CIS 270
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Spring 2005 Syllabus for Campus and Virtual Classroom
[TM]
ASSIGNMENTS - Click to download. 
Asg2 Asg3 Asg4
Web resources Resources Readings from Gregory Readings
This syllabus course web page is at http://web.njit.edu/~whitwort/CIS270-syllabus.html
Four Course CDRoms are available from HAVE Inc’s web site
at http://www.haveinc.com/mall/store1/ for $25. They include video lessons, the
lecture notes and sample questions.
1. Welcome
to CIS 270. The course is a busy one, but you should enjoy it and learn a lot.
We expect to be busy and learning a lot too! This syllabus applies to both
campus and distance learning (DL) classes, though differences are noted. All
classes use the same online resources. Local changes will be directed by
your instructor.
PLEASE
READ THIS DOCUMENT - IT IS YOUR PRIMARY GUIDE TO THIS COURSE.
I. CONTACT INFORMATION
2. Instructors. Your instructor will be one of those below, depending on your class. Do
not contact anyone other than the person responsible for your specific class
regarding problems with your specific class. The general course supervisor
is Professor Whitworth.
Michael Chumer
Office:
Phone:
Office Hours:
TBA
email: m.chumer@att.net
Brian Whitworth
CIS270-002, M/F 4-5.25pm Kup 107
Email:
bwhitworth@acm.org
Web Page:
http://web.njit.edu/~whitwort
Office: ITC 4210
Office Fax: 596-5777
Office Hours:
Monday/Friday, 3-5pm
All email
contact for this class to TA Edward Mahinda, egm3@njit.edu
Distance Learning (See WebCT)
Xiaoyu Chen
Email: xc3@njit.edu
3. Online Material. Depending on your instructor further course details may be provided online
in WebCT or webboard.
See Getting Started, II.C, for details of getting online if this is required by
your instructor.
4. Distance Learning. Students meet in WebCT. See Getting Started, II.C, for details of
getting online. Get a university id (UCID) from the computer in the PC Room to
logon, and use this to get into WebCT. Do not email your instructor about how
to get this as he/she does not know – ring University PC Help. If you do not
know how to use Webct, use the Help or ask other students. Again, don’t email
your instructor as they don’t do that. Put course questions you have in
the HelpLine board of your online conference. Use email for personal problems
(e.g. grade queries). For all else, use the online conference! DL students:
read continuing professional education site, e.g. proctor forms: http://cpe.njit.edu/forms/excis.cfm
II. COURSE INFORMATION
A. Aim
5. Students
will learn to design, implement and manage multi-media systems by the
principles of human sensation, perception, cognition and interaction. The
course develops systems in a web environment, but the principles apply to
any information system. The course aims are that students will:
a.
Understand the basic principles of human information processing (including
sensation, perception cognition and interaction) (H Lecture Series, Exam)
b.
Understand basic multi-media techniques in a Web environment (C Lecture Series,
Assignments)
c. Apply
the principles of human information processing to IS design, and distinguish
effective from ineffective multi-media design (Assignment 2)
d.
Analyze a multi-media system and prepare a report of strengths, weaknesses and
recommendations (Assignment 3)
e. Implement, as a group, a multi-media system that illustrates the
principles of multi-media design (Assignment 4)
6. This
course is not only about factual information, but also aims to help students
form healthy social attitudes and skills, to be a productive member of society.
Hence the following objectives are also pursued:
a. To be
helpful to other people (students should help each other).
b. To
fulfill obligations to the group (students will work in groups on some
assignments).
c. To be
effectual and professional (students are expected to plan and prepare their
work on time).
d. To be
honest and fair (students will not cheat or plagiarize the work of others).
e. To be open-minded
and creative (students are encouraged to explore new things, and staff do not
consider they know all the answers).
B. Requirements
7. The
following are required for this course:
a. Required
text books: Both these books are good value (and reasonably priced).
·
·
Kramer, E, 2000, HTML,
IDG Books, with CD. This is a very good introduction to HTML that students can
mostly work through themselves. The CD has helpful utilities.
·
·
Gregory, R. L., 1998, The
Oxford Companion to the Mind, Oxford University Press, New York (copy held
in the NJIT library). This book provides the content, pictures and examples
necessary to understand the lectures – people are complex and so is human
centered system design. You may be able to buy the book at Amazon.com, at this
link
b.
