Instructor Contact Information

  • Instructor: Amelia Garripoli
  • Office: TEC-210 (Bremerton)
  • Office Hours: Tue & Wed 1-1:50 (on-campus or online)
  • Office Phone: (360) 475-7588 (T-Th)
  • Mail: Amelia Garripoli (B&T), 1600 Chester Ave, Bremerton, WA 98337-1699
  • Website: faculty.olympic.edu/agarripoli
  • Skype ID: agarripoli.olympic (Prof. Amelia Garripoli at OC)
  • Email: agarripoli@olympic.edu (or use Canvas inbox)

Course Detail

  • Catalog description: Allows the student to pursue topics not offered in the College Catalog through in-depth coursework under the direction of an instructor. This course may include directed readings, coverage of special topics, and other independent study. The topic and scope of study, learning objectives, work required, methods of evaluation, and academic level (195 versus 295) will be determined in conference between the student and instructor. May be repeated for a maximum of 15 credits.
  • Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
  • Credits: 1-5
  • Class dates: April 2 - June 11, 2018. School holiday: May 28 (Monday).
  • Class format: Self-defined and directed with mentoring from the instructor. Real-time meetings at start and potentially through or at the conclusion of the project.
  • Final Exam Week: June 12-15
  • Strongly Recommended: a reliable, high speed Internet connection; A USB thumb drive, 16 GB or larger; or cloud storage; a home PC or laptop; headphones and webcam
  • Learning Outcomes:

    Customized per contract between student and faculty.

Course Content

The purpose of independent study is to provide for self-directed study in an area of special interest with appropriate faculty. Supervising faculty members guide, evaluate, and grade students on their work. The same quality of work and time invested in traditional class settings is expected of students in independent study courses.

Each credit typically represents 30 hours of work. Contact with the instructor and work will vary depending on subject matter and number of credits (3 credits = 90 hours = 9 hours/week; 5 credits = 150 hours = 15 hours/week).

An Independent Study is subject to all College course policies.

The CIS 195/295 Contract is completed in the first week of the term by the student under the faculty’s supervision and once agreed upon is submitted to Canvas. Submission to Canvas signifies the student’s acceptance of the contract. If not submitted in the first week, the student may be administratively withdrawn from the class.

SMART Objectives

The contract we develop will be a set of SMART objectives and a time schedule. This is developed the first week of the course and is used to measure your progress and outcomes in the course. The SMART rubric is:

  • S :: Specific
  • M :: Measurable
  • A :: Achievable
  • R :: Relevant
  • T :: Time-bound
More information about this rubric is available in this handy worksheet (and further assistance in its accompanying page).

The contract form is available in the Canvas course shell. For each credit you plan to receive, identify at least one objective, the steps you plan to take to achieve those objectives, and specify how the results can be measured. This measurement should include assessment criteria for the level of mastery (see Grading, below).

Once developed and agreed upon, this contract is submitted to the Course Shell.

Final Deliverables

If your project included any deliverable items (e.g. the .html files for a website that you designed, a how-to document on virtualization, a proof-of-concept paper on the deployment of TCP/IP version 6, etc.), then upload proof of those deliverable items (or the deliverable items themselves), in a compressed format (i.e. .zip, .7z, .tar, .gz, or other), to the Final Deliverables Drop Box located within the Course Shell.

Final Report

Your Final Report should detail what was accomplished by you during your project, and what you learned that was new during your project.

Your Final Report should also reflect upon the objectives listed in this contract. Reference each objective in your final report, and state the level of mastery achieved. Evaluate your results against the assessments in this contract. Be specific and concrete in describing the quality of your work against the objective and the assessments.

In order to get full credit for your project this final report must be submitted into Canvas by 5pm Monday June 11, 2018.

Grading

The grading for this course is done by evaluating the project's results using the original contract. The student's evaluation will be 50% of the grade, and the instructor's evaluation will be 50% of the grade. The student's evaluation must reflect the actual work done vs. the original objective's assessment criteria. A project not completed by the end of the quarter will be graded as '0.0' unless prior arrangements are made for a WP (Withdraw Passing) or I (incomplete). Incomplete projects must be completed by the end of the following quarter, and are graded at one letter grade lower than their evaluated grade. If a student fails the course or is given a NC, WP or WF, the instructor must report a last attended date. It is my understanding that this date can have implications for some sources of funding. In this course the date the student last met with the instructor will be used as the last attended date.

