CSCI 101

Coordinator: Nazli Hardy

Credits: 4.0

Description

Designed to introduce concepts, techniques and history of computing to students who are not computer science majors. Emphasis on problem solving using the computer including making calculations and presenting reports, tables and graphs based on those calculations. Collecting, storing, updating and retrieving data. Display and interpretation of information using the Internet. No credit toward computer science major.

Prerequisites

None

Sample Textbooks

Course Outcomes

1.   describe the historical perspective in which computing has developed,

2.   describe the relationship between hardware and software,

3.   exhibit an introductory knowledge of standard computer software,

4.   describe how information is collected, processed, packaged, and interpreted,

5.   use HTML to build a simple web page,

6.   describe the means by which the Internet provides communications and access to information,

7.   understand the role of Computer Science in the world,

8.  describe the general concept of problem solving

9. build a spreadsheet with proper addression, decisions, and data presentation,

10. build a database with multiple tables to solve specific problems,

11. demonstrate an understanding of a simple program.

Major Topics Covered

A.     Introduction to Information Technology
         1.      History of Computing
         2.      Hardware
         3.      Software
         4.      Interoperability

B.     Exploring Human-Computer Interaction
         1.      Design and Function
         2.      Graphical User Interfaces
         3.      Menus

C.     Networking
         1.      The World Wide Web
         2.      Browsers
         3.      Search engines, keywords, indexes, effective searching
         4.      HTML and web page creation
         5.      LANs, WANs
         6.      The Internet
         7.      Securing Networks 

D.     Social Implications of Information Technology 
         1.      Legal and political
         2.      Ethics
         3.      Netiquette
         4.      Privacy and digital security
         5.      University policies

E.      Representing Information Digitally 
         1.      Basic Representation 
         2.      Representing Multimedia

F.      Use of Spreadsheets
         1.      Editing, formatting
         2.      Data ranges and charting data
         3.      Formulae, functions, and cell addressing
         4.      Use of logic for manipulating data in problem solving 

G.     Introduction to Database Concepts
         1.      Properties, relations, tables, records, and fields
         2.      Queries and reports

H.     Algorithms and Introduction to Programming
         1.      Basic Algorithms
         2.      Components of a simple program
         3.      Debugging

Sample Laboratory Projects