CMPE 003

Personal Computers: Hardware & Software

Winter Quarter 2003

2:00 – 3:10 PM, Monday/Wednesday/Friday, Earth & Marine B206

 

Winter Quarter 2003

Course outline:

This course discusses fundamental concepts and terminology of hardware, software, and the Internet from an Engineering perspective. The focus is on IBM-compatible Personal Computers. Basic hands-on training is provided through lab assignments on:

  1. operating system interfaces,
  2. internet communication,
  3. office productivity software,
  4. web publishing,
  5. and elementary programming.


For the General Education Code of this class, refer to the Registrar's class page.

NOTE:

  1. You are not allowed to repeat this class for credit. You may be able to take it if you have already taken CMPS 002. Check with your advisor.
  2. If you have more than a little experience with computers, this basic literacy class is probably not right for you. Consult the CS and CE course offerings for a class that is appropriate for your level and interests.

TEXTBOOK:

Computers: Tools for the Information Age, 7th Edition. H. L. Capron & J. A. Johnson. Prentice Hall, 2000.  The website for this book is http://www.prenhall.com/capron/pocket/main.htm. It is also recommended that you obtain an elementary manual for Microsoft Office such as The Complete Idiot's guide to Office, or Office for Dummies.

 

Supplies:

Other required supplies for the course are:

  1. Three scantron forms number F-1712-ERI-L (pink), to complete the three midterms
  2. Two number 2 pencils to use on the forms during exams.

Students are responsible for bringing their own form and pencil to class on exam days. These supplies are available on campus from the Bay Tree Bookstore.

In addition, recommended supplies are:

  1. One or two 3.5" floppy disks to store your project files.
  2. A cheap pair of earphones with a mini-jack connector. If you have a portable tape or CD player that comes with earphones, those earphones will probably do if they have a mini-jack connector.

These supplies may be available on campus from the Bay Tree Bookstore. Off campus, you can find such supplies at a drugstore, electronics, or stationery store.

Computer accounts:

Students are required to obtain a computer account (or login) from UCSC's Communications & Technology Services, CATS. This organization manages campus-wide computer resources. All enrolled UCSC students are entitled to receive, at no additional charge, a CATS computer account, access to the CATS Instructional Computing resources, CATS-IC, and access to the CATS Information Resource Center, CATS-IRC. CATS also refers to computer accounts as athena account, unix accounts, email accounts, or network i.d..


Instructor:

Guy M. Cox – guymcox@soe.ucsc.edu

Office: Baskin Engineering 189A

Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 1:00 to 1:45 and by appointment


TAs:

Chunxiao Zhou -- chunxiao@soe.ucsc.edu
Dat Nguyen – dhnguyen@cats.ucsc.edu

 

Readers:

           

             

 

 

Lab Sections: During these times computer space is reserved for the class. TA's will be available to help you with the assignments. Attendance of the labs is optional though highly recommended. A schedule of section times can be found on the class webpage.


Class Webpage: http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe003/Winter03

 

Evaluation: The course work will be weighted as follows:

 

Course Work

Weight

Homework and Labs

40%

Midterm 1

15%

Midterm 2

15%

Midterm 3

15%

Final Project

15%

Total

100%

 

· Extra credit for lab/lecture attendance

  1. You will get credit for time spent in sections or lecture
    1. Initial a sheet during section or lecture
      1. Only one section per week will count.
      2. TA will cross out the initial if you sign in and immediately leave.
    2. Initial a sheet during the lecture.
      1. TA will cross out the initial if you sign in and immediately leave.
  2. This is extra credit for attendance. This credit will NOT be given for any other reason, even if the reason for missing lecture/lab is illness.  It will be taken into consideration when assigning final grades for the course.

There may be other chances for extra credit during the quarter.  When they arise the information will be duly noted on the lab assignment, or announced in lecture.

Homework and lab assignments will be available on the web site well in advance of their due date. Late homework will not be accepted.  The grades for the labs and homework will be weighted as follows:

Assignment

Weight

Hw #1 – email

5

Hw #2 – web search

10

Hw #3 – web page

20

Hw #4 – document preparation

15

Hw #5 – programming

25

Hw #6 – Spread Sheet Budget

25

Total

100

Please note that the first assignment (Hw #1) must be successfully completed to stay in this class.  If you fail to complete it on time, you will be dropped from the class.

The final project will be a presentation of your thoughts about your previous work. The required content of the final project is posted on the web.

Grading:  The grades achieved will be assigned as follows:

Grade

Score

A

90 – 100%

B

80 – 89.99%

C

70 – 79.99%

D

60 – 69.99%

Fail

< 60%

 

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:

 

1.      Jan 3 (F)  Class Objectives, Overview, Structure, Assignments and Grading, plus a short History of Computers

Read and clearly understand the class syllabus, the organizational structure of the book, the course assignments and the due dates.

 

2.      Jan 6 (M)  Computers

Read Chapter 1, Computers: Tools for an Information Age

 

3.      Jan 8 (W)  Computers (cont.)

 

4.      Jan 10 (F)  Operating Systems

Read Chapter 2, Operating Systems: Software in the Background

 

5.      Jan 13 (M)  Operating Systems (cont.)

Homework #1 Due (via E-Mail only)

 

6.      Jan 15 (W)  Applications Software

Read Chapter 3, Applications Software: Getting the Work Done.

 

7.      Jan 17 (F)  The Internet

Read Chapter 8, The Internet: A Resource for All of Us.

 

8.      Jan 20 (M)  Holiday – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

1.      Jan 22 (W)  The Internet (cont.)

Homework #2 Due:  Web Search

 

2.      Jan 24 (F)  CPU

Read Chapter 4, The Central Processing unit: What Goes on Inside the Computer.

