Instructor Information
| Name | : | Terry Sergeant | Office Hours | ||
| : | tsergeant@hsutx.edu | MW | 8:30–10:00; 2:30–3:30 | ||
| Office | : | AH 104 | TTh | 8:30–9:30; 2:40–3:40 | |
| Phone | : | 325-660-7802 | Fri | 8:30–10:00 | |
| Web Site | : | https://josephus.sergeantservices.com | |||
NOTE: Office hours and office location are valid for weeks the instructor is on campus and the course has a face-to-face format. For the other weeks office hours will be held online by appointment.
Summary
| Description | : | Students will learn and apply a variety of methods for creating and maintaining websites that make extensive use of dynamic content. This class will involve web programming on both the client side and the server side. |
| Prerequisites | : | CSCI 2320 and CSCI 3350 |
| Textbook | : | None required. |
Course Objectives
Students who satisfactorily complete this course will (hopefully) be able to:- name and categorize a variety of web programming technologies
- use CSS and HTML to manage the content and form of a web site
- utilize Javascript to generate dynamic content and to react to user actions
- construct substantial database-driven web applications
- be able name and write code to mitigate common security threats
- create an utilize RESTful APIs
- utilize a server-side framework
Grading
Your grade in the course will be earned / calculated as follows:| checkins | 5% | |
| lab days | 15% | |
| homework | 20% | |
| midterm exam | 35% | |
| final exam | 25% |
| A |  |
90 | – | 100 |
| B | |
80 | – | 89 |
| C | |
70 | – | 79 |
| D | |
60 | – | 69 |
| F | |
0 | – | 59 |
Overall Course Structure
A typical week in this course will work as follows:- Monday 11:59pm homework is due.
- Tuesday 1:20pm–2:35pm is a lecture period.
- Wednesday 11:59pm prelab is due.
- Thursday 1:20pm–2:35pm is a lab day period.
During the first three weeks of the semester and the two weeks near the midterm the instructor will be on-campus and the lectures and lab days will be in-person in the classroom with the instructor present.
During the other weeks the lab days will continue to be in-person in the classroom, but with someone present to help answer questions. The lectures during these weeks will be delivered via Teams meeting link as described below.
Online Checkins
During weeks when the instructor is not present we will use the Monday class meeting times to have an online checkin. The checkins are mandatory and you should be prepared to meet online for the entire session. A typical checkin will involve a full lecture with emphasis on concepts that will be used in lab day and homework assignments that week. You will receive up to 10 points for each checkin event. To receive all 10 points at a checkin you must follow these guidelines:- Connect to the W2 Teams Meeting Room (https://josephus.sergeantservices.com/meeting_room/w2) before the start of the session (10:00am).
- Participate appropriately in the session with your camera on and remaining engaged until the session is dismissed by the instructor. NOTE: You will lose a point for each minute you are not present (not to exceed 10 deductions in a checkin session).
- You must be in a distraction-free environment, ready to take notes and to work on your computer throughout the sesssion. During the session it is not appropriate to be eating, driving, turning your camera on and off, interacting with people who are not part of the session. If your living space does not offer such an environment then you should be in the classroom for the checkin session. Points will be deducted for failing to observe this guidelines.
- If you are unsure of whether something will be appropriate or not, use this as your standard: If you were interviewing for your dream job, would you do the thing you are considering?
Lab Days
Most Thursdays will be designated as a “lab day” in which we will spend some time working on exercises or projects during the class period. Attendance is mandatory and you will receive a grade out 15 possible points for each lab day evaluated as follows:
| 10 points | preparation | Did you prepare for the lab day in advance by completing the prelab assignment (which is due Wednesday at 11:59pm)? |
| 5 points | participation | Did you show up on time and stay for the entire lab and were you actively engaged in the session without distraction? NOTE: Doing work for another class or interacting with you phone is not considered active participation. |
NOTE: Many of the prelab assignments this semester will require a couple of hours to complete! The prelab and labday work will be essential to helping you move forward with each homework assignment.
If you know in advance you will have to be absent on a lab day you can receive credit by doing the following:
- By midnight on Wednesday:
- Attach a message to the lab day assignment in Canvas letting me know you will be absent.
