Faculty Contact Information:
Stephen Marenka, Jr., Collegiate Associate Professor
Master of Business Administration
Master of Science Management Information Systems
Certified Information Systems Analyst
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
Telephone: 06363-1608
U. S. Mail: PSC 2, Box 9304, APO AE 09012
German Mail: Am Brennofen 8, 67701 Schallodenbach | |
Consultation:
Office Hours: Before/after class, appointment or virtual meeting
Virtual Office Address:
E-mail address: marenkas@t-online.de
Web Page: http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~smarenka
Weekends, 22/23 Jan; 5/6 & 19/20 Feb; 5/6 Mar, 0900-1600 | |
Required Texts and Readings:
| Englander, I. (2003). Architecture of Computer Hardware & Systems Software, (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. | |
Supplementary Readings:
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The standard for papers in the graduate program is the APA style. All participants in this course and all graduate INSS, MGMT, PUAD, and ECON courses should have a copy of the style guide:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition. Washington DC: Author. All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
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Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line.
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Course Description:
| 3 semester hours credit. Prerequisites: Undergraduate programming and college algebra, or permission of the Program Director. Provides an overview of basic computer concepts as they apply to MIS professionals. Emphasis is on basic machine architecture including data storage, manipulation, the human-machine interface including the basics of operating systems, algorithms and programming languages. In addition, the basic concepts of data organization including data and file structures are examined. Emerging trends in computer technology and their impact on organizational information systems are also discussed. | |
Course Goals:
Upon completion of the course, participants should:
1. Understand basic principles of computer architecture
2. Understand major operating system concepts, including the interrelationships between operating systems and computer hardware
3. Understand concepts of programming languages
4. Understand computer logic and data representation
5. Be conversant with the terminology describing computer hardware and software
6. Understand how computer peripherals work
7. Understand basics of network architectures
8. Understand new developments in computer technology | |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Define the basic terms and processes related to computer systems architecture
2. Discuss components of an operating system
3. Describe the mechanisms by which an operating system manages hardware and software resources
4. Describe progression of operating system development
5. Describe the various types of programming languages
6. Describe the processes of translating and executing a program
7. Describe the process for developing applications
8. Describe basic methods of data representation
9. Describe the characteristics of data storage technology and how it influences the performance of computer systems
10. Describe the use of buffers and caches to improve computer system performance
11. Describe the use of data compression to improve computer system performance
12. Describe the concepts of file systems
13. Describe the characteristics and implementation of input and output devices
14. Describe the basic concepts of communication protocols
15. Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of distributed computing systems
16. Describe the technological trends in computer development
17. Discuss ethical issues in computing
18. Research current topics in computing | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%
B 80 – 91%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
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Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society. In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
30% Programming Projects
35% Midterm Exam
35% Final Exam
100% Total
Information shared from presentations and discussions are critical to learning in this course. Missing class or excessive tardiness without a valid, official excuse could result in a lower grade at the discretion of the instructor. Missing two consecutive meetings without official orders, a validated excuse or emergency, or a prior arrangement with the instructor could make earning an A in the class practically impossible. In an event honest and forthcoming communication with the instructor is critical. For full credit assignments must be submitted when due in hard copy. | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner. Usually this requires two to three hours for every hour of a face-to-face class.
Programming Projects: There will be programming projects in this course: four Little Man Computer programs. Little Man Computer software will be made available by the instructor. Little Man Computer is a program for developing simple machine language simulation programs.
Important note: Resubmission of course work from previous classes(whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment. | |
Course Schedule:
This schedule presents 16 units or modules, with each unit corresponding to a regular three-hour weekday meeting, a half-day on weekends, or a full week of DE.
Initial meeting: 22 Jan
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject
Chapter 1 - An Overview of Computer Systems
Chapter 2 - Number Systems
Second meeting: 22 Jan
Chapter 2 - Number Systems
Chapter 3 - Data Formats
Third meeting: 23 Jan
Chapter 4 - Representing Integer Data
Fourth meeting: 23 Jan
Chapter 5 - Floating Point Numbers
Fifth meeting: 5 Feb
Chapter 6 - The Little Man Computer
Sixth meeting: 5 Feb
Chapter 7 The CPU and Memory
Seventh meeting: 6 Feb
Chapter 8 - The CPU and Memory
Eighth meeting: 6 Feb
Midterm Examination
Ninth meeting: 19 Feb
Chapter 9 - Input/Output
Chapter 10 - Computer Peripherals
Tenth meeting: 19 Feb
Chapter 11 - Computer Peripherals
Chapter 12 - Three System Examples, The X86 Family Section 12.2 to ppg. 354
Eleventh meeting: 20 Feb
Chapter 13 - Operating Systems
Chapter 14 - The User View of Operating Systems
Twelfth meeting: 20 Feb
Chapter 15 - The Internal Operating System
Thirteenth meeting: 5 Mar
Chapter 16 - File Management
Fourteenth meeting: 5 Mar
Chapter 17 - Programming Tools
Fifteenth meeting: 6 Mar
Chapter 18 - Three Operating Systems
Course evaluations
Sixteenth meeting: 6 Mar
Final Examination
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Academic Policies:
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The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
A retired field grade U. S. Air Force jet fighter pilot, Steve Marenka has an extensive practical background in administration and management at many operational levels, including both command and staff positions and computer intensive operating environments. His academic education includes: a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Maryland; a Master of Business Administration degree in Financial Management from Saint Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas; an Information Systems Analyst Certificate and a Master of Science in Management Information Systems degree from Bowie State University, Europe; resident graduate of Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Al.; studies at the University of the Saarland at Saarbrücken, including a German language proficiency certificate; and, a diploma in electronics from Devry Institute. Steve holds the qualification and teaches Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer courses. He has also provided consulting services for firms in the United States and Europe, addressing problems ranging from marketing analysis of demographic and location data, finance and computer applications and training, providing services in both German and English. He was once comptroller of the Marenka Stainless Steel Corporation, a closely held family corporation, and served as business manager for several private organizations. He has had considerable teaching experience in the classroom, both in the military and at the university level, teaching general management, human relations and technical courses.
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