Course Introduction
This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.
Course Resources
Hello, and welcome to CIS 526 - Web Application Development, and also CC 515 - Full Stack Web Development. Even though these are two different courses in the catalog, they teach the same content and will use the same Canvas course. So, anywhere you see CIS 526 in this course, you can also mentally substitute CC 515 in its place.
My name is Nathan Bean, and I will be your instructor for this course. My contact information is shown here, and is also listed on the syllabus, and on the home page of the course on K-State Online. My email address is nhbean@ksu.edu , and it is the official method of communication for matters outside of this course, since it allows me to have a record of our conversations and respond when I’m available. I’ll also be available via the K-State Teams app and the K-State CS Discord server, so you can easily chat with me there.
For communication in this course, there are two basic methods that I recommend. For general questions about the course, content, getting help with labs, and any other items relevant to the course, I encourage you to use the Ed Discussion board accessible through Canvas. This allows all of us to communicate in a single space, and it also means that any questions I answer will immediately be available for the whole class. For personal issues, grading questions, or if you have something that is a “to-do” item for me, please email me directly.
Before we begin, I must give credit to Russell Feldhausen for expanding the content of this course and preparing many of the videos you’ll be watching - so you’ll be seeing his face as often (or perhaps more often) than mine.
For a brief overview of the course, there are a total of 8 modules of content, containing textbook pages, activities, tutorials, and more that you’ll complete. In addition, throughout the semester you’ll be working on a large-scale web application project which consists of 6 milestones. The modules are configured in K-State Canvas as gated modules, meaning that you must complete each item in the module in order before continuing. There will be one module due each week, and you may work ahead at your own pace. Finally, all work in this course must be completed and all labs graded by no later than May 3rd, 2024.
Looking ahead to the rest of this first module, you’ll see that there are a few more items to be completed before you can move on. In the next video, Russ will discuss a bit more information about navigating through this course on Canvas, using Codio, and using the videos posted on YouTube.
One thing I highly encourage each of you to do is read the syllabus for this course in its entirety, and let me know if you have any questions. My view is that the syllabus is a contract between me as your teacher and you as a student, defining how each of us should treat each other and what we should expect from each other. I have made a few changes to my standard syllabus template for this course, and those changes are clearly highlighted. Finally, the syllabus itself is subject to change as needed as we adapt to this new course layout and format, and all changes will be clearly communicated to everyone before they take effect.
The grading in this course is very simple. First, 15% of your grade consists of completing the short activities and quizzes scattered throughout the course. Another 35% of your grade consists of completing the interactive tutorials. Finally, 50% of your grade comes from completing the 6 project milestones throughout the semester. Also, notice that the final milestone is worth double the amount of points, so it is very important that you get to the end of the course and complete that milestone. There will be some extra credit points available, mainly through the Bug Bounty assignment, which you will review as part of this module. Lastly, the standard “90-80-70-60” grading scale will apply, though I reserve the right to curve grades up to a higher grade level at my discretion. Therefore, you will never be required to get higher than 90% for an A, but you may get an A if you score slightly below 90% if I choose to curve the grades.
Since this is a completely online course, you may be asking yourself what is different about this course. First off, you can work ahead at your own pace, and turn in work whenever you like before the due date. However, as discussed before, you must do all the readings and assignments in order before moving on, so you cannot skip ahead.
In addition, due to the flexible online format of this class, there won’t be any long lecture videos to watch. Instead, each module will consist of several short lessons and tutorials, each focused on a particular topic or task. Likewise, there won’t be any textbooks formally used, but you’ll be directed to a bevy of online resources for additional information.
What hasn’t changed, though, is the basic concept of a college course. You’ll still be expected to watch or read about 6 hours of content to complete each module. In addition to that, each lab assignment may require anywhere from 1 to 6 hours of work to complete. If you plan on doing a module every week, that roughly equates to 6 hours of content and 6 hours of homework each week, which is the expected workload from a 3 credit hour college course during the summer.
Also, while some of the activities will be graded automatically, much of the grading will still be done directly by me. This includes the project milestones. For each milestone, I’ll try to give you timely feedback so you can improve on your design before the next milestone is due.
For this class, each student is required to have access to a modern web browser and a high-speed internet connection. If you have any concerns about meeting these requirements, please contact me ASAP! We may have options available through some on-campus resources to help you out.
This summer, I’ll be working on a few updates to this course. These updates will mainly affect the second half of the course, and focus on updating a few of the items and introducing some newer technologies and libraries you may come across.
Finally, as you are aware, this course is always subject to change. While we have taught this class several times before, there may be a few hiccups as we get started due to new software and situations. The best advice I have is to look upon this graphic with the words “Don’t Panic” written in large, friendly letters, and remember that it’ll all work out in the end as long as you know where your towel is.
So, to complete this module, there are a few other things that you’ll need to do. The next step is to watch the video on navigating Canvas and using the YouTube videos, which will give you a good idea of how to most effectively work through the content in this course.
To get to that video, click the “Next” button at the bottom right of this page.