MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY
COMPUTER COURSE SYLLABUS

(last revised 7/07/2002)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Contact hours: six 80 minute sessions
Term: Summer II, July 8 - July 24, 2001
Course title: Erie/Meadville Partnership Program Computer Course
College website: www.mansfield.edu

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Instructor name: John Phillips
Instructor office location: Elliott 205A
Instructor office hours: by appointment
Instructor telephone: 570-662-4704
Instructor e-mail address: jphillip@mnsfld.edu
Instructor website: www.programbetter.com

COURSE INFORMATION

Course Description

Introduction to web page design using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks.

Prerequisite: none

Textbook

None required.

Supplies

One 3.5 inch HD diskette.

Course Outline

  1. Introduction to the course
  2. Web page design fundamentals: audience, aesthetics, maintainability, accessibility
  3. Creating web pages using HTML and Windows NotePad
  4. Basic HTML commands: <html>, <head>, <title>, <body>, <br>, <p>, <h1> .. <h6>, <hr>, <i>, <u>, <b>, <div>
  5. Intermediate HTML commands: <a>, <img>, <font>, hexadecimal colors, special symbol codes
  6. Advanced HTML commands: <table>, <tr>, <td>, attributes, layouts
  7. Web site design using Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks
  8. Develop professional quality web site
  9. Presentation and review of student web site

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

Class schedule

Section 1: M, W, TBA

Section 2: M, W, TBA

Grading scale and policy

(Refer to the Mansfield University Catalog for grades that can be awarded.)

A >= 90%
B >= 80%
C >= 70%
D >= 60%
F < 60%

In addition, the instructor may choose to further differentiate grades with plus and minus subdivisions as outlined in the catalog.

Course Grade % of Grade
Quizzes 40
Project 60

Methods of instruction

In general, there will be a lecture to introduce the material, then you will spend time working on a project on the computer.

Syllabus Change Policy

The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus as the course progresses.

COURSE TIMELINE

Week Date Topics
1 07/8

Monday: review syllabus, web page design basics, creating web pages using HTML and Notepad, HTML basics, search engine basics (yahoo.com and google.com), project assignment #1

Wednesday: quiz 1, HTML review, Dreamweaver basics, project assignment #2

2 07/15

Monday: quiz 2, HTML review, project assignment #3

Wednesday: quiz 3, HTML review, review and suggest improvements to another groups project, project assignment #4

3 07/22

Monday: quiz 4, create an "About Us" page, add meta tags for search engine, final project due

Wednesday: Project Review

Project Assignments

Our project will be to create an online magazine called the "Mansfield University Historical Review." Each student team will be responsible for a single topic to research. Your topic can be just about anything from history. You might choose "Famous Philosophers", or "Wars of the Past Century", or "Greatest Inventions of the 1800s", or "The Best Baseball Players of All Time", or "Great Music Composers of the 1700s", or the "Paintings of Monet", or "The Life of Albert Einstein", or the "Invasion of the Beatles", etc. However, each student team must choose a different topic or at least a different time period for the topic. As you research your topic, make extra notes on which sites have the best photos.

Assignment 1 - Choose a partner and a topic. Research your topic on google.com and with other search engines and/or the library as desired. Create a list of the 20 best references to your topic. Type these out in HTML using notepad. Include hyperlinks using the <a> tag. Make a special note of any that contain photos that you might want to use later.

Assignment 2 - Use Dreamweaver to create the home page for your topic. The home page should give a general background introduction to the topic. The home page will have links to the subtopic pages.

Assignment 3 - Use Fireworks to edit and resize your photos. Use Dreamweaver to create your subtopic pages. Have between 4 and 10 subtopic pages.

Assignment 4 - Spell check all of your work. Test your pages and make any final alterations.