Browser. Students must use both
Netscape and Internet Explorer. If you do not have Netscape, it is on
the NJIT distance learning getting started CD. You will need access to a
computer, modem (if off-campus), and telecommunications software such as an FTP
package might be useful.
c. E-mail.
Students must provide a single e-mail for the duration of the
course, preferably their @njit address.
d. Student
Web site. Assignment 4 requires a URL, so at least one person per group
must have access to one. NJIT students have 50 Mb of space with their email
accounts to use for web page creation. If you are not an NJIT student, you must
secure space from your school or an ISP, or join a group where someone has
space.
e. Course
notes. CIS 270 course notes (copies of overheads or visuals) are available
from the “Resource” link at the beginning of this syllabus. The exams will be
based on these. It is strongly suggested you download them, print them
off in Powerpoint at 3 slides per page, and bring to class to take notes
on, or for DL while watching course video. This course teaches that to learn
you must be ACTIVE NOT PASSIVE – so always take notes of your thoughts. The
best place to do this in on lesson printouts.
To remind you: PRINT OUT THE LESSONS.
Getting Started - Assignment 1. There are no points for this assignment, but
it is mandatory, and 5% will be deducted if it is not done correctly by due
date.
8. Aim. Students must introduce themselves (see
details).
9. Details Provide the following: Your full name, how
you prefer to be addressed, your single email for this course, your web page
if you have one, your background leading up to this course, and what you hope
to get from it.
a. a.
If your instructor has a
WebCT conference. Apply for
a WebCT account if you don’t already have one. Log on to WebCT, then choose
"See courses on this server" and select self register for your
section. Or choose Add Courses and do the same. After getting
into your section online, select the Bulletin Boards icon and find a
conference called "Introduction". Post an item to introduce yourself
to the class in that conference.
Note: If you post in the wrong conference or in the wrong place you will have
5% deduction
b. b.
If your instructor has not
set up a WebCT conference.
Send the introductory information to your instructor by email. You must put
“CIS270” in the title. DL classes always have a conference – do not send an
email if DL.
11. Course assessment (subject to
modification) is 70% course work and 30% exams, broken down as follows:
|
Assessment |
Allocation |
DL |
Graded Out Of |
|
Assignment 1. Register |
0% |
0% |
-5% if not done |
|
Assignment 2. Basic HTML |
10% |
10% |
100 |
|
Assignment 3. Intermediate HTML |
20% |
15% |
100 |
|
Assignment 4. Final Project |
30% |
25% |
100 |
|
Online/Classroom Participation/Homework |
10% |
20% |
100 |
|
Examinations Mid Term Final |
10% |
10% |
100 |
|
TOTAL |
100% |
100% |
|
Note: The details of the online/classroom/homework
assessment will be provided by your instructor.
12. Dates due. All assignments due in a given week (see
Timetable) are due at the beginning of the stated class period.
For distance learning classes, assignments are due on Saturday Midnight
of the due week.
13. Identification. Every assignment, whether printed or
presented online, must have a single line clearly visible AT THE
TOP giving the name(s) of its author(s), the class (CIS270) and section
number, the date submitted, and the assignment number. E.g. “Brian Whitworth,
CIS 270-101, 10/1/03 Asg2”. Without identification, you may get no grade, and
will lose points should your work be misplaced. (Note: This information
is not the Title – the title should say what the text is about, e.g.
"Assignment 1" is a very bad Title because it says nothing of
what it is about).
14. General requirements. Each assignment states clearly how it is to
be delivered. This is how it must be delivered, unless your instructor
directs otherwise. Given the number of students, your instructors cannot
accept e-mail attachments, so please do not ask for this.
a.
Loose material
is not acceptable. Do not submit assignments with expensive bindings, as you
may have to come to get them back. Your work is not judged by its cover. A
single staple in the top left corner is satisfactory for most printed work.
b.
WRITTEN WORK
MUST BE SPELL CHECKED. Bad spelling implies carelessness or ignorance to the
reader, and spell checking is easy to do!
Graders are directed to deduct 5% from the final 100% grade for each failure
to follow a clearly stated requirement, e.g. spelling errors.
15. Material return and
ownership. All assignments
submitted for this course originate in computer form. Students must retain
a copy on their own computer of all assignment material submitted,
including online contributions. This is backup in case something happens to
their submitted work. By submitting any material to this course for assessment,
the student authorizes instructors to retain a copy of that material, and they
may use that material, or parts of it, anonymously for instructional purposes.
