Fall 2002
Wright 105 MWF
Wright 112 lab (see grid below)
Mark Jacobson Home
phone: (319) 233–5610
Office: Wright 106 UNI
email address: jacobson@uni.edu
Office phone: 273–7172 Email on
cowboy: jacobson@cns.uni.edu
Office hours:
1–2 Monday; 9:30–12:30 Tuesday;
Computer Science
department: 273–2618
3–5
Wednesday; 1–3:30 Thursday URL: http://www.cns.uni.edu/~jacobson
Also
by appointment anytime
Check
the PC labs (WRT 112, 110 and 339).
Also
check 106 Wright office door for where to find me and/or when back notes.
Fall 2002 class schedule: 9 am, 10 am, 12 pm and 2
pm MWF
Department meetings: 3 p.m. every other
Monday
Textbooks: Microsoft Excel 2002 Visual Basic for Applications
Step by Step by Reed Jacobson
Grading on exams, homework and quizzes.
1.
There
will be three quizzes. Each quiz will
take from 20 to 25 minutes of our class time unless it is a take home
quiz. One quiz will be worth around 5 %
of your grade, making the quizzes worth about 15 % of your total grade. The
quiz dates for the 1st two quizzes will be Friday, October 4th,
and Wednesday, October 16th.
The 3rd quiz will be sometime during November or early
December.
2.
The midterm exam will be held on Friday, November 1st. It constitutes about 20 % of your grade in the course.
3.
The
final exam will count 30 % of your grade. It will be held from 1-2:50 p.m.
Monday, December 16th.
The final exam may
be held in two parts. If so, the 1st
part would be in the classroom and would be a paper and pencil traditional
exam. The 2nd part would be
hands-on in the computer lab in Wright 112.
If it is not a two–part exam, it would be the traditional 2–hour long
final exam in the Wright 105 classroom.
4.
The
laboratory sessions and class participation/citizenship/attendance will count for
5 % of your grade. Wright 112 lab sessions
are scheduled for 7 different Friday classes as follows:
|
|
Week
2 |
Week
3 |
Week
4 |
Week
5 |
Week
8 |
Week
9 |
Week
12 |
|
|
Sep 6 |
Sep 13 |
Sep 20 |
Sep 27 |
Oct 18 |
Oct 25 |
Nov 15 |
5.
The
homework assignments and projects will be worth 30 % of the total grade. Some of the homework assignments will be
completed and checked off in the lab.
Course objectives:
·
You
will probably double your skills and
ability with applications software such as spreadsheets, graphics, word
processing, database and web creation software.
·
Introduction
to PhotoShop. Integration of PhotoShop
with other programs and with the web. Using PhotoShop to create web
graphics. Comparing PhotoShop and
Flash. Creating a custom command button
for your web page using PhotoShop.
Creating an animation for your web page using GIMP or Flash or the
cowboy.cns.uni.edu gifmerge program.
·
You
will gain a deeper understanding of how Windows systems software and
applications software work by creating your own custom user interfaces using
Visual Basic for Applications and recording and writing macros in VBA. This understanding will make your use of
graphical user interfaces much more effective.
We will do this for both Excel and Access.
·
Further
development of your understanding of the potential of the world wide web and
networks for presenting information by introducing and using JavaScript to make
your web pages dynamic and interactive.
Comparing JavaScript and VBScript.
Understanding HTML <FORM> concepts and techniques for gathering
information, and using JavaScript to evaluate and respond to the information.
·
Developing
a game program using Visual Basic for Applications and Microsoft Excel. Recording and writing macros. Making custom user interfaces.
·
Further
experience with animation, graphics and special effects using the Microsoft
Visual Basic for Applications environment.
Integrating animation into your Excel game program.
·
Introduction
to web authoring software, such as Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver and/or
Fireworks.
·
Introduction
to database software using Microsoft Access.
Automating database tasks and creating custom user interfaces. Customizing a database and using VBA code to
extend its capabilities.
·
Using
PowerPoint to create presentations.
Creating documentation and a presentation/lesson of some aspect of the
microcomputer applications class.
Publishing a PowerPoint presentation on the web.
·
Being
halfway through with the computer science department’s microcomputer
certification program. Some students
may wish to take 810:023 (described below) and another elective to receive
certification on their transcript and for their resume. This 12 hour program is less extensive than
a computer science minor and is more focused on what skills would be most
useful to the typical UNI graduate in their future career and home personal
computer use.
Miscellaneous topics:
·
Any
student who requires some modification of seating, testing, or other class
requirements should speak with the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
·
When
sending email, sign with your first name at the end of the note.
·
Feel
free to leave early for an appointment or whatever as that is never a problem
but it is always nice to be told before class starts.
·
The
four classes 810:021, 810:022, 810:023
and 810:030 give you microcomputer certification from the
computer science department. 12 hours
of credits is required.
·
810:023 (Microcomputer Systems) is
offered next spring. It focuses on PC
hardware and operating system software, computer networks and how they work and
understanding your PC, its peripherals and the networks that you use.
·
810:030 (Visual Basic) is offered
every semester and has been offered the last four summers as well. It is a very popular course. Anyone who has learned VBA from 810:022 will
have a great background for learning Visual Basic.
·
810:088
(Topics in Computing: PERL/CGI Web Programming) also counts for
certification. It may be offered again
in summer of 2003. It can be
substituted for 810:021 or 810:023 or taken as an extra class in addition to
the 021, 022, 023 and 030 certification classes. The topic may change for 810:088 in summer of 2003 to networks
and security or something like that.