Output from a Linux Bourne Again Shell (BASH) in which a command was issued to the computer which the shell interpreter did not know how to process. It even suggested that perhaps we wanted to "explode an interesting module"! How handy. Learn more about using BASH on Linux.
At a pace of about one per week, choose an interesting topic of exploration from the menu below and create a mini-project that you can share with other (and future) CIT100 and 115 students.
Use the toolbox for submissions
The computer fundamentals toolbox is the companion to this document and contains links for submitting all module mini-projects, the course syllabus, and final project information.
Intro & System Diagramming Primer
First half of term: First assignment
Computers are made of hundreds of smaller components all engineered to work together to do a whole bunch of handy stuff with digital data. We'll explore how to represent systems of many kinds symbolically which will aid in our explorations of many computer-related systems.
Operating systems connects the programs we know and love with the guts of the computer: digital data, stored in files and processed by the CPU. Explore the tree-based file structures at the heart of this process by creating your own tree of interesting stuff.
Computers keep track of millions of files with tree-based storage structures. Take an expedition through the underbelly of this digital forest by visualizing your student-interest file trees using a nifty command line utility.
Completion of the Operating Systems Essentials module
Project Size:
This is a hefty one, and grit is required: with any command line experience, this can be done in an hour. With no previous exposure, plan 3-4 hours so you can take breaks as needed.
Required Tools:
A computer running Microsoft Corporation's Windows operating system MSDOS onward will do :) There are certainly tools in Linux and OSX to visualize file trees, but this module guide is Win specific.
Spreadsheet tools are so powerful that when VisiCalc was first released, personal (i.e. desktop) computers quickly became seen as a business necessity. But the value of spreadsheets extends into every corner of our lives, as we'll find out in this module.
Completion of the Operating Systems Essentials module
Project Size:
This is a hefty one, and grit is required: with any command line experience, this can be done in an hour. With no previous exposure, plan 3-4 hours so you can take breaks as needed.
Required Tools:
A computer running Microsoft Corporation's Windows operating system MSDOS onward will do :) There are certainly tools in Linux and OSX to visualize file trees, but this module guide is Win specific.
Complete the module: Spreadsheet Fundamentals which builds your working knowledge of basic spreadsheet navigation, formula creation, and formatting.
This is an excellent choice for a second spreadsheet module with potential to morph into a final project!
time considerations
Set aside a week: Start by devoting a few hours to designing your tool. Over the course of the week, use and test your tool. Finally, plan a few hours to document and share your work.
Using a handy template, develop a services or product bid for a real or fictitious client. Polish your negotiation skills by using your tool to make a deal with a partner/actor.
Investigate a public behavior by designing a data gathering tool in a spreadsheet, using it to collect observational data in the world around you, and crunch the results into a sharable form.
This video reviews existing student projects for this module and discusses how to build on other students' work when designing your own study.
This spreadsheet-based module will give you a chance to conduct some observational research about some public behavior. This module guide is in decent shape.
extensionFinal Exam Option 2: Music album database
Explore the fundamental concepts in relational databases. Tinker along with your instructor as you build a database storing information about your favorite music albums. Organizations across America today are calling for database-competent folks to join them!
This detailed module complete with 7 tutorial videos embedded throughout will guide you through the fundamentals of working with relational databases.
Plan your time
Databases are extremely powerful tools. Like most fancy tools, they require skilled operators. Set aside between 3-4 hours to work through each step in this module.