Syllabus

Contacting me

The best way to get in contact with me is to email alex@turnwall.com. I don’t have specific office hours because I’m part-time faculty and I don’t actually have an on-campus office, but I’m happy to provide addi­tional support for students, within reason, so you can email me to schedule a time.

You shouldn’t email me with specific ques­tions about why your code isn’t working. You should first check the tuto­rials on this site, on the sites listed in the resources section, and on Google.

Course Overview

From the Registrar’s website

ARTF 2224—Interactive Tools Intro­duces skills and software used in creating basic Web-based content. This tech­nology workshop intro­duces software using HTML and style sheets such as Adobe Dreamweaver.

My take on it

This course is a supplement to your Inter­active Foun­da­tions course. As such, I’ll be teaching you about the tech­nology needed for that class specif­i­cally and will not attempt to teach inter­active theory. Later in both the Graphic Design and Creative Indus­tries curriculum, you’ll have the oppor­tunity to focus on more application-specific web and interface design, as well as learn more advanced markup. This class will teach you the funda­mentals of HTML and CSS, using Dreamweaver as a devel­opment program. We’ll also touch on various other “best-practices” for designers that are creating content for the web, and touch on how you might fit into an inter­active role as a profes­sional designer.

What I hope you’ll get out of it

Hope­fully this class will help you realize that HTML and CSS markup are “languages” for designers—not for devel­opers. They’re really not that scary, and they’re a lot easier to learn than most people think. I hope that you all leave this semester feeling empowered to add front-end devel­opment to your skill set, right alongside Photoshop or Illus­trator. I also hope that you’ll take ownership of the idea that designers are the people that should be devel­oping this type of content—not computer scien­tists and “programmers”. It’s really the contem­porary need and future of our profession to take ownership of this skill set.

Schedule

Classes and Lesson Content

The general schedule for the class is listed on the Overview & Schedule page. There’s a brief overview of what we’ll cover in each class listed here. Please note that this is a Tentative schedule. Things may need to shift based on how quickly the class moves through the content. The schedule will be updated frequently to represent the most up-to-date infor­mation surrounding planned lessons.

Assign­ments

Will be posted on the Overview & Schedule page with the schedule. Assign­ments will be posted here weekly after they have been assigned in the class. Unless otherwise noted, every assignment is due at the beginning of the following class. You’ll be instructed to upload your files to the appro­priate folder on the Art+Design server. If for some reason you’re unable to connect, you’ll email me your assign­ments at alex (at) turnwall (dot) com. Each week you’ll be graded on completion of the assignment, but you’ll have the chance (and are encouraged) to make updates and correc­tions to your assign­ments after class discussion.

Policies

Atten­dance

Your atten­dance is expected at every class, but I realize that things come up. Everyone is allowed one (1) unex­cused absence. Two (2) unex­cused absences will result in a lowered letter grade (ie: from A to B) auto­mat­i­cally. Three (3) absences will require students to drop the course.

Some absences may be excused in accor­dance with University Policy, but YOU MUST BE NOTIFY ME IN ADVANCE if you’ll be out due to an excused absence . Reasons include partic­i­pation in athletics, partic­i­pation in student activ­ities, illness or personal crisis, reli­gious obser­vances, jury duty, and military service. If you have more ques­tions about these, you should consult your student handbook or email me.

Grades

How is my grade calculated?

Total of weekly assign­ments = 70% of your total grade
Final (ongoing) assignment and correc­tions = 30% of your total grade

Each weekly assignment is equally weighted, adding to a total of 70% of your overall grade. Assuming there are 10 assign­ments, each of them would equal 7% of your overall grade. There may be more or less than 10 assign­ments as needed, the total of those assign­ments will still equal 70% of your overall grade.

You’ll receive full credit for your assignment if it is turned in at the beginning of the class that it’s due, and you’ve completed all necessary require­ments. Due to the nature of the class material, LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. This is because you’d usually be able to complete the assignment in the following class lesson.

This website (www.turnwall.com/intools) should contain all of the infor­mation you need to know about assign­ments on the Overview & Schedule page. If you still have ques­tions about these require­ments from week to week, you must email me in advance to the class in which the assignment is due for clarification.

The final assignment for this class will be worth 30% of your overall grade. Detailed instruc­tions and require­ments for this assignment will be given later in the semester, based on the material we cover. The purpose of this assignment is for students to demon­strate under­standing of all of the concepts covered throughout the semester, so you’re welcome to and encouraged to re-use your content from earlier in the semester.

How does atten­dance effect my grade?

Your grade is deter­mined for the most part by your work—perfect atten­dance won’t neces­sarily give you a higher grade, but missed classes will lower your grade. For example, if you miss two classes, the highest grade you’ll be able to get is a B.

When are assign­ments due if I miss a class?

If you’re going to miss a class, whether it’s an excused absence or otherwise, assign­ments are still due on the orig­i­nally desig­nated date (usually one class section after orig­i­nally assigned, check the Overview & Schedule page for specifics). If you cannot make it to the class, you must email me your files prior to the start of the class when it’s due.

Ques­tions? Confused?

Shoot me an email, or stop by class a bit early to ask. Thanks.