COURSE SYLLABUS

CSIT 834 Operating Systems - Linux

Course Number:

CSIT834

Term / Year:

Course Title:

Fall / 2015

Operating Systems

Section:

3107

Credit Hours:

3 units

Contact Hours: Mon 6:00 pm 6:30 pm

Prerequisites:
Textbook:

CSIT 802 or Instructors approval

There are no textbooks for this class. Well be using Labsim for Linux+ via

http://www.testout.com/
Additional Information:
Instructor:

Peter Mojassamian

Office Hours:

Office Location:ENG115___

6:00pm 6:30 pm Mondays

__Phone:

_____

For email visit:

pmsifter-lavc@yahoo.com
http://lavc.edu/instructor/Mojassamian_p/index.html
Classroom: Lectures and Lab ENG115
First quiz
Mid Term
Second quiz
Finals Exam

:
:
:
:

Hands-on labs:

September
October
November
December

21, 2015
19, 2015
16, 2015
14, 2015

Class Times: Mondays 6:45 pm 9:55pm

quiz on material covered since start of class
test on all material since start of class
quiz on material since midterm
test on all covered material. Roughly 3 to 4 weeks apart.

Ongoing during class as well as LabSim's Linux+ labs

Instructor's communication with students. The instructor uses LAVC's student roster's email
broadcast system to communicate with the students. Each student must make sure they have
submitted a valid functioning email address for this purpose, otherwise the instructor has no way of
contacting the student.
Holidays:
Labor Day, September 07, 2015.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are stated in the SLO, however in summary they're as follows:
1- To provide the students with practical introduction to the basic concepts and use of Linux
operating system. Students wishing to gain general knowledge of the fundamentals of Linux will
find useful information in this class.
2- Build confidence and skills by equipping the student so that the student can pursue advancing
in Linux on his/her own initiative.
3- Preparation for further studies to pass:
a. The LPIC-1, Level 1 certification tests - http://lpi.org/eng/certification
(LPI101 and LPI102: two tests but one certification for Level 1 you need to pass both
to get the certification). Please see http://lpi.org/eng/certification/the_lpic_program/lpic_1
b. CompTIAs Linux+ exam - http://certification.comptia.org/linux/default.aspx
Students who wish to pursue the Linux+ or LPIC-1 Level 1 certification will find significant support to
achieve that goal with additional work on their own. Achieving the Linux+ or LPIC-1 Level 1
certification is a good start for anyone aspiring for a career in the IT and IT Security fields.
This course does not cover the theory and design of operating systems.

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The course is intended to be heavily hands on, which is dependent on the availability of computers.
You can bring your own PCs or notebooks to the class one that you can afford to crash/trash.
The class will focus on the practical aspects of the course. The students must study/cover the
theoretical aspects on their own by studying the related material in the reference or other resources.
The students will be tested on ALL (practical and theoretical) material in the course.
Textbook or Not?
This class uses Testout.com's LabSim for Linux+ coursework, which includes, videos, demos, labs and
tests. There are traditional textbooks that the student can use as study aid or reference. Class website
has a list of these textbooks.
The student is required to purchase this coursework which is good for 18 months. All class homeworks
must be done in Linux+.
Learning methodology:
Learning is initially by examples from the instructor's demos, LabSim's videos, demos, labs, but
primarily by exploration, experimentation and observation.
Home works:
Home works will be done as part of LabSim online self study course for Linux+ offered by testout.com.
Each week's Home works are due by Sunday night 11:59pm.
Mini Tests:
At the end or during each class there will be a mini test of 5 20 questions related to the material
covered on that day. The grading of these mini tests constitutes 1/3 of the homework grading
discussed in the Grading Rational section below.
Students need to pay attention during the class so they can take these mini tests successfully.
Quizzes, Midterm and Final:
Quiz 1 and 2 about 30 - 40 questions.
Midterm is about 40 - 50 questions.
Final is 75 to 100 questions or more on December 14, 2015.
These numbers may change as appropriate.
These tests are schduled about 4 weeks apart.
Course Load:
There are 16 Mondays on the calendar from August 31, 2015 to December 14, 2015 to complete the
course. But there are overheads:
1- 1 day Labor Day
2- 1 day combined for the two quizzes and the midterm.
3- 1 day for the final exam
This leaves 13 Mondays to cover all the material.
Materials needed:
USB Flash memory: 4GB or more
Optional:
Knoppix 5.1.1 / 6.2 CD or latest version
debian-8.1.0-i386-netinst.iso CD You need to burn this on your own.
You are welcome to bring your own PCs or laptops that can boot from USB Flash or CD-ROM drives.
Also bring power cords/plugs, network cables, hubs, etc.
Attendance:
Students are expected to be present and punctual for all scheduled classes and labs. If a student
misses classes during the first two class sessions, they will be dropped automatically from
the course.
Communication with the instructor:

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Instructor is available in ENG115 from 6:00pm to 6:30pm on Mondays prior to the class. Also much of
the communication will be via the email:
pmsifter-lavc@yahoo.com
AND
CSIT834 websites:
1- http://my.Haikulearning.com student must sign in.
2- http://Weebly
3- https://sites.google.com/site/lavccsit834/ - this sight is not maintained but it's there for perusal.
Grading Rationale:
Students will be evaluated according to performance in the following areas:
LabSim home works submitted on time
Mini quizzes taken during or at the end of each class

Two online Quizzes

One online Midterm
One online Final exam

Quizzes, midterm and final are based on the home works from LabSim, material presented in the class
and class lectures and assignments.
The final grade is a composite of:
LabSim home works

20%

Mini quizzes

10%

Quizzes quiz 1 and quiz 2 together

15%

Mid Term

15%

Final

40%

Grade achievement levels are as follows:

Grade
Range
A
90 - 100%
B
80 - 89%
C
70 - 79%
D
60 - 69%
F
00 - 59%
Special Accommodations:
If you have a special learning need or issue, notify your instructor immediately if special devices or
assistance will help you in this class.
Classroom Etiquette:
Respect for your classmates. Pagers and cell phones should be either turned off or set to vibrate mode
during class. Please show courtesy to the class by restricting conversation to in-class topics, and raise
your hand to gain attention when asking a question or address an issue.
Late Coursework:

All assignments are due by assigned date. Late submissions could incur a penalty.
College rules:

Please observe the LA Valley Colleges rules and regulations regarding status changes and their
deadline dates such as drops, withdrawals, etc.
No food or drink in class.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
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If final exam is missed, there are NO make up tests or exams. Final grade
will be calculated without it.

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