Syllabus

Document Quick-Links: Communications and Email Criteria | Grading Information| Assignments and the Project | Dropbox | Criteria | Quizzes & Exams | Make-up Options Ethical Conduct | Course Calendar

Communications:

Check your UWEC email and D2L News daily for class-related updates or announcements.

Use the Raise Your Hand discussion forum to post questions related to course content and assignments. Although I typically check the forum frequently, fellow student replies are encouraged. Do not provide complete homework files.

Email criteria:

• Emails not following proper criteria may receive a blank reply.
• Include both your name and the class name in your correspondence.
• In business, as with course-related correspondence, email is regarded as a professional means of communication. Proper capitalization and punctuation are required.
• Be sure to use your campus email address, as other addresses are often automatically sent to a junk folder, or seen as SPAM.

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Grading Information:

Grading scale - Letter grades are based on the grading scale below and determined by the percentage of points earned in the assessments.

A 93 - 100%, A- 90 - 92%
B+ 87 - 89%, B 93 - 86%, B- 80 - 82%
C+ 77 - 79%, C 73 - 76%, C- 70 - 72%
D+ 67 - 69%, D 63 - 66%, D-  60 - 62%
F 0 - 59%

Grades are automatically rounded to the next whole number. For example, an 89.4x is a B+, where 89.5+ is rounded up to an A-. There are no exceptions or "bumping up" of grades "close" to the next higher grade level.

Assessment items, Approximate % of overall grade
Assignments & Project: 67%
Quizzes: 11%
Unit Exams: 22%

Assignments and the Database Development Project:

Each student will be required to complete a multiple-component database development project during the semester in addition to various other assignments. The project will be developed in progressive phases, each building on prior knowledge and consisting of various software components including Microsoft Access, Visio, and Word.

Assignment and project component files must be named using the Asn-X and Proj-CX prefix followed by your last and first name. For example, the completed Word document for Asn-1: Data Backup must be named Asn-1_LastnameFirstname, and Project-C1: Business Idea must be named Project-C1_LastnameFirstname (e.g., Project-C1_GriffinMeg)

The standard course heading used for Word and Visio documents must contain your name, course, assignment or project, and current date. The heading must be left aligned, on the leftmost top of the document, and formatted as shown below:

Kyle Broflovski
IS290, Asn-1: Data Backup
09/23/13

Competency Standards: All assessment items must be completed at a competency level appropriate for a college student. A minimum of 10% of your assessment grade may be assessed on the following criteria:

• Central Theme/Topic/Issue; Clear, Succinct
• Logical and Coherent Organization
• Appropriate Level of Supporting Detail
• Visual Appeal (heading structure, graphic highlighting, paragraph length)
• Syntax, Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Mechanics

Dropbox Criteria:

You are expected to know how to use the D2L Dropbox properly, and recognize that it is YOUR responsibility to verify that all your materials are submitted successfully to the appropriate Dropbox on time. If you do not have experience with D2L or the Dropbox, please contact the instructor.

You will receive an e-mail from D2L indicating that you successfully uploaded a file to the Dropbox. If you did not receive the email, assume the file was not successfully uploaded and verify the procedure. Keep a copy of your email message!

If you submit an incorrect file by mistake, you may submit one additional file before the deadline as long as it has not already been graded. Files submitted beyond the 2nd submission will be ignored. Be sure to put a comment in the Description box letting your instructor know which file you want graded.

If you fail to submit a required file to the Dropbox, regardless of the reason, you will be required to use one of your make-up options for reduced credit. If you used up both make-up options, you will receive 0 credit.

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Quizzes & Exams:

Quizzes:

The Week 1 Quiz has 10 questions based on the Course Syllabus, FAQ, and D2L reading, and has unlimited attempts with no time limit.

There are also four 10-question, 10-point, D2L-based chapter quizzes with two attempts (highest attempt recorded), each with a 20 minute consecutive time limit.

The questions are selected randomly from a 25-question pool and cover textbook material. It is advised to take both attempts, since the same question pool will be used for a percentage of the unit exam questions.

Exams:

There are four 25-question, 25-point D2L-based unit exams with one attempt and a 50 minute consecutive time limit.

The questions are selected randomly from the quiz question pool, in-class activities, and project/assignment material. The Unit 4 (final) Exam will not contain questions from the textbook quiz pool.

Upon completing the exam, the submission view will not immediately display questions or feedback. Any time after the exam period ends, the submission view will display all non-quiz pool questions and responses along with the correct answer and feedback. To access the submission view, click the action arrow beside the quiz and select Submissions, and click on Attempt 1.

Assessment Make-up Options:

Each student has two opportunities during the semester to submit or complete a missed or late assessment item. This includes project components, assignments, quizzes, or exams.

Students must contact the instructor before 3:30 p.m. on the Thursday following the missed item's due date in order to use a make-up option. A 25% late penalty will be assessed on the first make-up item, and a 50% late penalty will be assessed on the second make-up item. After contacting the instructor, the student will have until the following evening at 11:59 p.m. to complete or submit the assessment item.

The Make-up options cannot be used for assessment items due during the last week of the regular semester, or the final exam.

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Ethical Conduct:

To pass this course, you are to behave in accordance with defined norms of professional ethics. In part, these include submitting assessment items and arriving in class on time; doing your own work on all assessment items; attending all class sessions; behaving collegially; and obeying the law. Unethical behavior will be dealt with according to University policy (http://www.uwec.edu/DOS/policies/).

You are expected to attend class and prepare for class by reading the appropriate material as listed in the weekly assignments. If you must miss class for any reason, you are held responsible for obtaining notes, handouts, assignments and any other materials that you may have missed due to non-attendance. The instructor will not hold a personal "review" session for missed classes.

Everyone has the right to learn in this class. Facebook, YouTube, texting, & IM are great technology tools – but a distraction to you, the instructor, and to others around you. Keep them (and games) closed during class or the technology use policy for this course WILL change!

Academic Misconduct: You must do your own work on all assessment items. Always log in with your own user name from the computer you are using while completing assignments. File tracking and encrypted coding procedures are used, and students caught sharing or submitting the same file, parts of a file, or submitting another persons work as their own will receive a zero for the assessment grade, and further action may be taken according to the UWS 14-Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures (http://www.uwec.edu/DOS/policies/academic/index.htm).

Copyright: Standard copyright laws apply to all course material. Review http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf for copyright laws and information.

Accommodation of Disabilities:

Students with disabilities are encouraged to discuss their needs with the instructor, preferably during the first week of class. All reasonable accommodations will be made to see that disabilities do not restrict a student's opportunity to learn. Help is also available from Office for Services to Students with Disabilities (Old Library 2136, phone 715-836-4542).

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