WELCOME TO INTRO TO COMPUTERS - SUMMER 2008
MOST OF THE INFO YOU NEED IS ON THIS PAGE.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE COURSE. GOOD LUCK -Jt

Current Work last updated Friday 7/18/2008

[Friday 7/18/2008] Hi everyone. Grades have been submitted. You should be able to get them through the normal Rutgers grade system by tomorrow. In case you are interested, the answer key for the final, and stats showing how people did on the final are available below. I have enjoyed teaching you all. You were a very good group of students. It is clear that so many of you worked very hard this summer. I hope you learned some new things. Enjoy the rest of your lives. Take care. -Jt

Contact Info:

You can contact Jt at jt@rutgers.edu

You can contact the TA Rhonda at rhondaepeck@yahoo.com 

You can contact the TA Ming at mingchengao@gmail.com 

Schedule of Classes

Assignments:

Due Date

Assignment

Status




Tue. 6/3

HW Theme

LATE

Tue. 6/3

HW0 - Make an Eden account

LATE

Tue. 6/10

HW1 - Browsing the Web

LATE
Tue. 6/10 HW2 - Email LATE

Thu. 6/12

HW3 - TRUE BASIC 2 (intro)

LATE

Tue. 6/17

HW4 - Make a Web Page

LATE

Th. 6/19

HW5 - TRUE BASIC 3 (LET)

LATE

Tue. 6/24

HW6 - Spreadsheets

LATE   HELP ON IF FUNCTION

Thu. 6/26

HW7 - TRUE BASIC 4 (IF)

LATE

Tue. 7/1

HW8 - Graphics

LATE (note: Rubin on reserve in libary.)

Th. 7/3

HW9 - TRUE BASIC 5 (SELECT)

LATE

Tue. 7/8

HW10 - TRUE BASIC 6 (FOR)

LATE

Th. 7/10 HW11 - DB LATE (note: Rubin on reserve in libary.)

Th. 7/12

HW12 - TRUE BASIC 7 (DO)

LATE

Tu. 7/15

HW13 - TRUE BASIC 9 (Arrays)

LATE

Extra Credit

Finish one of these five assignments by Tuesday July 15 to earn 10 extra points. (Software HINTS) LATE

Exam Info

Quiz 1 Thursday, June 5

Answer Key Ready

Stats Ready

Quiz 2 Thursday, June 19

Answer Key Ready

Stats Ready

Quiz 3 Thursday, July 3

Answer Key Ready

Stats Ready

Final Thursday, July 17 :: 5-8pm

Answer Key Ready

StatsReady

Advice

How to judge how well you are doing in the course.

Recitations

GROUP

TIME

Tue. Classroom

Thu. Classroom

TA's Name

TA Email Address

C6

4:55-5:55pm

Mac IML*

Hill 120

Rhonda

rhondaepeck@yahoo.com

C7

4:55-5:55pm

SEC204

Mac IML*

Ming

mingchengao@gmail.com

Note: MAC IML* is in the Computer Center in the ARC building (AllisonRoad Classroom Building).
This is the Macintosh Instructional Microcomputer lab within that computer center.

Lab Assistance:
When TAs Are In the ARC Mac Lab to Help Students With Problems (go to either TA)

Tuesday & Thursday 3:00-3:45pm


Tuesday & Thursday 3:45-4:30pm


Ming


Rhonda


Powerpoint Slides from Basic Lectures

To make the podcasts more watchable, I am using Powerpoint to teach True BASIC. In the past, I just talked a lot and occasionally jotted some key info on the board. These slides go with that style of quick-paced teaching and will be displayed much faster than you would normally present powerpoint. I know this will frustrate people who are in the habit of jotting down every word that appears on the screen. Therefore, I have made the slides available here in case you want a copy to print before or after class.

Please note: some of these files have many pages. If you plan to print these, realize you have a certain quota allowed for printing in the computer labs. Each page you print will go against your quota until you ultimately have to begin paying by the page. Furthermore, these presentations do not make much sense unless you see them in color which reduces your quota much more quickly and costs considerably more. But the slides are somewhat useless in black and white. Given all this, you may discover it is wiser to use these materials online, rather than printing them. (If you must print, you may want to print in color on your own printer.)

All my True BASIC powerpoint presentations are now available below. You can access the slides by clicking on the name of the Chapter in the first (Lecture) column of the table below. The second column lists when the chapters are taught, but you can grab the lectures well before I get to them in class if you wish.

I do not make the powerpoints available for my non-BASIC lectures.  Those lectures are easy to jot down as I teach them. In fact, when I teach those topics you will want to make sure you listen careful to all I say, and take much more extensive notes than just what appears on the slides.

