GST 2710, Computers and Society
Fall 2002, Wayne State University, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
David Bowen, Instructor, Section 984
Agenda 13 for 12/2/02

  1. Announcements:
    1. The Final Exam is two weeks from today, on Monday December 16.
    2. Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) tonight.
    3. Quiz 2 returned. I curved the grades by multiplying your raw score (in the circle) by 0.439 and adding 56.1 This would curve a 100 (no one got this) to a 100, curve the average score of 59 to 82, and help the people at the bottom end the most. Your curved score is in the square box.
    4. The following people need to make up Quiz 2: Pamela Black, Amber Oates, Tika Ramey, Joyce Thomas, Royce Williams and Ray Wilson. I want ONE makeup session; we need to decide tonight when it will be.
    5. Homework in folder, check name off (just a line inside the box on the left-hand side, please)
    6. Course web site, from Pipeline or direct from http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casf02
    7. GST 2710 web site http://www.cllw.ayne.edu/isp/gst2710, now updated to show how to forward your WSU Email after you have activated your AccessID and Password. (But do not forward it until we are through with it here.)
    8. WSU class schedule for Winter 2003 is now online at http://www.classschedule.wayne.edu . You can also register online at pipeline, or by touch-tone. Printed schedules will be available at Helen Newberry Joy, Undergraduate Library, extension centers at Oakland and Wayne County, and at the University Center at Macomb by the week before registration begins.
    9. My office hours (available for help or work on the computers): 5 - 6 PM Mondays in 113 Rackham. I can come at 4 if you make an arrangement. Other good days for pre-arranged help sessions: Mondays and Thursdays. Telephone: (office) 313-577-1498, (113 Rackham) 313-577-9705, (home) 248-549-8518, (at Ford Tuesdays and Fridays) 313-390-2155.
    10. What about getting started on those assignments?
      1. I will not be able to accept all of your assignments at the end of the semester.
        MAXIMUM: two assignments accepted on the day of the Final, December 16
        MAXIMUM: two assignments accepted on the class before the Final, December 9
      2. I will not be able to grade assignments over these maximums in time for them to count in regular grades. This may result in a low grade or a failing grade. If you cannot get the assignments in on time, speak to me about an incomplete (I) before the Final.
    11. If you were not here last week - online grade reports. On the course web site, you can look at my record of your grades. You will need to give me a password to access your grades.
    12. Many people had problems using Excel. If anyone wants a hands-on review of Excel, I will be glad to run one if we can agree on a time.
  2. Review of homework assignments: 
    1. General: The last part of the class is the computer lab session. There is a lot to do during this part, especially if you want to do the computer homework at this time, and reading the lab section before class will help you work faster. The lab work is generally one of the tutorials in Microsoft Office 2000 Professional. The tutorials have you work through a file, which you should print out and hand in along with the rest of the assignment. At the end of that tutorial, there are other assignments that are part of homework, but that you can also do during the lab section, if you can work quickly. The tutorial will teach you what you need to know in order to work quickly and accurately on the case studies.
      NOTE: Assignments also include other reading and problems on an assignment sheet.