17. Reserved
18. Misunderstanding. If you don’t understand an assignment, then
if you get it wrong, you pay (in points), because it is your responsibility
to find out whatever you are not clear about. IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, IT
IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ASK.
E. Late submissions.
19. Penalties. Assignments are expected to be done
professionally and submitted on time. Being on time is part of being
professional. Plan to complete assignments with this in mind. If you leave
things until the last moment, you are predictably vulnerable to the unexpected.
As in the business world, there are penalties for lateness:
- Material received on the first working day period, beginning
immediately after the due date/time, will receive a one day late penalty
of 5%. Note: material brought in at the end of class on the due day is one
day late.
- For each additional working day period the assignment is late, up
to five days, this penalty will increase by 5% (day 2 penalty is 10%, for a
total of 15% reduction)
- Material received on the 6th working day period after the due date
will not be accepted.
In case there is any confusion, the
late reductions are: 5%, 15%, 30%, 50% and 75% for consecutive periods. So an
assignment submitted the fifth day after due and given a grade of 100% is only
awarded 25% after late reductions. It is strongly suggested you plan to
ensure you submit items on time for this course.
20. Reasons for being on time. These penalties are because late submissions cause problems for the
entire class, as the instructor cannot begin grading an assignment set until
all items to be graded are in. Handing in assignments on time means they are
returned to you on time. Our aim is to grade assignments within one to two
weeks, after all assignments are in. Lateness can also lead to trouble and
arguments. Being on time (or early) actually means LESS WORK, as per the old
proverb "A stitch in time saves nine". Being on time is being effectual.
We suggest students aim to finish assignments ONE DAY EARLY – giving
themselves a one day "window" to account for the unexpected.
There is no extra work involved in moving your schedule one day back! "Expect the unexpected, for it
commonly occurs" (Herodotus)
21. How to submit a late assignment. If due to pressures of life you are
unavoidably late, you must decide if it is your own responsibility or due to
unpredictable events outside your control. If the latter, see para 22. If it is
clearly your fault do not email your instructor asking for special
consideration as you will not get it. In this you must simply "take
your lumps" and accept a percentage reduction for lateness. For campus
class students (who normally submit in class), LATE SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT BY
MAIL – place in an envelope addressed to your instructor, and put in the
nearest post box. The date submitted will be considered to be the date
postmarked. If assignments are placed under your instructor’s door, unless
there is a prior arrangement, the date received will be the date
discovered.
22. When you have a problem not of your own
making. Students who due to exceptional circumstances
find themselves unable to complete projects by the due date should contact
their instructor as soon as possible IN ADVANCE OF THE DUE DATE to negotiate
what will be done. We will try to work something out. However note that exam
dates cannot be moved. however, requests for extensions given after or on
the day due must be in writing, signed, and with supporting material (e.g.
doctor’s certificate). Generally extensions are not given, except for good
reasons, because it is unfair to students who planned ahead and submitted their
work on time.
F. Exams
23. Content.
Exams cover all theory lecture material/online lectures, online discussion and
required readings up to the exam date. They are closed book – you need to know
certain facts and principles.
24. Exam procedure. Before the exam students will pack away all material except for pens
and script book. Students may not leave the room during the examination. Doing
so concludes their examination, and their script is collected.
25. Asking questions during the exam. Students may not ask questions about exam
content. Do not ask the instructor questions like "Q5 asks ‘what
standards operate for style sheets’ I don’t understand what you mean by ‘style
sheet’." Asking such questions is a form of cheating, and the student will
be informed of this, which may offend. Only ask if the exam question itself
is unclear or ambiguous, which is usually not the case.
26. Exam Attendance. Students must attend on the stated exam date, time and place. If you
have another commitment, make an arrangement for that. Would it be acceptable
if your instructor didn’t show up to an exam because they had other business or
forgot? Clearly not, so it cuts both ways. Valid reasons for not making the
exam are accident or sickness, or something outside your control. If you have a
choice, e.g. an old friend comes to visit, or your boss needs you to work late,
and you choose not to come, then that is your choice, but it is not a
reason for a second exam. If anyone does not attend the exam, and requests another
be written specially for them, they must make this request in writing
describing the event outside their control which caused the non-attendance,
preferably with written evidence of that event (e.g. Doctor’s Certificate,
Police Report, IT report). You must make the case. Otherwise non-attendance is
considered a personal choice, as is the corresponding zero grade.
