CIOS 276 Syllabus

Syllabus

Download Syllabus (.doc)

Download Syllabus (.pdf)

Course Information
Course Number & Title:
CIOS 276 Independent Project
Number of Credits: 1.0 - 3.0

Recommended Prerequisites:
Students should be near completion of their ITS degree program—students should be two semesters or 24 credits from program completion. Registration requires instructor approval.

Class Location: Arrange with instructor

Meeting Days & Time: Arranged with instructor

Instructor Information:
Name: Martin Leonard III
Office Location: KuC 201 Akiak Drive, Bethel Alaska
Office Hours: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm Monday – Thursday or by appointment
Telephone: (907) 543.4510
Email: martinl@bethel.uaf.edu IM: Y! martin uaf MSN martinuaf

Course readings/materials:
There are no required textbooks or reading materials for this class.

Course description:
This course is designed be one of the final courses in the Information Technology Specialist (ITS) program. Students will be required to complete an individual project. The project can be an internship, learning a new computer application, or developing a set of new skills not covered in other classes. The purpose of this course is to apply the skills that the student has acquired in their other classes and to get hands on experience. The independent project is also intended to help prepare students for the challenges of providing computer support. New students may use the course for acquiring new skills by permission only and must be a degree seeking ITS student.

Course Goals:
• Design a project or find an internship that is appropriate and useful.
• Learn new skills and to apply those skills in a work related situation.
• Plan and initiate an individual project.
• Use a journal to monitor the day-to-day experiences of working and to use those experiences to develop new skills.
• Monitor the project’s progress and adjust the project’s expectations to reflect new experiences.
• Reflect upon and evaluate personnel strengths and weaknesses and to improve personnel competence in providing IT support.
• Develop professional contacts and practical experience that will be useful for employment.
• Experience the professional expectations of working in an IT support job.
• Experience and apply the ethical standards and expectations of an IT support job.
• Present the results of your experience so that it will be valuable to others.
• Meet ethical and professional expectations of a work situation.

Student Learning Outcomes:
Student learning outcomes will be unique for each independent project and will be developed by the student and faculty supervisor and included as part of the student’s project proposal.

Instructional Methods:
Students will work with their faculty supervisor to develop and implement a project proposal. This course requires a high degree of independent learning. Students are expected to develop deeper insights about their own skills and knowledge and the skills and knowledge required to work in an IT environment through reflective thought and by journaling their project experience.

Course Policies:
Attendance
Attendance and student communication will be arranged individually.

Important Dates
Check the UAF Academic Calendar for important dates related to fee payment, class registration and last day to drop courses. The calendar can be viewed online at:
http://www.uaf.edu/catalog/current/acad_calendar.html

IF THERE IS NO CONTACT, OR IF THE CONTACT IS LIMITED, THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW THE STUDENT ON OR PRIOR TO THE LAST DAY FOR STUDENT AND FACULTY INITIATED WITHDRAWL.

Course Schedule:
The schedule for this course will be developed as part of the student’s independent project.

Support Services:
Student Assistance, Advising Center, ITS Lab
The KuC Student Services and Advising Center provides assistance that contribute to a successful learning experience and transition to a career. Services are available by appointment and on a walk-in basis.
Staff at the KuC recognize the unique concerns of adult and returning students. Services include pre-admission advising, academic assessment and placement advising, financial aid information and application, and assistance with choosing a major. Ongoing academic advising, degree planning and course selection are available.
The ITS lab is dedicated to ITS students and IT training. The lab is available for ITS student use provided classes are not scheduled.
For more information, contact the KuC Advising team at 907.543.4554, contact student services at 907.543.4562. ITS Lab manager 907.543.4557, ITS Lab 907.543.4578

Disabilities Services:
Disability Services, a program of the Center for Health and Counseling, provides services for UAF students with disabilities to ensure equal access to educational opportunities. Services are free of charge and available to any student who qualifies as a person with a disability.
Some of the services provided include note takers, readers, audio-taped texts, test proctoring and other alternative testing arrangements and sign language interpreters. Other available resources include enlarged print and other adaptive materials and assistive technology at the Assistive Technology Lab. Disability Services also provides referral to other campus and community resources, advocacy for students needing accommodations from faculty and staff, and advocacy for students experiencing physical accessibility problems.
To discuss eligibility and available services, call the Center for Health and Counseling at (907) 474-7043 or TTY (907)474-7045 and schedule an appointment with the coordinator of Disability Services. Students who prefer to meet at the KuC Campus Center can schedule an appointment through KuC Student Services.

Course Implementation Guide
What is an independent project?
The goal of the Independent Project class is to provide you the opportunity to translate your classroom skills into job experience and for you to demonstrate independent learning and professional practices. These goals can be accomplished through any of the following types of independent projects:
• an internship within an IT department,
• a service learning project with a non-profit organization,
• a cooperative work experience with a current IT employer
• an IT project implemented within a work environment,
• developing and delivering training to a group of computer users, or an
• independent study and learning project

If you are looking for an independent project, think about the type of work you would like to be doing in the future. Propose an independent project that will prepare you for employment, or that will enhance your current employment. This project should not be busy work.
The ideal project should support your answer to the following questions:
• What do you want to do with the ITS degree?
• What is your job goal?

