INSTRUCTOR
Mr. Steve Dickie – Office – Technology Office
Classroom 123
dickie@divinechildhighschool.org

OFFICE HOURS
I’m here by 6:15 every day. I can often be found talking with Mr. D-F in Computer Lab A before Zero hour and in Computer Lab B during Zero hour. I would be more than happy to meet with any student needing help both before (even during Zero hour) and after school.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is a hands-on course in Electronics with a strong focus on micro-controllers. Students will learn the basics of electronic components and electronics laws.

Fundamentals of computer programming will also be covered as students will learn to program the Arduino microcontroller platform. By interfacing electronics and computers they will be able to create a variety of projects.

This course is a blended learning experience. All course materials will be found online. Our website will be the primary learning portal, but other sources may be used as they are discovered. Students will self pace themselves as they work through course materials. All work and documentation of work will also be done online. Each student will be responsible for keeping an online log of activities. This semester we will be using Blogger for this.

Near the end of the semester each student (or pair of students) will select a final project to complete. The project will be fully detailed and explained on our Google Site so that future students may learn from it.

MATERIALS FEE
$50.00 – This fee covers an Arduino board for each student. This fee also covers some consumables, new meters, and breakage (going up in a puff of smoke in this case). The student may have to buy additional supplies for special projects, but there is adequate material for hundreds of projects on hand.

LAB SAFETY
If you mess with the safety equipment you will be suspended. There will be no negotiation.

Engaging in any behavior I deem to be unsafe will result in you being kicked out for the day (note you will receive an absence for the day if this happens). If you’re not sure if it’s safe or not DO NOT DO IT!!! In addition to being kicked out you will also be given a detention with Mr. Haley.

HONOR CODE/PLAGIARISM
Like all courses at Divine Child, this course adheres to the principals of the Divine Child High School honor code. Any cheating on an assignment will result in a zero on that assignment and the second incident of cheating will result in course failure.

Cheating includes passing off someone else’s work as your own as well as allowing someone to copy your work with the intent to turn it in! If you get code from anywhere else, be it another student, a book, the internet, space aliens, your dog or where ever, you must cite it! Failure to do so is considered Plagiarism!

For example, lets say you copy another student’s code for an assignment. If you do not cite them as the source of the code then that would be cheating. If you do cite them you’ll just get a zero because you didn’t do any work, but it would not be Plagiarism and so I wouldn’t have to report it to Mr. Haley.

GRADING POLICY
Rather than using a point system to record scores on various assignments or assessment, you must demonstrate your level of proficiency on various learning goals or standards. For example, instead of getting one grade for a worksheet that may cover many topics, you will be scored on individual learning goals such as, “I can wire an LED to my Arduino on a breadboard.” The learning goals for each unit will be listed on their page on our web site.

Grades will be assigned based on descriptors of achievement only. Grades will not be affected by issues such as lateness of work, effort, attitude, participation, and attendance. Those factors will be reported separately. Even though there will be many opportunities for cooperative learning, you will never be assigned group grades.

New information showing additional learning will replace old information. Grades will reflect only the most recent demonstration of mastery. You may be re-assessed on any standard provided that you have documented an effort to engage in additional learning (e.g., tutoring, additional practice, test corrections, etc.). In addition, an alternative assessment may be accepted if the work is pre-contracted between you (the student) and me (the teacher). The only deadline for reassessments is the Quarter break.

Chapter Assessment
Upon completing a chapter students are responsible for demonstrating their knowledge to me. This will typically take the form of a conversation along with some tasks to complete. Students will tell me once they’ve completed a unit. Once we start progressing most students will be at completely different points in the curriculum.

Students may not move on to the next unit with out scoring Proficient on all of the A-Level standards.

Re-Assessment
Students can choose to be re-assessed on any standard we previously assessed. They will be required to show what they’ve done to develop mastery of that standard before reassessment, however.

Each Standard will be assessed on the following scale:

• 4 – Expert: Student is able to apply standard perfectly in all situations.
• 3 – Proficient: Student has minor problems with mechanics or is only able to apply standard in which the situation the material was presented.
• 2 – Progressing: Student has a weak grasp of concepts but does show a very basic level of understanding
• 1 – No Understanding: Student has demonstrated no understanding of the standard being assessed.
• 0 – No Basis: Student has not been evaluated for this standard yet.

For reassessments or for standards assessed more than once, the most recent (not the highest) assessment stands. So, if you received a 3 last week and a 4 this week you get a 4, however, if you get a 2 this week then you get a 2.
Letter grades will be determined based on a straight average of the standards covered using the Divine Child High School grading scale outlined in the student handbook.