Supplemental Syllabus

Programming I

INFT 120

Instructor: Jeff Fineberg	E-mail: st.fineberg.jeff@mail.bryantstratton.edu
	Telephone: 691-0012

Course Dates & Time: Mondays 6:25-9:45pm	Room #: B01
SSS Dates & Time: Mondays 6:00-6:25pm	Room #: B01
Office Hours: Mondays 9:45-10pm or by appt.	Room #: B01

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Students learn a contemporary programming language where they will develop skills in data handling, modular programming style, structured programming and user interface development.

ALL COURSE OUTCOMES for this course will be addressed. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

COURSE OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of a programming language – this is done through class discussion, exercises and assignments.
Write application programs in a specific programming language – based upon various ‘real world’ problems, we will design solutions using Visual Basic.
Demonstrate the steps necessary to design code and run a program – using analysis techniques, we will decompose problems into basic elements that can be translated into a computer program.
Troubleshoot and debug program – as part of our development process, we will learn to test for specific results and isolate errors to help us produce “error free” programs.

Required Textbook & Software:

Package C: Programming in Visual Basic.Net: 2005 Edition, with std. CD, 7^th edition, McGraw-Hill ISBN: 978007330427-1

Microsoft Visual Basic - Express Edition

Materials & Supplies.

Assignments can be performed in the labs, however a laptop or home computer would allow more flexibility for completing work.

Approach to Course:

We will explore Visual Basic through examples, discussions, reading, viewing web sites and programming assignments. In addition to covering several aspects of Visual Basic, you will also gain skills in research, problem analysis, program design and implementation. Another very useful learning technique is to teach material that you have learned. This may be in the form of helping other students or giving a presentation to the class on a topic of your interest.

“My goal is to help students realize the interesting and important aspects as well as relevancy of the course I’m teaching. If this can be accomplished, I believe a student will tend to be highly motivated while participating in the course.

From a long term perspective, I believe that it is essential to help students realize the importance of perpetual learning as well as becoming self sufficient, enabling them to become life-long students. This is critical for nearly every function we perform in our daily lives – within our careers and also including family and personal objectives.” – Jeff Fineberg

Diagnostic Assessment:

As part of the initial class for this course, this is an ungraded evaluation that is used to help me determine both the strengths and interests of students in the class. Based upon results of this evaluation, it can be seen which areas should be more heavily emphasized where possible.

Grading:

Authentic assessment: Comprehension of the material will be assessed through homework assignments, quizzes and a final project, using the following grading policy:

Grading Policy

Quizzes	30% (3 @ 10% each)
Assignments	30% (3 @ 10% each)
Final Project	25%
Class participation (labs, quizzes, contributions)	15%

A	90-100
B	80-89
C	70-79
F	Below 70

Comments regarding grading criteria and material:

- Quizzes are given to help you gauge your understanding of the material. They consist of material covered within the period since the previous quiz. Since some material builds on previous topics, quizzes may be somewhat comprehensive. Advanced arrangements must be made if a quiz is to be missed (unless a documented emergency exists).

- Projects consist of writing programs to implement elements from the material covered in class and from reading assignments. Note that the final project is worth 25%.

The goal of this course is to learn how to create Visual Basic applications that are well written, execute accurately and are easy to understand – both from an end-user perspective and programmer perspective. In a software development environment, it is critical that a program be written with a high degree of clarity so that an application can be developed cooperatively by several people. The grading criteria used in this course are reflective of those principles.

Diagnostic assessment (Grading Criteria) - a general Rubric to be utilized for assignments / projects

The following parameters are *generally* being used for grading assignments and projects are:

Grading Aspect	Level 1: 5-10 points	Level 2: 11-20 points	Level 3: 21-25 points
Documentation Completeness	Incomplete, difficult to understand	Includes many features, but leaves chance for misunderstanding,	Easy to understand with no verbal explanation. Facilitates knowledge transfer between programmers.
GUI Design & Usability of the application	Missing necessary components. Unclear as to how one may run the program.	Necessary components in place, but rather difficult to operate due to the layout of the screen.	All components are complete. System is simple to operate due to layout of the screen. Usability level very high.
Algorithm correctness and clarity	Does not produce correct results for routine operation. Incorrect calculations are produced. Bugs found in the code, including syntax, runtime and logic errors.	Program performs correct calculations for normal cases. No error trapping/recovery was implemented, so program will crash under certain conditions.	Program performs correct calculations for normal cases. All reasonable user errors are trapped and reported to the user.
Coding technique	Format of source code is not uniform (proper indenting and use of whitespace is not used). Difficult to read the code. Variable names are not meaningful, making it difficult to understand the code. Very few comments in the code (if any).	Format of the source code is relatively consistent. Most variable names are meaningful, but not fully consistent. Comments exist in the code but are not as clear as they code be.	Format of the source code is very consistent. Variable names are meaningful and are using a well defined standard that would facilitate simultaneous program development. The use of comments is very clear – describe the intent of the code, not simply what the code does.

TIME COMMITMENT NEEDED TO EARN COURSE CREDIT: Bryant & Stratton College subscribes to a philosophy commonly held by institutions across higher education: achievement of success with college-level study will necessitate that the student devotes both scheduled in-class time as well as significant out-of-class time to meeting course outcomes. For each hour of class time, a student should expect to dedicate two hours outside of class for the preparation of assignments and the reading of course materials.

MAKE-UP POLICY:

HOMEWORK, CLASSWORK AND DAILY ASSIGNMENTS:

All students must complete given assignments on time, failure to do so will result in late points of -20 penalty to be imposed per CALENDAR day EXCEPT when the campuses are closed for the day. Late work can always be left for me in my mailbox by leaving it with the academic administrative assistant in the office. Late penalty for each day after assigned day at midnight. On vary rare occasions such as major health issues of student themselves, or a death in family of immediate family, instructor may make other arrangements that may withhold penalty.

