INFM 200-10
Informatics Fundamentals
Spring 2021 Syllabus

Jason Kaltenbacher
E-mail
Office Hours: By appointment via telephone or online

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 11th at 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.

Course Description

A broad perspective and understanding of informatics as a technical skillset that focuses on user-centered systems and balances legal and ethical considerations and measures. Examines informatics applications in specific and interprofessional contexts. Note: Course satisfies graduate-level GWAR in this master's program.

Course Requirements

Assignments
Lectures, discussions, assignments, and rubrics will be posted to the Canvas course management system. Links to additional materials will be provided in Canvas as well.

Summary of assignments and points earned:

• Discussion Board (topic briefs) - 5 points each X 6 = 30 points [CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4]
• Information Security Article Review - 10 points [CLOs 1, 4]
• Research Project - 40 points in total: 
  • Topic Proposal & Article Analysis - 10 points [CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4]
  • Informatics Research Paper - 30 points [CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4]
• Informatics Fundamentals Presentation - 20 points [CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4]

Total number of points for this class is 100.

NOTE: For weeks with required discussion board postings, students should provide their initial post by Wednesday at midnight (Pacific Time), to leave ample time for follow-up discussion. Please participate actively in the required discussions.

The Informatics Research Paper meets GWAR requirements of being at least 3000 words long, uses APA reference and format styling, individually completed, and is 30% of the total course grade. Students will have the opportunity to submit a draft of their paper to the instructor for formal instructor feedback. Students can then incorporate this feedback into the final version of the paper submitted for grading.

Assignments Due

Unless otherwise noted, each module begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. Assignments will be due by midnight (Pacific Time) on the due date.

Course Calendar

**No Class: Monday, Jan. 18, 2021 (MLK Birthday)

Grading

1. Course grades are determined by the accumulation of 100 possible points, distributed as outlined above in the course calendar.
2. This class follows the standard iSchool Grading Scale. 
3. Late assignments will not be accepted after 5 days past the due date. Late assignments submitted after the assignment deadline will receive a 10% point reduction for each day up to 5 days based on the total point value of the assignment. For example, a 25 point assignment would have a daily 2.5 point reduction; a 15 point assignment would have a daily 1.5 point reduction; a 5 point assignment would have a daily 0.5 point reduction. No points will be awarded after 5 days late.
4. Discussion board postings will not be accepted for credit after the week's discussion has ended.
5. All course materials must be completed by the last day of the class.

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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. Describe and explain with current information technologies and best practices with a special focus on records and security.
2. Demonstrate fundamental understanding of the importance of legal compliance and ethical considerations and their applicability to the use of technology and impact on various user communities.
3. Know the privacy, access, and freedom of information laws and how to apply them in informatics applications.
4. Analyze informatics problems in a variety of contexts.

SLOs and PLOs

This course supports Informatics SLO 1: Conceptualize and design informatics applications for specific challenges and contexts to demonstrate a broad understanding of informatics as a technical skill set focusing on user-centered systems that balance legal and ethical considerations and measures.

SLO 1 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 2 Evaluate, manage, and develop electronic records programs and applications in a specific organizational setting.
• PLO 3 Demonstrate strong understanding of security and ethics issues related to informatics, user interface, and inter-professional application of informatics in specific fields by designing and implementing appropriate information assurance and ethics and privacy solutions.
• PLO 4 Identify user needs, ideate informatics products and services, prototype new concepts, and evaluate a prototype's usability.
• PLO 6 Conduct informatics analysis and visualization applied to different real-world fields, such as health science and sports.

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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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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