SDEV 328 - Full Stack Web Development

Spring 2024

Course Information

• Meeting times: TTh 9-10:50am
• Location:
  • Tuesdays on Zoom (link in Canvas)
  • Thursdays at Auburn Center, 1221 D St NE, Auburn, WA 98002, Room AC 250
• Credits: 5
• Prerequisite: SDEV 305 or instructor permission

Instructor Information

• Tina Ostrander, tostrander@greenriver.edu
• • Office Hours
  • MTWTh 9-9:50am
    • AC 360C (Auburn Center, 1221 D St NE, Auburn, WA | map) or
    • Zoom (Passcode: learn)
  • By Appointment: Email me at tostrander@greenriver.edu with 2-3 days and times that you are available
  • Contact hours are weekdays from 9am through 5pm. Students can expect a response to email messages within one business day. If you haven't heard back by then, please try again in case the spam folder ate your message!
• Instructor's contact hours are weekdays from 9am through 5pm on email and students can expect a response to email messages within 1-2 business days.

Course Description and Outcomes

Continuation of SDEV 305. Examines design, integration, debugging, and testing in each layer of the web development stack. Topics include version control systems, application of the Model-View-Controller architectural pattern, concurrent JavaScript programming, integration with RESTful web APIs, secure design principles, and use of various client- and server-side frameworks.

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• Set up and configure a complete web development and testing environment.
• Use debugging and profiling tools to troubleshoot issues in the various layers of the web stack.
• Establish a separation of concerns in web applications by applying software design patterns such as Model-View-Controller.
• Implement an AJAX request to retrieve server-side data.
• Use a version control system to maintain source code.
• List and define the top web application security risks.
• Utilize an API.

Program Outcomes

• Develop stable, robust, secure, and efficient code following best practices in database design and software construction.
• Communicate with technical and non-technical project stakeholders, and within project teams.
• Apply Agile practices such as maintaining a product backlog, planning sprints, participating in sprint reviews and retrospectives.
• Perform software quality assurance activities throughout the entire software lifecycle.
• Write technical documentation to support software lifecycle activities.

Campus Learning Outcomes

• Critical Thinking: Critical thinking finds expression in all disciplines and everyday life. It is characterized by an ability to reflect upon thinking patterns, including the role of emotions on thoughts, and to rigorously assess the quality of thought through its work products. Critical thinkers routinely evaluate thinking processes and alter them, as necessary, to facilitate an improvement in their thinking and potentially foster certain dispositions or intellectual traits over time.
• Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning: Quantitative Reasoning encompasses abilities necessary for a student to become literate in today’s technological world. Quantitative reasoning begins with basic skills and extends to problem solving.

Course Resources

Required Textbooks

• Ullman, PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites

Canvas

All assignments, supplementary materials, the course schedule, due dates, and updates to this syllabus will be posted to the course web site in Canvas at https://egator.greenriver.edu/

Check the course web site and your @mail.greenriver.edu email account daily for important announcements.

If you have any questions about the course, reading, or the homework, please post them to Canvas Discussions. This will enable you to get an answer to your questions more quickly, and also help classmates who might have the same question. If you see a question in the Discussions that you think you can answer, please do so! 

If you have questions of a personal nature, such as regarding a specific grade or scheduling an appointment, then either email me or visit me during office hours.

Tutors

There are tutors available both at Auburn Center and the main campus (Holman Library) for all IT Software Development classes. View the Tutoring Schedule

Tutoring Protocols

• It is OK to ask a tutor for feedback on your assignment ahead of time.
• It is OK to bounce ideas off a tutor and/or for them to suggest specific constructs for approaching a problem.
• It is OK to go over how specific constructs work (e.g. Try stuff in a sandbox)
• It is OK to debug your code with a tutor as long as the tutor is asking questions and not dictating exactly how to correct each mistake.
  
