IFSM 201 Syllabus Supplement, Term 2, 2007-08, RAF Lakenheath

Grading Information:

I prefer to give each student an 'A' in each of my courses. The grade, however, must be earned as I can only reflect the performance I observe. I do understand that students have many other responsibilities, but your own learning is your responsibility. Moreover, I also expect you to assist the learning of others in this class. I will work with every student within reason to help her or him complete this course successfully.

It will come as no surprise that for a variety of reasons a number of students each term choose not to earn an "A".

Students concerned with slow progress should seek help before getting into grade trouble. Contact me, your instructor, early. "Incompletes" will not be given unless thoroughly justified and backed up by a contract negotiated with the instructor allowing for completion within four weeks.


Other Information:

E-mail Connection: Send me an email before the second class session to confirm our email connection. Provide me with both primary and alternate email addresses that you monitor. Please make one of your email addresses a non-military address. Place my email addresses (par.uk@btinternet.com and par.uk@mac.com) in your address book so I will be a recognized correspondent by your spam filter. (I do the same for you.) Make the subject of your email "IFSM201 07t2 Initial Contact". I will reply to confirm the connection.

Attendance Policy : In-class discussion is a vital part of this course. Your active participation and interaction with your classmates is required and your attendance is needed for that to happen. Your lack of participation will lower your grade.

You are responsible for keeping copies of all your work including graded exams and assignments and should be able to produce the same, if needed.

Do not fall behind. Work ahead if possible. Do some work on this course every day or two. Set aside time to do this. If confused, in doubt, or in need of a clarification on any aspect of the course, contact me first.

Two "Must's":

Attribution : Give credit in your work to those whose ideas and words you use - and use them well. No one is expected to know everything. Indeed, we need to avoid "re-inventing the wheel". So look around and build on the ideas and words of others. Just take care to give them full credit. This includes prior works presented or published by you for other purposes or in prior or other classes. Use footnotes or endnotes where needed and construct a proper "Works Cited" or "Bibliography" page to accompany your work. Plagiarized papers, reports, projects, or exams will receive a grade of 0 (zero) whether copied in whole or in part. This includes "accidental" plagiarism. See the UMUC European Division Catalog policy on academic integrity.

Effective writing is critical to the intellectual life of university students and graduates within the workplace. Effective managers are usually effective communicators. Your work in this course must demonstrate your ability to master and effectively communicate course content.

We must be able to share our ideas with others properly. That means we need to pay constant attention to the way in which we present those ideas. Written and oral work which contains significant errors in English or presentation typically impairs the quality of the message you are trying to communicate. Use your eyes and brain to check your work -- a mechanical computer can hurt as well as help. Proofread and check your work PRIOR to submission. Poor English or presentation will reduce my evaluation of your work by one or more letter grades regardless of the brilliance of the ideas therein.

Supplemental Information:

See my web site for further guidance on

Class Policy:

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~prichard/crs_guid_gen/class_policy.html

Case Analysis:

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~prichard/crs_guid_gen/case_analysis.html

Using email in this course (when needed):

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~prichard/crs_guid_gen/email_hints.html
http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~prichard/crs_guid_gen/email_attach.html

Oral presentations in class :
http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~prichard/crs_guid_gen/speaking_improv.html


Course Projects:

On some of the exercises below, you will see Unit references from the Hunt & Halvorson text for your projects in the project descriptions. These references will help you complete the assigned tasking for each project.

All projects will be submitted electronically to me as email attachments by 2400 hours local on the date due. See the schedule below.

All electronic communications will be virus checked before dispatch. If a virus is detected on any communication, it will not be opened. Any graded assignment so effected will receive a zero. All electronic mail will be acknowledged so that you know it was received.

A minimum of one letter grade will be deducted for each project (1 through 4) for significant problems related to organization, grammar, verb tenses, pronoun use, spelling, punctuation, and writing competency and other requirements including following directions. This is in addition to any penalty for late submission.

Style Considerations for your Presentations:
  •    Keywords: It is common to use telegraphic style emphasizing keywords on flyers, tables, charts, slides, forms and reports. Avoid including full paragraphs; use full sentences sparingly. When sentences are used, punctuate them appropriately.

  •    When using Presentation Graphics, use the visual part of the presentation to focus attention on key facts. Complement these keywords with comments from a speaker (or recorded audio for a kiosk-based presentation).
  •    Desktop Publishing Principles: You will often have the opportunity to use the following principles:
    •    Proximity: Design expert Robin Williams reminds us to "group related items together." Move unrelated material apart from each other. Avoid clutter; do not put too many separate elements on any single slide.

    •    Alignment: Williams also says " nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page." Use left or right alignment; do not use more than one text alignment per slide. MS PowerPoint helps you with templates; select an appropriate one with this principle in mind.

    •    Repetition: Use the features of MS Powerpoint to help you implement this principle: "... repeat some aspect of the design throughout the entire piece." Use the Slide Masters and templates well.

