Syllabus - CIS 235 IT in Business

Description

CIS 235 - Information Technology in Business uses advanced software (Word 2007, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007 and Access 2007) to solve and analyze business problems using integration of the applications in a business environment.

Recommended prerequisite: CIS 120 and CIS 131
Credits: 4 (Lecture: 3; Lab: 2)

Course Outcomes

There are three primary outcomes for this course. Students will show their achievement of these outcomes by demonstrating their skills and understanding with individual competencies as measured by the course activities.

1. Use Office suite software for communication, sharing/promoting ideas, and documenting procedures.
2. Create and manage a database for efficient and effective decision-making.
3. Demonstrate problem-solving with software.

Some of the specific skills I'll ask students to demonstrate during the course via assignments and exams will be...

• to work with others to brainstorm ideas and create materials to better their business
• to create promotional materials for a business and event with Word and PowerPoint
• to create newsletters for interoffice or customers with Word
• to create training documentation for employee skills and procedures with Word
• to promote a business or event using the Web
• to manage business expenses, employees, and inventory with Excel
• to manage business expenses, employees, and inventory with Access
• to present business or event information to an audience with PowerPoint

Prerequisite Skills

Prior to starting class, CIS 235 students need to possess digital literacy skills as demonstrated by successful completion of CIS 120 or IC³ Certification and software skills as demonstrated by successful completion of CIS 131. These skills include, but are not limited to...

• start-up, reboot, and shut down a computer.
• operate a computer keyboard and know about the basic use of the Alt, Control, and Shift keys.
• operate a mouse and be able to determine when clicking, double-clicking, and right-clicking are appropriate.
• save files to disk (portable storage) and retrieve/open files that have been previously saved.
• create folders and sub-folders within the My Documents folder and portable storage devices.
• Create multi-page Word documents with proper use of paragraph formatting, headers, and footers.
• Create worksheets with proper use of formula and functions, cell formatting, and charts.
• research information online.

Meeting Time/Location

This course meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:15am to 12:30pm.

Exams

This course has a mid-term exam and a final exam. The final exam is cumulative and will assess understanding and skills practiced throughout the entire course. Check the schedule below for exam dates.

Instructor

Ralph R Phillips, Assistant Professor

My e-mail address is rrphillips [at] cocc.edu. Please use descriptive subjects when sending an e-mail. "Problem changing page orientation for one page" is a better subject line than "Help!". E-mails without a subject are filtered to get automatically trashed. See http://rrphillips.cocc.edu for more contact information.

Course Text and Supplies

Microsoft Office 2007 In Business Core (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
by Joseph J. Manzo (Author), Dee Piziak (Author), Christine J. Rhoads (Author)

The course text is requied and will be used for graded activities including quiz and exam preparation. This course will also make extensive use of resources online:

• Ralph Phillips web site: http://rrphillips.cocc.edu
• Virtual Class Environment (Face-to-Face classes): http://cocc.na3.acrobat.com/rrphillips-class/
• The CIS 235 YouTube playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=976416333A6736E5
• The Atomic Learning Videos: http://movies.atomiclearning.com/highed/tutorials

For the greatest convenience, students should use a portable USB drive for file management. Portable USB drives are readily available for under $10 at office supply and electronics/computer stores.

Students will also need to use 2007 versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access during the course. These programs are available at school labs and students can acquire Microsoft Office Ultimate for only $59.95. This is a great deal and worth the money.

Course Topics and Activities Schedule

Unless stated otherwise, the activities are due at 11:59pm. Although quizzes aren't listed in the schedule, we will tend to have at least one quiz per week, sometimes two. Some quizzes will be taken in class and some will be taken at home depending on time available and the topic.

Calculating Your Grade

Activities completed will be worth a certain amount of points depending on the activity category. A student will know their current standing in class by dividing the total number of points earned by the points possible up that time. So, if by week seven a student has earned 550 points and 720 points have been possible, then that student would have 76.4% (550/720) at week seven. A course will have approximately 1,000 points possible.

By keeping track of the number of points earned a student will know their percentage grade by dividing points earned by points possible. With percentage grade known, the letter grades will be...

^*CIS students must earn a C or higher for the credits in that course to count as part of their degree. For courses that offer a pass/fail, a C or higher must be earned in order to be considered a pass.

Late or Incomplete Assignments/Activities

• Only two homework assignments can be turned in late during the term. The late assignment(s) must be turned in by the Friday before the final exam.
  
• Quizzes cannot be turned in late.
• In-class assignments cannot be turned in late.
  
• Exams that are scheduled for specific days or class meetings that are missed will earn a zero grade unless the reason for the missed activity was reasonable and notification was made to the instructor prior to or very soon after the activity.

Students that miss a class are responsible double-checking the topics schedule and for getting notes from classmates and reviewing class recordings/handouts (if available). Asking "what did I miss in the last class?" will get a needle poked into the voodoo doll likeness I keep of every student.

Incomplete Course Grades

Getting an Incomplete for a course grade is very rare. To be considered for an incomplete grade, students must...

• have earned 70% of the possible points from assignments and quizzes.
• have scored 70% or higher on the mid-term exam.
• have experienced a significant hardship in the last three weeks of the term.

Students who haven't shown they were on track to earn a C or higher should withdraw from the course prior to the eighth week.

Commitment

Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing. -- Thomas Edison

Success in any class depends greatly on the student's commitment. A full-term, 4-credit course requires approximately 12-15 hours of work, each week, away from class. This includes reading the text, working on assignments/projects, and practicing the skills demonstrated in class or online. Students seeking exceptional grades often need to put forth exceptional effort, working for more than 12 hours in a week for a particular class.

• Online classes tend to be more challenging for students' time management, so more time per week is often needed.
• Summer classes tend to be more challenging as the same amount of material is compressed within fewer weeks.
• Keep your instructor posted on problems you're having with the school work early on so that small problems do not turn into big problems. Visit during office hours and homework labs.

Disability Accommodations

Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should know of, or who need special arrangements in the event of evacuation, should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible, no later than the first week of the term. Students any also wish to contact the COCC Disabilities Services Office in Boyle Education Center, extension 7583.

Personal Counseling, to help with time management, stress, depression and the many other personal situations affecting students. Call the CAP Center at 383-7200 to schedule an appointment.

Insurance

Students are not covered by medical insurance while on campus or involved in college classes and activities. Students are responsible for their own medical and dental insurance coverage. Information on student insurance coverage can be obtained at the student health center in Grandview or at the cashier in the Boyle Education Center. If you have specific questions or concerns regarding student insurance coverage you should discuss them with the Program Coordinator or Department Chairperson.

Plagiarism

All students are expected to practice the highest standards of academic honesty. Cheating on assignments, quizzes or exams or plagiarizing other people's work is unacceptable and may lead to a failing grade. Plagiarism is using, borrowing or stealing someone else's words or ideas without giving appropriate credit to the original author. This includes copying definitions and sentences from textbooks, other student's papers, the Internet or any other source. Students are expected to complete all assignments independently, unless it is a designated group project. In addition to traditional forms of cheating, cheating in a computer class includes:

• copying content or images from a web site without credit to the source
• using page kits or similar design templates without permission
• sharing files or using another file found on the computer
• working together to produce identical or very similar outcomes
• Communicating with others while taking online assessments

When in doubt, ask.

Equal Opportunity Policy

COCC has a continuing commitment to programs of equal opportunity and affirmative action to extend community services and educational, employment and promotional opportunities to all legally protected classes.

COCC does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status. The College complies with all federal legislation and civil rights laws of the State of Oregon.