INFM 201
Informatics Technology Foundations
Spring 2020 Syllabus

Dr. Gerald Benoît
E-mail 
Office and appointments: as an online class I’m available to meet by Zoom video chat, email, so please shoot me an email for an appointment.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 06, 2020, 6 am PT unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.

You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.

Please note that final grades are posted with the Register’s Office after May 11.

Course Description

Analyze and implement web applications using APIs, web frameworks and infrastructure-as-a-service to support web services and web resources. The course is hands-on and moves at a fast pace.

Assignments

This schedule and related dates/readings/assignments is tentative and subject to change with fair notice. Any changes will be announced in due time in class and on the course’s website in the Canvas Learning Management System. The students are obliged to consult the most updated and detailed version of the reading material and syllabus, which will be posted on the course’s website.

Course Calendar

*Students must have a strong understanding of HTML5 and CSS3, and may be asked to produce evidence either in the form of a responsive website built using HTML5 and CSS3 or class transcripts showing classwork with HTML5 and CSS3.

 Grading

Labs/Hands-on Projects (30 points, supports CLOs 1-4) 5 points each lab.
Due Dates:  

Lab 1:  Connecting to server, issuing commands, Jan 11, 11:59 pm PST.

Lab 2:  File creation, Jan 19: 11:59 pm PST

Lab 3:  Web Database Tool, Jan 25, 11:59 pm PST.

Lab 4:  Web Web Framework Tool, Feb 08, 11:59 pm PST.

Lab 5:  Programming with Python intro, Feb 22, 11:59 pm PST.

Lab 6:  Programming with Python intro, 2; Mar 01, 11:59 pm PST.

Students will complete various virtual lab assignments.

Students will complete a hands-on project. Such projects provide students with an opportunity to work with APIs and to use web frameworks to customize websites.

Case Project (50 points, supports CLOs 1-4)
Due Dates:  Mar 09.  Students are asked to submit a first draft of their group project on March 02 to receive feedback and update, if necessary, before the Mar 09 due date.

Case projects provide students with an opportunity to evaluate different computer environment situations and decide on a course of action to remedy problems. The goal is to help students sharpen their decision-making and troubleshooting skills and they will work in teams.

Quizzes (10 points supports CLOs 1-4)

Online self-grading quiz on the content:

Quiz 1: Jan 19, 11:59 pm PST.

Quiz 2: Feb 09, 11:59 pm PST.

Participation (10 points supports CLOs 1-4)
Students are expected to participate by submitting questions, offer classmates potential solutions, discuss ideas that interest them.  Participation is not dictated - certainly, tho, learning is better when combined with teaching!

Other Relevant Information:

Whenever possible, students will find digital resources - online books, demonstration code, articles about informatics and how-to guides.

While the instructor cannot be your tech support, everything has been tested before the course.  There may be times when students will have to search online for answers, contact the SJSU tech support staff, share their questions with the instructor and fellow students.  Given the variety of individual computer set-ups, it's necessary to get to know your own computing environment.

What do you want to learn?

Under the umbrella of informatics, there are limitless opportunities for exploration.  Share your questions and ideas.

Online Texts (Downloads from here)

• Python for Everyone (pdf)
• Python Succinctly (pdf)
• Introduction to Networking (pdf)

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

Graduate Standing or Instructor Consent. 

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Analyze the requirements of a computer web application and implement the steps needed for a correct solution using web frameworks.
2. Implement the software development life-cycle from algorithm development based on a problem statement, to coding, testing, and debugging programs in the Python3 language.
3. Understand IP addresses and domain naming conventions.
4. Describe and identify common physical and logical networking topologies.

SLOs and PLOs

This course supports Informatics SLO 4: Use best practices in Web application design and information architecture to design and develop user-centered knowledge structures for the Web environment and to communicate deliverables to project stakeholders.

SLO 4 supports the following Informatics Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs):

• PLO 1 Apply technology informatics skills to solve specific industry data and information management problems, with a focus on usability and designing for users.
• PLO 4 Identify user needs, ideate informatics products and services, prototype new concepts, and evaluate a prototype's usability.
• PLO 5 Work collaboratively in teams and use project management practices effectively to solve user-centric information and data problems.

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Textbooks

Recommended Textbooks:

• Severance, C. (2015).Introduction to networking: How the Internet works. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Free from: http://net-intro.com

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.

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