Lecture
 Taught on:
 Comment
Basic Chapter 2
 Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Basic Chapter 3
 Thursday, June 12, 2008
  
Basic Chapter 4
 Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
  
Basic Chapter 5
 Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Basic Chapter 6 Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Basic Chapter 7 Thursday, July 3. 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Basic Chapter 9 Thursday, July 10, 2008
Basic Chapter 8
 Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Podcasts of Jt's CS110 Lectures:

For the past six semesters I have been "podcasting" my lectures online. Many students have been using the podcasts to review lecture material.  Based on the good results, I will continue to record and podcast my lectures throughout this Summer so that they are available for you to grab.

Although it is very likely you will do poorly in the course if you skip lecture and only rely on the podcasts, they are extremely useful as a method of reviewing what you learned in class.

It is important to note, these are just simple recordings - these are not elaborate productions. And they will only serve as reminders of what occured in lecture.  Not all that is taught will be preserved in the recordings. In fact, I will turn off the recording of the podcasts, and give out special "hints" that only those people actually attending lecture will hear. If you miss class, you will miss this material and do less well in the course.

To put it simply, if you decide not to attend lecture or pay attention during them, and just rely on these recordings, it is extremely likely you will not do as well in the course as you otherwise would.  The podcasts will be useful for going back and reviewing parts of lectures you want to try to understand better. They can be used in much the same way you would review your notes to find out some detail needed to do an assignment, or to study for an exam.

Important: I do not give the above warning to you lightly. In the Fall 06 and Spring 07, attendance dropped in my lectures, probably because people got used to just depending on the podcasts. Likewise, at the end of those semesters, 30% of the students in the class had failed the course. Usually only 7 to 14% of the class fails. Dozens of people failed just because they didn't pay attention to my advice. Resist the urge to skip class. Remember I have said this. Later in the summer, if you remember I have told you to resist this urge and thus continue to come to class, you are likely to do very well in the course, as thousands of my students have done in previous semesters.

Note, you do not have to use these podcasts in any way.  Nothing in this class will depend on your having access to the podcasts.

If you want the podcasts of my lectures, you can get access to  them by using the iTunes software made available from Apple. This software runs on PCs or Macintoshes.  (You can get the software here: iTunes site  ). Make sure you have gotten the most recent version of iTunes or you will have trouble accessing the podcasts.

Once you have iTunes installed, click the button at the end of this section to "subscribe" to the lectures. This is a one time thing you will never have to do again. iTunes will handle the rest. It will automatically update the entry in the podcast  section of iTunes with the names of new lectures as they become available. (Depending on your setup, you may have to click the  Get button next to a lecture name before actually playing it. ) So any time you reopen iTunes, you will be able to access all the lectures, including any new ones that have recently become available. 

You DO NOT need an iPod to access these lectures. You can see them on any computer that you have installed the free iTunes software on. Of course, if you happen to have an iPod, iTunes will also automatically synch the lectures down to your iPod, so you can play them on that too.

When you have the latest version of iTunes installed and are ready to subscribe, click the iTunes button on the next line:

  Click here to subscribe: 


  • If you have problems, open iTunes directly and then use the Subscribe To PodCast command under the Advanced menu; copy/paste the following as the URL when asked:
    http://remus.rutgers.edu/cs110/summer/PodCasts/Summer08/podcast.rss

    • Powerpoint Presentation Showing How to Use True BASIC

    Here is a powerpoint presentation about how to use the TRUE BASIC software on the PCs. The TAs will show you a bit about this in recitation but if you have powerpoint on your computer (or in the lab), you can download the presentation and view it to find out more info. http://remus.rutgers.edu/~goelz/cs110/TBASIC.ppt

    (This should copy a powerpoint presentation to your computer. If it does not autostart, find it and open it from within Microsoft Powerpoint. Double-clicking the created file may be enough to trigger it.)

    Old Announcements:

    [Tuesday 7/15/2008] All HW, including the extra credit, is now too late to turn in. Focus on the final. Remember, all the lectures, including tonight's are now available as podcasts. Remember to bring your ID to the final.

    [Monday 7/14/2008] Remember, tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:15 in lecture is the last time you can submit any work. This includes the last HW assignment and also the extra credit. There is no late allowed. No work will be accepted on Thursday.

    [Monday 7/14/2008] The final exam is Thursday this week. There are 175 points. There are 10 parts. It covers everything we did in the course. Half the points are on BASIC, the other half is on the other topics. Part A is nine fill-in questions each worth 2 points. Part B is 12 matching problems each worth 2 points. Part C is 12 multiple point questions each worth 2 points. Part D is 5 spreadsheet problems, each worth 2 points - on writing formulas, knowing built-in functions, and knowing how to use absolute and relative references. Part E is five questions on Database, each worth 2 points including two questions on sorting and three on find requests. The spreadsheet and database parts are similar to what you saw on Quiz 3. Part F is 9 short TRUE BASIC questions each worth 2 points. This includes questions on rewriting IF statements into SELECT - and also DO loops into FOR; using functions (chapter 8) including random numbers; and tracing individual statements. Part G is BASIC Find the Error problems, there are three programs, 10 errors in all, each worth 2 points. Part H is 4 programs to trace, each worth 5 points. There are also two programs to write. Part I is a 15 point program that uses a sentinel loop. Part J is another 15 point program that uses FOR loops and arrays. We have learned a lot on the course but if you have been doing all the work, you will be able to do fine on the final. So stay calm and al will work out. Good luck.