NOTE: MIDTERM, OR FINAL EXAM:

If a student is unable to be present for an exam, because of unforeseen circumstances, a makeup may only be scheduled if the student contacts the instructor prior to the start of THE CLASS THE EXAM IS GIVEN. You may email me, contact me though main office or talk to me in person. Makeup must be taken and completed before the final Tuesday at 5pm of each term. ***NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 5PM TUESDAY OF FINAL WEEK OF CLASSES.)

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Bryant & Stratton believes that regular and timely attendance is necessary in order for you to receive the maximum benefit from your education, as well as develop professional work habits and attitudes which are highly valued in the business community. You are required to attend and participate in every scheduled meeting of this class; you will maximize the benefits of the learning activities offered in this class by being on time and scheduling outside appointments at times other that this class meeting. Attendance is necessary for your success. If you must be absent, it is your responsibility to promptly determine what has been missed.

Emailing st.fineberg.jeff@mail.bryantstratton.edu is the best method in the case of absence. An absence from class does not excuse you from your responsibility to complete and hand in assignments on time. Although attendance is not graded, absences may adversely affect your ability to complete required assignments. It is your responsibility to sign into class each day. In the event a specific absence is challenged, the attendance sheet will be final proof of attendance. As a student at Bryant and Stratton, you are required to call, email or personally notify me if you are not able to make a class. If you are unable to do so, be aware that we will be making contact with you. This not intended to be intrusive, only to keep contact with you. If you want to avoid such contact, please take it upon yourself to call or email.

Portfolio: An important aspect of a Bryant & Stratton education is the opportunity to develop a portfolio showcasing your best work. Students are asked to identify works produced each term that allow them to demonstrate, reflect on, and speak to their acquired knowledge, skills and behaviors that will benefit them and a future employer. A future class/seminar, Career Management, that you shall all be attending will combine all your best work from all your classes to display in one portfolio.

PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT DAY: On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 we will have our Portfolio Development Day. This seminar will focus on the creation and continued development of your portfolio and include sessions on enhancing your ability to speak to the evidence of your knowledge, skills and behaviors/abilities. You will be enrolled in a session for that day and are expected to attend. Please mark your calendars and come prepared to have a unique and special day. The day session seminars will run from 8:30am to 1:30pm with lunch included. The evening session seminars will run from 5:00pm to 9:30pm with a light meal provided.

Critical Workplace Skills: The critical workplace competencies that will be emphasized in this course will be: Taking Responsibility (accountability of assignments), Problem Solving (design systems to solve issues), Sense of Quality (creation of programs that function correctly) and Communicating effectively (with other students and the instructor).

LIFELONG LEARNING AND INFORMATION LITERACY: By learning how to solve problems and research the implications for programming issues, this helps the student to discover their strengths and identify areas for growth to enable lifelong learning. In addition, this course will be a foundation for greater in-depth information experiences in other classes.

Technology Expectations The computers in the computer labs and the library will be available for student use.

ETIQUETTE/PARTICIPATION:

Please exercise good judgment during the class. Make sure that your cell phones aren’t set up to ring. During class lecture, conversations should involve the topics being discussed and should be shared with the class. Also, it is the school policy that food and drink should not be brought into the classroom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENTS: refer to the tracking calendar for details.

SELECTED RESOURCES:

Textbook Link, including data files and sample tests:

http://www.mhhe.com/vbnet2005

Microsoft Visual Basic site, including free downloads of Visual Basic Express Edition

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/default.aspx

Programming references

http://www.w3schools.com/

Uniform Server – a WAMP package to run a webserver for developing web applications

http://www.uniformserver.com/

BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE

Tracking Calendar

COURSE: INFT 120 INSTRUCTOR: Jeff Fineberg

TERM: Winter 2010 DAYS/TIME: Mondays 6:25-9:45pm

WEEK:	CLASS DAY & DATE	CONTENT: TOPICS	COURSE OUTCOMES: To be assessed (Indentified as CO#___)	METHODOLOGY (teaching & learning activities)	ASSESSMENTS / ASSIGNMENTS TEXTBOOK & SUPPLEMENTSL REQUIRED READINGS	DUE DATES
1 Class 1	1/18	Martin Luther King Day – NO CLASS
2 Class 1	1/25	Introduction to Class Chapter 1 – Introduction to Visual Basic	1	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise
3 Class 1	2/1	Chapter 2 – User Interface Design	1,2,3	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Assignment 1	2/8
4 Class 1	2/8	Chapter 3 – Variables, Constants and Calculations	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Test 1
5 Class 1	2/15	Presidents Day – NO CLASS
6 Class 1	2/22	Chapter 4 – Decisions and Conditions	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Assignment 2	3/1
7 Class 1	3/1	Chapter 5 – Menus, Common Dialog Boxes, Procedures and Functions	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise
8 Class 1	3/8	Chapter 6 – Multiform Projects	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Test 2
9 Class 1	3/15	Chapter 7 – Lists, Loops and Printing	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Assignment 3	3/22
10 Class 1	3/22	Chapter 8 - Arrays	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Final Project	4/12
11 Class 1	3/29	Chapter 9 – Programming with Visual Web Developer	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise
12 Class 1	4/5	Chapter 10 – Accessing Database Files	1,2,3,4	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise	Test 3
13 Class 1	4/12	Advance Topics I	1,2	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise
14 Class 1	4/19	Advance Topics II	1,2	Lecture / Lab / Class Exercise