INSY 336 Microcomputer Applications Spring 1997

Instructor:         Ron Vyhmeister 
Office:              Chan Shun 215-A 
Office Phone:    471-3458 
Home Phone:    473-3732 (until 10 p.m.) 
E-mail:              vyhmeisr@andrews.edu 
Web:                http://www.andrews.edu/~vyhmeisr/ 
Office Hours:    TTh 2:00-3:30, and by appointment. 

Course Description: 

An in-depth study and practical experience with several typical microcomputer packages such as spreadsheets, data-base systems, local area network software, communications software, graphics packages. Several major projects are undertaken. 
Prerequisites: COSC 161 and INSY 335 

Textbook: 

There is no required book. You may wish to purchase a book on one or more of the various software packages we will be using. 

Objectives: 

1. To provide a working knowledge of data-base terminology and concepts. 

2. To provide a working knowledge of more than one micro-computer based database system 

3. To provide an opportunity to develop a moderately complex system using a micro-computer database package. 

4. To provide a working knowledge of networking, using Microsoft networking (SMB) and Netware. 

5. To provide a working knowledge of a variety of operating systems. 

Grading and Course policies: 

Grades will be assigned on the following scale: 

A     95% 
A-   90 
B+   87 
B     83 
B-    80 
C+   76 
C     71 
C-   65 
D    55 

These percentages may be lowered at the instructor's discretion. They will not be raised. 

The distribution of the points is tentatively as follows. It may be changed at the instructor's discretion AFTER announcement in class. It will not vary significantly. 

Midterm                         20% 
Final                               30% 
Homework, projects, 
quizzes and participation  50% 

There will be required homework. In addition, there may be quizzes given at any time covering the prior lecture or the assigned reading material. 

Late work receives a grade of 0. I will grade it for your edification, if you would like. If you must be late to (or miss) some class period or test, please make arrangements before-hand. I do not make arrangements after the fact, and missing a test of quiz means a 0. Quizzes will only be handed out to those who are there at the beginning of the quiz. If you are late, you will not be given the opportunity to take the quiz. 

Except when specifically told otherwise by the instructor, everyone should work on their own. If you do work with a friend, make sure that your work is not a copy of theirs. If cheating does occur, a frade of "F" will be assigned for the quarter (not just the assignment/test). No withdrawal is allowed. Giving and receiving are equally punished. 

Attendance is required by university policy. I will not generally take attendance, but I will notice who is there and who isn't. While I won't explicitly grade you down on attendance, there is a participation component to your final grade. 

You will not be required to hand in disks for this class. All homework submission will be in electronic format. 

I will communicate any changes or announcements via e-mail. You are responsible for checking your e-mail daily. 

The schedule will be flexible. We will begin by working on operating systems, then networks, then databases.