**What You Want**

Week by Week Plan

Individual Exercises are completed on an individual basis and are designed to sharpen skills required in Information Systems. Exercises provide practice in implementing design concepts and anchoring your knowledge in concrete experiences. We can talk about a topic such as wireless networks all we want, but until you've implemented a working example, you won't really grasp the fundamentals. Exercises are heavily penalized when turned in after the due date (10% per day).


Week One/Two Assignment (Due September 14)


Assignment 1 -- Object Oriented Program (Due October 9)
Assignment 2 -- ADO Program (Due November 6)
Assignment 3 -- ASPX/ASMX Program (Due December 11)


**What you Need**

Time

MW, 5:30-6:45

Room

SSS 208

Office Hours

Open Door Policy, SSS 413: If I'm in (and I'm free), I'll help.

Contact

Email
Phone: 715-836-5968

Overview

This is the second programming course in the IS Department at UW-Eau Claire. In this course, we pick up where you left off in IS304 and work with object oriented programming. We stay in the vb.net environment at explore how applications are first built in a client-server environment and then in a 3-tier environment using principles of encapsulation, abstraction, and inheritance. In addition, you are going to get exposure to ASPX and ASMX. These are Microsoft's version of putting applications on the web via client-server systems and service oriented architecture respectively.

One other thing regarding this class and this is probably the most important thing. You are going to learn how to get work done by yourself. I can give you a hand but in general, you are on your own to grasp the concepts and implement them into working solutions.

Course Objectives

The course sets out the following six objectives:
(1) Identify and explain concepts of systems development.
(2) Illustrate and determine the impact of information systems on business activities.
(3) Apply a common project process to the development of systems.
(4) Deal directly with other human actors in the development of information systems.
(5) Use information technology to ethically solve problems and make decisions.
(6) Prepare and present finding in the development of information systems.

With respect the the University, these objectives achieve:
Appreciation of the University as a learning community
Ability to inquire, think, analyze
Ability to write, read, speak, listen
Understanding of science and the scientific methods
Understanding of values
Understanding of human behavior and human institutions

With respect to the College of Business, these objectives achieve:
Oral Communication
Written Communication
Responsibility of Business in Society
Ethical Leadership
Ethical Decision Making
Team Development
Team Process and Decision Making
Team Meetings
Technology Efficiencies
Technology Effectiveness
Technology Proficiency

Learning Approach

The learning approach is based on the belief that learning is maximized when we already have an experience that relates to what we are learning. We anchor new learning in past experiences. Key topics are revisited several times through reading assignments, lectures, examples and demonstrations in class, individual exercises, examinations, and the team project.

Both individual and team effort are required in the course. Individual exercises give you a chance to practice your technical skills and reinforce important aspects of information systems. The individual exercises give you a chance show what kind of skills you have and demonstrate your information systems knowledge.

Class Participation

Obviously, to make a contribution, you must attend class. But there is more. You are expected to prepare for and participate in class so you can be an ACTIVE participant. As you know, this is the only way you really learn anything. Even if you feel a bit timid about speaking up, I strongly encourage you to give it a try.

We only meet twice a week for about 2.5 hours and if you continually miss class, your grade will be affected. Also, if you miss class and then ask me for help on the material that you missed, FORGET IT! Finally, disruptions in class are not acceptable. I'm not laying down a strict law but talking, mumbling, and falling asleep are very disruptive to me and others around you. I may have to ask you to leave if it becomes a regular thing.

Timeliness of Work

All work is expected to be completed by the dates outlined in the textblock. Changes to due dates are announced in class or emailed to you. Except for unforeseen personal emergencies, late work will NOT be accepted without a significant deduction (10% per day). Additionally, I will not continue to help with assignments that are late. In fairness to others, missing a scheduled exam results in a failure for that exam. Students with religious obligations which conflict with exam/assignment due dates must make any necessary arrangements with the instructor by the third week of class.

Score or Grade Appeals

Any score is subject to appeal. However, score changes are at the discretion of me and may be up or down based upon a complete review of the work in question. Also, if you want to do comparative scores, fine. However, you must convince the person you are comparing with to come in with you. 50-50 chance your score will go up or theirs will go down. It is important to recognize that grading reflects another's judgment of one's work. In this sense, all grading is subjective. Appealing scores on exams and other assignments is discouraged. Changing a few points on an exam or assignment rarely makes a difference in a final grade. Time is much better spent discussing/clarifying the information content presented in the course. Ask for work to be re-graded only in cases of gross unfairness. I do try to be fair.

Academic Dishonesty

It is unfortunate that this subject needs to be mentioned; but to copy another's ideas or writing and pass them off as one's own, is plagiarism. It is unethical and just plain wrong. Dishonest students suffer the risk of failing the course and being expelled from the University. Protect yourself and others by explicitly citing original sources (web, books, professor, other students, etc.) for all quoted or paraphrased material. During exams, make sure you keep your eyes on your own work, they are designed to measure your individual performance.

The Internet promotes the global sharing of ideas. We depend on this aspect of the net to learn and to give back what we create. Do not fall into the trap of borrowing others' ideas, writing, and code without attributing proper credit.

Ethics

This course covers business ethics in particular and ethics in IS more specifically. Ethics remains a critical issue to the success of organizations and it is important that you, as future employees, understand ethics at the corporate governance, leadership, personal, and societal levels. We will discuss ethics throughout the semester in the forms of privacy and intellectual property.

Textbooks

We make use of a wide variety of learning resources for the course. Many of these resources are available on the Web, but we also use a traditional text book listed below.

Visual Basic 2005: How to Program, 3rd Edition
Deitel, Deitel, and Nieto

Software

The software for the course are applications such as:

.NET
Firefox
You sort of need to have email as well.

Course Grading

Final letter grades are assigned by me and are based upon total score distribution at the end of the semester. No guarantees can be made in advance about the distribution of letter grades but in general, the A's run in the 90%'s, the B's in the 80%'s, the C's in the 70%'s, the D's in the 60%'s, etc. The total number of points available in the course is weighted approximately as follows:

Individual Exercises -- 45%
Group Project -- 25%
Exam 1 -- 15%
Exam 2 -- 15%

Examinations

Exam 1 is an open book, in-class examination composed of short answer and problem-type questions. It tests comprehension of readings and exercises covered from day-one through the date of the examination. The focus of this exam is on evaluating your knowledge about integrating and applying diverse technologies to solve business problems and create business opportunities.

Exam 2 is an open book, in-class examination testing comprehension of readings and exercises covered from the first day of class (i.e. COMPREHENSIVE). The focus of this exam is on evaluating your knowledge about integrating and applying diverse technologies to solve business problems and create business opportunities.