CNT1015  Operating System Foundations - Fall 2011 / 2012 - Class Information and Syllabus Page

This class syllabus is available on Bill Dennis' Florida State College Website at http://web.fccj.org/~wdennis
Course Title: CNT1015 Operating System Foundations
Course Prefix and Number: CNT1015
Course Reference Number: 353473
Term / Session: Fall 2011 / 2012  A-16
Professor: Bill Dennis
Contact Information for the Professor:

• Office Location: South Campus Florida State College, Room F-215
• Office Hours:  5:00 PM - 7:30 PM Monday, 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, by appointment only.
• Office Phone Number: 904-646-2391
• Office Email Address: wdennis@fscj.edu

Course Meeting Time and Place:

• Monday, 1:00 PM - 4:50 PM - Reference Number 353473
• South Campus Florida State College, Room B-107

Professor Policy and Expectations

Policy on Electronic Devices and Personal Communications

Mute all Wireless Telephones, Digital Pagers, Personal Communications Devices, Personal Entertainment Devices, and anything else that makes Noise while you are in the Classroom. Conduct all Personal Communications outside of the Classroom while class is in session.

Attendance Policy

Attendance will be recorded during the first two class meetings. Any student who does not attend class during at least one of the first two class meetings will be automatically dropped from the course.  Attendance (or lack thereof) will have a direct impact on students' learning skills, and also will have a direct impact on students' completion of Workbook Assessments.

Workbook lessons

The various skills to be learned by the student are broken down into Lessons, which are designed to be accomplished in a single sitting.  The Lessons are intended to be self-paced by the student.  lessons consist of the following elements:  

• Key Points - After completing a lesson, the student should have competency with the concepts itemized in this summary of key points.


• Discussion - Each lesson begins with a presentation of the concepts to be learned.  All of the concepts needed to complete the remaining lesson sections are addressed in the Discussion. 


• Examples - Each lesson has several illustrative examples for the presented material.  The examples reinforce topics covered in the Discussion, presenting them in a "real world" context.


• Online Exercises - Where appropriate, exercises allow the skills to gain first hand experience using skills developed in the Lesson.  The exercises include well defined deliverables that can be checked through automated scripting.  Suggested solutions to the exercises are generally provided.


• Review Questions - A series of CGI form based questions (multiple choice and otherwise) allows students to test their mastery of the lesson's concepts.


• Not every Lesson will have every element, and the groupings are not meant to be restrictive in nature.  However, to provide consistency to the student, all required skills are presented in the Discussion, and whenever examples, exercises, and questions are appropriate, they are presented in distinct, consistently ordered sections.

Grading System

• Final Grade -  The final grade for this course will be based on the combination of Assessments from Workbook lessons (80% of the final  grade) and a Final Exam (20% of the final grade).


• Workbook Assessments - 80% of the overall final grade. - In addition to Lessons, each Workbook also contains the following assessments. These are designed to be administered in a structured, proctored environment, with a time limit for completion.  Each Workbook Assessment consists of the following assessment items:
  
  
  • Pretest - 0% of each Workbook Assessment. - The Pretest consists of multiple choice questions which sample the student's knowledge of the Workbook's topics.  Pretests are intended to establish a baseline for the student's performance before the Workbook Lessons have been mastered.

  • Lesson Completion - 30% of each Workbook Assessment. - The various skills to be learned by the student are broken down into Lessons, which are designed to be accomplished in a single sitting.  The Lessons are intended to be self-paced by the student.

  • Lab Test - 30% of each Workbook Assessment. - Lab Tests, like Lesson Exercises, require the student to perform a specific task using the skills learned in the Workbook Lessons.  Unlike Lesson Exercises, however, the student is not provided step by step guidance about how to accomplish the task, and solutions are not provided.  Lab Tests are meant to provide a performance based assessment of the student's ability to implement the skills presented within the Workbook.

  • End of Workbook Test - 40% of each Workbook Assessment. - The end of Workbook Test consists of multiple choice questions which assess the student's mastery of the concepts presented within the Workbook.

