INSTRUCTOR - Daniel Bennette MyProfile & (more)
Course Dates: 05 Nov. 2001 - 01 Mar. 2002
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| PREREQUISITE(S) | TEXTS | COURSE DESCRIPTION |
| GOALS & OBJECTIVES | SESSION SCHEDULE | ASSIGNMENTS |
| COURSE PROJECT | GRADING | EXAMS |
| ACADEMIC INTEGRITY | CLASS ROSTER | PROTOCOLS |
Students are required to have taken the free WebTycho tutorial called TOUR 101 or have acquired equivalent proficiency elsewhere.
Curt M. White. Data Communications and Computer Networks: A Business User's Approach, Course Technology: 2001 -- (ISBN: 0-619-01529-2)
Suggested Supplementary Textbooks (these are not required for the course)
Jerry Fitzgerald and Alan Dennis. Business Data Communications and
Networking, 6th ed.,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: 1999 -- (ISBN: 0-471-23798-1). View
Table of Contents
David A. Stamper. Business Data Communications, 5th ed.,
Benjamin Cummings Publishing. Co., Inc.: 1999 -- (ISBN:.0-8-53-7728-X)
A quick reference for writers and researchers (strongly recommended)
Diane Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 2nd ed.,
Bedford Books, 1997 (ISBN: 0-312-11596-2)
Computer-based information systems play an essential role in the operation of governments and businesses everywhere. Nearly all current activities are involved in some way in the transfer of sensitive information, data or funds.
A major project, involving research using scholarly sources in an area of data
communications and networking, will culminate in the sharing of the student's
information on a web page . The purpose of the project is to demonstrate the
student's overall knowledge in a specific area of focus, to be determined by
the instructor.
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Outline the basics components of a computer network using both the OSI model and the Internet model.
2. Identify voice telephone systems including standard telephone lines, leased line services, and PBX systems.
3. Enumerate the various transmission media commonly used in carrier systems, i.e. coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, microwave radio, as well as the carrier systems overall operating characteristics.
4. Recognize the basics of data communications, including data, signals, conversions between data and signals, encoding techniques, multiplexing, and modems.
5. Delineate the integration of voice technologies with data technologies.
6. Identify the basics of T-carrier systems, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, DSL, cable modems, and ISDN and be able to compare and contrast their characteristics.
7. Describe the basic operating procedures of the Internet and how it relates to data and voice communications.
8. Enumerate the differences between the wireless telephone systems AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, and GSM.
9. Document the characteristics of local area networks, including bus, star and ring topologies.
10. Understand and remain informed about current technologies and critical aspects of data communications systems.
Academic preparation for this class, requires that you dedicate a minimum of 160 - 200 hours for this course of study. Distance learning courses are designed for the University student whose duties, location, time, and/or other circumstances prohibit attendance at a regularly scheduled class. You should note that more of the burden for learning falls on the student in a distance learning course. The instructor will act as a mentor and guide, but the responsibility for reviewing, organizing, and learning course materials falls predominately on the student. For those students who are self-motivated and disciplined, and enjoy learning on their own, successful completion of these courses shouldn't pose a problem. Please consider this carefully when budgeting your time.
We will be working in groups, and I strongly recommend
that you establish close relations with your group members once you have been
assigned to a group. Although group grades will not be assigned, group participation
will be taken into consideration (5% of of your 25% participation grade). Members
of each group will have an opportunity to provide confidential feedback about
individual group members' contributions, support and assistance. A group also
has the authority to expel a member (by majority vote) under justifying circumstances
and after consultation with the instructor (this would have a negative impact
on the affected student's participation grade).
In addition to a course project, there will be two small projects required for this course. Each student will be required to do these smaller projects, although you are encouraged to collaborate with your group members. The first project, named Project 1 is very simple but requires some time management skills on students parts. The second project, called Project 2 will impact on whether or not a student is able to successfully take their final examination. See the session schedule for detailed due dates for each of the projects.
Case Studies may be assigned to groups to augment textbook coverage of a particular
topic. Students will be graded both on their analysis of the case studies,
as well as the constructive critique of other students' analyses. Your
case study analysis will be posted to our WebTycho environment in the appropriate
week for the chapter being covered. The cases should be a collaborative effort
by all members of the group. Although no group grade will be assigned, groups
can disassociate (expel) a member for failure to actively participate.
Topics, format, and depth of the project will be coordinated on a one-on-one basis. A formal assignment will be posted electronically by week three in the Projects area of the Syllabus in WebTycho. Although the specifics may vary, students should demonstrate an awareness of and commitment to the process of "Critical Thought." Critical thinking means, among other things, to analyze a topic from different perspectives, to seek out causes or potential consequences of issues and events, and to apply what you have learned to new, possibly unrelated areas. I expect you to not only integrate "critical thinking" into your academic endeavors within our distance learning community, but also to take this concept with you.
