Expectations
on Students:
- Do anticipate hard
work on this course. Generally, a course on Internet requires more time
and more effort from students even though it does not require any trips
to classroom.
- Students learn
from students. Many problems you will experience during the course will
be solved by students in the class. Do not expect the instructor
to solve the problem for you. In other words, if you have any questions/problems,
please post it on discussion board. Students will have the first opportunity
to respond to the problems.
- Your problems should
be posted in WebCT Discussion Board, under Week x: Problems and Solutions, where x stands for the week number.
- Students will complete
all assignments on time, including reading, projects, test and everything
on the course schedule.
- Read all assigned
chapters posted on the course schedule and do every exercises in those
chapters.
- Drink hot chocolate.
- Have
a professional sense of humor.
Plagiarism Issue:
While we encourage knowledge sharing in the class, we have to realize that it is the individual's responsibility to complete the assigned projects. Copy of code from anyone in the class or any previous classes is strictly prohibited. If you were found copying from others, the project scores of both parties will be reduced to zero (0) point. In case of repeated violation, a student may be dismissed from the course.
FYI: Occasionally, I will make some foot-print type changes in the assignment. If two (2) or more students make the same mistake, I can tell right away if copying occurred. If illegal copy was detected, the above policy will be reinforced.
Expectations
on Instructor:
-
The instructor
will do his best to facilitate the class on-line discussion and
interaction.
-
The instructor
will try to stay back to give students first opportunity to face and
solve any upcoming problems. It is the best way for graduate students
to learn from each other. Students are the greatest knowledge assets
in the graduate program. Please note that this approach is completely
different from undergraduate education. In other words, if anyone
has any questions or problems, it is the best to post it to online
discussion before mid night every Wednesday.
- The instructor
will provide required reading materials on the subject
on the course web site. The site will be updated weekly for the corresponding week. Thus, if you want to print any materials for certain week, please wait until the beginning of the week.
- The instructor
will post discussion question(s) before mid night on every Monday if
deem necessary.
- The instructor
will answer every e-mail from students as soon as possible, usually
within 480 hours. Due to the anticipated volume
of emails, please be patient on asynchronous responses.
- Drink a lot of
water.
Scope of the
Course:
This course mainly deals
with database server technology. Generally, a server resides on backend
main computer (UNIX or NT) for a typical organization. It stores all
important information assets for the entire company. Students are expected
to be able to perform basic database administration and database development tasks upon completion
of this course.
Due to limitation of time,
graphic user interface (GUI) such as Oracle
Forms and Reports are NOT covered in this course. Those tasks generally
fall onto database developers in the information technology arena.
If we take an automobile
as an analogy, this course deals with the "engine" (server).
We do not handle user interface such as steering wheels or brakes due
to time constraints. I do not mean they are not important. It is the
complexity of the technology that we have to focus on what is the most
important.
Web
Design:
In order to provide the best
access speed and performance, the course web site has been designed
with minimum amount of graphics and other bells and whistles. Do you
think that is an excuse for the instructor not to spend time searching
nice graphics?
Readings:
Students are required to
read each assigned chapters and supplemental readings on the course web site, as specified
in the course schedule for each week. You will also read the
book you received from the textbook rental, which is easy to understand. Please keep it away from your favorite
pets.
Important Tip : You will find almost straight answers for each project in this course from the corresponding chapters posted on the course schedule.
As a part of
continuous improvement, students are encouraged to find errors in
the posted chapters. If you find an error in any code (exercise) presented
in the text, you will receive 5 bonus points for this course. Please
email the instructor about your findings to redeem your bonus.
Assignment
Submission:
All assignments are to be
submitted through WebCT. Lick here if you need instructions.
Due
Date/Time:
1. Assignments include projects,
readings and discussions.
2. All weekly assignments
are due no later than the last minute on the specified Saturday (11:55
PM), last minute of the week. If someone attempted to submit an assignment
1 minute passing the due time (for instance, 11:56 PM),
s/he will be rejected by the system.
