IT 232 Web Development II

All Online Course, revised Spring, 2014

Syllabus

Instructor: L. Edward Allemand, Ph.D.

Best, Fastest Way to Contact Me with Questions, Difficulties: I am not available by phone. Since this is an all online course there are no in-person office hours. So email remains the best way to contact me. However, please note in the first section what I say about trying to debug code by email. If I find for this course that it seems to be necessary I will either set up a chat room at specific times or schedule some in person office hours.

News Section of D2L You should read regularly the News section of the D2L Curse homepage (center column) . Weekly summaries, deliverables, updates will appear in this section.

Email: If you must use email generally use it only for private matters. Please see the Policy section of this syllabus regarding private matters such as health and family issues. allemand@cdm.depaul.edu Use only this email, not a general De Paul email address or any other email return address given you by the system. If it is not allemand@cdm.depaul.edu I won’t get it.

Office Hours : Mondays 11:00 to 11:30 CDM Bldg 7^th fl Rm 705. And again in the classroom for 30 minutes after each class.

This course is an all online section of IT231. Thus, it makes full use of the university’s CMS, D2L, with all its facilities. It is your home base for the course. Because it is now the university’s standard CMS there is some presumption of your familiarity with it. BUT if you are not familiar with it here is a quick tour (follow these steps)

· Go to http://d2l.depaul.edu and login with your campus connection userid and password. This brings you to your homepage with a listing of courses available to you in the center column (there may only be this one)

· Click on this course listing in the center column – this brings you to the “Course Home Page

· In the Left Hand column of that page there is a part by part explanation of the system

· You will also find links to in-class lecture videos in this same column (see COLrecordings widget) They are usually available about an hour after the in-class lecture concludes at 9:00 PM.

Texts

Suggested Book Help: Learning Rails 3 by Simon St. Laurent, et al., O’Reilly publishers. This is a good overall view of RailsCourse Schedule

Consult the Checklist section in D2L for topics by week and your expected work. This is really the best way to assess the “work involved” in the course week by week. Each week will have an explanation of “Deliverables” and Due Dates. Again, you should also read regularly the News section of the D2L Curse homepage (center column) . Weekly summaries, deliverables, updates will appear in this section. Also see the calendar on the the Home Page of the Course.

Overview The course is project based. Students create a database-backed web application that supports user login and allows users to post content. We will use the Ruby on Rails framework for web development in this class. You should try to think in terms of dealing with a web development client and you are the consultant building the site. Ruby on Rails is a way of doing fast prototyping for the client as well as developing the entire site.

Background Knowledge

The course presumes the knowledge gained in IT231. Students should be familiar with elementary programming concepts including the use of variables, assignment statements and conditionals (e.g. if statements). A knowledge of object oriented programming ideas is important but will be reviewed in the course. If you have taken an object-oriented programming language like Java, or have take the Ruby you are ahead of the game. Students should also have prior experience with formatting web pages using HTML and CSS. Please note in the class list the topic on HTML5. I will cover database concepts in a limited way but a basic course in database certainly won’t hurt as prep. Javascript is reviewed and is a part of the final assignment. We will investigate various kinds of deployment (putting a site on the internet) but actual deployment will not be necessary.

Percentage of Course Grade (100%)

If you look at the point assignments below you will see that the programming assignments and assignment #1 for the plan add up to 100 pts. The extra credit final is for those who want to add a possible 5pts to the total but if you have a good score going it is not necessary. I have rearranged the pt assignment to give #3 the greatest percentage (30%) since that has turned out to be the most difficult for most people. There are two dates on all assignments – one is the due date which is the date the assignment is due for full credit. The other is the End Date – usually a grace period of two to three days after the Due Date. The final assignment usually does not have this grace period and is therefore absolute. After the End Date the system blocks you from submission. You must then submit by email as an attachment to me. I will make a judgment on the grade based on the quality of the work, the reason for being so late, and fairness to those who completed the work on time.