    •    Contrast: "... if two items are not exactly the same, then make the different. Really different." (sic) In particular, foreground (e.g., text) and background colors must contrast starkly for slide text to be easily visible in most environments.
  •    Quotes from Williams, Robin (1994). The Non-Designer's Design Book. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.
Word Assignment No. 1

Create a flyer for your new 'Internet Cafe' business.

Element #:
  1.    Create your flyer on no more than one 8.5" x 11" page, with margins at .75" on all edges.
  2.    Use WordArt to create the name of your business on the flyer.
  3.    Center the name and address of your business, using the center alignment function.
  4.    Use a logo (insert clip art) somewhere in your flyer.
  5.    Use a multi-cell table to show at least five of your products and their associated prices. Use the table autoformat feature and select an table format that attractively displays your data.
  6.    Create a multi-item list using the bullets and numbering function somewhere in the text. (separate from the table - see the help menu if you are unclear on how to do this).
  7.    Use normal, bold, and italic text somewhere in the main body of your flyer.
  8.    Use at least two colors for your fonts, at least two font faces (different families), and at least two different font sizes.
  9.    Create a one-line footer and include only the 1) name of the business, and 2) the date the flyer is viewed (using the date function).
  10.    Spell check and grammar check your work and save the file. Use your name (no spaces) as the file name with the file extension .doc (for example, myName.doc, philRichardson.doc or jamieWright.doc).
Excel Assignment No. 2

Create a spreadsheet to display your Internet Cafe sales data; record your five main products for the last four weeks. Include a graphic representation of the data.

Element #:
  1.    Create a spreadsheet that lists products down the left column and Weeks 1 through 4 across the top row. Enter fictitious data for sales for each week by product.
  2.    Place a title for your worksheet (e.g., Last Month's Sales) at the top of the spreadsheet. Center it over your table using the "Merge and Center" button on the toolbar (near the alignment buttons). See 'Help' if necessary. Make the product names and the week names bold. Use a size 16 font for your labels (row and column) and the default font size for your data. Do not make the data 'bold'. Use any contrasting text color except black for your labels.
  3.    Use the Sum function to add the totals for each week for all products (at the bottom) and the Sum function to add the totals for each product for all four weeks (right side). Label the added row and column appropriately.
  4.    In the row beneath the sum function for the weekly totals, use the Average Function to calculate the average sales for each week. In the column to the right of the product sum column, use the Average Function to calculate the average sales for each product during the four weeks. Take care that the averages do not include the data in the Sum row or column. Label the added row and column appropriately.
  5.    Format the data to Currency with decimal points to two places (e.g. $365.43) for all data, sums, and averages. In other words, everything. Align the columns of numbers around the decimal points. Set each column width to 12 (except row label column). Set all row heights to 20.
  6.    Using the chart command, chart the data (be careful not to include the totals or averages in your range) using a column chart. Choose the option that places the chart on your spreadsheet and not as a separate sheet.
  7.    Your chart should show all five products together grouped by weeks. If the proper grouping does not happen automatically, revise it so that your chart puts all products together by week, not the reverse. (Hint: The legend should color code your products, not the weeks.) Label your chart and axes and provide a legend. Adjust your print area and page layout as needed so that the table and your chart will print on the same page.
  8.    In page setup, create a one-line footer that has your name and the date the sheet was created; choose landscape for your page orientation, and center your printing horizontally and vertically.
  9.    Set the print area to include on one US Letter sheet your table (with title, labels and all the data you have created) and your chart.
  10.    Spell check and grammar check your work and save the file. Use your name (no spaces) as the file name with the file extension .xls (for example, myName.xls, philRichardson.xls or jamieWright.xls)
PowerPoint Assignment No. 3

Create a presentation for your new Internet Cafe business to explain to lenders why they should loan you money to expand your business.

Element #:
  1.    Your presentation should consist of five slides, including the title slide, two bullet slides, one graph slide, and one bulleted summary slide - use the "summary slide function" in the "slide sorter view" for this final slide.
  2.    Choose and use a design template for your presentation appropriate to your intended audience and purpose.
  3.    Insert clip art on at least three of the slides.
  4.    Place your logo on the master slides (both Title and Slide Masters - see PowerPoint help if necessary) in a convenient location. Insert a footer on each slide, using the Master slides for placement, showing the page number and creation date.
  5.    Create a graph (bar, column or line chart) on one slide to show increasing sales over the last year for at least four products or services. You can use the charting function inherent in PowerPoint or embed a chart created in MS Excel.
  6.    Create speaker notes on each of the slides using the notes function in PowerPoint.
  7.    In addition to any WordArt, use at least two colors for your fonts, at least two font styles, and at least two different font sizes.
  8.    Set the preset timings and create transitions for each slide for the online presentation mode.
  9.    Omit the background from the graph chart only, and change its background to a solid color (other than white) of your choice but different from the background color of the other slides.
  10.    Spell check and grammar check your work and save the file. Use your name (no spaces) as the file name with the file extension .ppt (for example, myName.ppt, philRichardson.ppt or jamieWright.ppt).
Access Assignment No. 4

Create a customer database to allow you to conduct mailings in the future. Customers will put their business cards into a jar in hopes of winning promotional items. Their business cards will give you their name, the company they work for, and all the other information you need to set up your database. This project will closely parallel the one in the text. Note: Do not set a password for your database.

