General Requirements

1.   Students are expected to attend all classes.  A student is subject to dismissal by the instructor if he or she misses 10% of the class meetings.  It is the student's responsibility to withdraw from the class by withdrawal date, if a grade of "W" is desired. Students who just stop coming to class generally receive a grade of F.

2.   Class participation is highly emphasized in this course. Participation can be ‑ discussions, sharing of topic related work experience, demonstrating hardware/software items.

3.  Major assignments include mutlple computer building projects using various operating systems. There wil be 4 exams, including the final.

Course Grade

            The final course grade will be computed from the following:

            1.  Four exams (including optional final)

            2.  Lab exercises                                         

            Letter grades as follows:

Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Third Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702)

We will be covering all 1136 pages.

Specific topic coverage includes:

The Path of the PC Tech  

Operational Procedures  

The Visible PC  

Understanding Windows  

Microprocessors  

RAM  

BIOS and CMOS  

Expansion Bus  

Motherboards  

Power Supplies

Hard Drive Technologies  

Implementing Hard Drives  

Removable Media  

Installing and Upgrading Windows  

Working with the Command Line Interface  

Securing Windows Resources

Maintaining and Troubleshooting Windows

Input/Output

Video

Multimedia  

Portable Computing  

Printers  

Local Area Networking  

Wireless Networking  

The Internet  

Securing Computers  

The Complete PC Tech 

Upon course completion student should be able to:

1.  build and/or troubleshoot a personal computer

2.  understand the capabilities and limits of the microcomputer and OS.

3.  understand computer architecture at the operating level - including expansion buses, operating speed, and   memory addressing capability.

4.  have the basic skills required to pass the A+ certification exam.

This course maps fully to CompTIA’s 2009 A+ Exam objectives. The course is designed to be a complete, step-by-step approach for learning the fundamentals of supporting and troubleshooting computer hardware and software.

Students With Disabilities Policy:

“Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes.  Students are encouraged to make this request three weeks before the start of the semester.”  (Refer to the Current ACC Student Handbook)

Academic Integrity:

A student is expected to complete his or her own projects and tests.  Students are responsible for observing the policy on academic integrity described in the Current ACC Student Handbook, under “Student Discipline Policy, Section C”.

“Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their own thought, research or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework”. 

The penalty accessed will be in accordance with the current ACC Student Handbook policy. See http://www.austincc.edu/handbook/policies4.htmfor more information.

EXAMINATIONS

Four examinations will be given. The dates for each exam and the topics covered on each exam are listed on the last page of this handout. Exams must be taken on scheduled dates. The exam dates may be changed due to unforeseen circumstances.

At the end of the semester, there will be an optional comprehensive exam. If you choose to take this exam, the grade you make on the comprehensive exam will replace the lowest regular exam score. You are not required to take this exam, unless you have missed one of the previous exams or are trying to improve your grade.