See chart below for details.

Letter GPA Percent Qualitative Definition
A 4.0 96% Exceptional course outcomes mastery
A- 3.7 93%
B+ 3.3 90%
B 3.0 87% Superior course outcome mastery
B- 2.7 83%
C+ 2.3 80%
C 2.0 77% Acceptable course outcomes mastery
C- 1.7 73%
D+ 1.3 70%
D 1.0 65% Minimal course outcomes mastery
D- 0.7 60%
F 0.0 < 60% Failure to master course outcomes

See Policies for information on getting assistance, submitting work, academic honesty and more.

It is your responsibility to make progress on your project and to seek out help when needed. I recommend setting up agreed-upon milestones and checking in with me on those milestones to adjust your plan appropriately. Note the objectives will not be adjusted except under unforseen circumstances.

Technical Expectations

You are expected to be comfortable using a computer, particularly your target operating system(s); a web browser; e-mail; and the Canvas Learning Management System.

This course requires that you be self-directed and able to resolve technical issues on your own. You will be developing your technical skills as you work to meet your objectives.

It is expected that you have regular access to a computer with Firefox or newer installed, or administrator privileges so that you can install them.

You will need to have regular Internet access for research and contacting your instructor. Please develop a plan "B" in case you have issues with your normal Internet access and related software that might affect your ability to participate in this class. A computer or software issue will not change your due date. Computer labs are available at all OC campuses. See Computer Labs on the OC website for their locations and hours. All PC labs have Firefox and Microsoft Word on the machines.

Policies

Note, these policies differ from my other courses. This is a self-directed course, and as such you are responsible for your own learning more so than other classes with set curriculum. Your etiquette is expected to be at a professional level.

  1. Ask for help:

    First, if you need help, get help early and often - if you wait it can become too late. Start early and be proactive. The tutors and instructor are all available to help you.

    If you need assistance or are having problems in this class, please visit with me in person or online during office hours so we can discuss your options. I am available outside of office hours as well, by arrangement. The best way to contact me electronically is to use your Canvas Inbox. Canvas' Inbox is where I expect to locate student questions. All other methods will take longer and will not keep a centralized location for all our correspondence to assist with documentation. I monitor Canvas throughout the weekday during the term except on holidays.

    If you do contact me through Canvas for help - please give sufficient detail, for example, by attaching the source code file in question to the message and explaining what is happening. The subject needs to identify the topic or lab it is for; references to past labs will not get prioritized so be sure to use the correct subject line. Stacking multiple messages to me with the same subject line may cause earlier ones to be disregarded, as Canvas displays the most recent one first.

    You can expect a response from me to your Canvas Inbox message within one business day; do not expect a reply on weekends, breaks, or holidays. If you do not get a response, resend your message and check the to: address to ensure it is going to the appropriate person.

    If we need to use email, you must use your Olympic College email account. Email from non-olympic.edu addresses will be ignored per OC policies. More information on OC email student accounts can be found at: olympic.edu student accounts. Please ask for help in a campus computer lab if you have not been able to access your OC email account.

    If for some reason you have to use email (Canvas is preferred), the subject line of your email must include the class, your name, and the topic, like so: CIS 195/295 | Jane Jones | unable to boot Apache. Email messages with that subject line format will be responded to within one business day during the term. Other subject lines may not be noticed until I am catching up on older emails.

    For help with technical items, you may also attend or call in during the CIS Programming Tutor Sessions. Please only contact the tutors during their open lab time. They are students too, and need time for their own studies when not tutoring. For Spring 2018, programming tutoring is being held in TEC-212.