• It is NOT OK for a tutor to "drive" by correcting or writing code for you.
• It is NOT OK for a tutor to dictate a step-by-step approach to solving the problem.
• It is NOT OK for a tutor to show you their own solution to an individual assignment.

Student Portal

my.greenriver.edu contains information and links for important student resources.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning provides a wide range of technical video tutorials, and is free to Green River students.

Course Policies

Late Policy

All assignments will have a 24-hour grace period during which no points will be deducted. After that, an assignment may be turned in up to one week after the due date for 50% credit. No assignments will be accepted after one week, or after the last day of class.

All assignments are posted well in advance. Be sure to get an early start so that you have plenty of time to get help if you need it.

Attendance

Regular attendance and participation are required to succeed in this course. Absences have a huge impact on your team productivity, as well as your individual learning, especially since this class only meets two times a week. If missing a class is unavoidable, please do not email me to ask me what you missed. If you miss a Zoom day, you are responsible for watching the course recording. If you miss an in-class day, ask a classmate to take notes for you.

To foster a professional and engaging learning environment that reflects workplace expectations, it is essential to have your video turned on during Zoom sessions. This practice not only promotes collaboration, engagement, and effective communication among peers, but also cultivates vital skills for remote interviews and future workplaces. Please refrain from using avatars.

If you need a webcam or hotspot, they are available for checkout from Holman Library. Email ssuccess@greenriver.edu ("ss" is not a typo!) to make your request. You will be contacted when your request is available for pickup. Be sure to make your request early!

Team Contribution

In this course, you will complete a final project with 1-2 other people. Each of you is expected to contribute your fair share to the project. If a team member does not adequately contribute to the team effort, based on peer evaluations, GitHub commits, and instructor discretion, their grade will be adjusted accordingly. To avoid lost points and maximize learning, all students should strive to be productive and contributing team members!

If your schedule does not permit you to meet regularly with a team, you do have the option of completing the final project solo. However, you will be missing out on significant course outcomes (including GitHub collaboration) and will therefore earn a maximum grade of 70% for the project.

Academic Integrity and Collaboration

Plagiarism occurs when you knowingly submit someone else's work (ideas, words, code) as your own. Plagiarism is an act of intentional deception that is not only dishonest, it robs you of the most important product of education - the actual learning. Should I suspect that you have plagiarized, I will talk with you one-on-one and ask you to prove the work in question is your own. 

You may use AI tools for learning or research, but you are responsible for verifying the accuracy of any AI-generated information. All submitted work must be your own. AI-generated submissions will be considered academic dishonesty.

The purpose of this restriction is to ensure that students develop a fundamental understanding of technical concepts and problem-solving skills.

Software Development and Data Analytics are skills that demands active engagement, critical thinking, and hands-on practice. By prohibiting the use of AI text generators, we aim to promote a genuine learning experience where students grapple with challenges, debugging issues, and algorithmic thinking on their own. This approach encourages the development of analytical skills, creativity, and the ability to translate conceptual knowledge into practical solutions.

Furthermore, fostering a learning environment that relies solely on individual effort and peer collaboration prepares students for real-world scenarios where coding proficiency is essential. While tools like ChatGPT have their place in certain applications, this course aims to lay a strong foundation in skills that students can build upon throughout their academic and professional journeys.

Students are encouraged to seek assistance from the instructor, tutors, and peers, as well as to utilize the provided course materials and resources to enhance their understanding and overcome challenges. Embracing the learning process, persevering through difficulties, and honing problem-solving abilities are key objectives of this course, and refraining from the use of AI text generators supports the achievement of these goals.

If your work is not your own, you will receive a failing grade of zero on the assignment. If your work continues to be plagiarized during the quarter, you will receive a failing grade for the course.

Grading

Grading in this course consists of your demonstrated competency and professionalism. If you have any questions or concerns about a course grade, talk to the instructor within two weeks of receiving the grade.

Grades will be converted according to the following scale: