Although the World Wide Web recently turned 30 years old, the medium remains in its relative infancy, and we are still learning how to use it to communicate effectively. This course takes a liberal arts approach to web design and development by:
No prior web development experience is needed, but a desire to learn and be challenged is a must. Further, possessing the spirit to play, allowing yourself patience for trial and error, and having the willingness to put forth effort even when success doesn't come easily all will greatly enhance your ability to make the most of this course.
You will be learning two new languages in this course while applying them based on several communication and design principles. Expect to spend an average of 6 to 9 hours per week of time outside of class meetings on assignments and preparation. This is typical of all undergraduate courses in which one hour of class time equates to three hours of work out-of-class.
Your up-to-date course grades are kept in our Canvas course. It will have the most accurate record with the percentage distributions below factored in. A link to our Canvas course is in the Resources menu above.
Exercises will evaluate your understanding and/or mastery of concepts as we cover them. Some may be completed in-class; however, most will be completed in the time between class meetings.
The culmination of these exercises will result in a web site that you may publish as a personal web presence/portfolio that showcases you, your work, and your interests to employers, internships, and graduate schools.
Please refer to the links in the menu above for assignment details.
There will be two exams: 1) at the end of Week 9, which is halfway through our HTML/CSS work and 2) during finals week.
The exams will be open book, note, and Web; however, you may not consult classmates or any others besides your professor through any form of communication (included but not limited to: written, spoken, electronic, telepathic, osmotic, semaphore, hand signals, or Morse code) during the period that the exam is available.
They will be comprehensive of all information presented throughout the course. Consequently, the exams will be designed to test your ability to apply knowledge versus your capability to memorize.
Failure to attempt either exam will result in failure of the course.
By the end of the term, you will produce a full-featured web page that tells the story promoting the work of an on-campus organization. You will conduct an interview of your "client" organization to gather content and their desired design layout. You will then utilize communication theory, design skills, HTML, CSS, and multimedia to completely develop the page.
There will be various deliverables throughout the semester to keep you on track. At the end of the term, you will make a brief presentation to the class discussing your page, its design, and its story.
For additional details, please see the Project Page link under Assignments above.
Although this is primarily a lecture and lab style course, there will be several opportunities, particularly early in the term, for discussion and questions. During the first few weeks of the course, students will lead discussion on the material assigned. I will designate who will take on specific readings from class-to-class, and students will be responsible for maintaining the discussion for their assigned topics.
As the course progresses, I will offer more instruction on building sites using HTML and CSS. I encourage you to engage with the lectures through asking me questions about the material being presented. If no one speaks up or reaches out with questions, I am forced to assume that you understand everything I am saying.
I have been working with this material professionally for many years, so I know what I'm doing. I need YOU to be brave and converse with me when a concept isn't clear.
Missing class, consistently arriving late, or being unprepared for discussion of readings will negatively impact your participation grade.
Dates of activities and due dates for assignments are always subject to minor shifting. Refer to back to this schedule regularly.