CSE 3, UCSD, Winter 2004
Fluency in Information Technology
Instructor: Walter Savitch Office: 5151 AP&M
Instructor Office Hours: First week: after class.
(Permanent hours will be posted on the course Website.)
TA Office Hours: will be posted on the course Website.
Lecture: Tuesday, Thursday
Discussion section: Friday
Lab Sections:
CLICS Lab, section A50: Th
CLICS Lab, section A51: Tu
CLICS Lab, section A52: Wed
CLICS Lab, section A53: Tu
CLICS Lab, section A54: Fri
CLICS Lab, section A55: Wed
Lab Sections: You must enroll in one of the lab sections, and must attend the section you enrolled in. Lab sections are not required the first week of classes, but will be staffed, and you are encouraged to attend the first week’s lab to familiarize yourself with your account and with the lab facilities. Required labs and the first lab assignment are in the week of January 12 (the second week of classes).
Computer: The labs are in CLICS 263 in Galbraith Hall on the Revelle Campus.
Your own computer: You do not need to own a computer to take this course. You can do all your work in the course labs. If you own a computer, that is fine, and it would be good to practice on, but in the labs you must use the lab computers, not your own computers. If you are a Mac users, you will have to learn to use a Windows machine for this class, but that is an easy transition. (After all, you don’t need any computer experience at all for this class.)
Prerequisite: There are no prerequisites.
If you have had a more advanced computer course:
Be warned: This class is not for you. You may be bored and as a result get a poor grade. You cannot get a decent grade without attending most lab and most lecture sections. You will not be offered any make up quizzes or any make up labs. If you get 100% on the midterm and final but close to zero on labs and surprise quizzes, then you will get a grade of D or F.
Required Text:
1. Lawrence Snyder, Fluency with Information Technology, Addison-Wesley. (available at UCSD bookstore and other places.)
Recommended Text:
2. Wendy Lehnert, The Web Wizards’s Guide to HTML, Addison-Wesley. (available at UCSD bookstore and other places.)
Required Supplies:
You will need at least two diskettes formatted for use with the Windows operating system, (These are often called “IBM Formatted.”) These are available in the UCSD bookstore and lots of other places. Bring them with you to every lab section.
Computer Accounts:
During orientation you were given a UCSD email account name and password. You must have these when you go to lab section during the second week of classes. these give you access to the lab computers. Note that you must have your UCSD email account, not just any email account. If you do not have these, you can get this in the optional lab section during the first week of classes. If you do not have your UCSD email account and password, bring your PAL number with you to lab during the first week of classes.
Grading:
You will be given a series of laboratory exercises to do in your lab sections. Note that one component of the lab work grade is attendance. The laboratory sections are required and you will lose credit if you do not attend, even if you feel you can do the required work. There will also be a midterm exam, a number of surprise quizzes in lecture section, and a final exam. The various items will be weighted as follows in
determining your grade: Lab work 30%, Quizzes 20%, Midterm 20% , and Final 30%.
This will give you a total grade expressed as a percentage (0-100). Grades will be assigned according to the following rule:
A 90% or above
B 80% to 90%
C 55% to 80%
D 50% to 55%
F below 50%
You cannot count on any scaling. Pluses and minus will be given out in some cases. So, for example, “B” means either B-, B, or B+.
Late or Missed Work
If you miss the midterm, for any reason (illness, emergency, over sleeping, don’t feel like taking it), then you will receive 90% of your final exam grade as your midterm grade. Note that you do not need an excuse, but also note that there is a grade penalty. If you do take the midterm, your midterm grade will the higher of the grade you got on the midterm and 90% of the grade you got on the final. So, you have nothing to lose by taking the midterm.
You will be allowed to miss one of the compulsory laboratory section without any penalty. If you miss more than one compulsory laboratory section for any reason, it will have an effect on your grade. Labs cannot be made up for any reason, including medical excuses or any other excuses. If you miss one compulsory lab, there is no penalty. If you miss two compulsory labs it may effect your grade, but not by a lot. If you miss three or more compulsory labs, you should consider dropping the class. Note that the compulsory labs start in the second week of classes. The lab in the first week of classes is not compulsory and if you miss it, it does not count as your free missed lab and you can still miss a lab for free.
If you have a valid written medical excuse or something as compelling, then you will be allowed to retroactively drop the course. (I will approve it, but it still needs higher up approval). You will not be allowed to turnin anything late nor take a missed exam.
Cheating Policies:
Anybody talking during an exam will receive a zero for that exam. This may sound unreasonable. However, we have no good alternative. We can easily tell if you are talking, but we cannot listen to and evaluate everything that anybody in the room might say. Anybody found clearly cheating will receive an F in the class.
Photo ID:
When you turn in a lab or exam or any other work, you must show a photo ID. A currently valid UCSD photo ID or currently valid California drives license are the only acceptable photo IDs. If for some reason you have neither of these, then see the instructor as soon as possible to make other arrangements; you must see the instructor about this at least two days before the day you need the ID.
Electronic Mail:
You can use email to ask questions, but due to the high enrollment, we will only be able to answer certain kinds of questions by email. Please observe the following rules when sending email:
>Only use email for short clarification questions. For big problems see a proctor or the instructor.
>Do not expect an immediate answer. We will try to answer all reasonable email questions within 48 hours.
>Email will not be answered unless it contains your name and UCSD email address.
>The Email address for questions will be given in lecture.
Internet Access:
Details about this course are available at the following internet address:
http://www.cse.ucsd.edu/undergrad/courses/ugradclasshomepages.html
(You will need to choose this class after you reach this web page.)