 

3.      Jan 27 (M)  CPU (cont.)

 

4.      Jan 29 (W)  Mid-Term #1

Chapters 1 – 4 and 8

 

5.      Jan 31 (F) Word Processing

Read Chapter 12, Word Processing and Desktop Publishing: Printing it.

 

6.      Feb 3 (M) HTML – Hypertext Markup Language

Read Chapter 10, Writing Your Own Web Page: Using HTML and FrontPage

Homework #3 Due:  Web Page

 

7.      Feb 5 (W) HTML (cont.)

 

8.      Feb 7 (F) Input/Output

Read Chapter 5, Input and Output: the User Connection

 

9.      Feb 10 (M) Input/Output (cont.)

 

10.  Feb 12 (W) Guest Speaker

Homework #4 Due: Document Preparation

 

11.  Feb 14 (F) Networking

Read Chapter 7, Networking: Computer Connections

 

12.  Feb 17 (M)  Holiday – President’s Day

 

13.  Feb 19 (W) Networking  (cont.)

 

14.  Feb 21 (F) E-Business

Read Chapter 9, The Internet in business: Corporations, small Businesses, and Entrepreneurs.

 

15.  Feb 24 (M) Midterm #2

Chapters 5, 7, 9, 10, & 12

 

16.  Feb 26 (W) Security

Read Chapter 11, Security and Privacy: Computers and the Internet

 

17.  Feb 28 (F) Security (cont.)

 Homework #5 Due:  Programming

 

18.  Mar 3 (M) Spread Sheets

Read Chapter 13, Spreadsheets and Business Graphics: Facts and Figures

 

19.  Mar 5 (W) Storage & Multimedia
     Read Chapter 6, Storage and Multimedia: The Facts and More.

 

20.  Mar 7 (F) Database Management systems

Read Chapter 14, Database Management: Getting Data Together.

 

21.  Mar 10 (M) Systems Analysis

Read Chapter 15, Systems Analysis and Design: The Big Picture.

 

22.  Mar 12 (W) Programming

Read Chapter 16, Programming and Languages: Telling the computer what to Do.

Homework #6 Due:  Spreadsheet

 

23.  Mar 14 (F) MIS (Management Information systems)

Read Chapter 17, Management Information Systems: Classic Models and New Approaches

 

 

 

FINAL EXAM:

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 – 8:00 – 11:00 AM

Note: this exam is Midterm #3 and will cover Chapters 6, 11 and 13 - 17.

 

Final Project:

Due at beginning of final exam class meeting – by 8:05 AM March 19, 2003

 

Note: All written assignments must be prepared using a word processor – no exception (this class is about learning to use a computer).  A handwritten assignment will be rejected, and given a score of 0.

 

DUE DATES: All written assignments are due on the dates indicated. Submissions after the due date will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade. Absence from class does not excuse late papers unless arrangements have been made with the instructor before the day that the assignment is due.

 

MAKE-UP EXAMS: Exams must be taken when they are scheduled. Make-up exams will be available only if the student has received permission from the instructor to take a make-up exam before the exam is given to the rest of the class.  No make-up will be possible for the Final, don’t even ask.

 

LECTURES AND EXAMS: Exam problems may be taken from the lecture material (particularly from guest speakers). If you cannot make a lecture, make sure you get notes on the material you missed.

Days where class will not meet
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Monday, January 20, 2003.
President’s Day: Monday, February 17, 2003.


Academic Honesty:
In recent years, there has been an increased number of cheating incidents in many UC campuses, and unfortunately, UCSC is no exception. The School of Engineering has a zero tolerance policy for any incident of academic dishonesty. If cheating occurs, there may be consequences within the context of the course, and in addition, every case of academic dishonesty is referred to the students' college Provost, who then sets the disciplinary process in motion. Cheating in any part of the course may lead to failing the course and suspension or dismissal from the university

What is cheating? In short, it is presenting someone else's work as your own. Examples would include copying another student's written or electronic homework assignment, or allowing your own work to be copied. Although you may discuss problems with fellow students, your collaboration must be at the level of ideas only. Legitimate collaboration ends when you "lend", "borrow", or "trade" written or electronic solutions to problems, or in any way share in the act of writing or transmitting your answers. If you do collaborate (legitimately) or receive help from anyone, you must credit them by placing their name(s) at the top of your paper or assignment.

What is academic integrity? Well one example is changing your answers and resubmitting a paper for additional points. Another example is taking an exam for another student.

The following is from the Fall 1999 Schedule of classes under General Information:

Academic Integrity
All members of the UCSC academic community have an explicit responsibility to present as their original work only that which is truly their own. Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty are contrary to the ideals and purposes of a university and will not be tolerated. Note that plagiarism includes the deliberate misrepresentation of someone else's words and ideas as your own, as well as paraphrasing without footnoting the source. Students and faculty are jointly responsible for assuring that the integrity of scholarship is valued and preserved.

Due Process
Students charged with academic dishonesty have the right to due process through established policies and regulations concerning student conduct and discipline. Copies of these policies and regulations can be found in the Rule Book (www2.ucsc.edu/judicial/) which is available at the offices of each college provost, the dean of graduate studies, and the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.

The official UCSC policy concerning academic integrity, including disciplinary procedures and student rights and responsibilities can be found at the website: http://oasas.ucsc.edu/avcue/integrity

With all of that said, let's make this a fun quarter!

 

RETURN TO CLASS WEB PAGE

guymcox@soe.ucsc.edu