Who is involved in the independent project?
The independent project will involve cooperation between you (the student), a faculty supervisor, and possibly an internship or project supervisor.
What are the required steps to begin, implement, and complete an independent project?
1. Contact the course instructor listed in the course schedule to receive instructor permission to enroll. This instructor will serve as your faculty supervisor for this course.
2. Set up a meeting with your faculty supervisor to discuss your project or to help you generate ideas for possible projects.
3. Submit pre-proposal that clearly and concisely describes the project. The pre-proposal should be about a page in length. The purpose of the pre-proposal is to make sure the project you are proposing will meet the requirements of the independent project class before you spend a lot of time and energy developing a full project proposal. A well written pre-proposal can serve as the overview section of the full project proposal described in the following step.
4. Once your pre-proposal has been approved you need to develop a full proposal for your independent project that includes:
• An overview of the project that clearly and concisely describes the project or internship.
• If your project is an internship, service learning project, or the implementation of a project in an IT environment, provide contact information for the project or internship supervisor.
• A section describing your future goals related to working in IT and how this project will serve to help you meet those goals. This section should include what you hope to learn through this project and how it relates to your degree and future goals in IT.
• A list of project objectives that will need to be accomplished in order for the project or internship to be successful?
• A week-by-week timeline with expected completion dates for each project objective.
• A description of how you plan to document, monitor and evaluate the implementation of each project objective.
5. You will be required to create and maintain a journal throughout your independent project. Your journal should include notes and thoughts that you record while actually working on the project, as well as the following daily or weekly reflections (whichever time-frame is most appropriate for your project or internship):
• What did you learn and how did you learn it and how does what you learned apply to your degree and/or future IT career?
• What difficulties or challenges are you facing and how do you plan to resolve them?
There are a variety of ways in which this journal can be implemented and submitted. One method several students have been using is to use a Web log (blog) -- there are several places you can go to set this up... http://www.blogger.com is one example.
The journal will be monitored during the class and turned in for review upon completion of your project. If you are blogging your experience, you should email the URL for the blog to your faculty supervisor.
You should schedule regular meetings with the instructor to monitor the journal and the progress of the project. If your independent project is an internship, a service learning project, or a project implemented within a workplace there should be at least one visit by the instructor to the project site.
IF THERE IS NO CONTACT, OR IF THE CONTACT IS LIMITED, THE STUDENT WILL BE WITHDRAWN ON THE LAST DAY FOR STUDENT AND FACULTY INITIATED WITHDRAWL.
6. You will need to write up a final summary report and/or submit deliverables regarding your project once it is complete. Your summary report should include the following:
• A reflection from you of how well each goal or objective listed in your proposal was met.
• A reflection of what you learned about yourself from the project or internship.
• How you plan to use what you have learned?
Deliverables should be submitted and/or demonstrated as per your learning plan as per a prescribed date agreed upon with the instructor or on or prior to the last day of classes for the semester.

Evaluation
Your grade in this course will be based on:
• Completion of your project, journal report, and deliverables 70%
You will receive full credit for this portion of your grade if you complete your pre-proposal, your project as described in your full proposal / learning plan; maintain your journal as described above; and complete your final summary and/or deliverables. Each of these pieces of the project must be completed within the semester the independent project is undertaken. Deductions will occur for incomplete and/or sloppy work or work that is not completed during the semester in which the project is undertaken.
• Professional practices 15%
Professional practices include: communication, meeting project deadlines, showing up on time and prepared for appointments.
You are responsible for communicating with your faculty supervisor about your project’s progress and/or any problems you are encountering. At a minimum, you should plan to provide project updates your faculty supervisor every two weeks. If you are encountering a problem, contact your faculty supervisor immediately—waiting will only make the problem more difficult or impossible to solve.
IF THERE IS NO CONTACT, OR IF THE CONTACT IS LIMITED, THE STUDENT WILL BE WITHDRAWN ON THE LAST DAY FOR STUDENT AND FACULTY INITIATED WITHDRAWL.
You also be expected to meet the project deadlines you have established in your week-to-week timeline. It is important to communicate with your faculty supervisor if you need to change a deadline or make adjustments to your week-to-week timeline. Contact your faculty supervisor as soon as it becomes apparent that you need to adjust your schedule – it is considered professional to request changes to the timeline before you have missed a deadline.
For any appointments that you schedule with your faculty supervisor or internship or project supervisor, you should arrive on time and prepared. If something prevents you from making a scheduled appointment, it is considered professional to make contact prior to missing the appointment.
• Written Communication 15%
All written communications should be done in a professional and thoughtful manner. You are expected you to write using proper grammar, punctuation, and capitalization – yes, even for your email messages. If you have difficulty in this area, find someone who can proofread your work prior to submission and carefully read your email messages aloud prior to hitting the send button.
Letter grades for the course will be determined as follows and will reflect the Grading System and Grade Point Average Computation policy stated in the current UAF Catalog.:
A 90–100%
B 80–89%
C 70–79%
D 60–69%
F less than 60%

Download Syllabus (.doc)

Download Syllabus (.pdf)