Syllabus and Course Information (9/12)

IT 130 Introductory Computing for the Web    
Section 401 (Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:50am-1:20pm, LoopCampus)
DePaul University College of CDM
Fall 2013

Instructor: Eric J. Schwabe
Office: CDM Building Room 739
Phone/Voicemail: (312) 362-5943
Email: eschwabe@cdm.depaul.edu
Course Web Site: http://col.cdm.depaul.edu/
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:30am-11:30am and 4:00pm-5:00pm, Thursdays 10:30am-11:30am
Optional Texts: HTML5 & CSS3 Visual QuickStart Guide (8th Edition), Castro and Hyslop, ISBN 978-0321928832 and Simply JavaScript, Yank & Adams, ISBN 978-0980285802.  (Since these are only optional texts, older editons and/or electronic versions reached through library.depaul.edu are sufficient.)
Prerequisites: None

Course Material:  This course covers basic concepts of the Internet and the World-Wide Web and introduces several basic Web technologies.  Topics we will cover include:

Introduction to the Internet and the World-Wide Web (WWW)
Web page creation using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
Web page formatting using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Web page programming using JavaScript and the Document Object Model (DOM)

Homework Assignments:  There will be homework assignments given most weeks; assignments will be posted on the course web site and will be due the week after then are posted, unless otherwise noted.  Details of the submission process will be discussed in class, but most assignments will involve the creation and posting of a web page viewable by the instructor as well as the electronic submission of source files.  Grades and comments will be returned through the course web site.  No late assignments will be accepted, but I will drop your lowest homework grade.

Grading:  The homework assignments (several smaller assignments, and one larger project) will be worth a total of 40% of the course grade.  There will be a midterm exam given in class on Tuesday, October 15th that will be worth 20% of the course grade, and a comprehensive final exam given 11:45am-2:00pm on Tuesday, November 26th that will be worth 25% of the course grade.  All students must take the exams at the scheduled times, unless there is a documented medical emergency.  The remaining 15% of the grade will come from class participation, which will depend largely on your attendance at and participation in the required lab sessions that will take place each Thursday from September 19th through November 14th (unless otherwise noted).

Regarding Email Communication:  Please begin the subject line of any email to me with "IT 130", so that I can easily identify your messages.  I will reply to email messages within one business day; therefore questions that are only received by me on an assignment’s due date (or late the night before) are not guaranteed replies before the assignment is due.  Please plan accordingly and begin the assignments early enough to ask questions and receive answers.  If you are having problems, send me a detailed description of the problems you are having; I will try to guide you in locating and solving your problems yourself, rather than simply solve your problems for you.  Please do not use the comment field of the assignment submission system to send me questions.

Policy on Electronic Devices in the Classroom:  All electronic devices not used for class work must be turned off and put away during lectures and lab sessions.  This includes cell phones, pagers, and any other devices that may serve to distract you or anyone else.  Laptops, tablets, etc., that are used exclusively for note-taking or other course-related work are allowed; however, emailing, instant messaging, game playing, web browsing, and other activities not related to current course work are not permitted.  Violations of this policy may affect the class participation portion of your course grade.

Regarding Academic Integrity:  You are expected to be familiar with and to adhere to DePaul’s Academic Integrity Policy, which is available on-line at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/AcademicIntegrityPolicy.pdf.  Violations of the Academic Integrity Policy will be dealt with decisively; penalties may range up to an automatic F in the course and possible expulsion.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:  Turning in another person’s work as your own (including hiring someone else to complete an assignment for you); Starting with another person’s work and modifying it to turn in as your own; Cutting and pasting, or otherwise copying, sections of another person’s work into your assignment; Allowing another person (such as a tutor) to write part of your assignment; and so on.  (Obviously, any examples that I post qualify as “another person’s work”.)  Supplying such assistance to another student is considered an equivalent violation of the policy.  In general, you may feel free to discuss the assignments with other students at a general level.  However, when it comes to actually completing your assignment, you must work independently.  Your assignments and project must be entirely your own work.  If you have any questions or doubts about what plagiarism entails, you should consult me.