Course web page: Introduction to problem solving with applications James Tam Return to the course web page

CPSC 203: Winter 2015

This course has been significantly changed from the versions run in previous semesters (including fall 2014). While thinking and problem solving skills are emphasized the goal is to make topics practical. For example, you won't just learn programming for the sake of writing a program (in reference to the old "Alice" and "Jython" sections of the course). but instead at  least  some of the concepts can be used in 'real life'. Consequently two  new assignments have been added: programming in Visual Basic for Applications  (MS-Word) and web page development (Java script programming). The MS-Excel and  MS-Access assignments have been reduced in scope to accommodate the new material. Also the quiz component has been dropped.

 

Index

 

Lecture and important assignment information

Day/Time

L01: TR 12:30 - 13:45 (ST135) L02: TR 9:30 - 10:45 (MS319)

Contact Information

James Tam

Office: ICT707

Office hours: T 11 - 11:50 AM, R 14:00 - 14:50 (if I'm a bit late I could be just finishing off answering questions in the previous lecture)

Email: tamj@cpsc.ucalgary.ca

   
General information Official course information sheet (summary of official course requirements)

My schedule

Electronic response system: TopHat Monacle: [JT's how-to guide] [Full help document]

 

Tutorial and lab Information

Tutorials (commence the week of Jan 18 - 24):

Lecture #1 Tutorials

Date/Time

Location

Instructor

Email

T01 TR 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM MS 237 Konstantinos Xylogiannopoulos kostasfx@yahoo.gr
T02 TR 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM MS 236 Ibrahim Karakira ibrahim.karakira@ucalgary.ca
T03 Cancelled
T04 TR 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM MS 237 Omar Addam omaddam@gmail.com
T05 MW 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM MS 237 Mohamad Darianian mohamad.darianian@ucalgary.ca
T06 MW 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM MS 237 Sukhpreet Dhaliwal skdhali@ucalgary.ca
T07 Cancelled

Lecture #2 Tutorials

Date/Time

Location

Instructor

Email

T08 TR 3:00 PM - 3:50 PM MS 237 Ibrahim Karakira ibrahim.karakira@ucalgary.ca
T09 MW 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM MS 237 Konstantinos Xylogiannopoulos kostasfx@yahoo.gr
T10 MW 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM MS 236 Omar Addam omaddam@gmail.com
T11 MW 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM MS 236 Sukhpreet Dhaliwal skdhali@ucalgary.ca
T12 MW 9:00AM - 9:50 AM MS 236 Mohamad Darianian mohamad.darianian@ucalgary.ca
T13 Cancelled
T14 MW 4:00PM - 4:50PM MS 237 Arash Niknafs aniknafs@ucalgary.ca

Lab (Continuous tutorials or CT for short): CT will start the third week of the semester (Jan 25 - 31)

 

Course topics and notes for lectures

Week

Lecture topic and notes

1

Administrative information and course introduction

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint]

2

Computer fundamentals

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint]

3

Logic

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint]

4

Spreadsheets: analyzing and visualizing information

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example spreadsheets]

5

Databases: storing and retrieving information

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example database]

6

VBA macro programming

Part I: Introduction [PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example programs]
Part II: Intermediate concepts [PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example programs]

7 The Internet

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint]

8 Computer security

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint]

9 Web design

HTML Tags: [PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example webpages]

10 Java script web programming

[PDF notes] [PowerPoint] [Example programs]

 

Assignments and exams

 

Assignment submission requirements

 

Assignments: collaboration vs. cheating (what's allowed and not allowed for this class)

 

Assignment 1 (MS-Excel) due Friday February 6 Monday February 9 at 4 PM. [Marking criteria]

 

Assignment 2 (MS-Access) due Friday February 27 at 4 PM [Marking criteria]

 

Assignment 3 (VBA MS-Word programming) due Friday March 20 Tuesday March 24 at 4 PM [Marking criteria]

 

Assignment 4 (Web design and Java script programming) due Wednesday April 15 at 4 PM [Marking criteria]

 

Midterm examination information (there will a common out of class exam: Friday March 6 starting at 6:307 PM and ending at 7:45 8:15 PM in MFH 162): [Link with exam information]

 

The final exam will to be scheduled by university admin staff and not your course instructor: [See the exam schedule in PeopleSoft when the Office of the Registrar has scheduled it]. [Link with exam information]