CSE 101 Course Information for Autumn ‘08

 

Lecturer:           Kitty Reeves

Email Address:         reeves.92@osu.edu

Office:          DL395B

Phone:                  614-292-1443 (office)

Office Hours:   see website

 

Class Meets: TR 9:30-10:48am in room DL357; F (lab) 8:30-10:18am in CL112A

Class Meets: TR 12:30-1:48pm in room DL357; F (lab) 12:30-2:18pm in CL112A

 

Course Coordinator: Debby Gross – DL489 (gross.142@osu.edu), 292-7946

 

Instructor webpage: http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~reeves

Course Web page: http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/cse101

Carmen site: http://www.carmen.osu.edu

 

 

SYLLABUS – link to daily schedule

 

Course Objectives:

The overall objective of this course is to teach students to solve problems and understand how to select and use productivity tools to find solutions. Students will learn to use basic business productivity software tools obtaining a working knowledge of communication, word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. 

 

Prerequisites:

Mathematics Placement Level R or higher, or Math 075 or higher

 

Required Textbooks:

(1) Shelly Cashman Microsoft Office Text (packet ISBN 0-324-81416-X)

(2) CSE101 Course Notes - available from UniPrint in Tuttle Garage.

 

Point Distribution:   

 

Lab Assignments

20%

200 points

Homework/Class Participation

10%

100 points

Topic Exams 1-3

30%

300 points

Final Project

10%

100 points

Final Exam (cumulative)

30%

300 points

 

Grading:

A passing grade is required on the final to pass the course.  In addition, the final project must be completed in order to pass the class.   The final letter grade is at the discretion of the Instructor/Course Supervisor.

 

Lab Assignments:   

Lab assignments are given in two parts, a “Pre-lab” assignment and an “In-lab” assignment.  Labs are designed to teach the mechanics of the software tools and to reinforce the problems solving skills.  Labs vary in their point value from 10-30 points depending on the assignment.  The point value will be printed on the front of each lab assignment. 

  • The Pre-Lab part must completed prior to the closed lab session and submitted at the beginning of your closed lab class to receive credit.   The lab you will be using is Caldwell 112A. 
  • The in-lab assignments 2-8 will be distributed at the beginning of the closed lab period.  Lab 1 will be provided in advance. Closed labs are designed so that you can ask questions and obtain help.   The In-lab assignment will be due at the end of the closed lab session.  Lab attendance is mandatory – no credit will be given for lab assignments unless the student has attended class.  If there is an emergency that results in an absence, you will need to contact your instructor/lecturer. 

No late labs will be accepted except under extraordinary circumstances.  See make up policy.

 

 

Lab availability: To complete your pre-lab assignments you may work from any machine with Office 2007.  Our Caldwell 112 lab is also available for you to work.  That lab is staffed with people who can assist you.   Check the schedule posted or link from the CSE 101 web page (www.cse.ohio-state.edu/cse101) “lab hours” to see when labs are open and at what times there will be Windows consultants available.   A tentative schedule is listed below.

 

Tentative Schedule – Open Lab Hours*

 

Day:

Caldwell 112

Monday

8:30 am - midnight

Tuesday

8:30 am - midnight

Wednesday

8:30 am - midnight

Thursday

8:30 am - midnight

Friday

8:30 am – 8:00 pm

Saturday

11am-6 pm

Sunday

11am – midnight

 

Phone  247-6115

 

*  web address: http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/cs/labs.shtml

 

 

Working from Your Home: 

You can also work on the Pre-lab assignments only from home, if you have the required software. However, to do so you will need to transfer your files prior to their due date/time and submit them using the submit tool in the lab.  Your submitted files must be in a format/version readable by our system or no credit will be awarded.  See the computer/software section for a detailed list of applications/versions being used in this course.

To transport files you can do the following: Use a CD, a memory stick and/or email your files.  Again, give yourself extra time so that you can make sure that the files you copy to your Z drive have been received and are in a readable format.  No time extensions will be given if your CD crashes, your email does not arrive and/or the file is corrupt.

 

Homework:   

Homework assignments will be given out in lecture and their due dates announced.  Homework assignments are due at the beginning of class, no exceptions. Once the lecturer collects the assignment, no others will be accepted. No late homework assignments or e-mailed submissions will be accepted.  Homework assignments will be returned in class or lab. 

