IMS 101, Introduction to Computer Systems

Science, Business, and Computer Technology Subdivision

Spring 2010, Section 005

I. Faculty Information:
Instructor: Michelle August

Mailbox Location: Center for Contemporary Technology (CCT), T100

Office Location: T917

Office Hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, & Wednesdays: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Phone Number: (708) 974-5622

Fax Number: (708) 974-8622

Email Address: august@morainevalley.edu

II. Course Identification:

Credit Hours: 3 Contact Hours: 4; 2 lecture/ 2 lab
Days/hours course meets: 005 - Mondays & Wednesdays; 11:00 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.; T924

Prerequisite: Basic Keyboarding skills strongly recommended

Catalog Description:
This course prepares students for an Internet and Computing Core Certification exam (IC3) by
providing an overview of computer hardware, software, networks, and the Internet. Topics include
usage, terminology, hardware, software, utilities and operating system software, file management,
programming, networks, researching on the Internet, and data security and privacy issues. Students
are introduced to the elements of computer applications -- word processing, spreadsheets, database
management, and presentation graphics. Students with little or no computer experience are strongly
encouraged to enroll in IMS 100, Personal Computer Basics, prior to or concurrent with IMS 101.
Fee is required. (4 contact hours) You can complete the IMS 100 survey at
http://www.morainevalley.edu/ims/courseoutlines/surveys-tests/computer_skills_survey.htm to assess
your skills and determine if you need IMS 100.

IC3 is an industry certification exam that has been recognized by the National Skill
Standards Board (NSSB) as having met the high professional and technical standards
for quality assurance. The IC3 exam is comprised of three parts: Computing
Fundamentals, Key Applications, and Living Online. To learn more about IC3
Certification, talk to your IC3 Certified Instructor and visit
http://www.certiport.com/yourPersonalPath/ic3Certification.

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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus

III. Textbooks & Supplies:

 USB Storage Media – any size (8MB or larger) – See handout for more information.
 Your required textbook is part of a packaged bundle (ISBN: 0-558-33430-X) which costs
approximately $120.00 and includes the following two (2) items:

Computer Literacy for IC3 Custom Textbook

Computer Literacy for IC3 was
written to provide all students
Authors: with an opportunity to learn
Preston/Preston/Ferrett and demonstrate computer and
Internet literacy through a
Publisher: Pearson Education worldwide industry standard.
© 2010 This text prepares students to
sit for the 2005 IC3 Exam–an
exam that accurately validates
skills and productivity needed in today’s workplace.

MyITLab Software Access Code

IV. End Competencies:

Upon successful completion of the course, students shall be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the information processing cycle--input, processing, output, and

storage--and how that cycle pertains to the various computer environments (personal computers--
including notebooks and PDAs, minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers).
2. Utilize the fundamental functions of the operating system currently in use and demonstrate proper
file management skills.
3. Use a word processing program to create, edit, and format text; import graphics; and create tables.
4. Use a presentation graphics program to create electronic slides; incorporate transition and
animation effects to the slides; and insert a variety of media clips.
5. Use a spreadsheet program to organize data; create formulas and functions; and communicate
information using charts.
6. Use a relational database management program to create a database; add, change, and delete
information in the database, sort and retrieve data in the database; and create forms, reports, and
mailing labels.
7. Define the term “computer program” and identify current programming languages.
8. Explain the six steps in the program development life cycle.
9. Write QuickBasic code using basic commands and control structures.
10. Describe a network, communication hardware and software, and the different network topologies,
architecture, and protocols.
11. Explain the evolution of the Internet and how it works.
12. Demonstrate familiarity with the Internet and World Wide Web by utilizing Web browsers and
search engines currently available.
13. Research information using the Internet and evaluate the electronic information found.
14. Discuss data security and privacy issues.

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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus
V. Course Objectives:
Explanation:
In this course, objectives are divided into three major categories. These categories correspond to
the IC3 (Internet and Computing Core Certification) test. The categories are as follows:

Computing Fundamentals:
These objectives will be those realized through use of the Computing Fundamentals Unit
in the Computer Literacy for IC3 textbook.