    2. See Agenda 12 for a summary of Assignments 1 through 9.

    3. Assignment 10 due 11/18

      1. New Perspectives Computers, Technology and Society Chapters 4 (Pages 4-14 to 4-33) and Chapter 9 (9-29 to 9-36)
      2. Lab - Excel Tutorial 4 in Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, Pages EX 4.01 through 4.35. Cast Iron Concepts.xls worksheet, print it out and turn it in.
      3. Assignment 10. Do Case Studies 1 and 4 only at the end of Excel Tutorial 4.
    4. Essay assignment: The general essay topic is social dependence on technology. Your essay should be three pages long, based on the assigned reading, The Machine Stops, by E.M. Forster. The essay should be in 12 point Times Roman type, with 1" margins on all four sides, with "Double" line spacing. Your essay should have a footer including your name and the page number. No cover sheet is necessary; the essay title should be at the top of the first page, bold and centered. Make sure to use spell check and grammar check. The Word grammar checker complains about all use of the passive voice, although normal writing contains up to about one-third passive voice. The essay is due in class on the last regular class, December 9.
    5. Assignment 11: Do the Assignment 11 handout. The lab is web searching (handout):
      1. Do searches according to directions, for the same topic on all of the search engines listed (Google, Alta Vista, Dobpile). Examples of topics:
        1. George Washington Carver
        2. Battle of Gettysburg
        3. other...
      2. Print first page of search results, and first article (five pages max), turn them in as the lab assignment
    6. Assignment 12
      1. Lab - Integrating Word and Excel. Do the Tutorial INT (Integration) 1 from pages INT 1.03 through INT 1.19. Print out the files and hand them in. The files can be downloaded from the course web site at www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/gst2710
      2. Homework:
        1. Assignment 12.
        2. Also, in Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, read the Tutorial ACCESS 1 for next week's lab.
  3. Programming (handout)
    1. A program is a list of instructions for a computer to carry out. A computer programmer writes lists of computer instructions, and feeds them to a computer. Here is a comparison of different types of programs:
      Machine language Assembler Higher Level
      A sequence of binary numbers, can be loaded into a computer and executed directly. Uses mnemonics instead of binary numbers, corresponds instruction-by-instruction with machine language. English-like, usually has many fewer instructions than assembler or machine code.
      10100001
      01100001
      10100010
      00100010
      10000011
      11000011
      00000000      		 READ 01
      LOAD 01
      READ 02
      ADD 02
      STORE 03
      PRINT 03
      STOP      		 Input x
      Input y
      z = x + y
      Print z
      End
      The machine code can be read into the computer and executed directly as is. All other types of programs must be first translated into machine code.  This is the Paper and Pencil Computer style of program. The Assembler is a program that translates assembler code into machine code for execution. The programmer runs the Assembler. Can either be compiled (translated to machine code in advance, then executed) or interpreted (translated line-by-line as it is executed). Compiled languages are faster, interpreted languages are more convenient.
      Each type of microprocessor has its own unique machine code. Each type of microprocessor has its own unique assembler code. Machine-independent; can run on many different types of computer, as long as there is a compiler or assembler.
      Very few people program directly in machine code anymore. Extremely difficult to debug or make changes. Assembler is good if your program has to use the minimum amount of storage, and execute quickly. Most programming today uses High Level Languages, sometimes with some assembler for critical sections. Debugging and making changes is the easiest with a High Level Language (but is still not easy).
      Example: Pentium III machine code. Example: Pentium III assembler. Examples: Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Basic
    2. Ideally, programming consists of the following steps, but as usual, the order of the ideal steps is often varied:
      1. Specification. Decide what, precisely, the program should do. Should include specifying a language, based on computer constraints and expected number of changes and upgrades.
      2. Write algorithms. Write out the specific actions that the computer will take to meet the specification.
      3. Write program. Translate algorithm into whatever language is chosen.
      4. Translate and test the program. It is important to note that the program that does the translating usually rejects the programmer's first few efforts totally, because of fundamental problems. After these fundamental problems are fixed, further testing ideally consists of putting in input data for which the correct outputs are known. But note also: if the program is very complex or if it is not debugged thoroughly, bugs will remain to be found by users! This is in fact the normal case.
      5. Debug. Identify problems and correct them.
    3. Most software is licensed, not owned outright or given away. Here is a summary of the different types of licenses. "Subscription" is the new system that Microsoft is trying to move institutional users towards.
      Type of license Payment Copying and using program Make changes to program Make changes to license
      Public Domain Program and license are free Both allowed without limit Can be changed without restriction License cannot be changed
      Freeware Program and license are free Both allowed without limit Only the program owner can make changes Only the program owner can change license
      Shareware Free trial period Copying is free. Use is free during trial period. Only the program owner can make changes Only the program owner can change license
      Open Source Program and license are free Both allowed without limit Use can make changes but must inform program owner Only the program owner can change license
      Commercial Nothing is free User may use but not copy. Only the program owner can make changes Only the program owner can make changes
      Subscription Nothing is free; licenses must be renewed regularly, typically annually. User may use but not copy. Upgrades are free during the subscription period. Only the program owner can make changes Only the program owner can make changes