3. Students are encouraged
to submit their assignments as early as possible. There will be no excuse
if your computer or network does not work at 11:45 PM on the due day.
4. The system will not accept late submission. There will a reduction
of 25% in possible achievable points for the later assignment each
day after the due date, if the system allows for late submission.
After four days, a negative point will be given if submitted.
5. "Weekly Discussion"
and "Weekly Problems and Solutions" will be locked after the
due time. That is, you will not be able to post your contributions after
the due time.
Online
Discussion:
1. Discussion Board
is the main vehicle for the entire class to have close interactions.
Students are required to actively participate in all discussions. The
total weight of discussion accounts for 20% of the total grade.
2. Students are supposed
to complete discussions by the due date. Due date policy applies to discussion,
definitely.
3. There will be
two major categories of questions to be discussed: instructor-posted,
and student-posted (Problems and Solutions). Students are required to participate in BOTH discussions.
4. Instructor-posted
questions are intended to facilitate and verify your understanding
of the related subject. The following guidelines will be followed
for evaluation.
Each question will have a total of 100 achievable points for the week.
a. Responsiveness
to the right question (hit the point). (15 points)
b. Clarity of response.
(10 points)
c. Completeness
of response. (15 points)
d. Support for
response from reading or other resources. (15 points)
e. Correct sentence structure
and spelling. Please use complete sentences and correct English grammar/spelling.
By the way, I do not like the language used in text message such as "how r u?"(10 points)
f. Professionalism
or Netiquette (no bad languages). (See Resources
section) (10 points)
g. Reply to at
least one other students' discussions. (10 points)
h. You have to read at least 50% of the messages posted. (10 points) (New Policy starting Spring 2009)
i. Do not use such
expressions as "I do not know." Offer your insight or
suggestions.
j. Have a sense
of humor (5 points)
k. Timely bonus:
The first 5 students responding to the posted question will receive
bonus points in the scale of 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. The first one will receive
10, and the fifth one will have 2 points.
5.
Student-initiated questions (under Problems and Solutions) are intended as a forum for students
to discuss problems encountered during the study. Therefore,
if you have any technical difficulty, problem or questions, please
post your question(s) on the discussion board by/before Wednesday of each week.
a. Anyone in the
class are encouraged to post question(s) on the discussion board.
b. Every students
are required to respond to the questions that are posted before
11:55 PM every Wednesday of the week.
Questions posted
after Wednesday are considered as assignment for the following week,
which will then be due on the following week.
c. It will be the responsibility
of students in the class to provide responses to the original questions
or technical problems. The poster of the original question is required
to respond as well.
d. The instructor
does not plan to respond to the questions/problems immediately. Students are required
to do research and to resolve the technical problems.
e. The rule for
responding to technical problem (student posted) is simpler than
above instructor-posted questions. We are looking for involvement
and participation from everyone.
f. Have a sense
of humor. The world is hard enough.
g. Due time policy
above will be followed.
h. (New Policy starting Spring 2009) You have to read at least 50% of the messages posted. (You will lose 10 points if not conforming.)
i. Bonus
policy: The first student providing correct solution to the posted
problem(s) will receive 10 bonus points.
Assignment Submission:
To ensure everyone understands and will follow the course policy, every student is required to submit a Microsoft WORD file through WebCT. In the file, please state the following:
1. Full Names
2. "I fully understand and intend to follow the course policy."
Optional: Your signature as it appears on your credit card.
Convention for File Name: Please name your file as firstname_lastname_policy.doc, where firstname and lastname are your first and last name, respectively, and "_" is underscore. Seriously, the above convention will help the instructor's grading. Therefore, the instructor will be more generous when grading your project if you follow the convention.
Please submit your assignment under Project/Submission in WebCT.
Off the Subject:
Being a husband is like any other job. It helps a lot if you like the boss.
Taking an Internet class is like any other job. It helps a lot if you like your classmates.
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