.Open CSci372 Computers in Organisations -- Blog . 2008-12-11 Thu Dec 11 13:12 Final and Course Grades Posted I've posted the grading for the final and for the whole course .See ./grading/ , please review this and tell me if there are any errors as soon as possible. Two people in the class got an A -- well done. The distribution of grades is .Table A/A- B+/B/B- C+/C/C- D+/D/D- F .Row 7 4 3 0 0 .Close.Table . 2008-12-10 Wed Dec 10 10:12 Servers up again The servers came up yesterday afternoon. I will post my draft grades to .See ./grading/ as soon as I have graded the finals. . 2008-12-09 Thu Dec 9 13:02 Grades Posted for classes 1 thru 20 Including Bonusses. Because you lost 3 days of prep when the CSE servers crashed, the final will be open notes and open laptop/wireless handheld. The final will start at 4pm promptly and continue until 5:50pm. . 2008-12-04 Thu Dec 4 17:12 Grades Posted for classes 1 thru 19 Here is the grade distribution .Table A/A- B+/B/B- C+/C/C- D+/D/D- F .Row 5 6 2 1 0 .Close.Table You can still earn bonus points (upto a max of 300 for this part of the course...). The final is for the next 200 pts (40%). .Open Questions Answered . Cheat sheet You may bring a single sheet of paper: 11.5 >< 8 inches with anything like on it. Magnifying glass ok. Microscope will slow you down:-) . Critical Path Method Done on Board . How long a presentation No more than 15 minutes + set up. Time can include space for questions. . Must we follow the Stages in the SDS They are not stages. They are sections. You can tackle them in any order. You should think about each section. In the section on non-functional requirements delete the ones that are not important to your project and write something about the headings that are important. . What Kind of Information do you need to convince people to buy your product First understand what they need .... or find a way to create such a need. Then show them how welll your product fits the need. . Which is most helpful ERD or DFD for presenting to end users IMHO the DFD is understood by most people and the ERD takes a lot of explanation. .Close . 2008-12-01 Mon Dec 1 13:12 Soft copy of projects At the end of the course I grade the hard copy of your projects. I'd also like to have access to a soft copy ready to hand on to the CS375 class. Meanwhile I expect to be given a complete .See ./project4.html in hardcopy at the start of the next class on Tuesday. I will grade this and get it back to you ready for the Thursday class. . 2008-11-21 Fri Nov 21 14:11 Grading done I've posted grades for classes 15 and 16. Next week we have a single class on Tuesday and will be working on .See ./r2.html requirements and use cases. There will be a SOTE and you should start on .See ./project4.html (graded when handed in on Tuesday 2nd of december). Note -- the schedule of classes gets a bit mixed up from now on. . 2008-11-18 Tue Nov 18 11:11 SOTE I'm scheduling a SOTE for November 25th so that you can provide some anonymous feedback about this class. It is important that you take part in this! Your opinion of my teaching will help me improve. . 2008-11-17 Mon Nov 17 16:11 Upcoming sessions The reading for Tuesday .See ./d4.html (Normalizing data) and Thursday .See ./r1.html (rules and procedures) are ready to study. Tomorrow you will start on the next iteration .See ./project3.html of your project. On Thursday there will be a quiz on Rules and Procedures. Please bring a sample of data to Tuesday's class. . 2008-11-13 Thu Nov 13 17:11 Grades posted . 2008-11-12 Wed Nov 12 18:11 More Seminars and Thursday 13th Check these bonus chances .See ../seminar/ and prepare for .See ./d3.html (ERDs). By the way, grades may be posted late this week because of the flood of seminars. . 2008-11-10 Mon Nov 10 20:11 Check for new seminars .See ../seminar/ .See ../seminar/20081117ChaiChingTsai.txt . 2008-11-07 Fri Nov 7 15:11 Reading Ready for next Week There is no class on Tuesday so the next topic is conceptual modelling with Entity Relationship Diagrams .See ./d3.html and there will be exercises and a quiz on the topic. By the way.... check out .See ./seminar/ for bonus opportunities. . 2008-11-07 Fri Nov 7 11:11 Grades posted . 