Welcome to Computer Applications for Business. This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of information technology, with an emphasis on business applications. The course examines computer hardware and software, networking and technology concepts, and gives you hands-on experience with electronic spreadsheets, webpage design, and programming applications for problem solving using JavaScript. No prior experience in using a computer is needed--this course is intended for beginners. CS170 Course information and materials are all accessible through Canvas (https://canvas.rutgers.edu/).

    CS170 meets Core Curriculum Goals:

Course Dates

•     Classes begin on Tuesday, JANUARY 16TH , 2024.

•     Recitations begin Tuesday, JANUARY 16TH, 2024, and continue through Monday, April 29th, 2024.

•     Lectures are Asynchronous Remote for the HYBRID CS170 Section

(Sections 90 - 99, 9A). SeeCANVAS COURSE SITEfor links to location and information details.

•     Recitations are IN PERSON for ALL CS170 sections. See CANVAS COURSE SITEfor specific location/link details.

•     All exams are IN-PERSON

o     Midterm Exam Dates: February 21stand April 3rd

o    Common Hour Final Exam: Monday, May 6th

Computer Applications for Business (01:198:170) meets for three fifty-five-minute periods a week, two lectures and one recitation. Your class is scheduled as HYBRID: A remote lecture is combined with in-person recitations and in- person exams.

LECTURES: New material is presented in lecture by your lecture instructor.

•     HYBRID COURSE LECTURE: Your instructor will record lectures for the week and post the links so that you are able to view the lectures at your convenience during the week. Watching the videos is a necessary element of the course and will account for up to 10 points instructor extra credit. You are encouraged to use Piazza as a communication tool and participate in other discussion/forums set up by your instructor. These discussion tools facilitate student interaction and engagement in the course. Links to the lectures will be posted by your instructor and available via Course Home Page in Canvas.

RECITATIONS: Use of the Course Software is demonstrated during recitations. Recitation Information is posted in Canvas.

•    Your  recitations are  IN-PERSON  : Your  recitation  instructor  (teaching assistant  (TA)) meets with you IN PERSON in Rutgers’ Computer Teaching Labs during your scheduled recitation time to review class material, review assignments and exams, explain software applications, and answer questions related to lecture, software assignments, programming, etc. Questions are always welcome in lecture but can also be asked in your small group setting during  recitation. Locations of your  recitations are posted in Canvas. Peer coaching (discussions with a classmate) is encouraged during recitations.

You are expected to participate in lectures and recitation every week. If you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting websitehttps://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/  to indicate  the date and reason for your absence.  An email is automatically sent to your instructor.

This course will use Canvas, an online class management tool. Students enrolled for this class are expected to login to Canvas using their Rutgers netid: https://canvas.rutgers.edu/  All announcements, additional course resources and assignments will come through Canvas.

Computer Applications for Business requires a considerable amount of computer work, which you must complete on your own time. All assignments are hands-on. As a general rule, you should expect to complete one assignment each week throughout the semester.   You will  be completing the assignments  using your own computer or the computers available to you on campus. If you have technical difficulties, you should first GOOGLE possible solutions. If you can’t solve your problems, you should meet with your TA or instructor DURING OFFICE HOURS for assistance or send an email to your TA. All contact information is listed in Canvas Course Information Module or can be linked to from the Course Home Page.

Note: Enrollment in CS170 is restricted to pre-business majors (curriculum code 006), Environmental and Business

Economics majors (curriculum code 373), and Sports Management (curriculum code 955). Students other than 006, 373, and 955 majors should register for CS110 - PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTER SCIENCE (01:198:110). If you are a computer science major (curriculum code 198), you will not receive CS credit towards your major for the course.

Course Instructors

Course Learning Objectives

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

•     Identify major hardware components of a computer and the function of each; explain the specifications provided when purchasing a computer.

•     Discuss the positive and negative impacts of innovations in computing/technology on society, economy, and culture.

•     Explain the levels of abstractions that exist in computer hardware and software.

•     Describe the basic aspects of computer networks.

•     Convert numbers between bases 10 and 2.

•     Explain the representation of data in bits and explain the related impact of storing text, photos, audio, and videos.

•     Describe how to increase/decrease brightness/contrast in digital photos.

•     Identify appropriate compression techniques forgiven applications and explain the reasoning behind choices made.

•     Identify protocols that govern the internet and WWW (IP/TCP, HTTP/HTML, SSL/TLS) and explain the function/purpose of each.

•     Explain the function of DNS.

•     Explain how and why cryptography, steganography, public key encryption, etc. are used.

•     Write a computer program that solves a problem or completes a task according to given specifications.

•     Identify, explain, and correct errors in a computer program.

•    Trace a computer program or algorithm and describe the program result.

•    Appropriately use variables, decision statements, and loops in a computer program.

•     Informally compare the efficiency among algorithms.

•     Use arrays to store and retrieve data in a computer program.

•     Write reusable methods (functions) to complete specific tasks in a computer program.

•     Implement event driven programming concepts.

•     Identify advantages and disadvantages of big data being available through Internet access.

•     Identify cybersecurity concerns; Explain privacy and security as it relates to the Internet.

•     Explain and give examples of crowdsourcing, mashups, computer simulations and models.

•     Create an interactive website following given specifications.

•     Use Excel to construct formulas, including built-in functions and relative and absolute references.

