430 syllabus

DArt 430 Advanced Authoring
Fall 2011, TR 11:00 –12:15; Holroyd 167

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Dr. John Beatty
Olney 157
beatty@lasalle.edu
http://www.lasalle.edu/~beatty/
(215) 951-5004
Office Hours: M, W 1-3, TR 2-3
Home phone (610) 433-5339

Course description:

This course will be conducted in a seminar fashion, meaning that the content and the direction will be shaped in part by participants (instructor and students) as the semester progresses. The primary goal is to build on knowledge obtained in DART230 to advance understanding of authoring environments in general, noting parallels and differences among them. The focus will be on building knowledge of CSS, integrating that with JavaScript and jQuery to create sites based on DHTML, and adding CFML (currently in process) and PHP components. Coverage of other environments will include HTML5, XML, XSLT, RSS, AJAX, SVG and database interaction, microformats and others.

We will also look at current Web standards and at designing for accessibility across platforms.

Class time will be devoted to sharpening your design and technical skills. We will be incorporating all the components you have learned into a single project which will be used to showcase your work. This project will consist of a creative Web site redesign that interfaces with a database.

We will learn to mingle design strategies. You will not be an expert in all technologies, but you will develop a solid foundation needed to continue in these areas.

Classes will include discussions and demonstrations of techniques to combine your design and technical skills. You will be given examples and ideas to develop during your lab time. You will be required to participate in critiques of colleagues' work in collegial and productive ways.

Textbooks:	Zeldman, Jeffrey. (2010). designing with web standards 3rd Edition. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. There's also 45-day online access through Safari Books (access code is in your book). Gillenwater, Zoe Mickley. (2011). Stunning CSS3. A project-based guide to the latest in CSS. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. Book website. Recommended: Casciano, Chris. (2011). The CSS Pocket Guide. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit. Book website: not where they said it was ... Recommended: Hyslop, Bruce. (2011). The HTML Pocket Guide. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit. Book website. Recommended for later: any book on related topics from Sitepoint. Our library has subscribed to a series of computer books online. Of interest for this course would be #4 on JavaScript, #7 on CSS, #3, #17 and #43 on XML, #43 and #45 on PHP, #41 on CFML, and maybe #38 on Photoshop and #32 on Flash. Open the portal and go to the list of Subject Guides for Math/CSC, then scroll down to Safari Tech Books Online. That link will send you to the Safari site if you're logged in to the portal.
Assignments:	You will take two tests covering material in the text and in lectures.Both tests will have written and hands-on components. You will complete several short assignments that show familiarity with skills outlined in the text and elsewhere. Some of those will feed into the final project. The Web site will be a redesign of an existing company site that incorporates PHP/CFML, jQuery, uses media queries to port to mobile devices, and populates a page with XML content styled by CSS/XSLT. You will also complete a digital resume for print and Web using CSS-P. You will give presentations and critiques to the class of your and other Web sites, and be expected to respond to classmates' presentations. You may also give a report and demonstration on a Web technology of your choice. This can be one you already know or one you'd like to learn more about. You should have a flash drive or external hard drive available for this class.
Requirements:	Class participation is required and can be the determining factor in grade decisions. You should get used to interacting in public settings. Some of the class will involve presentation, discussion and critiques of others work, to which a portion of the grade is allocated.
Policies:	Attendance is important. Those present will sign a roll at each class meeting. For any absence to be excused you must contact me beforehand and provide documentation of your excuse or have a friend do so if you are unable. Given normal extenuating circumstances, you are allowed a total of two unexcused class absences. Further unexcused absences, or excessive excused absences will lower your final grade. Assignments or tests missed due to excused absences can be made up, but those missed due to unexcused absences cannot. Adjustments to the schedule and requirements listed in this document are to be allowed for, if not expected. You are responsible for following the University’s and this class’s policies on submission of original work and acknowledgement of direct quotations or paraphrases from others’ writings (see the La Salle statement of Academic Integrity), or use of code. Plagiarism “consists of passing off the ideas, opinions, facts, words—in short, the intellectual work—of another as your own” (Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers). Clearly plagiarized work will result in a grade of “F” for the paper
Grading:	Short assignments 30% Tests 25% Semester project 35% Class participation, critiques, 10% Grade assignment: A = 94 and above; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83; C+ = 77-79; C = 74-76; C- = 70-73; D+ = 67-69; D = 64-66; D- = 60-63; F = below 60. In other words: A = All major and minor goals achieved; B = All major goals achieved, some minor ones not; C = All major goals achieved, many minor ones not; D = A few major goals achieved but not prepared for further advanced work; F = None of the major goals achieved (Back to top)