2008-11-07 Fri Nov 7 08:11 Removing old stuff from this log I'm about to remove a lot of entries that refer the changes made in previous years. I've also changed the rendering of the pages on the web site so that long contents lists are reduced to just the main headings. Let me know how this works out! . 2008-11-05 Wed Nov 5 11:11 Grades on field trip and quiz etc posted Note: you can make up a missing field trip by visiting and organization and handing me a report describing how they use computers. Next class is on data: study the handout, .See ./d1.html , and .See ./d2.html before class and bring review question and answer. Also .See ./project2.html is due in. . 2008-10-31 Fri Oct 31 10:10 Half way through I've posted the grades .See ./grading/ and calculated the grade distribution .Table Distribution A/A- B+/B/B- C+/C/C- D+/D/D- F .Row Frequency 2 9 3 0 0 .Close.Table The reading for the next class is .See ./c3.html (planning) and .See ./project2.html (DFDs, details, and Cost-Benefit analysis). Deliverable: bring a report on the fireld trip and a review question + answer from the reading on planning (c3). At the end of the class you will have time to start work on the next iteration/phase of the project with artifacts to be delivered on Thursday. . 2008-10-30 Thu Oct 30 13:10 Todays Field Trip Go directly to the address! . 2008-10-29 Wed Oct 29 09:10 Grades posted and Thursday class Grades .See ./grading/ have been posted. If you missed a quiz then you can take it in my office up to the time when I return the graded answer to the class. I am avaliable 2-3 on MTWR and by apointment. The next class is a field trip. Check out the map linked to .See ./F3.html (the page for the day). We meet at the site as close to the normal 4pm start as possible. Don't keep clients waiting! we won't be going to the classroom that day. Prepare a quesstion to ask and hand it to me when you arrive. . 2008-10-24 Fri Oct 24 09:10 Grades posted Please check out the grading so far. The next class will be on Tuesday and will be based on studying .See ./c2.html and will include a quiz on these topics. Next Thursday we will have a field trip .See ./F3.html -- off campus. It will be different than previous trips. Do not come to the class room. Go directly to the site. We will will assemble there. . 2008-10-17 Fri Oct 17 10:10 Grades Posted and online discussions I've posted the grades .See ./grading/ so far. This includes the current grade distribution and some stats. Tuesday: I gave everybody 2 points because campus was closed. The filed trip scored 10 pts max but if you got it in before the end of class Tuesday night I gave a 2 point bonus. Thursday: 2 points for participating, 2 points for the reading Qn+Ans, 15 points for the quiz (max). I've done some thinking (Mainly mental DFDs + reviewing existing options) about having an emergency electronic `meeting` place. Here are some options and comments .Table Option Comments Action .Row My old BBS/Mailing list Relies on flakey CSE EMail Failed when tested .Row IRC Strangers can get in, no local server Unlikely .Row Moodle Few users in class Doubtful .Row Google Google groups is old unix news Overkill .Row Blackboard Many users but not me Overkill? .Row CSUSB Mailing list Simple to set up What do you think? .Row PHP script BBS Based on old BBS, from website What do you think? .Close.Table . 2008-10-15 Wed Oct 15 09:10 Back to normal Lessons to learn: .List Check the web site. Check the .See ./schedule.html for changes. Have a back up plan. .Close.List Today is census date -- please add the class if you wish to attend tomorrow. If you really must leave -- drop the class today. I will accept field report 2 on Thursday but without the 2 point bonus. . 2008-10-14 Tue Oct 14 16:10 Virtual Class Meeting Since the campus is closed I've come online to monitor my EMail. Send me your field trip report or a message by clicking .See ./contact.html and filling in the form. I've got two online presences during this class: 'richardbotting' on AIM/AOL Instant Messenger, and "Richard J Botting" on FaceBook. Both of these will let us chat. AIM lets us send files. Meanwhile I'll be modifying the schedule to allow for a canclled class. Hit the reload button every 15 minutes to see further bulletins. OK! This is he plan: 2pts bonus for field trips submitted before 5:40 tonite. On Thursday we do DFDs and ERDs .See ./a4.html , and next Tuesday Envisioning a Project .See ./c1.html (as in the old schedule). Please check and redownload the schedule for the rest of the changes. Reminder: Send that field trip report and today and get an extra 2 points. It is 5:44 and class is over. C'Ya all next Thursday. . 