Key Applications:
These objectives will be those realized by hands-on application of the featured software
package using the Key Applications Unit of the Computer Literacy for IC3 textbook.

Living Online:
These objectives will be those realized through use of the Living Online Unit in the
Computer Literacy for IC3 textbook plus the introduction to programming concepts
through HTML.

VI. Summary of Major Course Concepts:

• Computer literacy and information literacy
• Hardware and software
• File management
• System software--operating systems and utilities
• Application software
• Word processing, spreadsheet, database management, and presentation graphics
• Programming concepts
• Network terminology
• Internet
• Web browsers, search engines, URLs, research techniques, Internet services, and HTML

VII. Classroom Policies/Procedures:

1. Attendance
Students are required to attend all class sessions. Failure to do so can adversely affect
their grade. Bonus Points will be awarded for excellent/good attendance (3%) and for
fair attendance (1%). Excellent/fair attendance is typically 2 or less missed class days
and fair is typically 4 or less missed class days. Tardiness is not acceptable and will also
count against your attendance grade.

2. Manner of Instruction
Classes will consist of lectures and demonstrations that highlight and expand on the
assigned reading from the text. Students are expected to read the material before coming
to class and be prepared to contribute to the discussion. Points will be deducted from
the appropriate assignment if a student uses his/her computer during a lecture, a
demo, or when otherwise instructed not to.
3. Make-up Examinations
Any student who does not take a scheduled examination and who has not made
arrangements with the instructor before the test date will receive a zero. Immediate and
unpredictable emergencies will be considered as possible exceptions at the instructor's
discretion if immediate notification of these circumstances was given.

4. Time Commitment
To be successful in this course, the average student should spend a minimum of 2 hours
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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus
of outside study time for every hour spent in class. According to that estimate, a student
should spend approximately 4 hours studying between class sessions for a class that
meets for twice a week for 2 hours each time. This time will be spent reading the text,
completing assignments, reviewing class notes, studying for tests, etc. For guidance on
how many total credit hours one should attempt when working, please refer to the current
MVCC catalog.

5. Using the Lab Outside of Class Time

In order to work in the T901 Open Lab, located on campus in the Center for
Contemporary Technology (CCT) building, you must possess a valid college photo I.D.
If you do not have one, you can go to the upper level of the Student Services building to
have one taken. Two forms of identification are needed—your current class schedule
and a picture I.D.
If you plan on issuing a print command while working in an open lab, you will need a
pay-for-print debit card. Cards can be purchased at the LRC print card machine, in
varying denominations. After issuing a print command in the lab, your print request will
go to a queue. You will then need to go to the print-release station, identify your job by
the workstation number, and swipe your debit card to release the job to the printer. All
jobs will be automatically deleted from the queue after 15 minutes if they haven’t been
released.
Be sure to check the lab schedule at the desk for open lab times. Student tutors are also
available in the main lab area; their hours are posted in the lab and can be found at
http://www.morainevalley.edu/ims/TutorSchedule.htm. Please do not submit any class
assignments to tutors or anyone else in the lab area. When you have completed your
work, submit it to your instructor at the next class meeting.

6. Use of MVCC Computers and Internet Access

Installation of personal software (ANY software not owned by the college, nor
authorized by the college) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Use of the Internet is restricted
to what is required for the courses being taken at the college. Students can not store
personal files on departmental equipment and the College cannot supply students with
paper in the labs for personal work. Any student found using MVCC computers to
display, download, or store inappropriate/non-class material will be warned once and if
this conduct continues will be dealt with according to the student conduct policy.

7. Incomplete ("I") Grades

"I" grades shall only be issued in accordance with the provisions stated in the current
college catalog.