- Complete the prelab assignment and push it to the homework repo.
- By midnight on Friday:
- Finish the steps of the lab day. If the only steps listed are asking you to work on the homework assignment then you should have made significant progress on the homework assignment. In either case, push your work to the homework repo.
- Attach a message to the lab day assignment in Canvas describing what you accomplished.
Homework Assignments
A homework assignment is considered late if it is not submitted at or before the beginning of the class period on the day it is due. Late homework assignments will receive a 20% point penalty and must be completed within a week or the original due date. Assignments that miss the one week deadline will receive a grade of 0 (unless there are extenuating circumstances).In order to do well on the exams it will be necessary for each student to work homework assignments independently. On each assignment a list of allowed resources is provided. You may only use resources specifically named on that list. Failure to abide by this requirement is considered a violation of the academic integrity policy of the university and will be handled in accordance with university guidelines.
Exams
Exams are comprehensive. The final exam will take place at the scheduled time during finals week. Exams will never be collaborative in nature so receiving any form of assistance from anyone other than the instructor is a violation of the academic integrity policy. You may only use study aids during the exam if they are expressly allowed by the instructor for that particular exam.
The Role of AI Tools in this Course
Modern AI tools are very proficient at solving short exercises in well-explored domains. The goal of this course is not to have a solution written by any means. The goal is for you to develop the skills necessary to write such code yourself. For some homework assignments and lab days use of any code-generating tool is completely prohibited. Code showing evidence of its use will be assigned a grade of zero. You will be allowed to complete the assignment yourself again, but the late work policy will be enforced strictly.For other homework assignments you will be required to use code-generating tools. Each assignment will have explicit instructions in this regard.
Students with Disabilities
An individual with a disability is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a “person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” Any student with a documented disability may choose to seek accommodations. Eligible students seeking accommodation should contact the Director of Undergraduate Advising and Disabilities as soon as possible in the academic term (preferably during the first two weeks of a long semester) for which they are seeking accommodations. The director will prepare letters to appropriate faculty members concerning specific, reasonable academic adjustments for the student. The student is responsible for delivering accommodation letters and conferring with faculty members. Please refer to the most recent version of the Undergraduate Catalog for the complete policy. (Carol Krueger, Director of Undergraduate Advising and Disabilities, Office: Sandefer Memorial, 1st floor Academic Advising Center, Phone: 325-670-5867, Email: disabilityservices@hsutx.edu)
Student Support
Peer-to-peer academic support (tutoring) is available for all undergraduate HSU students. The Academic Center for Enrichment (ACE) is open for virtual tutoring sessions via Zoom. To access instructions or make an appointment, open the ACE course on your Canvas dashboard. For additional information regarding academic support, contact the Advising Center at 325-670-1480 or tutoring@hsutx.edu.In addition, all full or part-time students are eligible to receive free, confidential, and voluntary counseling services at HSU. Services include consultation, evaluation, counseling, and crisis support services for students facing issues impacting their overall well-being. To obtain any of these services, students may call The Office of Counseling Services at (325) 671-2272, email counseling@hsutx.edu, or begin the intake process by completing our online forms at:https://www.hsutx.edu/intake.
Computer Account Use
The instructor may occasionally use email to communicate with the class as a whole or with individuals. When contacting you for this course the instructor will use your HSU email account. You are expected to check your HSU email account at least once per day and you will be held responsible for any content distributed in this way.
Attendance
Regarding class attendance, the Undergraduate Catalog states:Accordingly, absence from more than 25 percent of class meetings and/or laboratory sessions scheduled for a course (including absences because of athletic participation) is regarded as excessive, and a grade of F may be assigned as deemed appropriate by the professor.
Course Calendar and Class Structure
We will utilize Canvas to provide outline for the course. Do take notice of these planned exam dates:
| Date | Event | |
| Tue 17 Mar | Midterm Exam (Part 1) | |
| Thu 19 Mar | Midterm Exam (Part 2) | |
| Tue 05 May | Final Exam (at 1:00pm) |