SYLLABUS -- LA 283 ================================ Course Coordinator and Section 4 Instructor: Gerry Santoro, Ph.D. 215-C Computer Building userid = gms@psu.edu NOTE: Email is the BEST way to reach me! Section 2/3 instructor: Jan Hendrickson-Smith Office Hrs. to be announced userid = jxh4@psuvm.psu.edu Section 1 instructor: Dave Kolasa Office Hrs. to be announced userid = dak2@psu.edu  Course Consultants: Their names, userids and schedules will be announced in class and posted on the class Web page.. OVERVIEW OF LA-283 ------------------ A better name for this course might be 'Practical Computing for the Humanities'. The intent is for the student to emerge from this course with (1) a set of practical computing skills, (2) a basic understanding of a broad range of computing applications, and (3) a basic theoretical understanding of how computers work. This course may be differentiated from 'scientific' computing courses in a number of important ways: -- The emphasis is not on numerical analysis or computational theory. Rather, the emphasis is on information transfer and use of computer applications for the useful management and manipulation of information. -- The intent is to help the student become familiar with the computer as a tool that may be applied in creative ways to solve human information problems. The course is organized in a way that will present a balance of theoretical information and practical skills. The theoretical information is intended to help the student understand something about how computers work. The practical skills will involve learning how to use and exploit computer resources. These practical skills are intended to be of use to the student in future endeavors, whether in further academic pursuits or in subsequent employment. A brief outline of the skills that will be acquired: - the DOS operating system - the MS-Windows operating environment - electronic mail and file transfers (Eudora) - internet-based newsgroups (Trumpet Netnews) - the gopher and World Wide Web information systems - word processing (Word Perfect for Windows 6.0) - database creation and use (dBase III+) - spreadsheet creation and use(Lotus 1-2-3 Rel 4) The primary computer resources will be provided through the IBM-PC laboratories maintained by the Center for Academic Computing. More information regarding the CAC microcomputer laboratories is provided via the class Web page. COURSE GRADING -------------- The purpose of a grade is, ideally, to give the student feedback on the degree of their success in assimilating course content. Unfortunately, the grade also is seen by many as an indication of a student's overall academic success. In LA-283 we have adopted a rather liberal grading schema that will hopefully provide each student with the opportunity for a good grade. The following grading structure is based on the required plus/minus system of the University. 100 percent total possible 95 - 100 -- A 91 - 94 -- A- 87 - 90 -- B+ 82 - 86 -- B 79 - 81 -- B- 76 - 78 -- C+ 70 - 75 -- C 60 - 69 -- D 0 - 60 -- F Total points will be determined according to the following structure. 40% -- projects (8 points each) 10% -- pop quizzes (4 total - We will drop the lower 2 quizzes.) 25% -- mid-term examination 25% -- final examination The examinations will be based on the textbook, class handouts, online readings and lecture notes. The grades for the exams will be curved upward if necessary. There will be a total of five projects. More on this will be explained in class. Please note that the impact of project grades on your final grade is SIGNIFICANT! The projects will each be worth 8 points. Four of these points will be assigned for completion and delivery by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. Projects turned in after the due date will receive an immediate 2-point loss and an additional 2-point loss for every additional week they are late. ATTENDANCE at class lectures is REQUIRED of all students although it is understood that occasionally a student may be forced to miss a lecture. Students will not be penalized for missing class, however students WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INFORMATION PRESENTED IN CLASS!!!! If a student is absent it is their responsibility to get class notes from another student. Students will NOT be excused for missing pop quizzes! (That is why the lower two are dropped!) Four pop quizzes will be given at random times during the semester. These will be fairly easy quizzes based primarily on class lectures and readings. Each quiz is worth 5 points. The lower two quizzes will be dropped from the grade determination in consideration of occasional times when a student may have to miss class. NOTE: The content and dates of the pop quizzes will be determined by each section instructor. YOU MUST NOT ASSUME that all sections will get pop quizzes on the same date or that their content will be similar. Most likely they will not! PROBLEMS AND EXCEPTIONS ----------------------- It is inevitable that some students will encounter problems during the semester and require an exception to a due date, a makeup test or something similar. If a problem should arise YOU MUST CONTACT YOUR INSTRUCTOR BY ELECTRONIC MAIL OR TELEPHONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Failing to contact your instructor promptly may be grounds for denying the exception. ABOUT OFFICE HOURS AND CONSULTING HOURS --------------------------------------- Office hours: Office hours are provided to give students access to the section instructors for matters concerning course procedures, content, schedules or problems. Many problems can be handled through electronic mail, which is the preferred method. Please do not attempt to contact the instructors