    The role of the tutors is to assist the student during tutor sessions in general approaches to problem solving, internalizing core concepts, and understanding constructs of a particular language. Tutors may review homework only to determine which topics require additional attention or review by the student so that they can be successful. Tutors and other students are not allowed to directly provide any part of a solution to a home work assignment. The work must be the student's own. Tutors are required to report students that request help outside of tutoring hours or that request help directly completing a home work exercise to the instructor for the course they are seeking help with.

    If you need help outside of class material, there are a wide variety of resources available to you. See Student Services and also Counseling Services for assistance.

  2. Etiquette/Netiquette: It is expected that both in person and in electronic communication, students and instructors will act in a professional manner. This includes that we all be tolerant of others’ views, be respectful in dealing with others, show common courtesy, and use standard professional English in our communications, both written and verbal. Remember that capitalization and exclamation points are considered yelling, and texting lingo is not professional. Ask first if you are not sure if your note is offensive.

    Be respectful of the opinions of others. Disagreement is fine but do so in a straightforward and polite way. There is nothing to be gained from making rude, insulting or abusive remarks verbally or electronically. You are expected to behave in a professional manner and will be held to a standard of professional etiquette.

    Violations of this policy may result in lowering of an assignment grade or your overall course grade, reporting the violation to student services, or administrative withdrawal from the class. WAC 132C-120-065 specifies particular prohibited student conduct including academic dishonesty, plagiarism, cyber misconduct and other prohibited conduct. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated in the classroom or online; see WAC 132C-120-076.

    For meetings, refrain from the following during class time: talking over other people, using the computer (except for note-taking on the discussion), cell phones/pagers, gadgets, guests, eating, sleeping, or other disturbances to the class unless an alternative class mode of conduct is in effect.

  3. Effort: Regular progress and success in this course have a strong correlation. Regular progress for an indepndent study means:
    • You are defining SMART objectives and developing and sticking to a timeline to meet them.
    • You are dedicating time to your project each week.
    • You are making regular progress on your project.
    • You are resolving issues right away rather than waiting for a progress report cycle to resolve them.
    • You have a plan B in place in case your internet access is interrupted, and use it.
    • You are tracking your progress against your plan.
    • You seek assistance promptly from the instructor or tutors when you have questions or issues with your project.

    Utilize office hours and the tutors to ask for assistance. I am happy to make appointments outside of my listed hours.

    By taking this course, you are stating that you will be making appropriate time in your schedule to ensure success and have access to the resources required for this class. Expect to spend about 3 hours per week for each class credit to ensure success. For a 3 credit class this is 9 hours of class work per week. If you generally take longer than that to complete coursework in other courses, expect to spend additional time. Being a full-time student is a full-time job, with 15 credits there are easily 40+ hours per week in class and study time.

    I understand that for many community college students, attending college is a part of a very busy life. I know many of you work and have families. When I was a graduate student, I worked full-time. As an undergraduate, I worked 20+ hours a week. I am a single mother with two teenagers. I know things can get busy. Planning is key.

    Remember: You are responsible for your learning. You may be administratively withdrawn from course if you do not demonstrate participation within the first week of the term. Participation in the first week is measured by completion of your contract. You need to invest regular, consistent time to succeed in this course.

    Time management is your friend or your foe! Waiting until the final week to start your project will not provide success in this course. Start early and tackle hard problems up front. That is your responsibility, you alone are responsible for your progress. Start early and be proactive.

    You need to make the choices to maximize your learning.

  4. Due dates: Assignments are due on time, the date for each is given on the course Canvas site. Online postings are due by 11:58 p.m. of the due date or they will not be accepted. Note, Canvas closes the drop-boxes promptly at 11:59 p.m. You can post assignments prior to their due date, however grading is typically done once the due date is past. Please do not wait until the last minute to post your work -- expect connectivity issues with Internet access and plan accordingly. Especially if you are uploading large files, you will need to start the upload early, and leave time for your plan B solution if you should lose internet connectivity during the upload. All assignments must be posted by 11:58pm of the due date listed for a given item using the appropriate posting for a given assignment to be considered as on-time. Any assignment not submitted by that time will be considered late. Do not wait until the last minute to complete or upload your assignments; that will not be excused. Note: Emailed assignments will not be accepted for grading unless specified as part of an assignment or previously approved. This includes the final project -- if you are having technology issues, you must find a way to contact me to let me know so that we can arrange for your completed project to be submitted on time.