100	Assignments: #1 Project Plan #2 Customizing Scaffold #3 Database work #4 Complex authorization #5 Ajax additions, complete project	10% 20% 30% 20% 20%
	Optional extra credit Final	5%

Criteria for Scoring of Programming Assignments

For each Dropbox assignment you prepare a document either in Word or a .pdf document.  For each requirement of the dropbox assignment prepare a section and title it.  Then, you should include a screen shot of your work and results in your document.  Code for the controller should also be included when it is different than those provided by a scaffold.  Put a short verbal description of what you are showing me in each section. You add this report as an attached file in the dropbox submission.

Thus, for instance, in Assignment #2 requirement number 2 in the dropbox instructions I should get a screen shot of the Flash page and one of a linked view page.

Do not send zipped code to me unless I request it.

Criteria for grading in each case there is a point assignment out of the total points of the assignment. All programming assignments up to the last are 20 pts each. The last counts for 30 pts.

1.) Always turn in something in the dropbox as an attached file or else you get a zero for the assignment. However, a totally blank report will receive zero as well. All it tells me is that you are still breathing!!! Generally, as in the industry, late work is not accepted.

2.) Some successful work but not all requirements finished, the assignment will receive 8/20 or 10/20 pts depending on amount finished and working.

3.) All requirements met but with one or two flaws such as an error in coding or in the logic or one item that just doesn’t work quite right or a missing view or incomplete view will receive 10/20 to 17/20 pts depending on what’s not working

4.) All requirements met and demonstrated clearly in the report with screen shots: 18/20 to 20/20 where 20/20 is a really good piece of work both in the program and in the report

Grade-Point Standards

A 90.0% and above C+ 77.0%

A- 88.0% C 72.0%

B+ 85.0% C- 70.0%

B 82.0% D+ 68.0%

B- 80.0% D 60.0% F Below 60%

Policies (please read carefully)

Incompletes and Other Exceptions to Schedules, Grades and Grading :

Things sometimes happen but:

VIP: If you have special health or other concerns, you should consult with the Dean of Students office. Professors are not competent to make judgments in these matters. Either the Dean of Students office or the Administrative office of the CDM (College of Computing and Digital Media) will communicate with me after you have discussed the matter with them.

Business-Travel Related Issues: since this course is all on-line, business travel should not interfere with your continuing on schedule. All you need is a WIFI connection.

Assignments:

· Must be submitted electronically as in the instructions provided.

· Each assignment in the dropbox has what is called an “End Date”. This date and time is absolute. After that date and time the system will not let you submit. So that means to get credit for an assignment you must submit before the End Date and time. Please note this carefully. Also this is true of quizzes.

· All work is individual. You can discuss and help one another understand the assignments BUT you do another student (and yourself) a great disservice by sharing your hard work with them. The next section contains extracts and some interpretation of university policies on plagerism. D2L runs a plagiarism check on all submitted work. I make the final decision, however.

University Policies on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:

University guidelines on academic integrity and plagiarism can be found on the Web and in the Student Handbook and are hereby incorporated in this document. The following items are not intended to contradict the university guidelines, but to emphasize or explain areas of particular note for this course.

· Plagiarism applies to any sort of material used on the Web, including for example sound, graphics or images, as well as text.

· Students are responsible for insuring that they use material only with permission and that, when such permission is subject to giving credit, they credit sources appropriately.

· Students who use images, text, sound, trademarks, or other materials developed or owned by others without their permission can be held legally liable. "Academic use" is not a legal defense. Please take this seriously as owners of such materials do act on illegal use. I will explain some guidelines in class.

· DePaul University and the professor take no responsibility for any student's use of materials developed or owned by others without their permission.

A Word about Content and Computer Usage Policies:

· Students are responsible for following University and the College rules for computer usage. These include rules about commercial usage and kinds of content.

· In general pages created for the course should have a professional tone and be suitable to your job-seeking portfolio. Use as your standard: Would I show this to a prospective employer?

Reuse of materials:

Anything developed or submitted for an employer or another course cannot be submitted for an assignment in this course without PRIOR permission of the instructor.