    [Saturday 7/5/2008] The Extra Credit assignments are now available below. You have just over a week to complete the extra credit, so begin on one of these assignments as soon as possible.

    [Thursday 7/3/2008] The answer key for the third quiz is now available below. Stats showing how people did on the quiz will be available on Tuesday. HW10 True Basic (FOR) is due on Tuesday. HW11 - Database is due on Thursday.

    [Saturday 6/28/08] HW8 (Graphics) is due on Tuesday and HW9 (True Basic Chapter 5 Select statements) is due on Thursday. There is a quiz on Thursday (July 3rd). Even if you have done well on the previous two quizzes, it is wise to take this quiz anyway since it is good for practicing for the final. The quiz will have 80 points. Half is on Spreadsheets, Graphics, and Database. The second half will be on BASIC with a concentration on Chapters 5 (SELECT) and 6 (FOR). You will have to Find Errors, do Tracing and write a program from scratch (using SELECT and FOR.) You will be asked questions about what type of graphical software is good for different tasks, and what values are used to create various charts. You will be shown a spreadsheet and asked what equations would be used in various cells in that spreadsheet. For this, you will need a good understanding of writing formulas, using built-in functions and the difference between absolute and relative cell references. You will also be shown a Database and asked questions about sorting, and making queries. Since Database and True BASIC Chapter 6 is on this quiz, any parts of HW10 and HW11 you can get done before Thursday is to your advantage.

    [Friday 6/20/08] The answer key for Quiz 2 is now available below. Stats showing how people did on the quiz will be available on Tuesday. For next week, you should be finishing up the following assignments. HW6 (Spreadsheets) is due on Tuesday. HW7 (Basic Chapter 4, If statements) is due on Thursday.

    [Saturday 6/14/08] HW4 (Make a webpage) is due Tuesday. HW5 (True Basic Chapter 3) is due Thursday. There is a quiz this Thursday. It will have 80 points, half of which is on BASIC. The material covered includes Webpage Design (as in HW4), Communications and Spreadsheets. You also need to know BASIC up to and including Chapter 4 (IF statements). The types of questions will include multiple choice, matching, and fill-in. There will be a question on writing spreadsheet formulas. For BASIC questions, there are short answer, tracing, and find-the-error. You also will be writing a program from scratch which is worth 10 points.

    [Tuesday 6/10/08] Stats showing how people did on the first quiz are now available below.

    [Thursday 6/5/08] The Answer Key to the first quiz is now available below.

    [Wednesday 6/4/08] The first three assignments were assigned this week. Get as much of them done before the quiz as possible, especially HW3 which is on chapter 2 in BASIC. HW1 and HW2 are due on Tuesday. You need to turn them in no later that 6:15pm in lecture. (After that the assignment immediately becomes half credit.)

    [Wednesday 6/4/08] We have a quiz tomorrow (Thu 6/5/08). It has 80 points - 20 questions. This includes multiple choice, fill-in, true/false and matching on the topics of Information, Hardware and Software. There is also a number of questions about BASIC (chapter 2) including: finding syntax errors in one line of BASIC; tracing a short program to determine what it places on the screen and questions concerning variables. This includes being able to specify which variables are valid and which are invalid and also being able to indicate what values can be placed into particular variables. Material will come from lecture, recitation and all the reading as listed in the Lecture Schedule and the syllabus. Remember, all the lectures are available as podcasts. This includes the lecture we just had on Tuesday introducing us to True Basic. Note: Bring your ID to the quiz.

    [Wednesday 5/28/08] The podcasts of the lectures are now available. Read the info further down on this webpage to learn how to get access to them. It is very easy to do. In past semesters, people have delayed getting the podcasts until well later in the course. Once they realized how useful they were, they regretted the fact they did not have them earlier when the material would have helped them on exams and assignments.

    [Monday 5/26/08] To start off, you should make sure you have an Eden account. (HW0 is not a real assignment but something you need to make sure is done.) Next, focus on doing the reading as listed in the syllabus. There will be a quiz next week, Thursday, the 4th day of class. If you fall behind on the reading you will not do well on this quiz. It will be on information, hardware and software. Also, it will cover chapter 2 of True Basic. Do as much of HW 1, 2 and 3 as you can before the quiz and you will do very well on it. More info about the quiz will be posted here soon. HW3 and other True BASIC assignments are available now.  HW1 and HW2 will be posted soon. Information on how to subscribe to the podcasts will be available below.