| TIME |
| Tue 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM |
| Tue 11:00 AM - 1:15 PM |
| Thu 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM |
| Thu 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM |
| by appointment |
The best way to reach me is via email jweiss@cs.fiu.edu, but please do not expect email replies on weekends. If you prefer to leave a message with the School's secretary, you can call 305-348-2744, but this method of reaching me is not likely to be as effective as an email communication.
| Section |
Lectures |
Labs |
| 07, 08, 09 |
Tue and Thu 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM in VH131 |
Mon and Wed 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM in PC 416,
GL-263, PC-422
respectively |
| 10, 11, 12 |
Tue and Thu 11:00 PM - 12:15 PM in VH131 |
Mon and Wed 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM in PC 416,
GL-263, PC-422
respectively |
A hands-on study of microcomputer software applications such as:
electronic spreadsheets and database management systems.
Students should purchase a USB jump drive from any computer retailer. Even the smallest of these drives have ubiquitous storage and can easily store all course work for the entire semester. Also, bring the USB jump drive with you to each lab, and REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR USB DRIVE OUT OF THE COMPUTER WHEN YOU LEAVE THE LAB.
Students will also need the companion data files which are
necessary to
complete your lab assignments. These companion files are available on
CD ROM in the
course kit if purchased from the FIU bookstore.
Alternatively,
they may be downloaded from the Internet or copied directly from any
computer in PC416, GL263, and PC422 lab classroom.
The files that you need for the labs are shown below:
Excel and Access Student Data Files
in a folder, each file obtained as needed.
Students can activate their FIU email
account by visiting http://www.webmail.fiu.edu/.
Students are expected to attend all lectures and all labs.
I will not take attendance
during lectures and lab.
If you regularly miss lectures and labs,
you will do poorly on the exams, and probably will forget to come to at
least one of the exams.
In the event that you miss a lecture, you need to get class notes
from a fellow student; please do not ask me what you missed.
Students are required to attend all lectures. The lecture
portion of the class will be conducted by Professor Weiss and is held
in the VH building, Room 131. Students should refer to their
schedule for the appropriate time (see above).
Students are expected to attend their hands-on lab class.
Students should refer to their schedule for the appropriate room
assignment (see above) and time. Please note that the lab portion
of this class will be conducted by a Teaching Assistant from the School
of Computing and Information Sciences who will be available during this time to help with
course related material.
| Four Exams |
|
|
Best Exam
|
45% |
|
Second Best Exam
|
30% |
|
Third Best Exam
|
25% |
|
Worst Exam
|
0% |
| Total |
100% |
| A |
90-100 |
| A- |
87-89 |
| B+ |
84-86 |
| B |
80-83 |
| B- |
77-79 |
| C+ |
74-76 |
| C |
70-73 |
| C- |
67-69 |
| D+ |
64-66 |
| D |
60-63 |
| D- |
50-59 |
| F |
Below 50 |
Your grade is based entirely on your average, as computed above. Please do not ask at the end of the course for me to add a few points or even a tenth-of-a-point to bump you up to the next grade for the purposes of boosting your GPA, maintaining your scholarship, international student elibility, athletic eligibility, etc. If the grade is important to you, then you should make the effort before the exams, not after, and you should understand the policies outlined below regarding missed exams. Any requests made to ignore the policies outlined in this syllabus will be ignored.
Exams will be in multiple choice format. Students will need a
number two pencil and photo ID for exams. Students who arrive late to
the exam risk not being allowed to take the exam. In order to preserve
the integrity of the exam, once any student has finished the exam
and
left the room, no late arriving students will be allowed to start the
exam. It is your responsibility to make sure you get to the
exam on time. This means you should set two alarm clocks and allow
plenty of time to find parking, and allow for traffic delays, and so
on. When I say you will not be allowed to take an exam once the first
student has finished the exam and left the room, I mean it. If you miss
the exam, you will receive a zero for the exam, it will count as your
low exam grade, and your final course grade will suffer significantly.
