All of the equipment you need is provided in the classroom, but it might be helpful, if you have a labtop, to purchase the academic version of CS4 or just Flash alone to use outside of class to complete your assignments. CS4 is useful because it provides Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver, all of which are extremely useful tools in any number of contexts. If you are interested in creating a large number of standalone illustrations, you might also consider SmartDraw.
To complete this class successfully, daily attendance is recommended, along with completion of each of the labs and the worksheets that accompany the labs. It is suggested that you work during class and for a few hours outside of class each week. The classroom provides a lab you can use if you do not have Flash on your own computer. Hours during which the lab is open are posted.
The university provides a solid set of policies regarding the conduct of classes. If you have any concerns at all that fall into this area, please stop by after class or during office hours.
Area
Percent
Description
Term Projects
25%
There are three term probjects. Two of these are completed during the term, at assigned points. A third is due on the last day of the class. For each of these projects, expect to 1) compose a short essay, 2) develop a customized version of one of the regular class projects, and 3) prepart a web page that you submit to the instructor for presentation to the class. For the final project, you complete these three tasks and also give a short presentation.
Lab Work
25%
The bulk of the work for the class involves completing labs. Labs consist of two parts. One is a hands-on work session in class led by the instructor. The other is a worksheet. Worksheets must be printed and handed in, preferably the day after the lab corresponding to the worksheet is completed. While you can be late with the worksheets, if you are too late with them, then instead of being assiged a quantitative grade you will be assigned an "OK," which will merely server as a place holder to sustain the quantitative grades you have received on worksheets handed in the day after the corresponding lab is completed. This practice of grading will be further explained by the instructor. If worksheets are not completed, a quality grade is not likely to result. Generally, complete the worksheets as soon as possible after you have completed the corresponding lab.
Class Participation
20%
Attendance is required. Your participation involves being in class, working on the labs, and showing interest in the topcis. Many situations arise in which your expertise on a given topic might prove helpful to others, and on such occasions, you will be called upon to help out. Helping out might involve helping someone else complete at task or taking a few minutes to talk about something you have done are are doing.
Quizzes or worksheets and papers
30%
The worksheets are in effect quizzes. The worksheets are extremely difficult to complete if you do not complete them as you work on the labs. They are, however, fairly easy to complete when you do complete them as you work on the labs. Three compositions are due during the course. Each should be as well written as possible. Instructions concerning the content of the compositions will be provided in class.
Textbooks
You can complete the class without using a textbook, so purchasing the texts listed for this course is optional. However, if you are a beginning programmer, ppurchase of the texts might be very. The Shupe book is especially helpful for those who are completely new to programming. Generally, the labs provide what might be regarded as the textbook for the course. These are available to you in PDF files. Save them as you go to make yourself a textbook for the course.
Shupe and Rosser. Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginner’s Guide.
Webster, Yard, McSharry, Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with Flash CS3 and Flex, Apress.
Keith Peters, ActionScript 3.0 Animation, Apress, 2007.
Gary Rosenzweig, ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University , Apress, 2007.
Weekly Labs, Worksheets, Resources, and Other Assets
Labs and other material are posted on this site as the course progresses. The assignments for each day appear the day the assignment is announced and reviewed in class.
Most of the lectures require you to access the class website, so when you show up for class, access your browser and then the class web page. The components for the class are as follows:
The lab for the day. This is a PDF document. Open it and keep it open as you work on your project. It provides step-by-step instructions, along with code samples.
Resources. Each lab is accompanied by a Resources directory if the lab uses assess. This directory is zipped.
Worksheets. Almost every lab is accompanied by one or more worksheets. You must print off the worksheets and hand them in. Electronic submission is not currently an option due to course management concerns. Please budget for this activity if you do not have a private printer.
Link to a working version of the application. A link is provided to a page in which you find a working version of the application. This page also contains ideas that you might use as a primer for your final project work.
Supplementary information. Supplementary information includes such things a papers, links to sites providing relevant information, or PowerPoint presentations published as PDF files.
Access the Agenda Table for a list of all projects.
This lab allows you to create an HTML page for your application. The instructor will provide detailed instructions about how to name the files and folders in which you save your project. You must provide your *.fla file along with the other files needed for web display.
This lab provides you with opportunities to explore use of sound and video in your projects. It also provides you wiht an introduction to XML, which you can employ to load complex sets of of information into your projects.
