Course Description from the University Catalog

CS 5201 - Computer Science Fundamental I
Credits: 5.00
Introduction to basic computing fundamentals and software engineering with emphasis on linear data structures, algorithm development and problem solving. Students are expected to complete a small-scale project.
Lecture: 4.00 Lab: 2.00
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Department: Computer Science
Pre-requisites: See hard copy catalog for pre-requisites.

Course Information

Course Syllabus
Course Page on the UWG CS Course Web (Moodle)

Course Summary

The course contained six units, each with a set of learning outcomes that were fulfulled through lectures, in-class work, and assignments.  Listed below is each set of learning outcome as these provide an excellent overview of the course.  All of these items were fulfilled and this made for a significant course.

Unit One: Computer and Network Basics
  • Identify the basic hardware component's of computer.
  • Explain how the basic hardware components interact to execute a program.
  • Identify the main types of memory technology.
  • Explain the basic components of network systems and distinguish between LANs and WANs.
  • Describe how computers are connected into networks to share information.

Unit Two: Web pages and HTML
  • Create web pages using basic HTML and that leverage CSS.
  • Demonstrate the ability to publish a website.

Unit Three: Databases and [Microsoft] Access
  • Explain basic relational database concepts such as tables, primary and foreign keys, one-to-one and one-to-many relationships
  • Be able to create a simple database with multiple tables in Microsoft Access
  • Be able to write basic database queries in Microsoft Access
  • Be able to create and modify database forms in Microsoft Access

Unit Four: Introduction to Program Development
  • Be able to describe the concept of programming and its execution sequence
  • Describe the purpose, typical tools, and benefits of an IDE
  • Be able to describe the difference between syntax and semantics
  • Be able to describe and use primitive variable types in a program
  • Be able to create simple (one method) console and windows C# programs in Visual Studio .NET

Unit Five: Classes and Objects
  • Be able to explain the difference between declaring an object variable and allocating/instantiating an object
  • Be able to explain the difference between a value variable and a reference variable in terms of what is stored in a memory location
  • Be able to use base class library classes, such as Math, Random, Drawing in simple programs
  • Be able to describe and use a namespace

Unit Six : Project
  • This unit consisted of a C# programming project that tied together many of the concepts covered in the class since beginning of Unit Four.

Course Assessment

From the syllabus:

Learning Objectives
  1. Be able to identify and describe the function of the major hardware components of a computer.
    Bloom: 2
  2. Explain the basic components of network systems and distinguish between LANs and WANs.
    Bloom: 2
  3. Be able to create and publish web pages using basic HTML and that leverage CSS.
    Bloom: 3
  4. Be able to create simple database with multiple tables and write simple SQL queries to access the data within a database.
    Bloom: 3
  5. Be able to use basic program development tools to create, modify, and debug simple programs.
    Bloom: 3
  6. Be able to modify and write basic programs that use existing classes and their methods. 
    Bloom: 3

I believe these goals were effectively met throughout the course. See the class summary for more details.


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