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Syllabus

Instructor Information

Name: Kathie Gossett

Office: JFSB 1163F

Phone: 801.422.7325

Email: kathie_gossett@byu.edu

Office Hours: T 1-2pm, W 12-1pm, or by appointment (schedule a time here)

Overview

DIGHT 250, Introduction to Web Publishing, explores the concepts and methods of modern web design, as well as some of the software used to facilitate that design. By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

        • frame web authoring as a rhetorical practice and a professional skill;
        • analyze digital works and communities to understand their rhetorical, social, and cultural implications;
        • learn and practice principles of user-centered design
        • employ design methods and genres crucial to building useable websites;
        • design and build a working version of a professional web portfolio.

You are not expected to have any prior experience with web authoring. We will devote a substantial portion of class time to tinkering with many aspects of web design, including HTML, CSS, and accessibility.

Class Materials

You are required to have access to one book for this course. You may purchase it or access it for free through the BYU Library.

Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Web Graphics by Jennifer Niederst Robbins.5th edition, May 2018. O’Reilly Media. ISBN: 978-1-491-96020-2. https://learningwebdesign.com (You can purchase the book above or you can access it for free through the library.)

You will require access to a computer – Mac or PC – with internet access and the ability to install and configure software. You will also require a text editor of some sort; Phoenix Code is the one I will recommend but there are many other available.

Finally, you must ensure that you have access to your files at all times in all places, and to maintain backups. Use a flash drive, cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive), or some combination to ensure that you don’t lose your work. Losing your files is not a valid excuse in this day and age of ubiquitous online storage.

You are also required that you have a hosted domain where you can post your web content. This service normally costs around $45/year. You may use any hosting service you like. I recommend Reclaim Hosting; it’s the cheapest one out there: $30/year.

 

Assignments

Course assignments will focus on HTML (hypertext markup language) and CSS (cascading style sheets), two of the three elements of front-end web development.

Low-stakes assignments: 65%

These are brief tasks that you will be asked to complete — tasks such as using HTML and CSS for basic markup, working with images, and ensuring web accessibility. You will most likely complete a couple low-stakes assignments per week, each worth up to 1 point. The actual number of low- stakes assignments this semester will depend on several factors, including the time needed to complete various tasks and unforeseen events.

Because the best way to learn the basics of web design is to tinker (or perhaps to experiment), your grade on each low-stakes assignment will be based on whether or not you tried it — not so much on whether or not you succeeded at it.

Portfolio Project: 25%

This assignment will give you the opportunity to develop a usable, accessible, and responsive professional portfolio that you can use to showcase your work. Later in the semester, we will work together to create a grading rubric for this project.

Participation: 10%

Did you show up for required lectures? Did you comment, question, and provide feedback during discussions? Did you actively engage with the material, or do the bare minimum necessary?

Grading Policy

All assignments are due at the days and times indicated on the course schedule. Late work is accepted for up to 80% credit, and work more than 7 days late will not be accepted.

Exceptions to this policy will be made on a case-by-case basis, but the earlier you contact the professor about the situation, the more likely an exception will be granted.

The Accessibility Office will notify the professor of any accommodations you require. Still, you must request to exercise those accommodations before the assignment is due. For example, if your accommodations grant extra time on examinations, you must inform your professor if you will exercise that accommodation so an alternative exam location and time can be arranged.

Grading Scale

Grades /Percent

A             94%

A-            90%

B+            87%

B              83%

B-            80%

C+           77%

C              73%

C-           70%

D+          67%

D             63%

D-           60%

F             0%

Attendance

Students are expected to attend class. Attendance is important in DIGHT 250 in part because most classes will be designed to involve student interaction through discussion, coding, and review of classmates’ work. But, as we have learned in the past couple years, it is just as important that people stay home when they are ill.

If you must miss class, please contact your instructor at kathie_gossett@byu.edu.

Study Habits

I have designed this class to respect your needs, time, and skills. The help you need to be successful will be available to you, and I’ve never met a student that couldn’t earn an A in this class. 

I advise you to look at the class schedule and set aside a regular time to work on the class material.  Although most assignments will be completed in less than two hours, you want to leave some wiggle room just in case you get stuck. 

Teaching Philosophy

Brigham Young University is wholly owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and faculty and students are expected to integrate principles of faith and righteous living into their scholarship, teaching, and learning. Students in DigHT 250 must expect the following:

        • Each class will open with prayer.
        • Religious texts and faith-based discussion will be a normal activity.
        • All academic principles, theories, and texts may be considered through the lens of the Restored Gospel.
        • The professor and students will treat each other with love and respect befitting a community of Christians.

Dress & Grooming Standards

All students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the CES Honor Code (https://policy.byu.edu/view/church- educational-system-honor-code) and BYU Dress and Grooming Standards (https://policy.byu.edu/view/dress-and- grooming-standards). If you have a cultural, theatrical, medical, or other exception from the Dress and Grooming Standard, you must report those exceptions to the professor before the second day of class.