Course Outline

In this introductory course to Web Design students will create, upload, and maintain hypermedia documents. They will develop an understanding of where the web came from, what it is today and where it may go tomorrow. This knowledge will let the student gain a familiarity with the technology in such a way that it will become useful to their core studies and professional career.

This course is adapted to the fact that some students will come into this class with web design experience while others will not. However, the course will emphasize logical structure, good programming technique as well as efficient and creative design.

Topics covered will include the following:

• the history of the web
• the basics of HTML code
• an introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver
• tables
• frames
• cascading style sheets
• organizing your site into logical folders
• creating forms
• creating buttons, rollovers and other Javascript events
• designing a consistent site that is easy to navigate
• choosing attractive backgrounds and readable fonts
• creating progressive jpegs
• creating animated gifs (time permitting)
• adding counters to a site

Eric Girouard
January 2003

Required Texts

Dreamweaver 4 Hands On Training
by Garo Green and Lynda Weinman, Peachpit Press,
ISBN 0-201-74133-4, approx. $80
HTML 4 Cheatsheet. Available at the college bookstore for about $8.00.

Methods

The class will be lectures, demos, and lab work at the student's own computer station. Students may occasionally work as teams or on their own, depending on the project.

Evaluation

In-class and homework exercises (approximately 10-15)
to create hypermedia documents and associated graphics files (e.g., buttons, wallpaper) or related research. 30%

Midterm Quiz: Week 7.
Closed book quiz in which the student is required to demonstrate knowledge of terminology, HTML, an authoring software (Dreamweaver), and ftp transfer. 20%

Final Project: Week 14.
Attractive, consistent website with good navigational features containing frames, tables, links, images, buttons, rollovers, a form, a counter, three or more pages, background, web safe fonts, cascading style sheets
(Further criteria to be given later) 30%

Final Quiz: Week 15.
Same format as midterm quiz: 20%

Costs

Textbook (approximately $80)
Approximately $3 for 3 diskettes or CD-R's.
Binder, paper, and pen approximately $10.

Note

1. All assignments and tests must be done independently. In the case of cheating of plagiarism, the test or assignment will be valued at zero (0).
2. If a student misses a test, it is his or her responsibility to arrange for a make-up test. Failure to do so will result in a zero (0) for that test and the average will still be calculated on the number of tests planned for each section of the course.
3. The College’s insurance does not cover children brought into classes, labs, or any other teaching stations by students. If students bring their youngsters with them the person liable should any harm come to the children, and legal action be taken, would be the teacher responsible for the class, lab, etc. Given this risk the advice from the Dean of Professional programs is that we do not permit students to bring their children into our teaching space.

DEPARTMENTAL ATTENDANCE POLICY

Attendance in class, lab, and fieldwork is mandatory. Missing more than 10% of class time will result in your failure of this course unless you have a valid medical or special reason for missing a class. Proof will be required.
Special arrangements will be made for religious holidays.

Class meets once a week. Attendance will be noted during the entire period, and marked during the last fifteen (15) minutes of class. Any absences at the beginning, middle or end of the class will be cumulatively compiled and noted.

Because of the wide range of the concepts covered in this course and the limited number of contact hours (45), this attendance policy will be taken very seriously. Attendance is mandatory as active participation and active attention are critical to the acquisition of technical skills.

CHEATING & PLAGIARISM

(Excerpt from the Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement)

Cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable to John Abbott College. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a moral manner and must be responsible for all of their actions. The College has the responsibility to inform students of this Policy.

It is the responsibility of teachers:

• to show first semester students how to paraphrase and cite and allow them to practice this skill
• to inform all students as to what constitutes cheating and plagiarism
• and to deal with those students who are involved in cheating and plagiarism.

1.1. Cheating

Cheating means any dishonest or deceptive practice relative to examinations, tests, quizzes, lab assignments, research papers or other forms of evaluation tasks. Cheating includes, but is not restricted to, making use of unauthorized material or devices and/or obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance in writing examinations, papers or any other evaluation task.

1.2. Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the intentional copying or paraphrasing (expressing the ideas of someone else in ones own words), of another person's work or the use of another person’s work or ideas without acknowledgement. Plagiarism can be from any source including books, magazines, electronic or photographic media, or another student's paper or work.

1.3. Procedures regarding Cheating or Plagiarism

If the teacher is convinced that a student, has intentionally cheated or plagiarized:

1. He/she will inform the individual(s).
2. If cheating occurs during any evaluation (test, exam or any other evaluation activity), the teacher will collect the student’s papers immediately or annotate the work to be evaluated and allow the student to complete the activity.
3. The teacher will gather all available evidence relating to the charge (written material, notes, etc.) and inform the departmental chair.
4. The teacher may require the student to take an oral quiz to confirm his/her knowledge of subject matter if plagiarism is suspected.
5. For the first offense the teacher will fail the student in the course for cheating and assign a grade of zero on the assignment that is plagiarized.
6. The teacher will explain to the student the proof of his/her action.
7. The teacher will advise the Registrar, in a written report, of the details of the incident and a copy will be given to the student. The name of the student and the record of the incident will be held in a confidential file by the Registrar. The student having been found to have cheated or plagiarized will be informed by the Registrar. Upon receipt of a second report of cheating or plagiarism, the student may be suspended from the College for up to a period of two years.

1.4. Appeal Mechanism

The student may appeal the decision to the Academic Appeals Committee. This Committee will be a parity committee consisting of 3 teachers (appointed by JACFA) and three people appointed by the Academic Dean. SUJAC may appoint an observer. The student in question may be present at the hearing.

You can download the pdf version of the course outline here.