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CPSC-110 Computers, Information and Society

Instructor:	Heidi Ellis
Semester:	Fall 2007
Class Time:	TuTh 9:55-11:10 a.m.
Class Location:	MCEC-136
Office Hours:	M 10:00-11:30 a.m., Tu 1:15-2:45, and by appointment

Project
Information

General Information

Texts:	Computers in Society, 13th Ed. Paul De Palma ed. McGraw-Hill, 2006, ISBN 13: 978-0-07-352832-8, ISBN 10: 0-07-352832-3 SQL for MySQL Developers: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference, Rick F. van der Lans, Addison Wesley Professional, 2007, ISBN-10: 0-13-149735-9
Additional references (entirely optional):	Guy Harrison and Steven Feuerstein, MySQL Stored Procedure Programming O'Reilly, March 2006. This is an excellent reference for understanding the intricacies of stored procedure programming. Luke Welling and Laura Thompson, MySQL Tutorial, MySQL Press, 2003, ISBN: 0-672-32584-5 This is a good guide to the SQL language and use in MySQL, but doesn't cover stored procedures. Philip Pratt and Mary Last, A Guide to MySQL, Thompson Course Technology, 2006, ISBN: 1-4188-3635-4 Robert Sheldon and Goeff Moes, Beginning MySQL, WROX, ISBN: 0-7645-7950-9 Larry Ullman, Visual Quickstart Guide MySQL, 2nd ed. Peachpit Press, 2006, ISBN10: 0-321-37573-4
Description:	In this course, we'll be studying the issues related to information and how it is manipulated by computers. We will also be looking at how the access and use of data impacts society. Specifically, we'll look at how modern databases work, how information is organized and distributed and how databases are protected from intrusion and other unauthorized uses. Basic computational constructs such as variables, functions, parameters, and control structures will be used to solve interesting database problems.
Prerequisites:	Not open to students enrolled in or who have credit for Computer Science 115L.

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Course Policy

Objectives:

In this course, students will gain a broad understanding of the role of technology and information in society today and how to access, modify, and protect information. Technology will be studied from the perspective of economics, community, and politics. Specifically, students will gain:

A broad understanding of the impact of technology on current society.
An understanding of the complexity of software.
A general understanding of the role that data plays in society today.
An understanding of how data is stored, accessed and manipulated in relational databases.
An understanding of ethical issues related to the need to protect data.

Grading:
	Laboratories	20%
	Project Part 1	10%
	Project Part 2	10%
	Project Part 3	10%
	Quizzes (2)	10%
	Midterm Exam	20%
	Final Exam	20%
		--------
	Total	100%

The grading for this course will consist of:

Weekly laboratory sessions: Most Thursdays will serve as lab sessions and you are required to complete a laboratory assignment every week. Most labs will have a pre-lab which must be completed before attending lab. Students will work in assigned pairs and complete the lab as pairs. The instructor and/or a teaching assistant will be available to guide you through the assignment. Before leaving the laboratory, you should have the instructor or teaching assistant grade your work. No late laboratory work will be accepted; however, your lowest laboratory grade will be dropped at the end of the term.
Project: There will be a team project developed by teams of three. These projects will use data retrieved from a public data source.
Quizzes: Two short quizzes will be given. No early or late quizzes will be offered.
Exams: A midterm and a final exam will be given. Unless there is a truly exceptional circumstance, no early or late exams will be given.
Absences for a quiz or exam require a signed letter from your doctor on letterhead.
You must receive a passing grade for the exam/quiz portion of the course as well as the lab/project portion of the course. In other words, if you fail the exam/quiz portion of the course you may fail the course.

Policies:

Office hours are posted on the course page. Makeup exams will not be given. If you anticipate being unable to attend class, please notify me BEFORE class to make arrangements. If an emergency arises, please contact me.

Unexcused late assignments will be penalized by 10% of total possible points per day up to three days (maximum 30%). Assignments more than three days late will not be accepted.

All cell phones must be turned off during class time, not just set on vibrate mode.

CPSC-110 Computers, Information and Society is supported by a Blackboard site. The Blackboard site will be used for occasional quizzes and for posting assignments. You are responsible for reading all announcements and postings on the bulletin board.

The Intellectual Honesty section of Trinity College's Student Handbook states that "students are expected to abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic exercises." Note that turning in work that was performed partially or completely by someone else qualifies as academic dishonesty. Such academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and may result in severe consequences. Please refer to the Intellectual Honesty section of the Student Handbook for more details.

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