 

Course Policies:

·         Make-ups:        

It is the policy of this course that no make-ups will be allowed for homework, labs, quizzes or exams. It is your responsibility to know when assignments are due and when the exams will be given.  The only exceptions for extraordinary circumstances are described below.

·         Extraordinary Circumstances:

At times there are extraordinary circumstances that may require a make-up of an assignment or exam.  These will be handled on a case-by-case basis.  Your instructor will deal with these matters.  Please follow the procedure below:

Notify your Instructor of a problem in advance.  Notification must be made and confirmed prior to the assignment due date by e-mail, phone or in person for absences due to illness, funerals, job related conflicts etc.  Leaving a voice mail, or e-mail is not sufficient to insure that a makeup will be approved.  You must have confirmation by the appropriate person to be considered for a make-up.

In a case where you are unable to notify the proper person (ex. documented medical emergency, car accident just prior to the assignment etc.), notification must be made as soon as possible. 

·         Fairness to Students:

We strive to treat students with dignity and fairness and to be particularly sensitive to the diversity that exists within the student body. Students with disabilities who request help will be given reasonable accommodation with the assistance of the University Office of Disability Services (292 - 3307)

 

Academic Misconduct:

In accordance with Faculty Rule 3335-31-02, all instances of alleged academic misconduct will be reported to the Department Chairperson and the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM).  Alleged misconduct cases will be resolved via COAM’s hearing processes as described in the University’s Code of Student Conduct.   Instructors, lab consultants and graders will not make an evaluation of the facts of the case, either towards guilt or innocence. 

As defined in the University’s Code of Student Conduct, academic misconduct is any activity which tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution or subvert the educational process.  Students who violate the University’s policies regarding academic misconduct are stealing academic credit and skewing the grading process against students who are honestly participating in the course. Their actions diminish the value of an academic degree when they falsely represent themselves as competent in a subject matter in the workplace.

Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, giving or receiving information or assistance during an exam or submission of plagiarized work for academic requirements. It also includes changing graded material and turning it back in to be re-graded for a higher score.

While we encourage students to learn from each other, each student’s submitted work must be entirely their own.  We encourage high level discussions of assignments.  However, specific discussion of a formula solution is not appropriate.   Examples of appropriate and inappropriate types of assistance are listed below:

Examples of appropriate assistance are as follows:

·   Students working together on non-graded examples similar to those of the assigned materials.  Non-graded examples are provided both in written and electronic format for use by students.

·   Studying in groups to learn problem solving techniques and function syntax using non-graded materials provided in the course text and notes.

·   Creating study guides for purposes of learning the materials in preparation for exams and quizzes.

·   Getting assistance from a course staff member (Lecturers, TA’s, Lab Consultants).  Staff members are trained to help students learn concepts so students can then successfully apply these concepts in the completion of their own assignments.  Appropriate assistance from course staff members may take either of the following forms:

A student asks for assistance for an un-attempted problem or a problem they do not understand how to approach.  The student should be shown how to do a similar problem and/or directed to specific materials in the course text.  Students and staff may also work through a high level strategy of how to go about solving the problem.

§  Appropriate: “You need to add all of the values that meet a specific criteria and the divide them by the number of items that meet this criteria”

§  Inappropriate: “Use the formula =SUMIF(B2:B10, TRUE)/COUNTIF(B2:B20, TRUE)”

A student asks for assistance with a mostly completed assignment.  The staff member may identify an error and provide appropriate assistance.

§  Appropriate:  “The absolute referencing in the formula is incorrect, the price of widgets doesn’t change when copied down the column” 

§  Inappropriate:  “Add a $ in front of the 2 so the answer is B$2*C3.”

Additional examples of inappropriate assistance are as follows:

·   Having another person complete any part of a graded assignment and misrepresenting it as your own work or having another person take an exam or quiz for you.

·   Copying any portion of a graded assignment or exam, either written or electronic, even if this is later modified.  This includes work/files from both current and past quarters, even if you are re-taking the course and it was your own work.  Files may only be copied from the course websites and/or directories as specifically directed in an assignment.

·   Giving or receiving an answer to a portion of a graded assignment including graded homework, labs, quizzes or exams. 