    When assignments are posted at the Web site, using the form provided, Canvas will tell you if it succeeded or failed. I strongly recommend returning to the course page in another browser window to verify that the Discussion Post or File Submission was successfully completed, and put in the correct course and assignment. Since little or no paper is used in the course, your only documentation that you posted an assignment is the successful completion of a submission on Canvas. Please save your files and make screenshots of the successful submission. Keep them safe in the event of a system failure and/or loss of postings at the course Web site. To date, loss of data is extremely rare but can happen since we are using the Internet for transmitting data and software to save it at the far end. It is strongly recommend that you print out all your form confirmations and place them into a confirmation notebook as your backup. If issues do arise, one of the first things I may ask to see is your submission confirmation. Without a submission confirmation for an assignment, in the correct course assignment, you may receive 0 points for an assignment.

    All requirements must be met for your submission to be accepted for grading. Follow the directions provided in the assignment box to ensure all naming conventions, files requested, information requested, and formats requested are provided.

    For this course, no late work is accepted without prior arrangement. Take active responsibility and meet the dates for your milestones. All assignments must be submitted by their due date. They can be submitted prior to their due date, if circumstances make you unable to submit them on the day. Regular, consistent progress is expected throughout the term for this course.

    If you have a one time event that is a serious illness or accident, or active duty or emergency service duty for you, your parent, your spouse, or your child, the late policy may be waived. You must make your request through Canvas at least one full day before the assignment is due for a late policy waiver or have verifiable proof of your inability to make the request by that time. Vacations, colds, or other discretionary activities will not be accepted. On-going or pre-existing situations can not be used for reasons for late work as they were known constraints at the start of the course.

    A late waiver is a one-time, one-assignment event, and any excused late work will not transfer to additional assignments. You will need to catch up with the course schedule and continue on time. If for some reason you cannot catch up, you can contact Registration & Records to withdraw; it is not sufficient to tell me that you are withdrawing.

    Accepted late work will be graded at the discretion of the instructor both for points as well as to when the assignment will be graded.

    Occasionally I will request that an assignment be redone in whole or in part because it appears that the learning outcomes may not have been met regarding that assignment. If a redo is requested, a notice will posted in the Comments section of the assignment along with the current grade. You need to resend the requested redo assignment within 3 days of the request. However, redo work will not be accepted after the last lecture day of the term. If not submitted in a timely fashion, the redo will not be graded and the original grade in Canvas will stand. Please contact me via Canvas or during our office or lab hours for instructions and support. Please see Redo assignments as a courtesy and not as a right. Redo work will be graded at the discretion of the instructor both for points as well as to when the assignment will be graded.

  5. Withdrawing: If you wish to withdraw from this course, please file the appropriate paperwork with the Office of Registration and Records and then inform me of your decision. If you are still in the gradebook at the end of the term, your computed grade with 0's for unsubmitted work will be used unless you have been in contact with me previously to make other arrangements or you were administratively withdrawn for non-attendance. It is your responsibility to contact Registration and Records, otherwise you remain enrolled in the course.

  6. Academic honesty: No academic dishonesty will be tolerated, see WAC 132C-120-065. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and facilitating academic dishonesty. Facilitating academic dishonesty includes providing your own work to someone else for their solution; do not put the tutors or your classmates in this situation, they cannot provide you with solutions, only guidance and explanations.

    Evidence of academic dishonesty will result in a forfeiture of points for an assignment and will be reported to student services. Continued violations may result in a student being assigned a WF, 0.0, or administratively withdrawn from this course.

    Unless otherwise noted your assignments are individual assignments and I expect that your work will be your own. At any point during the term, you should be able to explain or duplicate any of your solutions for your assignments. I reserve the right to refuse to accept any assignment if you cannot demonstrate the ability to perform similar work when asked, or if you cannot explain your answer or approach that you have used. I encourage you to work with one another to internalize and discuss general concepts and approaches, but your work must be your own. You must not show your peers in the class your actual work -- that would permit them to use your work as their own. When you work with the tutors, you cannot ask them to provide you with correct syntax and exact solutions, they can only guide you. You need to develop and internalize the solution yourself.