Element #:
  1.    Create a table with all the same fields and settings as shown in Fig. H-8, pg. 175 except change the 'Billing Address' label to simply 'Address' and add a 'Customer Since' field that is a Date/Time Data Type. Save this table as "Customer Data."
  2.    Build a data entry form similar to the one in Unit A. Design the format of the form any way you choose, but do format it for ease of entry.
  3.    Add some clip art to your entry form (anything you choose).
  4.    Enter data for at least 10 customers, using the data entry form. Use three (no more, no less) different zip codes for your imaginary customers. Use at least four different company names. Use the entry form to input data instead of using the table so you can make sure the form works correctly.
  5.    Sort your database table by the customer's last name.
  6.    Create and save a query that pulls all the company names from the company name field. Sort alphabetically by company name ascending. Include the customer's name (first and last) in this query, displayed to the right of the company name.
  7.    Create a one page report of customer mailing addresses that contains your customer's company, name, address, city, state and zip code only. Format your report in some way to include title, clip art, and font styles and colors.
  8.    Sort your report first by zip code ascending and then by company followed by customer last name. Group your data by zip code. Save your report as "Customer Mail Report."
  9.    Include in your Customer Mail Report a Summary Count function for each zip code group (in the Group Footer) and a Summary Count function for the report as a whole (in the Report footer). (Insert and label a "calculated text box." See on-line help menu.)
  10.    Check your data for consistency and accuracy of data entry. Spell check and grammar check your work and save the file. Use your name (no spaces) as the file name with the file extension .mdb (for example, myName.mdb, philRichardson.mdb or jamieWright.mdb)./li>

Schedule:

** Notes **
  1.    Study assignments refer to the Morley-Parker text. For each chapter assigned, complete the end of chapter activities prior to class and use the on-line support exercises. (See the publisher and companion web sites.) I will ask specific students to prepare responses to the Discussion Questions, Hot Topics, Short Answer/Research or Group Discussion items as well as responses to the Discussion Question following the "Expert Insight on ..." feature at the end of each Module. Student responses will open the chapter discussion.

  2.    Class time is 1800-2100 hrs, Monday & Wednesday.

Modules 1 & 2: Introduction & Hardware

** Week 1 **

Sessions 1 & 2: 29 & 31 Oct. '07
Introduction to the World of Computers
The System Unit: Processing & Memory
Study Text, Table of Contents, Preface, Chapters 1 & 2.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)


Module 2 (cont'd) and Module 3: Software

** Week 2 **

Sessions 3 & 4: 5 & 7 Nov. '07
Storage & Input and Output
Systems Software
Study Text, Chapters 3-5.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)
Project 1 (MS Word) due 2400 hrs local, 9 Nov., by email attachment.


Module 3 (cont'd) and Module 4: Networks & The Internet

** Week 3 **

Sessions 5 & 6: 14 & 16 Nov. '07
[No class Monday night, 12 Nov.; class will be held Friday night, 16 Nov. instead.]
Application Software
Computer Networks
Study Text, Chapters 6-7.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)
Progress Test 1, 14 Nov. (multiple choice, short answer & essay questions from Chapters 1-5

** Week 4 **

Sessions 7 & 8: 19 & 21 Nov. '07
The Internet and the World Wide Web
Network & Internet Security
Study Text, Chapters 8-9.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)
Project 2 (MS Excel) due 2400 hrs local, 20 Nov., by email attachment.


Module 5: Web Applications

** Week 5 **

Sessions 9 & 10; 26 & 28 Nov. '07
Multimedia & The Web
E-Commerce
Study Text, Chapters 10-11.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)


Module 6: Systems

** Week 6 **

Sessions 11 & 12: 3 & 5 Dec. '07
Information Systems and Systems Development
Program Development and Programming Languages
Study Text, Chapters 12-13.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)
Progress Test 2, 3 Dec. (multiple choice, short answer & essay questions from Chap. 6-10); up to 25% of Progress Test 2 will review material previously tested.
Project 3 (MS PowerPoint) due 2400 hrs local, 4 Dec., by email attachment.


Module 6 (cont'd) and Module 7: Computers & Society

** Week 7 **

Sessions 13 & 14: 10 & 12 Dec. '07
Databases and Database Management Systems
Computers Security and Privacy
Study Text, Chapters 14-15.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)
Project 4 (MS Access) due 2400 hrs local, 14 Dec., by email attachment.

** Week 8 **

Session 15: Monday, 17 Dec. '07
Intellectual Property Rights, Ethics, Health, Access & the Environment; Review and Class Discussion
Study Text, Chapter 16.
Review Texts, course notes, and supporting web sites.
Assignments: TBD. (See also Note 1.)

Session 16: Wednesday, 19 Dec. '07
Final Exam, closed book, closed notes, comprehensive test covering BOTH texts, handouts, homework, and class discussion (multiple choice, short answer, essay or case questions; bring your own blank paper.)
Phil Richardson, phil.richardson@faculty.ed.umuc.edu, Revised 22 Sep. 2007