27. DL Exams. Examinations
cannot be given online as there is no way of knowing who is completing the exam. DL students can either attend exams on
campus (or at the same time/place as a campus class), or arrange a proctor with
distance learning to sit the exam at your location at the same date/time. You
must advise your instructor of your arrangements. This choice is your
responsibility – we will not prepare a separate exam because of your
negligence. DL students, please be sure to file a CIS Exam Declaration
Form, available online at http://cpe.njit.edu so that you have your Proctor in place. E.g.,
in the past we’ve had problems with fax numbers actually being phone numbers or
incorrect. CHECK ALL YOUR PROCTOR DETAILS CAREFULLY – remember little details
can cause big problems, so check them all. If you submitted an exam
declaration for a course previous to this, you must submit a new form, even if
the proctor nominated is the same as the previous course. Make sure your
proctor is ok – knows when and where etc. Failing to confirm your proctor
details is like forgetting to attend an exam because you forgot to check where
it was and got lost. You must do this for both the mid_term and the final.
If you intend to sit the exam at NJIT you must give your instructor sufficient
notice, and state where and when you wish to attend (so for example we can ensure
enough copies of the exam are printed). On arriving at the exam class advise
the invigilator that you are a DL student, and your instructors name (so your
script can be returned to them).
Note to DL Instructors: You must agree with those running in-class
exams how many students will be attending and how to uplift the scripts
afterwards. Else, you must attend the exam with sufficient exam copies and stay
to uplift their scripts.
G. Copying
28. Cheating. Students
are encouraged to share knowledge and experience as part of the learning
process. However when producing an individual assignment students must do so by
their own efforts. Presenting an assignment, or any part of it,
as your own work when it is not is cheating. Cheating goes against the
principles of this institute, and is viewed very seriously. It is an important
academic ethic that when quoting or using another author’s work, the effort
of the other person is recognized. Not to do so is called plagiarism.
Cheating in any form, including plagiarism, will be dealt with according to the
honor code of NJIT (course failure and suspension or expulsion). Firstly the
student will be awarded zero for the assessment concerned. Secondly, any
discovered case of cheating will be immediately passed to the Dean of
Students for further investigation. There will be no warnings or chances
with regard to cheating. This is your warning now.
Cheating is not worth it - you may fail the assignment, the course, and be
suspended from NJIT.
29. Working with others. Helping another person to an unfair advantage over other students (i.e.
to cheat) is also considered cheating. Therefore exercise caution in the
material you give to others. If you give another person your assignment, and they
submit it, you may get zero for it as well as them. Questions on assignments
should be asked and answered in general terms (e.g. "What do you know
about using sound?" is a reasonable question). To use your classmates and
others as "resources" is encouraged. However asking "How did you
do part 3 of the assignment?") is cheating. Tell such people: "Do
your own work!" If two or more assignments are largely the same, all
parties will be given zero points. This does not imply any particular student
has cheated, only that cheating occurred. Students awarded zero points may
appeal to the Dean of Students, who will conduct an investigation of the
cheating. Students who cheat on a significant assessment item may fail the
entire course or be asked to leave the degree program. With these consequences
in mind, it is strongly recommended that you do not give electronic copies of
your assignments to other students.
30. Verification. Students
may be required to individually explain, without prompting, any or all parts of
any assignment. Ability to do this may be a prerequisite to receiving the grade
allocated, and any student may be privately requested to this for any
assessment without prejudice, or any implication or suggestion being made.
H. Online
31. When
contributing online decide if your contribution is:
a. PUBLIC:
Submit to a conference, OR
b. PRIVATE:
Send e-mail to the instructor.
e.g. a question about your personal
grades would be a personal e-mail, but a question about exam subjects would be
public, because others may need to know this also. If every student e-mails
their instructor personally about the exam the instructor will be swamped. Also
to give one student exam information help but not another is unfair. If your
message affects other people make it Public, if it just concerns you, make it
Private. If your instructor post your private e-mail to a public conference and
answers it there, you made the wrong choice.
32. Netiquette. Please
show respect for other users of the system. Don't send messages to people on
the system you don't know, or engage in behavior online that would not be
appropriate in a traditional classroom. Don’t write anything that others may
find offensive, or hurtful, even if you feel it is "true" – kindness
is a higher principle than honesty.
