CIS 150: Programming Concepts

Course Syllabus

Instructor Contact Information

Instructor:	Mr. Alan Collard
Office:	AJT 110c
Phone:	810.989.5620
E-mail:	acollard@sc4.edu

I will be available to students outside of class by appointment or during my posted Office Hours.

Catalog Description

CIS 150. Programming Concepts. This course provides an introduction to general programming topics such as: the program development cycle, data types and control structures, structured programming principles, problem solving, basic algorithms and data validation..

Prerequisites

MTH 102 or appropriate placement score (ACT or SC4 math placement exam)

Textbook(s)

1. Farrell, Joyce. Programming Logic and Design, Introductory, 4th ed. Course Technology 2006. ISBN: 1-4188-3634-6 [Required]

Course Materials

64MB+ USB Storage Device
Visual Logic Software (key code is bundled with textbook, software can be downloaded from visuallogic.org)
Python 2.4.3 & IDLE for Windows XP (Open Source, available from www.python.org)
Additional materials may be required by the instructor

Requirements

Final Grades for this course will be calculated as follows:

Written Examinations (quizzes)	25%
Final Exam	20%
In-Class Exercises	10%
Projects & Exercises	45%

1. Written examinations (quizzes) will be given during the semester. These closed book tests will consist of some combination of Matching, True/False, Multiple Choice, Fill-In, Short Answer and Essay type questions.

2. The Final Exam will be comprehensive, covering all material given during the semester. (NOTE: The final exam may be scheduled at a different time than the regular class time.)

3. Participation in class discussions and group exercises is an important part of this course, therefore all students are expected to attend class having read the textbook section for that day's lecture, and prepared to contribute to the discussion of course material.

4. Projects and exercises may include programming assignments, written homework and laboratory work. Some assignments may be graded as simply completed or not completed.

5. Completed assignments must be submitted by the due date for full credit. The responsibility to complete make-up work rests with the student. Late assignments will be marked down 25% for every week (or part of a week) they are late. For example: an assignment turned in 8 days late would be marked down 50%.

6. All work must be submitted by the last regular class period to be considered for final grade evaluation.

Grading Scale

Grades will be determined according to a standard grading scale.

A	92 - 100 %	B-	80 - 81 %	D+	68 - 69 %
A-	90 - 91 %	C+	78 - 79 %	D	62 - 67 %
B+	88 - 89 %	C	72 - 77 %	D-	60 - 61 %
B	82 - 87 %	C-	70 - 71 %	E	59 %

Policies

1. This course contains a number of hands-on assignments and projects which require use of the computer. Though some class time will be given for these assignments, students should plan to use the computers available in the Learning Resources Center (LRC) or in the Academic Achievement Center during open hours, as there will not be sufficient time to complete the assignments in class. The classroom computers are generally NOT available outside of scheduled class time.
2. Many students enjoy using their own personal computers to complete assignments.  Students are responsible for completing their homework assignments on the version of the software used in class.  Students who do not have the correct version of the software should plan to use the computers on campus. No additional consideration for late work will be made due to technical or software issues with your computer.
3. Classroom Etiquette: Be courteous in class by participating in the classroom experience. All cell phones, pagers, etc. should be turned off or to silent during class. Cell phones may not be used in the classroom (talking/texting/browsing) at any time. Personal media players (iPod, etc.) and computers should be put away and not used during class. Students who participate in disruptive behavior will be asked to leave the classroom.
4. All students are expected to be familiar with and to follow all of the guidelines set forth in the SCCCC Student Code of Conduct, available online or on pages 187-197 of  the 2007-2008 Catalog.  Of particular importance to students in this course are the sections on Technology and Academic Honesty (see 5 & 6 below).
5. Use of classroom computers is governed by the Acceptable Use Policy available in the Student Code of Conduct. Use of the classroom computers is reserved for class work only;  students may not use classroom computers to work on personal work or visit sites such as Facebook, MySpace, eBay, iTunes or other non-class related sites.
6. St. Clair County Community College considers academic honesty to be an integral necessity of all academic performance. Instances of academic dishonesty will be treated as serious offenses. Students involved in activities such as cheating and/or plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action. 
7. Students are expected to keep current with all course work. Students who, for whatever reason, fall behind and are unable to complete the course requirements before the end of the semester are encouraged to withdraw and re-take the course at a later date. Incomplete grades are extremely rare, and will only be given if 90% of the course material prior to the final exam has been completed satisfactorily.

Course Objectives

When students complete this course, they should be able to:

1. Describe the phases of the software development life cycle.

2. Describe the function and purpose of programmer’s tools (compiler, editor, interpreter, debugger, etc.).

3. Analyze a problem using top-down and bottom-up problem solving approaches.

4. Write algorithms to solve problems.

5. Develop a test set for verifying solutions to problems.

6. Describe and use data types:  integers, floating point numbers, characters, and text strings.

7. Use simple mathematical expressions.

8. Use statements in sequence to solve problems.

9. Use programming selection operations (if).

10. Use iteration operations (loops).

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