Revised: October 23, 2000

Northern Virginia Community College - Annandale Campus

Web Page Design II, Fall 2000

Section 1: IST 226-81N, Monday and Wednesdays 12:30-3:20PM, CT 234
Section 2: IST 226-60N, Monday and Wednesdays, 4-6:50PM, CT 230 on Mondays, 234 on Wednesdays
Instructor: Dr. William M. Pegram, wpegram@nvcc.edu,

Web Site for Class: http://www.erols.com/wpegram (most up-to-date)
Alternative site for class: http://www.nv.cc.va.us/home/wpegram

Course Description:

This course is a a followon to IST 129, Web Page Design I. Approximately 40-50% of the course will be devoted to coding (JavaScript, cascading style sheets, and DHTML) and 50-60% devoted to learning particular software, such as FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Freehand, Fireworks, and Director.  Additions and subtractions to this may occur based on student background and interests.

Attendance:

Because of the variety of topics covered, the course is not about mastering the content of a particular textbook.  Also, because this is not an introductory course, you hopefully will be learning things from your fellow students.  For these reasons, regular attendance is encouraged, although occasionally one must miss a class.  

If you can instead attend the other section of the class that day, you are welcome to do so on an occasional basis, but the 4PM classroom on Wednesdays may be somewhat crowded, particularly at the beginning of the course.  

If you miss class, please check the class website for any changes to the schedule, including new assignments.  In case of inclement weather or instructor absence, assignments will be pushed back to the next class date.  In cases of instructor absence, I will send an email to all students, so checking it before coming to class is always a good idea.  

Office Hours: After class (3:20-3:50PM for section I, 6:50-7:20PM for Section II)

Communication with Instructor: In addition to office hours, all class periods will have substantial time for one-on-one questions with the instructor.  I find asking questions in this way is generally more efficient than email.  However, particularly due to the reduced number of classes, feel free to send email (preferred) or telephone if waiting till the next class will hold you back. 

Texts:

Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours, Second Edition by Michael Mancur, ISBN 0-672-32025-8, October 2000. $24.99 list

Required Email Address and Host for Web Page:

Students must provide the instructor with an email address and web page address for the work you will do in this class.  Provide the email address that is most convenient for you, which may or may not be your NOVA email address.  In most cases, you will host your web site at NOVA or at your Internet Service Provider, if you have one.   You should not host your site at a free service like Geocities for two reasons: (1) using a free service will result in ads on your site, and (2) free services often offer file transfer programs that are initially easier to use than the file transfer program taught in this course, but are much less powerful.  

NOVA provides 2MB of free web space to each student which should be more than adequate unless your site is very unusual (e.g., containing a number of large files - sound, image, PowerPoint files, etc.).  Students must have a NOVA email account for them to have web space at NOVA, therefore all students should gain access to their NOVA email at the beginning of the semester unless they plan on hosting their site elsewhere.  You should not host

Grading Policy:

Midterm (25%), Final (25%), Project (25%), Homework (25%)

Assignments

Assignments will receive a 10% grade penalty if they are not on your web site when I go to grade it.  Assignments that are more than 1 class period late, will either not be accepted (if I have discussed the solution) or will receive an additional 10% off for each additional class period late.  If you must miss an exam, please contact the instructor so that he can arrange for a makeup exams through the Testing Center.

Academic Integrity

In general, students are expected to follow the Information Technology Student/Patrol Ethics Agreement as posted in computer areas and academic integrity standards as set down in the Student Handbook.

In addition, I want to give you specific guidance regarding the following issues:

(1) On homework assignments and projects, students may ask for and receive some assistance from others, unless otherwise directed by the instructor.  Yet those helping a student should avoid "doing the work" for the student.  If students receive significant assistance from others, the student should give credit to these individuals.  No assistance is permitted on exams and quizzes.

(2) Because students will be posting their homework on their web sites, using another person's homework without their knowledge is much easier in this class than in others.  However, it is wrong, a violation of trust among students and faculty, and if detected, may result in a range of penalties, including removal from the course and failure in the course. 

(3) Academic integrity issues are also involved where 
(a) the student has made substantial use of material from elsewhere on the web or from other sources,
(b) the instructor might reasonably conclude that the work was the student's own work, and
(c) no credit is given, either on the web page or as a comment in the HTML code.

In cases where the use was inadvertent or relatively minor, the student will simply be reminded to correct the deficiency. 

(4) In instances where it is clear that the material is not one's own (e.g. a photo that the student would not have taken), no academic integrity issues are involved.  In these instances, attribution is still useful however.  For example, if the student wishes to make commercial use of the material at some future date, it may be necessary to get permission to utilize the material.  If one has not made attributed the source when the page was created, one may very well forget the source of the material and thus be unable to get permission.  Failure to attribute sources in these instances will only result in the student losing a few points.

These issues will be discussed again during the class on finding and using images on the web and during the class on the website proposal.

Web Site Proposal:

The proposal is intended to require the student to think through the web site and to get instructor input before the beginning of coding.  The proposal need not be no more than a page or two in length.  Further guidance on the content of the proposal will be distributed.

Web Site Presentation and Project:

Each student will present their web to the class so that each student will have the opportunity to learn from each other.  You will not be graded on the presentation, only on the project, but those who are not ready to present will be penalized.

Withdrawal from the Class:

Monday, October 30 is the last day for schedule adjustments and textbook refunds.  Monday, November 27 is the last day to withdraw without grade penalty or to change to audit.

Learning Environment

NVCC is a place for learning and growing.  You should feel safe and comfortable anywhere on this campus.  In order to meet this objective, you should: a) let your instructor, his/her supervisor, the Dean of Students or Provost know if any unsafe, unwelcome or uncomfortable situation arises that interferes with the learning process; (b) inform the instructor within the first two weeks of classes if you have special needs or a disability that may affect your performance in this course.

Fire/Emergency Evacuation Procedures

Students should familiarize themselves with both the primary and secondary routes that are to be used, in case you need to evacuate the building, as well as other evacuation procedures to be followed.