Web 1 - DES255 Fall 2024 Syllabus

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Instructor Info

Professor

Kerrin Whipple

Email Address

mclaugk3@tcnj.edu

Office Hours

By Appointment. You can schedule a 30 minute Zoom meeting to my calendar to discuss grades, get assignment help, or whatever other assistance you need.

Course Details

Class Meets

Mondays, 5:30-9:20PM

Location

AIMM 222

Course Description

This course is an introduction to front end web design and development using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and various software programs. The course consists of lectures and demonstrations on the design principles necessary to create an effective website as well as how to use code and other tools to bring it to life.

Course Requirements

Course Purpose and Learning Goals

Students will learn technical skills and conceptual practices required for modern web development and how to collaborate with web developers as a designer. This foundational course will provide a basic understanding of how web development works, the principles of good user experience and visual design on the web, and how to design and code with accessibility in mind. By the end of the course, students should be able to build a fully functioning front-end web site.

Due to the rapid pace at which web standards and technologies evolve, the goal of this course is to give students a practical working knowledge of the latest and current design practices, as well as an understanding of the broader concepts involved. This will provide the tools and base knowledge required to remain up to date on the latest standards and practices going forward.

Classes with typically consist of time for lecture, group coding and design sessions, and then time for individual project work and troubleshooting

Course Project

Throughout the semester, students will be working to design and build their own website. The topic and design are up to you. By the end of the course, students will have developed a project brief, sitemap, visual design, and code for their websites, which will be live online.

Detailed midterm and final requirements can be found here.

Grading

Grades will be determined according to the following:

A rubric for determining grades can be found here.

Students will always have the opportunity to resubmit assignments after receiving feedback for an updated grade.

Quizzes

Quizzes are conducted through Canvas and are meant to reinforce learning from class. You can take the quizzes on your own time in an open-book format.

Attendance and Participation

This course moves quickly, and new concepts each week build on previous material. Attendance and participation is extremely important.

Participation means answering prompts in class and in online discussions, asking questions, giving feedback, completing in-class coding assignments, and sticking around for studio time.

Each class is worth 3 participation points.

If you are unable to attend class for whatever reason, please email to let me know BEFORE class for it to count as an excused absence. Students who miss presentations will be expected to submit a written version of their presentation along with documentation.

Recordings of class will be posted within 24 hours to allow students who miss class to catch up. If you miss class you are expected to watch these recordings and follow along with any in-class exercises. Exercises in class build upon previous classes, so it's important to stay up to date!

Students are expected to participate in this course through regular attendance at lecture and lab sessions, complete assignments as scheduled and to avoid outside conflicts." — TCNJ Absence and Attendance Policy

Course Materials

Textbook

The course textbook is HTML, CSS & Javascript in Easy Steps by Mike McGrath. Throughout class several readings will be assigned from this book to reinforce what we learn in class. The book is also a helpful reference to all of the things possible with HTML, CSS, and JS so it is worth studying to figure out how to achieve certain styles for your final project.

Reference pages

Course Tools

This course requires access to a computer with internet access, which should be available in the classroom for use. You are welcome to use your own laptop.

We will use several programs and tools to help build our websites:

Additional Resources

An ever growing list of additional resources can be found here.

TCNJ Policies

Course Schedule

Click on each class title for a more detailed view of the objectives and assignments

9/3/24 - Class 1

Introductions, Course Overview, Design Processes, Project Briefs

9/9/24 - Class 2

Design Principles for the Web, Figma, Style Guides, and Sitemaps
Assignment due: Project Brief, Link to GitHub profile

9/16/24 - Class 3

Intro to HTML, Github
Assignment due: Sitemap

9/23/24 - Class 4

Intro to CSS
Assignment due: Readings, Quiz #1, Github.io link, Style Guide Progress

9/30/24 - Class 5

Layouts in CSS
Assignment due: Post Figma design work-in-progress on Canvas Discussion Readings

10/7/24 - No class, Fall Break


Assignment due:Quiz #2, Comment on at least 3 other Figma designs via Canvas Discussion. Prepare for Midterm presentations next week.

10/14/24 - Class 6

Midterm Presentations: Website Designs and Style Guide

10/21/24 - Class 7

Code Catch Up
No assignment due

10/28/24- Class 8

CSS Continued - Navigation
No assignment due, work on project code

11/4/24- Class 9

CSS Continued - Responsive Design
Assignment due: Readings, Quiz #3, Submit Github progress

11/11/24- Class 10

Web Accessibility, CSS Transitions and Effects
Assignment due: Readings

11/18/24- Class 11

Intro to Javascript
Assignment due: Quiz #4, Readings, Submit Github progress

11/25/24- Class 12

jQuery

12/2/24- Class 13

Website Building Tools, Frameworks, and Plugins
Assignment due: Quiz #5. Submit Github progress

Final Presentation Date: 12/16/24 5:00PM - 7:50PM TO BE HELD REMOTELY VIA ZOOM