Introduction
Many disciplines are finding the need to gather, manipulate, analyze, and graph data. This course will introduce students to software tools that aid in this process. Software that is widely used at Pacific includes: Excel, PASW/SPSS, Word, and PowerPoint. Class includes lab projects.
Prerequisite:MATH 125 with a minimum grade of C. 2 credits
Topics
Introduction to Projects and Design of Experiments
Overview of Networks, Servers and the Basics
Introduction to Excel
Worksheets, Cells and Formula
Absolute vs. Relative Cell References
Built-in functions
What-if analysis
Comparison and Logical Operators
Nesting Logic
Simple Statistics in Excel
Exponential and Logarithmic Problems
Introduction to PASW/SPSS
Datasets and collecting data
Datatypes
Descriptive Statistics
Tables and Graphs
Regression Analysis
Hypothesis Testing
Word
Beyond Basic Layout
Mail Merge
Equation Editor
Powerpoint
Presenting Information and Reports
Graphical techniques
Instructor Details
Professor: Chadd Williams
Email: chadd@pacificu.edu
Office: Strain 202
Phone: (503) 352-3041
Office Hours: T 10-11 am T 1-2pm Th 2-3pm F 1-2pm
or by appointment
Course Basics
Course Title: CS130 Introduction to Software Tools
Prerequisite: Math 125 Precalculus with a grade of C or better
Required For: Biology Major
Meeting Times: TTH4:30-6:05pm
Location: Marsh LL12
Textbook: None
Software: Microsoft Office, PASW/SPSS
Course Website: http://zeus.cs.pacificu.edu/chadd/cs130s11
Course Assessment
Grade Distribution
4 Assignments 30%
Midterm 35%
Final 35%
Percent Breakdown
| 92-100 | A | 90-92 | A- | ||
| 88-90 | B+ | 82-88 | B | 80-82 | B- |
| 78-80 | C+ | 72-78 | C | 70-72 | C- |
| 68-70 | D+ | 60-68 | D | ||
| 0-60 | F |
Important Dates
Dates for Midterms
Midterm Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Date of Final
Thursday, March 17, 4:30 – 7:00 PM in Marsh LL12
Other Dates
Academic Calendar:
http://www.pacificu.edu/calendar/academic/
Course Policies
Attendance at every class is critical to your success in this course. I expect you to be on time and ready to go once it is 4:30PM and that you stay until the end of class. Any missed lecture is your responsibility to make up; just remember, if you fall behind, it will be very difficult to catch up.
Assignment solutions are to be submitted to the correct folder on Turing by 4:30 PM on the day in which the assignment is due. Further, all assignments are to be done using the Office 2010 suite and PASW/SPSS for Windows.
Assignments can be turned in up to 24 hours late with a penalty of 10% of the grade. Anything later will NOT be accepted.
Make sure to test your solution before you turn it in. You may turn in your solution only once.
No early or late exams/finals will be given.
No incompletes will be given.
All solutions in any form generated from this course become the intellectual property of Pacific University. You may not share your solution with anyone without obtaining written permission from Pacific University.
Neither computer failure, software failure, nor lack of computer access are accepted as excuses for late solutions; therefore, start work on your solutions as soon as they are assigned, and don't put them off until the last minute. Further, corruption of solutions due to bad disk media is also not accepted as an excuse for late solutions; therefore, always keep a current backup of all solutions on a separate disk. Please note that the Computer Science departmental servers are not backed up.
I reserve the right to raise or lower your grade based on class participation and attendance. Specifically, I may lower your grade or may officially withdraw you from the course for poor attendance or participation. Further, your final grade may be lowered by 1/3 of your final course grade for each day (or portion thereof) of class missed. Please notify me PRIOR to class if you must miss class for any reason. Just sending an email prior to missing class does not guarantee you will be cleared to miss. Only legitimate reasons will be accepted as excuses for missing class.
Any important issue pertaining to class such as the need to miss an exam or grade issues will not be discussed via email. If you do send an email on one of these topics, expect me to ask you to make an appointment to discuss these issues.
If you are unhappy with something related to the class, then schedule an appointment to see me so that we can discuss it in my office. Complaining in class or out of class to other students gets us nowhere.
You may be asked to leave the classroom if you are causing a distraction e.g. cell phone ringing, talking, etc
If you have a complaint regarding a grade on an assignment or exam, write a one paragraph description of why you feel the grade is incorrect and deliver it to the instructor. The paragraph must be delivered to the instructor within one calendar week of when the graded material is returned to the student. I will not consider any grade changes later than one week after the graded material is returned.
If you have a documented disability covered under the ADA then services and accommodations are available from LSS (Learning Support Services). If you need reasonable accommodations to fully participate in course activities or meet course requirements, you must contact Edna K. Gehring, Director of LSS, at X2107. She will meet with you, review the documentation of their disabilities, and discuss the services Pacific offers.
Academic Dishonesty
Pacific University has no tolerance for academic dishonesty. It is university policy that all acts of academic dishonesty be reported to the Associate Dean. Forms of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, tampering with grades, forging signatures, and using electronic information resources in violation of acceptable use policies. Please consult the Academic Conduct Policies in the A&S Catalog for more details.
For homework assignments, plagiarism takes the form of, but is not limited to, copying (or studying) homework solutions from someone else, whether copying files, typing from someone else's notes or typing while they dictate. The source can be a classmate, former student, website, program listing found in the trash, or anything else. Furthermore, plagiarism even on a small part of the homework solution is still cheating on the entire assignment.
You should also note that aiding someone else’s cheating also constitutes cheating. You should never leave your solution where someone else could have access to it, such as staying logged onto a machine or placing solutions in the recycling bin where another student may take it. If you share a computer with a roommate or friend, your homework solutions should not be available for anyone else to see at any time.
Sanctions that may be imposed for academic dishonesty range are:
First offense for cheating: 12% subtraced from your final course grade and
a zero on the assignment.
Second offense for cheating: A grade of F in the course.