Pre-Requisites - The student should have a basic backgournd in computer operating systems and computer networks. This background would have been provided by an undergraduate operating systems and computer networks class at USC or at the students previous college or university. A remedial lecture (online) will be available to fill in for the networking background if needed.
The final exam is cumulative, meaining it will cover all of course material, although there will be an emphasis on the second half of the course (after the midterm).
The labs are required (you must complete 8 of 10) and your scores figure into a supplimental grade component: cumulative lab scores of high pass or low pass will improve or lower your grade. An introduction to the coming weeks lab will be presented at 4:30 on Friday in OHE 122, and will also be available for vieiwing via the web on DEN. Actual completion of the lab occurs during the following week during times that you will select during the first week of class.
The paper assignment will ask for an 8-12 page paper discussing in detail the implementation and implications of either an existing security system, or one proposed by the student. Other paper topics or projects may be approved by the instructor. The paper or project must constitute work completed for CSci530, although topics may be chosen so that the paper or project forms the basis of future work by the student. Papers or projects are to be the individual work of the student. The tentative due date for the paper will be the last lecture for the class. Paper proposals will be due in late September.
As they are graded and returned, letter grades will be assigned for each component of the course grade. The final course grade will be calculated twice, once as a weighted average of the individual component grades, and then with an extra 10% weight calculated as an "A+" for class participation. Your actual course grade will fall somewhere between these two numbers, depending on your actual participation in class, lab, and in the online discussion forums. It will be to your advantage to make useful contributions to discussion in the online forum, as that is the record of class participation that is most readily reviewed by me at the end of the semester.