·   Sending a lab file to a friend who says to you “I’m having trouble with this problem – can I just look at what you did?”

·   Helping another student with their homework or lab as they follow along from your completed or partially completed work.

·   Working together on a graded assignment.  High level discussions of problem strategies are allowed, but be advised that near duplicate assignments will be considered suspect unless the assignment was restrictive enough to justify such similarities in independent work.

If a student has any questions about what is or is not permissible, he/she should read carefully the course syllabus and/or ask the course instructor for guidance.  Ignorance of the course policies or University’s Code of Student Conduct is never an excuse for academic misconduct. 

 

CSE 101 – Technical Information - Computers/Software:

This course is taught on a CSE Department computer network with individual PC workstations.  Tools for submitting your labs can only be accessed from the CSE Department computer labs (see below).  The current desktop uses Windows VISTA. The software applications used are:

·         Internet Explorer & Webmail

·         Microsoft Word 2007 - word processing program

·         Microsoft Excel 2007 - spreadsheet program

·         Microsoft Access 2007 - database program

·         Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 - presentation graphics program

 

Users are not permitted to install software of any kind on the CSE Department system. The current policy allows the system staff to take action, which includes the removal of your account for infringement of this rule.

 

·         System Logins:

Windows Login: All students taking CSE101 will be provided with a CSE Department account.  This account will have a login ID based upon your name.  Logins will be assigned during the first week of class.  Registered students who do not have a login must contact their lecturer at least 24 hours prior to the first lab.  You will not be able to do your assignment in lab otherwise.  The initial default password is the last four digits of your SSN followed by the first letter of your first name and then the first letter of your last name and finally by an exclamation point(!).  Both your login ID and your password will be all lower case letters.   Make sure you do not misplace your login ID and password.  If you forget your password, go the CSE Department S.O.C. Lab on the eighth floor of Dreese Labs with legal identification (BuckID, driver’s license) to have your password reset (292-6542).

 

·         OIT  E-Mail: The CSE login is different from your University (OIT) e-mail address.  You must have an active university e-mail account.  If you do not already have an active account, contact OIT at (8-help) prior to the first lab.  OIT can assist you in obtaining an e-mail address, activating your existing address or resetting your email password. You will be unable to complete lab 1 without an active e-mail account.

 

·         System disk space

The CSE Department account provides a home directory, the Z: drive.  This is your personal file space.  This contains a number of directories and files set up by the department (needed for defaults, etc.) Do not remove or move any of these files!  If you remove any of these files or directories, your account may not work properly.  There is a basic directory structure provided.  The Microsoft Office applications will, by default, store documents to the Z:\Windows\username\documents. 

 

All files needed for lab assignments will be on the Carmen website.  Click on the Content menu and then select either Course Materials, labs or homework to retrieve the desired files.

 

Top 5 things you can do to improve your grade

 

This is a hard course - but there are several things you can do to insure that you learn the material and that will help improve your grade, such as:

·         Come to class.  This is without a doubt the best thing you can do for your grade.  Those students that do exceptionally well in the class (B or above) are always the students that come regularly to class.  I’ll be the first to admit that lectures can be a little dry sometimes, but coming regularly will always improve your grade.

·         Go over all end of chapter problems and do your homework.  You should be prepared to spend at least 2 hours after each class to read the assigned chapters and go over the end of chapter problems.  Aside from attending class - the best way to learn the material is to do the problems.  Files for written problems in the text are available from the CSE101 website.

·         Give yourself plenty of time to do your labs -.  Do not expect to be able to complete the lab assignments in 20 minutes.  Many of the lab assignments will require you to learn new skills.  While some weeks these skills will be easy to you and take a short amount of time – others will require a significant amount of time.  Be sure to start early so that if you run into any problems you can get help.  Come into the closed lab sessions prepared so that you can get your questions answered and your assignments completed.

·         Ask questions in class. If you don’t understand something, there are at least five other people in the class that don’t understand it either. ASK!!

·         Go to your instructor’s office hours or the Tutor Room for help.  After working on the end of chapter materials, if you find that you still do not understand the concepts and need a little personal attention, utilize the instructor’s office hours or go to the DL176 tutor room.  Be sure to let the TA know that you are enrolled in CSE101.