BINF 221-04 Information Processing I Anne & Pat Chang

Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Home phone (201) 818-8578, Pat’s office (201) 529-7591

e-mail for Anne: achang@ramapo.edu e-mail for Pat: pchang@ramapo.edu

Office hours by appointment only

(If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability, please see us before or after class.)

In this course we use our own "brand" of team-teaching . . . you’ll see! In trying to teach you the fundamental concepts of computer basics and a working familiarity of Microsoft Office '97 Professional, we draw from a variety of disciplines, e.g., group learning theory, yoga, stress management, teaching to different ways of knowing, curriculum development, and, oh yeah, computers and business applications.

Objectives of the Course

• you will develop a familiarity with three of the four applications that make up Microsoft Office Professional: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• you will develop a strong conceptual understanding of computer basics
• you will understand how Windows 95 functions as the operating environment
• you will learn to use your peers as a resource in learning a computer application
• you will learn how to breathe diaphragmatically

Course Policies

This is an upper level course. You’re a grown-up. You’re responsible for learning the course material. We think attending class helps. It’s up to you.

 We have a "we cannot grade what we don’t see" policy. Always make backup copies of your computer files for this class. Make sure that you’re always copying files to your diskette and not to the default subdirectory. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, we’ll be covering this in the first couple of classes. Again, we cannot grade a "But I had it yesterday" comment.

Required Input:

• the textbook: Exploring Microsoft Office 97 Professional, Vol 1, Revised Printing, by Robert T. Grauer and Maryann Barber, 1998, ISBN 0-13-081334-6.
• at least two double-sided, high density 3.5" diskettes and one zip disk.
• an email account.

Required Output:

 Annotated Bibliography Cards: You are assigned the responsibility to bring to the attention of the class articles/books relating to current computer topics. Sources such as periodicals, professional journals, websites, etc. would be appropriate. You will read and review (on a 4 by 6 index card) at least one article per week. The review should be in the form of an annotated bibliography and will form the basis for future in-class discussion.