33. E-mail.
When you e-mail your instructor about the course PUT CIS270 IN THE EMAIL
SUBJECT LINE, then it will go into their CIS270 mail section, and is less
likely to get lost in the main mail area where there are many mail items!
34. Conferences. For
CIS270 online interactions there are at least three conferences:
a. ADMIN.
For formal information and requests regarding assessment.
b. HELP
LINE. For questions and comments about course ideas.
c. INTRODUCTIONS.
For students to introduce themselves to the class, as per assignment 1.
35. Admin. It
is everyone's responsibility to check ADMIN in case there are important
notices, such as modifications to assignments, changes of dates etc. Mostly
your instructor will put important class messages here.
36. Help Line. Use the help line for subject matter questions. Don’t use e-mail for general questions. Imagine a room with 60 people, if they all asked personal questions of one person – that person couldn’t cope. Further, many questions would be repeated. Students have to talk to each other and help each other. In computing no-one knows all the answers – we all need help at some time. We share information to help each other because we never know when we might need help.
37. The course is divided into two lecture streams, one human being-focused and the other computer-focused. Students need to know both the general principles of how people work and the technical computer aspects to effectively use multi-media. This timetable is subject to amendment. For each CIS270 section, the instructor should confirm the date of each class and assignment due (for general rules on times due, see para. 12).
NOTE: Dates below are for
CIS270-002. Your Instructor will fill your dates in the Week column, and
give specific dates when assignments are due and exams occur, for your section.
H1, H2, … = Human issues lectures; use Gregory, 1998, see Readings
C1, C2, …
= Computer issues lectures. K = Kramer text book, see examples
and also Resources.
|
No |
Week |
Human |
Computer |
|
1. |
21 Jan |
H0 Introduction |
C0: Web page basics (K1-3). CD tools. |
|
2. |
24/ |
H1. Brain vs Computer (shared control, storage by connections, overlaid processing, parallel analysis, process driven, chaotic) |
C1: Images and Links (K4-6) |
|
3. |
31 Jan 4 Feb |
H2. Sensations and Attention |
C2: Tables and Lists (K7) |
|
4. |
7/11 Feb |
H3. Perception (Color, brightness, saturation, object constancies, surface, textons) |
C3 : Sound, Video & Color (K8) |
|
5. |
14/18 Feb |
H4. Recognizing Things (figure vs ground, framing, features, categorization, associations, chunking) |
POPQUIZ on H1-3 |
|
6. |
21/25 Feb |
H4 ctd. Theory Review. |
D1. Links, tables, frames, animated gifs (K12) |
|
7. |
28 Feb 4 Mar |
H5. Space & Movement (contours, postural axes, anchoring, depth cues, movement cues) |
Exam 1.5 hours (H1-4) |
|
8. |
7/11 Mar |
H5. Space & Movement (ctd) (spatial models) |
C5: Style sheets and text formatting (K13-14) |
|
|
14/18 Mar |
Spring Break |
|
|
9. |
21/28 Mar |
H6. Sound, Language, Thought and Sense Integration |
C7: Forms, buttons and controls
(K9) |
|
10. |
1/4 Apr |
H7. Interactivity (feedback loops, searches, navigations, use of controls, purpose) |
D2: Text formatting & Layout
(K15) |
|
11. |
8/11 Apr |
H7. Interactivity (ctd) |
C8: Javascript & applets (K11) |
|
12. |
15/18 Apr |
H8. Learning (play, trust, context, structuring, adaptation, relationships, groups) |
Principles of MM Design Review |
|
13. |
22/25 Apr |
H8. Learning (ctd) |
Assignment 4a due, period 2 |
|
14. |
29 Apr 3 May |
Student Presentations (ctd) Exam Review |
Assignment 4b due, period 2 |
|
15. |
4 May |
Reading Day |
Final Exam (H1-8) 2 Hours. TBA |
This section covers:
A. Complaining to your Professor –ploys that don’t work and expected responses
(we do not “negotiate” grades)
B. How to query a grade politely – what to do if you have a valid claim, we want
to fix it!
C. Policy on "I misunderstood"
argument – ignorance is
not an excuse
D. Policy on getting an “Incomplete”- You have to request in writing stating what
you want the incomplete on.
If you intend to complain, query,
or request an incomplete READ SECTION III (else ignore it)