Unless you have obtained prior approval, you must take the exam with your section.
When you submit your answers for the online online quiz, you will get a confirmation page. If you do not get the confirmation page, your submission did not go through... TRY IT AGAIN. When you get the confirmation page, print the page, or write down the confirmation number. This number can be used by you to prove ... AND IS THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE ... that you took the sample exam.
If you miss the exam, even with an excused absence, you will not receive the extra five points. Once the link to the extra credit questions disappears, you cannot get the extra points or view the questions. So please make sure not to procrastinate in doing the extra credit.
There are no graded homework assignments. Students are expected to
study on their own for the exams.
There will be no make-up exams, extra credit assignments
and incomplete grades.
The only extra credit is the pre-exam extra credit
questions discussed earlier.
If you know prior to the exam that it will be impossible for you to
take one of the
exams, you must let me know with appropriate documentation at least 24
hours in advance. Valid excuses include work or school related travel,
funerals, jury duty, and so on.
NOT ALL TRAVEL IS EXCUSABLE.
DO NOT SCHEDULE YOUR VACATIONS ON EXAM DATES.
If you miss an exam for a reason that
you could reasonably have
documented 24 hours in advance but failed to do so, then the exam will
score as a 0. However, if you give me the required notice, with
appropriate documentation, or if you are hospitalized or under police
arrest and can document this
in a timely manner after the fact, then your other three
exams will be averaged with each exam weighted equally
to determine the score for the missing exam.
You cannot miss the exam unless you are
sick enough to see a doctor.
Students who miss an exam due to a car accident such as a fender bender
are required to obtain a police report in a timely fashion.
Exam scores are 95, 45, 66, 100. The student does all the extra credit pre-exams. Because of the extra credit, the exam scores become 100, 50, 71, 100. The 50 is dropped, and the weighted average is 100*.45 + 100*.30 + 71*.25, which is 92.75. This rounds to 93 and is an A.
Exam scores are 50, 69, 51, 80. The student does no extra credit pre-exams. The 50 is dropped, and the weighted average is 80*.45 + 69*.3 + 51 * .25, which is 69.45. This rounds to 69, and is a C-. This student is very close to a C but the grade will be a C-, irregardless of whether a C is required for their major, scholarship, etc. Had the student done one of the extra credits, the grade would be high enough to be a C. Had the student done all four, the average would have been based on 74, 56, and 85 and it would have computed to 74, which is a C+.
The student missed exam #1 because of jury duty, with a note provided to me. The other exams were 30, 80, 70, and the student did all four pre-exam extra credits. Because the missed exam is with a valid excuse, the missing exam will score as the average of the other three, which is a 60. Each exam, except for the missed exam, also gets five extra points. So the final grade will be based on 85, 75, and 60. The math gives an exact average of 76, which is a C+.
The student missed exam #1 because the student arrives twenty minutes late to the exam and is not allowed to take it. The reason for this is heavy traffic. Otherwise, the scores are identical to Student #3, but with no pre-exams. The excuse is invalid So the final grade will be based on 80, 70, and 30. The math gives an exact average of 63, which is a D.
The student missed exam #1 because of a doctor's appointment. The student makes no attempt to contact the professor until three days after the exam, but does provide a doctor's note. Otherwise, the scores are identical to Student #3, but with no pre-exams. The excuse is invalid because the claim was not made in a timely fashion. PLEASE READ THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER EXPLANATION. So the final grade will be based on 80, 70, and 30. The math gives an exact average of 65, which is a D+.
If an exam has been scheduled on a date that the University has
been
ordered to close because of bad weather, hurricanes, or any other
unexpected
occurrence, the exam will be given the following regularly scheduled
lecture.
Contact your instructor at any point during the semester if you
need
help with the course material, assistance with any homework assignment,
or
even preparing for an exam.