•     Include appropriate charts and graphs in Excel worksheets.

•     Use Excel pivot tables and VLookup tables to filter and display data.

•     Explain the major Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) phases

•     Use XML to describe the metadata for a table of information

•     Develop questions that can be answered using data given and refine the answers using available spreadsheet and database tools.

Detailed Weekly Learning Objectives are posted in Canvas Module: Readings, Resources, and Learning Objectives

Topics, Readings, and Assignments

Listed below is a general outline of topics for the semester. Generally, each topic is covered in one or two lectures. Specific learning goals are posted in Canvas. Please have any assigned readings done BEFORE class so that you can ask any questions that may arise in response to the material. Additional reading assignments and resources will be posted in Canvas.

Academic Integrity

The Department of Computer Science strictly adheres to the Rutgers University Policy on Academic Integrity, as described on the Academic Integrity at Rutgers websitehttp://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/. Students enrolled in Department of  Computer  Science  courses  are  advised  that  all  allegations  of  academic  dishonesty  will  be  fully investigated, and any evidence of academic dishonesty will be reported to Office of Student Conduct for appropriate action. With regard to software applications assignments and programming assignments, it is a violation of academic integrity to copy someone else's work or to  permit another  person to copy your work. While you  may discuss programming and software assignments with other students at a general level, all coding, debugging, preparation, refinement, and testing of assignments should be entirely your own work. With regard to assignments, exams and quizzes, it is a violation of academic integrity to search out answers on the internet, to use on-line tutors, or to ask any other human (in person or via technology) for assistance. Just as copying or collaborating on an examination is dishonest, turning in a program or software applications assignment which is a clone of someone else’s work is also dishonest.  Students  enrolled  in  computer  science  courses  are  required  to  follow  department  guidelines  and responsibilities on academic integrity. Failure to accept these guidelines will result in denial of access to Canvas.

Do not work with others on assignments. This is considered cheating and, if detected, will earn you 0 points for

the incident.  If two identical (or VERY similar) pieces of work are handed in, both parties receive a ZERO.

If one student’s name appears on an assignment submitted by another student, both students will receive a

grade of ZERO. If a solution that a student submits is found online, a grade of 0 will be recorded for that

assignment. IN ALL CASES, an Academic Integrity Violation will be filed at the University Level. SUBMITTING

WORK THAT YOU DID NOT COMPLETE ON YOUR OWN IS A VIOLATION OF RUTGERS’ ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

POLICIES. Please review the specifics of theAcademic Integrity Policies related to the Department of Computer Science.

Watch the following short videos about Rutgers Academic Integrity Policies.

•    Rutgers New Brunswick Academic Integrity: Violation Types

•    Rutgers New Brunswick Academic Integrity: Violation Levels and Outcomes

Rutgers University takes academic dishonesty very seriously. By enrolling in this course, you assume responsibility for familiarizing yourself with the Academic Integrity Policy and the possible penalties (including suspension and    expulsion) for violating the policy. As per the policy, all suspected violations will be reported to the Office of

Student Conduct. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to):

. Cheating

. Plagiarism

. Aiding others in committing a violation or allowing others to use your work

. Failure to cite sources correctly

. Fabrication

. Using another person’sideas or words without attribution– re-using a previous assignment

. Unauthorized collaboration

. Sabotaging another student’s work

Honor pledge:

All students will need to agree to the Rutgers Honor Pledge onevery major exam, assignment, or other assessment as follows:

On my honor, the work I am submitting is my own work. I have neither received nor given any unauthorized assistance on this examination (assignment, paper, quiz, etc.) .

Canvas Tools

ANNOUNCEMENTS are  made through Canvas Announcement tool. Any changes  in schedules or other course information your instructors and TAs wish to share with you are commonly shared via this tool. You will get an email indicating when an announcement has been posted. It is YOUR responsibility to read all course announcements.

THE MODULES TOOL in Canvas contains all course resources. You will find the Course Syllabus and Recitation Virtual Locations in the Course Information Module. You will also find the email addresses of the course instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) as well as their office hours and lab support hours in this module. Lecture topics, resources, and study guides, and learning objectives are also posted in the Canvas Modules tool à Readings and Resources by Week.

THE ASSIGNMENTS TOOL  is  where  you  find  all  the  CS  170  assignments  and  where  you  go  to  submit  your assignments.  You can view the assignment due date and the assignment details here. All of your graded work is listed in this tool. You will see different “categories” of grades: Assignments, Quizzes, Exams, Extra Credit. This will be explained to you throughout the semester.

THE GRADES TOOL keeps a list of the assignments given and your grade for each assignment, quiz, exam, and extra credit opportunity. Failure to submit an assignment through Canvas will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment in gradebook. It is your responsibility to check your grades frequently and report any discrepancies to your TA and your instructor immediately. Do not wait until the end of the semester to contest any grade.

THE SYLLABUS TOOL links to the official course syllabus and is also populated with all due dates for all graded items as they are posted.

PIAZZA This tool is used for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TAs, and the instructors. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, you are encouraged to post your questions on Piazza. If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email [email protected] .

THE FILES TOOL is similar to a filefolder. This main folder contains all files that are linked to by the other Canvas tools. There are several sub-folders in here. The materials for each Module are located in the sub-folder with the same name as the module. You can access the materials directly from the FILES tool without downloading the files.