Course Expectations and Tentative Syllabus
CSC:151 Introduction to Computing – Business Applications Fall 2008
Section 04: Room: 129 Olney Hall Time: MWF 9:00-9:50am
Section 05: Room: 200 Olney Hall Time: MWF 12:00am-12: 50pm
Professor: Dr Redmond Office Hours: MWF 11:00-11:50am
330 Olney Hall (215) 951-1096 Thur 10:30am-12:30 pm
redmond@lasalle.edu And at other times by appointment http://www.lasalle.edu/~redmond/teach/151
Text:
Materials:
You will find it convenient to have a USB storage device (“flash drive”, “jump drive”, …) . Most assignments will require you to submit your work to Blackboard Course Management System; however, you may want storage you can carry around with you.
You should keep copies of all of your assignments at least until you receive your grade for the assignment (and don’t have any questions about it)..
In addition, you should get into the habit of saving often, and saving backup copies of important files. (You should know its name and location. If you save a file in a space that is not allocated to you (such as the C: drive of a lab computer), you risk losing it.). Missing or destroyed files are not acceptable excuses for incomplete assignments.
Course Description:
Problem solving and computer applications for business – including word processing; design and use of electronic spreadsheets; presentation software; and PC-based database. Particular emphasis will be put on Microsoft Excel and Access.
This course is about using the computer as a tool (“computer fluency”). It is really about surviving in the 21st Century business world!!
All class periods will be in the lab. There will, however be times when class time will involve lecture or discussion. Do NOT use the computers as a distraction from class when we are not using them (i.e. no game playing, instant messaging, private e-mail). There will be some in-class time for working on most assignments. In your own time, it is expected that you will do reading, further hands-on learning, and complete assignments when not finished in lab.
Sometimes we will shuffle material around so the attached tentative course plan is tentative.
Prerequisite: None
Grading: Final Grades:
Assignments 20% B+ 88-89 C+ 78-79 D+ 68-69
3 Midterm Exams 60% A 92-100 B 82-87 C 72-77 D 60-67
Final Exam 20% A- 90-91 B- 80-81 C- 70-71
F < 60
Late Assignments -20% per class – nothing accepted more than 2 classes late
UNLESS SPECIFIED OTHERWISE ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
-10% if “same day late” - handed in after start of class
Makeup exams only by advance arrangements or for documented real emergencies, such as medical problems. Makeup may involve substituting your final exam score for the missing midterm.
The Final Exam is not cumulative.
Cheating:
Claiming another's work as your own is cheating. A student caught cheating will receive a score of zero for the assignment. Asking another for help on a step or two in a many-step homework or lab assignment is acceptable; handing in duplicate or nearly duplicate work is not. Finally, openly allowing your work to be copied is also cheating. Plagairism, be it from a book, a web site or a fellow student, will be considered cheating.
Open Lab Location: Wister Building basement lab is available. Last semester the hours were:
Mon-Thu: 8am-11pm
Fri: 8am-7pm
Sat: 9am-7pm
Sun: 12pm-11pm
College Hall 201 lab hours last semester were:
Monday-Thursday 8am-7pm
Friday 8am-5pm
There are other labs on campus with varying availability.
Objectives
1. Understand and appreciate the power and use of computers and information in business.
2. Develop competency in file management, research database search, and with word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation graphics packages, with a focus on business applications.
3. Develop problem-solving techniques, e.g. design of a spreadsheet, create and interpret a graph, design useful database queries, …
4. Understand and adhere to the University computing policy.
5. Understand some of the ethical issues involved in processing and using information.
Tentative Course Plan:
|
Week |
Date |
Material |
Reading |
|
1 |
8/25, 8/27, 8/29 |
Intro to Class, Memory, Storage, Blackboard |
|
|
2 |
NO CLASS on 9/1 9/3, 9/5 |
Library database searching |
PowerPoint slides |
|
3 |
9/8, 9/10, 9/12 |
Advanced Word |
Word Chapt 3,4, notes |
|
4 |
9/15, 9/17, 9/19 |
TEST 1, Spreadsheet Basics, Formatting |
Excel Chapts 1, 2 |
|
5 |
9/22, 9/24, 9/26 |
Excel Calculations, Formulas & Functions |
Excel Chapt 3 |
|
6 |
9/29, 10/1, 10/3 |
End of Chapt 3, Advanced Editing and Calculations |
Excel Chapt 4 |
|
7 |
10/6, 10/8,10/10 |
Advanced Editing and Calculations |
Excel Chapt 4 |
|
8 |
10/13, 10/15,10/17 |
Charting |
Excel Chapt 5 |
|
9 |
10/22, 10/24 NO CLASS on 10/20; |
TEST 2, Pivot Tables |
|
|
10 |
10/27,10/29, 10/31 |
Pivot Tables |
|
|
11 |
11/3, 11/5,11/7 |
Add ins: Goal Seeking, regression, solver, what if scenarios |
|
|
12 |
11/10, 11/12,11/14 |
TEST 3, Intro to Databases |
Access Chapt 1 |
|
13 |
11/17, 11/19, 11/21
|
Creating Tables / Importing Data, Queries |
Access Chapt 2, 3 |
|
14 |
11/24, NO CLASS on 11/26, 11/28 |
Queries |
Access Chapt 3 |
|
15 |
12/1, 12/3, 12/5 |
Reports |
Access Chapt 5 |
|
16 |
TBD- 12/8, 12/10, OR 12/12 |
FINAL EXAM (non-cumulative) |
|