2008-10-14 Tue Oct 14 08:10 Campus Closed today Because the campus is closed There will be no class meeting today. I will be working on a way to either adjust the schedule or replace the class meeting by an online event. The reading for today was .See ./a4.html (DFD+ERD) and there should have been a quiz (Quiz 3) on data modeling. I would also be collecting a field report and a review question+answer from the reading. Please use .See ./contact.html to send me the report. You will have to copy/paste your report into the form because I haven't provided a feature to upload files. Show me any diagrams later. If you have any ideas or preferences please send me EMail .See ./contact.html and I will read it before I rethink the schedule. Check back in to this site later today to see what we will be doing. Extra Credit: 5 points make up points if you volunteer to help at the CSE Open Day this Friday 9am-3pm. Plus it is fun. . 2008-10-08 Wed Oct 8 10:10 Grades posted I've posted the latest grades .See ./grading/ please go there and input your three digit id. The program should whow you your scores on a line marked by asterisks. The next class if a field trip .See ./F2.html -- please prepare a question you would like to ask about administrative software development on this campus. We meet in the classroom and then head out to where the work is done... Next Tuesday we will be studying diagrams for recording and understanding the data in an organisation -- how it is stored, where it is flows, and what is done to it. Please study .See ./a4.html in advance -- warning it is a long "page" so start early. . 2008-10-06 Mon Oct 6 14:10 Finished preping Data Meodels The following is ready for `next` week -- .See ./a4.html (Data Models of Systems). The next class .See ./a3.html is about the physical data and connections and devices in a computer-based system. I'm expecting to collect reports on the last field trip and a review question+answer from the above reading. . 2008-10-01 Wed Oct 1 10:10 Added picture I've added a picture of the Bathtub Curve to .See ./a2.html#Bathtub the last set of readings. It looks like this: .Image BathtubCosts.png [High at first, low in middle of life, rising at the end again] Next: prepare for a field trip -- think of questions you should ask.... . 2008-09-29 Mon Sep 29 14:09 Moving on from a3 to a4 See you Tuesday ... please review .See ./a1.html and study .See ./a2.html to prepare for the work done then. I've finished, for this quarter with .See ./a3.html (ready for Oct 14th) but will be starting on improving the readings after that: .See ./a4.html (DFDs). . 2008-09-26 Fri Sep 26 13:09 Working on readings I'm currently working on .See ./a3.html which are the readings for October 7th. To prepare for next class see below: . 2008-09-25 Thu Sep 25 17:09 Second Class on Tuesday Review .See ./a1.html from Thursday's class and then study .See ./a2.html and do the Review Questions at the end. Bring one Question+answer on a sheet of paper with your name on it -- any readable format -- to class. By the way -- I've fixed the search engine... . 2008-09-18 Thu Sep 18 13:09 Syllabus and Schedule Ready OK -- I've got a solid set of feild trips and improved the syllabus and corrected the schedule. I've just sent the following files to copied ready to hand out on the first day of class: Thursday 25th September at 4pm. Files: .See ../syllabus.html , .See ./syllabus.html , and .See ./schedule.html Let me know if you see any errors.... Changes will be reported here. . 2008-09-16 Tue Sep 16 11:09 Two out of three Field trips set up Still working on the second field trip (F2). Hope to do it earlier! But more of the schedule is now solidifying: .See ./schedule.html (but this can change right up to the event itself -- fires, winds, and sickness have all disrupted the schedule in the past). Also working on the first "readings" .See ./a1.html (Organizational Backdrop). . 