    Please note: cut and paste of another's words is plagiarism. Using code from a website is plagiarism. Quoting in a limited amount with a citation noted on the quote is permissible unless explicitly requested otherwise. Your words and code must be your own.

  7. Course Material: All recordings provided for this class through Canvas are copyrighted by Olympic College or their respective sources. If you have copied or downloaded any of the recordings provided through Canvas, you must delete them once the term completes. Olympic College does not grant permission to retain recordings of class material. See the OC Copyright Policy.
  8. Internet Safety: It is your responsibility to be aware of the impact of your actions when using the internet, with respect to managing your privacy, using the information you access, and maintaining machine security. For more information on this topic, see Thinking about Online Safety.
  9. Service members: I work with service members (military, police, fire, and other on-call emergency personnel) as best possible to enable you to complete this course. You must notify me through Canvas before any special accommodations will be made that explains your special situation that may temporarily impact your ability to participate in this course. Please note that all assignments are open from the start of the term. If you know of an upcoming situation, please take advantage of this opportunity before requesting accommodations.
  10. Special requests: All special requests must be requested through Canvas to develop an electronic trail even if we have a face-to-face conversation. After such a conversation, send me a message on Canvas or your OC email right away to document what was discussed and to create an electronic trail of the conversation. It is your responsibility to send that follow-up message through Canvas or OC email.
  11. WAC Regulations: Please review Olympic College's WAC 132C regulations. Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 132C is Washington State law and governs the behavior of the administration, faculty, and students. Laws for student conduct and academic honesty, in 132C-120 WAC: Student Conduct Code, are always followed in this class. Chapter 132C-120-065: Prohibited Student Conduct deals with issues of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, cyber misconduct and other prohibited conduct.

Non-discrimination

Olympic College provides equal opportunity in education, employment and college activities regardless of race, color, national origin, age, perceived or actual physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran or military status, use of a trained guide dog or service animal, or any other unlawful basis. If you witness or encounter any such discrimination, including any sexual misconduct, you are encouraged to report it to the Title IX Coordinator, Cheryl Nuñez (CSC 317A; 360-475-7125; cnunez@olympic.edu) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, David Slown, Executive Director for Human Resource Services at dslown@olympic.edu/306-475-7300, who will assist you in connecting with all possible resources. You may also report it online (and anonymously) at Report It, OC! or seek confidential counseling from Counseling Services at 360-475-7530 or at HSS 203. See also https://www.olympic.edu/nondiscrimination-title-ix.

 Faith or Conscience Absences

Student Absences for Reasons of Faith or Conscience, OC Policy 300-03: Under this Policy, OC students may request absences from classes two (2) days per academic year for reasons of faith or conscience without adverse impact on their grades. A request for absence must be submitted 21 days in advance of the absence or as soon as reasonably possible. Find the required form “Student Absence Form: Reasons of Faith or Conscience” in order to request the absence. Upon verification of the absence, notify instructors so that they may develop adjustments for assignments and tests.

Accommodations

Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability or a medically necessary absence due to pregnancy or childbirth should contact the Access Services office in HSS 205, by email at AccessServices@olympic.edu or by phone at (360) 475-7540. More information may be found on the Access Services website. Access Services must be contacted at least two weeks before the accomodation is needed.

Please contact me via Canvas or see me during office hours concerning your accommodation request(s) after you have submitted them to Access Services, so I can meet your needs in class.

Note that about 10% of all OC students have some type of disability, often invisible (like PTSD or asperger syndrome). As instructors, we cannot disclose a student's disability. The decision to share with others is a choice of the student.

Success

Your success is both your goal and my goal! This class gives you an opportunity to practice professional skills. I am here to support your efforts. Please contact me and use my office hours if you need help with this course. I also welcome your insights and feedback.

Welcome to CIS 195/295, I look forward to exploring CIS with you. ~ Amelia.

Note: Syllabus content, course due dates and assignments may change at any time. Canvas will notify you of any changes during our course.