• Students must complete all lesson Completions, all Lab Tests and all End of Workbook Tests for each Workbook that is assigned in this course to gain any points at all for that Workbook in the Red Hat Academy.  The Red Hat Academy will not assign a running average for any Workbook until all assessment items for that Workbook are complete.  Failure to complete any of the assessment items in any Workbook will result in the student gaining no points at all for that Workbook and the student will be evaluated with a 0 (zero) grade for that Workbook.


• The Workbook Assessment Pretest can be completed from any web browser on any computer that has access to the Internet.  All other Workbook Assessments can only be completed in the Computer Lab at the South Campus of Florida State College.


• Final Exam - Comprehensive Skills Assessment - 20% of the overall final grade.  The Final Exam requires the student to perform multiple tasks using the skills learned throughout the entire course.


• There are no extra credit opportunities.

Make-Up and Incomplete Policy

• Requests for Make-Up - Students who will be absent from class on the date of any scheduled Workbook Assessment item must notify the Professor of their absence in email.  Only students who so notify the Professor of their absence in email as described here will be offered a make-up opportunity.  Students who are requesting a make up opportunity must state in their email to the Professor that they are requesting a make up opportunity; simply stating in email that a student will be absent from a class does not qualify as a request for a make up.  Students who have already exhausted their available make-up opportunities will not be offered additional make-up opportunities.  The Professor will select the day and time of any make-up opportunity. All requests to the Professor for any make-up opportunity must be made by email.  No notification method other than email will be accepted.  Students have up to 48 hours after the start time of any class meeting during which a Workbook Assessment is scheduled to request a make-up opportunity. Any request for any make-up opportunity that is received by the Professor after the 48 hour window closes will be ignored.  No unscheduled makeup opportunity for any missed Workbook Assessment will be made available.
• Any two lesson Completions can be made up.  No more than two lesson Completions can be made up.
• Any two Lab Tests can be made up.  No more than two Lab Tests can be made up.
• Any two End of Workbook Tests can be made up.  No more than two End of Workbook Tests can be made up. 
• There is no make up opportunity for the Final Exam.  The Final Exam can not be made up. 
• Incompletes will only be considered for students who have completed 75% of all Exams and Workbook Assessments.  Incompletes will be granted solely at the discretion of the Professor.

Academic Grading Scale

A = 90 percent - 100 percent
B = 80 percent - 89 percent
C = 70 percent - 79 percent
D = 60 percent - 69 percent
F = Below 60 percent

Academic Dishonesty Policy and Computing Policy

Unless explicitly permitted by the professor, any student who references any resource, including any books, notes, computers, websites, or email during any Workbook Assessment or Final is committing an act of Academic Dishonesty.  Any student who provides or receives any aid or any interpersonal communication in any way to any other student during any Workbook Assessment or Final is committing an act of Academic Dishonesty.  All Florida State College policies as defined in the Florida State College College Catalog shall be enforced, including all FSCJ policies regarding Academic Dishonesty and Computing Use.

Academic dishonesty, in any form, is expressly prohibited by the rules of the District Board of Trustees of Florida Community College at Jacksonville.  As used herein, academic dishonesty incorporates the following.

Cheating, which is defined as the giving or taking of any information or material with the intent of wrongfully aiding one's self or another in academic work considered in the determination of course grade or the outcome of a standardized test.

Plagiarism, which is defined as the act of stealing or passing off as one's own work the words, ideas or conclusions of another as if the work submitted were the product of one's own thinking rather than an idea or product derived from another source.  Any other form of inappropriate behavior which may include but is not limited to: falsifying records or data, lying, unauthorized copying, tampering, abusing or otherwise unethically using computer or other stored information, and any other act or misconduct which may reasonably be deemed to be a part of this heading.  Any student alleged to have committed any act of academic dishonesty as defined herein shall be entitled to due process as defined in District Board of Trustees' Rule 6Hx7-2.18 prior to the administration of disciplinary action including suspension and dismissal

Computing Download Policy

Students may only download or install software that has been authorized by the Professor, as unauthorized software may disturb or obstruct the orderly conduct, processes, functions, and/or interests of the College.  Any student who downloads or installs any software that is not authorized by the Professor shall be subject to any punitive action as defined in the FSCJ College Catalog which clearly states that "Any act or behavior on the part of the student which tends to impair, interfere with, or otherwise disturb or obstruct the orderly conduct, processes, functions, and/or interests of the College is expressly prohibited."

Network Monitoring