or TA's at their homes! Office hours are intended for brief problems and do not require an appointment. Students or student groups will be accepted on a 'first-come-first-serve' basis. If an in-person meeting with the instructor is required but the scheduled office hours conflict with other classes another meeting time may be arranged my appointment. Electronic mail is the best method for setting up such an appointment. When requesting a meeting please provide a brief description of the problem of question. Appointments may be made before/after class or (preferably) through electronic mail. Office hours for all instructors will be announced in class and posted on the online library. Consulting hours: Consulting hours have been established to assist the students and student groups with technical matters regarding use of the mainframe and microcomputers, and the software required to complete assigned projects. These hours have been scheduled with the intent of avoiding conflict with the majority of regularly-scheduled classes. Consulting hours will be held at the Wagner microcomputer lab from 6:00 -- 8:00 Monday through Thursday evening. Other problems: Any other problems should be referred to the section instructor via electronic mail or during regular office hours. LA-283 COMPUTER GROUPWARE ------------------------- Computer-Mediated Communication: Computer-Mediated communication (CMC) technology provides the foundation for course-related communication and support in LA-283. The technical components include electronic mail (email), computer conferencing, and and online 'library' disk. This application of CMC for instructional support represents the state-of-art in instructional application of computing and communication technology. Moreover, it will provide the student with relevant experience in CMC that may be applied in later professional and academic pursuits. Electronic mail: Electronic mail (email) provides the capability for one-to-one or one-to-many private communication. More importantly it provides for temporally and spatially asynchronous communication. The PopMail system maintained by the Penn State Center for Academic Computing provides the basis for electronic mail and file transfers in LA-283. All Penn State students are entitled to a PopMail account that will remain with them until they graduate. Computer conferencing: While email will be sufficient for one-to-one and one-to-many private communications, computer conferencing is the best way to support classwide communication. Examples of classwide communication might include course announcements (schedule changes, corrections, etc.) and general-interest discourse among students. Conferencing is provided through the Penn State Netnews (nntp) server and a private newsgroup. Each section of LA-283 will have its own private newsgroup. All LA-283 students are encouraged to utilize the conferencing system, although we ask that all postings be of relevant interest to the LA-283 student body. Note that the conferencing system also supports a broader range of subject areas. Note also that it is assumed that all LA-283 students will conduct themselves as responsible members of the international community of humankind when participating in Netnews. Occasionally a question sent to one of the instructors will be deemed of general interest. In this case the question and answer will be posted to the conferencing system. It is required that all students periodically (at least twice each week) check the conferencing system for new announcements. The LA-283 Online Library: ========================== A special World Wide Web page has been developed to work as an online library for LA-283. This library contains computer text files, programs and data files. Example files include the class syllabus, important announcements, study guides, catalogs, copies of the lecture notes, project descriptions, etc. There are also links to many other important, useful and simply interesting resources on the Internet. We encourage you to explore and learn all you can about this exciting new medium for human communication and information exchange. To get to the class online library, go to any microcomputer lab and launch NETSCAPE. Scroll down and select "on-line course materials," and from there select "LA 283 Computer Applications in the Liberal Arts and Humanities." TEXTS AND READINGS ================== The following text may be purchased at the Penn State Bookstore: "Shelly Cashman Series" -- packet for LA-283 In addition, other documents will be provided for the class. These may be handed out in class or they may be placed on the class Web page. LA-482 SESSIONS --------------- This list represents the initial plan for LA-283. Please note that it is merely a *plan*. Actual dates are not listsed as these may change due to snow, illness or other unforseen problems. Please use this as a guide. Changes will be announced in class and on NETNEWS in your class newsgroup. Note in the 'readings' section, these are when the related material should have been read. class session subject readings ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction to class syllabus 2 Intro to computers - 1 COM1-COM17 3 Intro to computers - 2 COM17-COM30 4 DOS - 1 DOS1-DOS38 5 DOS - 2 DOS41-DOS71 6 WINDOWS - 1 WIN2-WIN43 7 WINDOWS - 2 WIN47-WIN92 8 WINDOWS - 3 9 EMAIL - 1 10 NETNEWS - 1 11 NETNEWS - 2 12 GOPHER 13 WWW 14 15 16 WORDPERFECT - 1 WP2-WP71 17 WORDPERFECT - 2 WP75-WP132 18 WORDPERFECT - 3 WP137-WP186 19 WORDPERFECT - 4 WP193-WP251 20 DBASE - 1 Read Online Documentation 21 DBASE - 2 22 DBASE - 3 23 DBASE - 4 24 LOTUS - 1 L2-L58 25 LOTUS - 2 L62-L127 26 LOTUS - 3 L134-L201 27 LOTUS - 4 L209-L259 28 LOTUS - 5 L267-L305 29 SOCIAL EFFECTS 30