8. Use of Electronic Devices

Students and college visitors can not use and must silence cell phones, pagers, and other
communication devices in all instructional areas which include: all labs and classrooms
during instructional sessions, the Learning Resource Center/Library, the Assessment
Services Center (B101), and other areas so designated by the college. Portable devices
for listening to the radio, playing music or listening to other audio media are not to be
used in the classroom, even if headphones are available.
9. Withdrawal Policy
A student who does not withdraw officially from a course can receive a grade of 'F',
depending on course progress or course attendance, which will become a part of the
student's permanent record. Withdrawal date information (before the end of the 13th
week for 17-week classes) is listed in the General Information Sheet which is attached to
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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus
this syllabus. It is the student’s responsibility to track this withdrawal date.

10. Cheating/Plagiarism
Copying the files or work of another individual and then changing the name or
header/footer on it to represent the work as your own is considered cheating/plagiarism.
All work submitted for credit must be your own.
Students found cheating, sharing work, or plagiarizing on assignments will receive 0
points (“F”) for that assignment and given one warning. In the case where students hand
in the same work both students will receive 0 points (“F”) on the assignment, regardless
of which student did the work. Any students found cheating or plagiarizing on
assignments a second time will be dropped from the course and receive a course grade of
“F”. Cheating on any test, quiz or exam will result in a grade of “F” for the entire course.
Withdrawal from the course at this point will not be an option.

11. Student Conduct Policy

Each student is responsible for adhering to the Code of Student Conduct as stated in the
college catalog. Students are expected to show honesty and integrity in the classroom
including consideration for other students and the instructor. Students are subject to
discipline at the dean’s, instructor’s, and the department’s discretion if involved in any illegal
or unethical actions while taking any IMS, OSA, or MIS course.

12. Academic Integrity

“Integrity”, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com
last visited May 26, 2010) is “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic
values: incorruptibility.” In this definition, the word “firm” is critical because integrity
without consistency is not integrity at all. Students and faculty in this class are expected
to set high personal standards for themselves including, but not limited to, responsibility,
respecting others, fairness, and honesty. It is expected that you will make academic
integrity one of your highest priority goals.

13. Email Policy

• Students must use the e-mail account provided by Moraine Valley as their official
means of email communication for all business related to this course. Any email
that does not come directly from your MVCC email
(username@student.morainevalley.edu) may be filtered by spam or junk mail
filters, may get deleted, or may get a delayed response. This means if you choose
to forward your MVCC email account to some other email account (such as
username@comcast.net, or username@yahoo.com, or username
@sbcglobal.com), then do not send a response back to the instructor from that
third party account. All responses to email should come directly from your
MVCC account and not from the forwarded account. In other words, all email
correspondence for this course must come from your
username@student.morainevalley.edu email account.

• The subject line of all email to the instructor must begin with the course number
AND section number followed by the topic. The course number and section for
this course is: IMS101-005. Email without a subject may not be read and will
probably be deleted. Here are some examples:
• Subject: IMS101-005, Missed class - When is test #2?
• Subject: IMS101-005, When do we need our flash drive?
• Subject: IMS101-005, Question on assignment 12
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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus
• Subject: IMS101-005, Final Exam Date
• The body of the email must include at least one complete sentence AND be
“signed” with your full first and last name. When asking for help via e-mail,
please do your best to be specific about the question(s) and always “sign” your
email at the bottom.

• Email Guidelines & Procedures: Each student is responsible for reading the
Email Guidelines & Procedures, which is located at
http://www.morainevalley.edu/studentemail/guidelines.htm.

VIII. Grading Policies/Procedures

(Audit Option: You could audit this course if you do not wish to pursue it for college credit; however, this must be
done at the time of registration. See your instructor or current College Catalog for more information.)

