all previous readings, lecture, and lab notes
March 15	Exam Return, Graph Exercise 1 Review, Anti-Virus strategies, Binary Numbers.  Anti-Virus strategies, Binary Numbers.  Lab Preview Resume construction. Class Histogram. Graph Practice Two (Homework?).	Voyager II article, Sci. Am. Nov. 1986, Optical fibers, Competing technologies for broad band home access.  Text Sections 9-10 (pages 54-63)
March 22	Collect Graph Practice Two.  Lab Preview spreadsheets.  Backup disk array.  Descriptive Statistics.  ASCII code, Converting Decimal to Binary numbers.	How Hackers Break In  Sci. Am. October 1998, The Zombie Hunters (New Yorker, Oct 10, 2005)
March 29	Graph Practice 2 review. Lab Preview web pages.   Graphing Practice Three.   History of the Internet Video.   Protocol and packets.  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary data.	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 5	Lab Preview web pages.  Graph Practice Three Review.  Binary used in Images.  History of the Internet Video.  Index vs no Index.html.	RFID Tags, RFID in Passports?,and Verichips,Text Sections 14-15 (pages 88-91)
April 12	Second Exam!   You must be on time for class or lose points	Study all previous readings, lecture, and lab notes
April 19	Exam Return.  Packet error checking algorithms: Sum check details, parity check. Modems.  Lab Preview Final Lab Project.  Physical Media. TCP/IP stack, History of the Internet Video, Exporting Harm video.  Class Evaluations & Surveys,	Study all previous readings, lecture, and lab notes
April 26	Last Quiz	Study all previous readings, lecture, and lab notes