Table of Contents
Course Prerequisites
Course Objectives
Text
Hints for surviving this course
Students with disabilities
Policy on Academic Dishonesty (Cheating)
Course Attendance/Decorum
Grading
Last Day to Withdraw
Course Reading
Note about the Readings
The prerequisites for this course are both M&IS 24060 -- System Analysis I -- and M&IS 24070 -- Principles of System Development. (Or, M&IS 24070.) If you have not taken the prerequisites, you must drop this course.
Because it is available in the College computer labs, we will be using the Microsoft Visual Basic Version 6.0® programming language to implement and practice the concepts discussed in class.
It is assumed that you are familiar with Visual Basic at a level comparable to that attained in M&IS 24070 -- Principles of System Development. (Used to be ADMS 24001.) It is further assumed that you wish to learn more about programming.
If you do not have a background in Visual Basic, you must drop this course and take M&IS 24070 -- Principles or System Development instead.
In the past, many students purchased their own copies of Visual Basic. With the University's Microsoft licensing agreement, this is no longer necessary. You may install a licensed copy of Visual Basic 6.0, Professional Edition, on your own PC at no cost to you. I strongly urge that you do so. You need only go to the Library, present your student id and check out the Visual Studio Version 6.0, Professional Edition, CD set. Take this CD set to your PC and run the installation program. Install Visual Basic 6.0 (and anything else in Visual Studio that you wish). Once this is done, you will be able to work on all the Visual Basic assignments at this PC.
Be certain that you install Visual Studio 6.0. You can install Visual Studio .Net. But,we will not be using it as it is not available in the College PC Lab.
!!! Warning !!!
Do not install the software on the CD which comes with the text. This is a
stripped down version of Visual Basic 6.0. For this course, you need the
Professional Edition. This is freely available to you at the KSU Library.
Simply check out the Visual Studio 6.0 CDs, take them home, and install Visual
Studio 6.0 on your PC.
Hints for Surviving This Course
Survival is not guaranteed. And, it is your responsibility. The following are some suggestions that will help you.
The latter point is particularly important when submitting Visual Basic® homework's. A Visual Basic® project is always composed of a minimum of two files. It may be composed of a significantly larger number of files. If a needed file is not submitted, the project cannot be loaded and executed. Submitting only some of the files required for a project will result in a grade of zero on that homework.
A note of warning: Your homeworks are submitted to a PC that uses the Linux operating system. As a result, you must exercise some caution in choosing names for the files that you create. If you do not, you will be unable to upload your homework assignments or, you may inadvertently create a situation where one of your files is lost. You should observe the following conventions when naming homework files.
More information on ListServe can be found at HTTP://ACT.KENT.EDU/LISTREQ or at HTTP://WWW.LSOFT.COM/MANUALS/INDEX.HTML
Participation in the ListServe is totally voluntary. If you chose not to be a member, that's fine. All announcements and important messages related to the course will be distributed through the announcement portion of the course home page that is accessible from the World Wide Web.
One note: It is inappropriate to post specific code solutions to homework problems on the ListServe. Anyone doing so will lose his/her ListServe privileges. And, if the posting is particularly egregious, the individual may risk severely and negatively impacting his/her grade. The ListServe is provided to help you learn to solve problems. It is not meant to provide solutions.
In accordance with University policy, if you have a disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact me at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) in the Michael Schwartz Student Services Center (672-3391).
It is expected that all work you submit for a grade will be your own. If this is not the case, a failing grade will be assigned for this course and the instructor reserves the right to pursue additional sanctions as provided by University rules and regulations. If you are not familiar with these rules and regulations, you can find them in the current University Phone Directory.
In particular, each of you must submit your own assignments. Should two or more of you submit identical or substantially identical assignments, then I can only assume that one (or more) of you copied from the other(s). In such a circumstance, every student involved will receive a failing grade for the course. Additional sanctions may be pursued in accord with University rules and regulations.
You need to realize that the only way in which you can learn to program is to write programs of increasing complexity. If you submit someone else's work, you are cheating yourself and all other students. I will not tolerate this. Several students have found, in the past, that I am serious about punishing cheating with failure. Don't cheat yourself. I'm available quite a bit and willing to help you when you ask. There are numerous other resources you can call on. It's better not to submit a homework than to submit someone else's.
Class attendance is not required. However, it is strongly encouraged. And, you are responsible for all material covered in class.
A note on class decorum:
I interpret your coming to class as an expression of your interest in learning as much as you possibly can. Certainly, you should assume that this is your classmates' intention in being here. In fairness to your classmates (and me), I expect you to refrain from talking to others, reading newspapers, sleeping, playing radios or CDs, making telephone calls and other similar, possibly disruptive activities. Don't be surprised if I ask you or someone else to leave because of conduct detrimental to the class. If you simply must study for a test later that day, stay home, go to the Library, find a bench outdoors. Don't plan on doing it in class.
Your final grade in this course will be based on your performance on the homeworks. These are: There will be 8 or more homework assignments. Each of these will be available on the web site for this course. Each has a due date and a due time. Late assignments will not be accepted. The course home page will be updated whenever a homework assignment becomes available. You need to check the course home page to get your homework assignments. Please be aware that the homework assignments will not be of equal value. For example, the first is worth 5 points, while the second is worth 15 points. A letter grade of A will be earned if you have a total score of 90% or more. A B will be earned for a total score that is at least 80% and less than 90%. For a C, you must have at least 70% and less than 80%. A D will be assigned with at least 60% and less than 70% for your total score. An F will be assigned to all students receiving a total score that is less than 60%. Note, a total score of 79.8% is less than 80% and will result in a final grade of C.
As the semester progresses, I will be posting homework scores on the WEB. You will be able to see them by clicking on the Grades link on the course home page. The last four digits of your social security number will be used to identify you.
The last day to withdraw from this course is Saturday November 2, 2002. Please keep this date in mind.
Right now, you should read chapters 1 through 8 and the first section of chapter 10 in the Bradley and Millspaugh book. Virtually all of this should be review. And, it will be covered in class -- but quickly. For the remainder of the semester, it is up to you to decide which portions of the text to read and when. Your text and any supplementary Visual Basic®: book you may have bought are reference materials. You need to learn how to use them on your own. The index and table of contents are always good places to start.
One certain thing about using computers is change. Today's most widely used computers, programming languages, information systems, etc. did not exist five to ten years ago and will probably not exist (or at least be significantly modified) in five to ten years. Change can be (and often is) radical in the IS field. Those of you who intend to enter this field for your careers must be prepared to embrace change and to adopt new technologies as they become available. The basic principles that you learn in this and other IS courses will continue to be valid. However, the specific tools will soon be obsolete. Your challenge is to develop habits that will assist you in making numerous professional transitions to new technologies and environments. Each of you must be prepared to take the initiative in your continuing education both during and after school.
This course is designed to help you develop skills that will serve you in an ever changing professional environment. In particular, your text and any other supplementary materials you may acquire are resources to help you master important concepts. You should take the extra time to familiarize yourself with them. Skim them to get an overview of their contents. Learn to use the index to find material related to that presented in class. Take advantage of Visual Basic's Help system. Learn to use Function Key 1 to get help on an object or Visual Basic key word. Take advantage of the related topics links that VB Help presents you with. Ask yourself whether there might be an easier way to accomplish your objective than that presented in class. (There often is.)