Students will be evaluated based upon three (3) elements with the corresponding
percentile weight factors:

A. Objective Testing – 35%

B. Laboratory Assignments – 50%
C. Comprehensive Final Examination – 15%

A. Objective Testing
There will be four objective exams of the closed book, multiple choice and true/false
format. These tests will be worth 35% of your total grade and will consist of the
following material taken from your Computer Literacy for IC3 textbook:

Exam #1 covering material from the Computing Fundamentals Unit (This

exam may also have a production portion)
Exam #2 covering material from Projects 1 – 7 of the Using Productivity
Software Unit (This exam may also have a production portion)
Exam #3 covering material from Projects 8 – 12 of the Using
Productivity Software Unit (This exam may also have a
production portion)
Exam #4 covering material from the Living Online Unit

We will be using the MyITLab software which was purchased with your textbook.
This software is already installed in the classroom, but may also be installed at home
for additional practice. This software contains an access/registration code that you
must have when registering to use the software and you also need our course code.

The course code for Section 005 is CRSAB79-423331.

IC3 Opt-Out Incentive

If you sit for and pass the IC3 exam for a corresponding unit exam, you will be
awarded a score of 100% for that unit exam for this class. In order to receive credit,
you must submit the printout given to you at the testing center showing that you
passed the exam. In this case, you can either replace your existing score for that
particular exam or choose not to take the exam at all. For more information regarding
the IC3 certification exam, visit http://www.morainevalley.edu/ims/IC3.htm.

B. Laboratory Assignments
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 IMS 101 Course Syllabus
Lab assignments will be completed during each class session. If you need additional
time to complete your assignments, you can work in the open lab outside of class time.
These lab assignments will be submitted for grading the following class day and
points will be assigned on the basis of accuracy. Late assignments will not be
accepted, unless arrangements were made with the instructor in advance. These
assignments are worth a total of 50% of your grade.

C. Comprehensive Final Examination

The final examination will cover all units of the course and will be worth 15% of your
total grade. The format will be similar to that of the objective exams previously taken.
See the attached final exam schedule for specific date and time or check the college web
site at: http://www.morainevalley.edu/Academics/exam.html. Note the start time, as it
can be different from the regular class meeting time, and mark your calendars now. No
make-up exams or IC3 Opt-Out options are available for the final exam.

92.100 A
84-91 B
76-83 C
70-75 D

IX. Important Dates

Spring Semester 2010

Jan. 19 On-campus credit classes begin
Feb. 15 Presidents’ Day, no classes
March 2 Staff development day, no classes
March 15-21 Spring break, no classes
April 2-4 No classes
May 14-20 Final exam week
May 21 End of semester & Graduation

X. Course Schedule/Calendar – Please see the Course Schedule handout.

The instructor reserves the rights to make changes to this document where, in the instructor’s
opinion, such changes are in the best interest of the class.

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 Spring 2010

Student Information Sheet: IMS 101-005

Clearly Print.
Name: ____________________________________ Best Phone: _____________________
E-mail: ____________________________@ student.morainevalley.edu

1. Formal computer training (classes or workshops)

What other computer courses have you taken at MVCC?

_____________________________________________________________________________

What other computer courses have you taken elsewhere? Explain. ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you have a computer at home? YES NO

If yes: Brand name? _________________________________________________________
Operating system: Windows 7 Vista Windows XP Not Sure
Does your computer have Office 2007 installed? YES NO Not Sure
Do you have Internet access? YES NO
What programs do you use often? ______________________________________

3. Do you feel comfortable working in Windows XP? YES NO

4. Do you feel comfortable working in Windows Vista? YES NO

5. What other classes are you taking this semester? ______________________________________

6. Are you currently employed? YES NO

If yes: How many hours per week do you usually work? _______________________________

7. Do you plan on taking the IC3 Certification Test after completion of this course? YES NO Not Sure

8. What topics do you anticipate covering in this class? ______________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Student Success Agreement:

Read the syllabus in its entirety then sign and date this “Student Success Agreement” policy.

I have read and understood the syllabus for IMS 101 and I understand what it takes to be a
successful student in this course.
• I understand that I am expected to do all my own work unless the instructor authorizes
collaboration and agree that any work I hand in for credit will be my own work, and will not
contain parts or whole works from other individuals or organizations.
• I further understand that the penalty for unauthorized collaboration or plagiarism will result
in failure of this class.

_________________________________________ ____________________
Signature Date