CIT 336 Syllabus

Purpose

This course prepares students to plan, develop, and construct dynamic web sites using HTML5, CSS, PHP, SQL, and MySQL databases. This is a programming course; previous programming experience will be helpful.

Materials

For success, you will need the following:

Course Objectives

You will demonstrate both the knowledge and skills to create dynamic web sites using:

  1. Principles introduced in Web Frontend Development - CIT 230.
  2. PHP — variables, arrays, functions and control structures.
  3. The Model-View-Control (MVC) design architecture to develop site applications.
  4. MySQL database(s) for storing data and SQL queries to carry out data interactions.
  5. Data validation (client-side and server-side) appropriate to the task.
  6. Problem solving through independent study, working effectively with others, communicating clearly, fulfilling assignments and meeting deadlines.

Philosophy

This course is another step toward becoming a web developer, which requires you to both know and do. In order to know something, you must study, reflect, and practice. To do requires effort and application to implement your knowledge. This class requires both knowing and doing.

Contrary to many classrooms where you work alone, this class requires you to work with others. You will form learning teams during Week 02, and interact with these teams weekly as a primary source of help and feedback. However, ultimately YOU are responsible for your learning and for the results of your efforts.

Assessments

Each assessment relates directly to one or more course objectives, indicated in brackets here after . Specific due dates are listed in each weekly overview page and course calendar. All assessment code and a video of the functioning application will be submitted for review each week. The professor or teaching assistant (TA) will grade each assessment using the provided grading matrix.

It is YOUR responsibility to thoroughly read and understand the specification for each assessment and test your own work prior to submission for grading. Self and peer reviews using the grading matrix prior to due dates are encouraged.

Teaching Presentation [Objective 6]

Select a topic from the Teaching Presentation List and develop a 7-minute (maximum) teaching presentation where you will teach others about the topic. Read the specific requirements for the teaching presentation and view the grading matrix for it in the Teaching Presentation module.

Enhancements [Various]

Each enhancement requires you to solve problems and demonstrate application of a variety of PHP, database, SQL, or related concepts. Each enhancement will require you to submit your solution code to the appropriate assignment dropbox, post a video of the working application online, and share the link to the video when submitting the code. Enhancements are found in the weekly modules.

Weekly Reports [Objective. 6]

Each week, you will submit a report that accounts for your completion of content requirements, participation in the weekly discussion board, interaction with learning team members, and assessment completion. Each report is in the format of a quiz that will be taken at the conclusion of the week.

Collaboration [Objective. 6]

A skill that is consistently mentioned by employers is the ability to work with others. You will be required to work with others on a weekly basis using both the discussion board and team meetings. Each individual is responsible for their own work, but interacting, supporting, assisting and collaborating are desirable and required in this class.

Final Project [All Objectives]

You will build a final project web application to specifications provided to you in Week 12. The project will allow you flexibility and creativity while you demonstrate your ability to implement the concepts and skills you learned in this course. The finished project is due the last week of the semester as specified in the class schedule. This is a major element of the course. Read the project description in the Final Project module.

Grading

Grading in this course is competency based. This means that your grade is based on your demonstrated competency of each course objective. Each assessment is tied and scored directly to one or more course objectives.

Your grade in the course is based on the number of course objectives of which you have demonstrated mastery. Passing course objectives, not the gross percentage of the class, determines the final course grade. Each objective is graded Pass / Fail. To pass an objective you must earn at least 80% of the points allocated to it. It is critical that you are always doing your best work, on time and error free — Do not submit junk!

Course Grade Scale

Objectives Passed 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Grade Earned A B C+ C C- D F

Late Work

Each professor sets their own late work policy. Consult with your professor as to the policy for your section.

Warning

You must be self-motivated to succeed in this course. There are expectations of constant learning and application — be anxiously engaged! Previous students have commented that you can do well in this course only if you stay caught up and work to grasp the concepts and apply them. Take their advice. It is expected that you will dedicate a minimum of 9 hours per week on this class. Do not plan less.

Getting Help

Students frequently find that they need help, and there are a number of ways of getting help: 1) your learning team, 2) the discussion board, 3) teaching assistants, and 4) the professor. It is not a matter of if, rather when, you will need help. Act quickly when you need help. Do NOT put it off!

Creative Commons License All materials (except as noted) are by Blaine Robertson and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.