  4. Access (database). This starts a new type of application. Reminder: the tutorials teach you how to use Access; the Case Studies provide practice. But being able to use Access on the Final counts more, so learn how to describe what you are doing, as well as how to do it.
    1. A database screen can seem a lot like a spreadsheet screen - cells laid out in rows and columns - but a database is very different than a spreadsheet. A row is called a record, and has all of the information for a single case, for example in the case of the University's personnel database, David Bowen is one record. A column is called a field. A given field must contain the same information for each record, for example, first name. (Note that a spreadsheet CAN be laid out this way, but does not HAVE to be.) Records are numbered, as in a spreadsheet, but fields are named to describe their contents (the field for first names might be called "FirstName"), while spreadsheet columns are usually indicated by letters (A, B, C etc.).
    2. A given set of records and fields is called a table. Tables can be linked together by means of a join or relationship, combining the information in both tables. For example, if the Mastercard and University databases could be joined, Mastercard could learn my income from the University. (Note: joining by names is difficult, since there are many people with the same name, and I could give my name as David to the University but Dave to Mastercard, and only give my first initial somewhere else. So in combining tables it helps to have a unique identifier such as the Social Security Number. For this reason, WSU is trying to get students to use Student ID numbers instead of Social Security numbers, in dealing with the University. Students often get annoyed at this, but really it is to protect the student's information.)
    3. While a spreadsheet will guess at the type of information you type in, you must be more careful with a database. For example, is "2" an ASCII code, in which case it will be treated the same as a letter, and arithmetic doesn't work, or a number, in which case arithmetic works?
    4. A table can be viewed as a datasheet, or in design view. In design view the data is not visible, but the other aspects, such as field names and data types, can be changed more easily.
    5. A database has several methods of checking data. Does it have to be present? Does it have to have acertain length or pattern. say like a telephone number (XXX-XXX-XXXX) or a date (XX/XX/XX or variations).
    6. A database also has several other types of objects:
      1. Query ("questions" the data): selects or excludes data based on criteria (for example. employee age greater than 60 years), shows certain fields only, combines data from several tables, or can calculate using a formula (formulas will not go in a table).
      2. Form: A screen for entering data, that labels the entry fields and checks the date before putting it in a table. Often called a "screen" but data entry staff.
      3. Report: summarizes the data in a custom report form.
    7. A "real" database such as Access will save the data in tables as each field is entered, without prompting the user. The idea here is that the data is critical, and we should not risk the data entry staff screwing it up. When exiting, the program will prompt if there are unsaved changes in formatting, queries, forms or reports.
    8. Filtering (hiding data that does not meet desired criteria such as age under 55) and sorting are operations that can be performed on both tables and queries. These do not delete data or change their order in the table or query, but only the way the data are displayed or printed.
    9. Databases are very good at:
      1. Organizing, storing and safeguarding information that comes in a consistent format.
      2. Sorting through and analyzing large amounts of data as quickly and efficiently as possible.
        1. One feature here is the primary key for a table, that tells where in the database file a particular record is. The program does not have to read through the whole file, but can go directly to that record, given the key.
        2. Also, the data for a query or report is not stored in duplicate, but only the data for the underlying tables is stored.
        3. Finally, the amount of storage on disk or in RAM for each piece of data is strictly limited, so database designers have to be careful in deciding how long they will allow names to be, and how large a particular number, such as a salary, can be.
    10. Databases in the news: Databases are figuring in current events. The new Department of Homeland Security will have a large respository of
      information from many sources. This will be - a database! It will have, apparently, academic records, credit histories, information about what people buy, and so forth. By linking all of these tables together (with joins or relations), analysts will, we hope, be able to pick out patterns
      indicative of terrorists. But there is also a potential for misusing this information to invade someone's privacy, so civil libertarians are concerned.

      US citizens are apparently willing to let the government collect this information to combat terrorism, but are not willing to let businesses collect this kind of information.
  5. Lab - do the Access tutorial in pages AC 1.01 through 1.27. Do the printouts as instructed and hand them in with the rest of the assignment. The files can be downloaded from the course web site at www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/gst2710.
    1. Here, from the handout on Excel and Access tutorials, are the things you should learn from this Tutorial: Starting Access; Opening an existing database, Database Window - Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Pages, Macros and Modules; Opening a table (datasheet), navigating on the datasheet; Printing a table; Exiting Access; Creating and Printing a Query; Creating and Printing a Form; Online Help; Creating, previewing and printing a Report; Compacting and repairing a database.
    2. There is not much point to a database unless you have a large amount of data. For small amounts, a spreadsheet is quicker and more convenient. So, I will not ask you to start a database from scratch on this assignment.
  6. Homework:
    1. Assignment 12. Only do Case Study 1 starting on Pg AC1.28.
    2. Also, in Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, read the Tutorial ACCESS 2 for next week's lab.
  7. Computers off