syllabus

Clayton State University
Department of Information Technology

ITFN 1101-03: Foundations of Information Technology
Course Syllabus
Spring 2011

Course
Description:

Course Title:

Foundations of Information Technology

Course Number:

ITFN 1101 (CRN: 23888)

Section Number:

Credit Hours:

3.0

Weekly Contact Hours:

3.0

Course Description:

This is an introductory course in information technology where the topics include foundations in hardware, software, data, and procedures. Students are introduced to structured programming techniques, systems development, database design and networking. Aspects of appropriate business ethics are discussed. Interpersonal skills and team-building emphasized.

Course Date:

Monday, January 10, 2011 (first day of class) through Monday, May 02, 2011 (last day of class)

Location:

Room U312 - James M. Baker University Center

Meeting Day(s):

MWF

Meeting Time(s):

09:00am-09:50am

Prerequisite(s):

Exit or Exemption from Learning Support Reading, English, and Math.

Course objectives and Learning outcomes:

Students are expected to achieve a developing level of mastery of information technology concepts, terminology, and skills. Students will be able to demonstrate an emerging level of knowledge of the basic components of information systems. They will be able to show potential to perform independently and develop an awareness of the benefits of teaming. Students will exhibit communication, reasoning, critical thinking and problem solving skills. After completing the course the passing students will be able to:

describe the major components of information technology applications: Hardware, computer networks, software, data, processes, and people.
describe the different components of a computer network.
demonstrate an understanding of different types of networks.
create object-oriented designs for simple applications.
discuss the role of databases in IT applications.
demonstrate communication skills through various assignments and group work.
demonstrate an understanding of the importance of algorithms in the development of IT applications.

Instructor
Information:

Instructor Name:

Muhammad Asadur Rahman, Ph.D.

Email:

mrahman@clayton.edu

Office Location:

UC 337

Office Hours:

WF 08:45am-09:00am; MWF 10:00am-11:00am; MW 04:00pm-5:00pm
Other times by appointment.

Phone:

678-466-4446

Text and Other
Resources:

Textbook:

Software:

Sea Monkey. Free download from http://www.seamonkey-project.org/; Alice: Free download from http://www.alice.org/; Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Access); Links to other necessary software will be provided in the class.

Course
Policy:

Grading:

There will be a midterm and a final exam in this course along with a number of quizzes. All quizzes and exams will be announced and will be based on the topics covered. No makeup exams or makeup assignments will be allowed in this course. If you fail to take the final exam you may be given a grade of I (incomplete). No extra-credit or bonus points will be given in this course. Your grade in this course will be determined based on the percent of total points earned at the end of the term with the following weight given to each type of assessment:

Assessment Type	% of Total Grade
Final Exam:	30%
Midterm Exam:	20%
Assignments (HW or Projects):	20%
Quizzes:	30%

The final letter grades will be assigned based on the following scale:

Letter Grade	% of Total Points Obtained
A	90-100%
B	80-89%
C	70-79%
D	60-69%
F	below 60%

Assignments:

All assignments must be submitted via GeorgiaView. Absolutely no email submissions, please! Any assignment submitted as hardcopy or via email will not be graded and will simply be ignored. If you submit wrong assignment you can take it back and resubmit before the cutoff date. Once the cutoff date has passed no resubmission will be allowed and you will be graded based on what you have submitted. It is your responsibility to ensure that your submission via GeorgiaView is the correct submission for the given assignment. You are expected to complete and submit the assignments in a timely manner within the given submission deadline. Late submission if allowed, will carry a penalty of upto 20% per day and no submission will be accepted after the cutoff date.

Midterm Grade Reporting:

The mid-term grade in this course, which will be issued on March 01, will reflect less than half of the entire course grade. Based on this grade, students may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of “W.” Students pursuing this option must fill out an official withdrawal form, available in the Registrar's Office, by mid-term, which occurs on March 04.

Attendance Policy:

All students are expected to attend the scheduled class meetings. They will be responsible for material covered and announcements made during such meetings.

Academic Standard and Conduct Expectations:

All submitted work in this course must be your own work and no collaborative work is allowed unless directed otherwise by the instructor. Clayton State University does not condone cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty. The student handbook contains further information and guidelines. Students are expected to uphold the school's standard of conduct relating to academic honesty and assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle of academic integrity shall be that a student's submitted work, examinations, reports, and projects must be that of the student's own work. Students shall be guilty of violating the honor code if they:

Represent the work of others as their own.
Use or obtain unauthorized assistance in any academic work.
Give unauthorized assistance to other students.
Modify, without instructor approval, an examination, paper, record, or report for the purpose of obtaining additional credit.
Misrepresent the content of submitted work.

Any student violating the honor code is subject to receive a failing grade for the course and will be reported to the Office of Student Affairs. If a student is unclear about whether a particular situation may constitute an honor code violation, the student should meet with the instructor to discuss the situation before it arises.

Tentative Course
Schedule:

The following is the tentative schedule for this course and it is subject to change:


Day/Week	Course Topics	Book Chapter	Assignments

Week.01	Course overview and orientation	Chapter.0	-
Week.02	Computers and Digital Basics	Chapter.1	Quiz 1
Week.03	Computer Hardware	Chapter.2	HW 1
Week.04	Computer Software	Chapter.3	Quiz.2

Week.05	Operating Systems and File Management	Chapter.4	HW 2
Week.06	LANs and WLANs	Chapter.5	Quiz 3
Week.07	Midterm Exam (02/23/2010)	-	Midterm Exam
Week.08	The Internet	Chapter.6	-

Week.09	Spring Break - No Classes (March 5-12)	-	-
Week.10	The Web and E-mail	Chapter.7	Quiz 4
Week.11	Digital Media	Chapter.8	HW 3
Week.12	Computer Industry: History, Careers, and Ethics	Chapter.9	Quiz 5

Week.13	Information Systems Analysis and Design	Chapter.10	HW 4
Week.14	Databases	Chapter.11	Quiz 6
Week.15	Computer Programming	Chapter.12	-
Week.16	Computer Programming	Chapter.12	-

Week.17	Computer Programming	Chapter.12	-
Week.17	Final Exam (TBA)	-	Final Exam

Note that the above schedule will be adjusted based on actual progress in the class. However, this syllabus will not be updated to reflect the actual coverage in the class. The modified schedule can be found in the Course Schedule page on GeorgiaView.

Additional
Information:

ITP Choice:

All students enrolled at Clayton State University are required to have on-demand access to a notebook computer that meets the recommended hardware/software specifications that have been established by Clayton State faculty. Academic penalties may be incurred for not meeting this requirement. Refer to the ITP Choice website for specifications and FAQs: http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/. Also, each student is responsible for monitoring the Clayton State issued email address on a regular basis for official communications from faculty and administrators. Students must use Clayton State issued email address when communicating with faculty and administrators. Communications originating from non-CSU email address may be ignored.

Disability Services:

Students with disabilities who wish to obtain this document in an alternative format or would like to request reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Services Coordinator at 678-466-5445 or disabilityservices@clayton.edu. If you are already registered with Disability Services and are seeking accommodations for this course, please make an appointment with your instructor to discuss your specific accommodation needs and provide your accommodations letter.

Note:

This syllabus is subject to change and the instructor reserves the right to change any course policy or its implementation if need arises during the semester. The course schedule presented in this syllabus is tentative and most likely will change throughout the semester. The students are responsible for finding out about missed announcements or material covered in the class.

Last update: 7 January 2010.