A one-page description of the student's intended project must be submitted
no later than week 5, to be approved by the instructor
NLT week 7. The project is due for evaluation
by virtual week 13.
Plagiarism will result in academic failure for the written portion of the assignment. Make sure you understand and respect copyrighted material.
Grades will be based on the following factors:
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| Participation/Conferencing | 35% | |
| Assignments/Projects | 30% | |
| Final examination | 20% | |
| Quiz | 15% | |
Grading Scale
There will be one online quiz and a final exam. The final will be cumulative. The quiz and the final exam are likely to include a mix of multiple choice questions, problems (depending on the subject matter), fill-in-the blanks, and essay questions. There may also be a brief case problem to be analyzed through response to one or more questions.
Every student will take an online final examination. Arrangements should be made early to schedule availability for this timed examination. Your examination will be made available and must be returned within 48 hours. It is your responsibility to inform the instructor, prior to the examination or quiz posting, if you are unable to partake during the scheduled time period.
Make-up Exams
There are no make-up exams. Students are expected to take examinations
within the date range indicated in this syllabus or prescribed by the instructor.
Students are also expected to notify the faculty member in advance if one is
not able to visit our virtual class for more than 4 consecutive days.
If you know you're going to be on a business trip or away from an appropriate communicating device and assignments are to be submitted during that week, as shown in the outline, please coordinate submissions with one of your group members to avoid late submission penalties. Late assignments diminish your assigned grade by 5% for each late day. Assignments are always due on a Wednesday. It is better to turn in assignments early to give oneself a buffer for the unexpected, unpredictable event which might otherwise lead to delays. If for some technical reason, our WebTycho class environment is not available/accessible, please notify me by e-mail.
Because you are all adults, I consider each of you a course resource as well as a student. Your participation improves the course tremendously. Much educational research has shown that the larger a part you play in your own education, the more you learn and the faster you learn it. All questions which would normally be asked in a classroom, will be asked via the appropriate WebTycho conference by submitting a message for all fellow students to see (and respond to).
Distance education courses offered by the University of Maryland University College Maryland in Europe are conducted through computer conferencing. The distance education program is not considered independent study, and it does not attempt to emulate correspondence courses. Distance education program students can expect to interact frequently with their teachers and their fellow students.
It is each student's responsibility to maintain accurate records and transcriptions of correspondence throughout the course. Please make sure you have copies of everything which you are required to submit for grading. In the event of electronic interruptions, an alternative delivery mode will be exercised to inform the affected parties of a problem and suggested resolutions.
You are expected to adhere to the general rules of online etiquette. To prepare to use the online conference you should read the Core Rules of Netiquette. If you are new to Distance Education keep those notes handy; you may need to refer to them during the semester. You will also want to be familiar with emoticons.
Each "to be graded" assignment will be submitted to the WebTycho environment. Do not submit homework to my e-mail address.
This is a very broad course in which the textbook is our main reference book. The majority of telecommunications knowledge will be learned through readings, exercises and questions. I expect you to have read the assigned chapters from our main text and be prepared to discuss selected questions. You will be responsible for all chapters as assigned. In addition, you are responsible for all supplemental reading assignments posted to the WebTycho class area by the instructor. You should check our virtual classroom at least three times a week.
One Convention that I would like us to adhere to throughout this course, is that you are not allowed to use the color RED within your documents to be graded [ Red is exclusively reserved for instructor comments ]. Normally these comments will come in the form of comments, corrections or merely to focus the reader on an area of text. You can use braces { a students' critical thought }.
Because we have different e-mail systems, as you are experiencing, I would like to ask you all to use your real name at the end of your messages when sending a CMIS370 personal message to me. Initially, this will serve two purposes, one it will help me to identify the author and secondly it will serve as an end-of-message marker to help identify that a message has been received in its entirety. After project #2 is completed, a digital signature will supersede the plaintext real name method.
All submissions into WebTycho will be in HTML or plain text, whereby the former is strongly recommended. Please DO NOT submit wordprocessing documents (e.g., MS-Word, WordPro) or send me e-mail attachments, unless specifically requested by me.
The need for additional policies and requirements may arise during the course.
If the need arises, a new policy and/or requirement may be formulated such that
this policy or requirement will be as valid as any written in this syllabus.
Please familiarize yourself with the current University of Maryland University
College European Division Catalog, as this publication will serve as our guideline
for academic policies and standards not otherwise mentioned within this document.
A current catalog is online
in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) but may also be obtained either
from your local Field Representative or from the Distance Education web site
at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/de.
All UMUC students are responsible for adhering to the UMUC policy regarding academic integrity. Obtaining or giving aid on an examination is considered academic dishonesty and will not be tolerated. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on an exam, paper or project; or failure in this course.
If you have any condition, such as a physical or learning disability, which
will make it difficult for you to carry out the work as I have outlined it,
or which will require academic accommodations, please notify me as soon as possible.