2008-09-12 Fri Sep 12 13:09 Removed frames -- testing new lokk and feel . 2008-07-18 Fri Jul 18 05:07 Class Dates Updated This quarter we are required to take Veteran's Day off. The missing classes will be made up (CSUSB wide) on `Monday` the 8th of December. To repeat: the last Tuesday class will be held on a Monday. I've changed the dates in .See ./schedule.html to fit this -- but It is easy to get the details wrong and I also will not know the dates for the field trips until September. . 2008-06-02 Mon Jun 2 19:06 Job Skill According to an advertisement in the Loas Angeles Times (Jun 1st 2008, latimes/jobs) the kind of skills and techniques that we cover in this class are part of one of the fastest growing careers in the USA. . 2008-05-21 Wed May 21 20:05 Preparation for Fall 2008 CS372 has been scheduled to be taught by me next Fall. My plan is to restructure and improve this web site. However the syllabus and course objectives etc will be similar to last year. I'll leave these up. One thing to note: credit for attending a seminar will depend on giving me a written report within a week of the seminar. The schedule will have to change because of Veteran's Day is a mandated holiday in California. Look out for a major reorganization of this page and all the other pages for this course in September 2008. .Open 2007-11-20 Tue Nov 20 09:11 Job News You might like to compare some of the things we have been doing in this class with the content in the following news cutting from the Association for Computing Machinary. . Nine Non-Techie Skills that Hiring Managers Wish You Had Computerworld, November 12 While technical skills remain the bedrock of any IT position, an increasing number of employers are now expecting their new hires to have a broad range of skills in areas ranging from communication to accounting to leadership. In their continual attempt to align IT with business, executives and managers say they are increasingly looking for staffers who have solid business acumen and so-called soft skills. The article provides an overview of nine skills employers are looking for, with additional advice on how to acquire them. Writing and communication skills remain an important prerequisite for nearly any mid- to high-level IT position. Also important is the skill of being able to understand how to map different business processes and create visual depictions of how business processes flow across functional areas. Thirdly, IT workers must be comfortable with public speaking. For each of these skills, there are clubs, educational programs and courses that can address any shortcomings. Other important skills include a familiarity with accounting and the ability to work well with a team. A person who is able to gain consensus and sell an idea not only gets the job done, but makes the group stronger. Hiring managers highly value people who can seize the initiative without the need for constant oversight. They place a premium on an inquisitive mind, the ability to get a point across, and a willingness to take risks. The modern IT person needs to be more of an IT entrepreneur, since he or she is constantly looking to improve upon existing ways of doing things or identify other business and operational opportunities .Close . 2007-10-16 Tue Oct 16 14:10 Dirty Secrets Following on from our last field (report due today), and the seminar on Friday, I've just got this .See http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=546 from Brian Carlson. Key point: Programmers and Analysts (Computer Scientists) usually have a better life than described here in "IT". . 2006-12-08 Fri Dec 8 10:12 Draft grades posted for course I've posted the grades at .See ./grading/ and the distribution is .Table Distribution A/A- B+/B/B- C+/C/C- D+/D/D- F .Row Frequency 4 10 7 1 2 .Close.Table Note I had to rescale the total scores because nobody got an 'A' on the raw scores. You will find this escape clause in the generic syllabus .See ../syllabus.html for my classes. . Previous Entries Archived Except for .Key 2005-12-07 Wed Dec 7 13:12 Grades Posted .Table Distribution A/A- B+/B/B- C+/C/C- D+/D/D- F .Row Frequency 3 5 3 0 0 .Close.Table The previous blogs for this course have been removed. .Close