Syllabus
CIS 285 – End User Training and
Support-ON1
Fall 2023
Professor
Leon Pan, PhD Office: C2454
Tel: (604) 504-7441 #4117 E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours
Monday 15:10-16:10 PM, & other times by appointment
Course Meeting Times and Location
CIS 285 Tuesday 8:30-11:20 Online
Contact the instructor:
You are welcome to communicate with me through emails or drop by in my office during office
hours. Since there are so many spams around the email system, please make sure that you put
your course number in the subject heading (eg. CIS 285 ON1) and send it from your UFV email
account. Otherwise, your email may be accidentally filtered/deleted. If I don’t respond in two days,
please re-send the email or talk to me directly after class or during my office hours.
Course Description
This course focuses on key information and skills for user support professionals, including
troubleshooting and problem solving, successful communication with users, determining a client's
specific needs, and training end users. For those considering entering the field, alternate career
paths for user-support workers are covered. With balanced coverage of both people skills and
technical skills, this course is an excellent resource for those in or preparing for the technical-
support field. Please refer to https://www.ufv.ca/calendar/CourseOutlines/PDFs/CIS/CIS285-
20100129.pdf for further information.
Prerequisite
CIS 190 and CIS 192; one of COMP 150, COMP 125, or COMP 152; and one of ENGL 105 or
any 100-level CMNS course (CMNS 125 is recommended).
Course Text & Material
Required:
A Guide to Computer User Support for Help Desk and Support Specialists 6th Edition
by Fred Beisse (Author)
Publisher: Course Technology; 6 edition (September 23, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1285852683
Page 1 of 5
CIS 285 – End User Training and Support
Fall 2023
Other Course Resources
Blackboard (maybe also Q:\cis\Pan\CIS285\IS1)
It is your responsibility to check the blackboard often as files may be added or updated at any
time. I will make announcement through blackboard or your UFV email.
Course Objectives/Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Understand the history of end-user computing, how users increase their productivity with
technology use, the resources users need to be productive, and common problems they
encounter.
Describe the communication and customer service skills user support workers need.
Examine the many types of written communications a support specialist may be assigned to
prepare, and explains how to plan, write, and evaluate end-user documents.
Learn problem-solving strategies that a user support specialist can apply to a troubleshooting
situation.
Explore a multilevel support model and the incident management process.
Understand the mission of support groups and how to staff and train them.
Explore tools to help support workers analyze and assess user needs for technology
solutions.
Understand how to plan training activities targeted at end users; how to prepare training
materials; and how to present, evaluate, and improve training activities.
Assignments and Practices
You are expected to complete ALL assignments and in-class practices assigned. A “NO LATE
ASSIGNMENT” policy is applied, except under extraordinary circumstances (approved by the
instructor). Systems do crash and your work may be lost; get your work finished well ahead of the
deadlines and save extra copies. This also allows you time to ask questions and do further study
if you get stuck.
Furthermore, You MUST follow the submission standards and follow the required format (read the
assignment format carefully to ensure that you don’t lose marks unnecessarily).
Every week, there will be practice questions, to which the completion mark will be given.
All assignments and practices should be submitted to blackboard before the due time.
Assignment Format:
All assignments have to be typed and submission of assignments through email will NOT be
accepted. In fact, file attachments will not be opened. Assignments should be stapled at the top
left, and submitted without binders and/or folders.
All assignments will include:
a. Student Name
b. Student Course and Section
c. Assignment Description
f. Students Contribution (For Group Work)
Some assignment questions are an individual effort, and others are a team effort. This will be
notated on the assignment. Lab teams will turn in ONE assignment report for their team with all
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CIS 285 – End User Training and Support
Fall 2023
team members’ names listed. If a team member is absent from an assignment that should be
notated at the beginning of the report (Absence of group assignment will result in no credit).
Computer Lab Facilities:
You are required to obtain a UFV student account in order to use a computer in any labs on
campus. For more information, please visit the ITS department https://www.ufv.ca/its/student-
tech-guide/labs/
A schedule of when the computer labs are open to student access will be posted outside the labs.
Makeup Exams, Labs, and Assignments:
There are no makeup exams, labs, and assignments. If you miss an exam (e.g. mid-term),
practice or assignment, you will receive zero marks. Exceptions will ONLY be made for
documented medical reasons or extenuating family circumstances, and with the instructor’s
approval, the marks of the missed part will be moved to the Final Exam. Students are responsible
for presenting the document to the instructor.
Examinations
You must attend examinations on their scheduled date. If you cannot attend the final exam as
scheduled, due to an unavoidable reason, it must be discussed with me in advance (written
documentation of the reason is required). Any attempt to make the arrangement after the
scheduled date will not be considered.
Special Consideration
In the event of an extraordinary circumstance, request for special consideration must be
discussed at least two weeks in advance of the event. Also see “Disability” below.
Academic Conduct
You are expected to do your own work and not to copy from others. Group discussion of course
material and studying together for tests is highly encouraged. However, assignments and
examinations must reflect the knowledge of the individual, not of a group. Cheating, including
copying the work of others or permitting others to copy your work, will result in a mark of 0 to both
students (copier and copiee) involved.
Be sure that you understand the policy (see Policy 70 (page 3)) involving academic conduct
(working together, plagiarism and cheating). Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and
WILL be punished by failure on an exam or assignment, failure in the course, and ultimately by
suspension from the college. For more information, refer to UFV Office for Academic Integrity and
Appeals (read 310.12). Ask me if you have any doubt.
Status Change
A student who wants to have a seat in a class but not receive credit may, with instructor
permission, register as an Audit (AU) student. The audit designation assumes a minimum amount
of attendance and participation as determined by the instructor. A course with an audit
designation is not included in the GPA. Course withdrawal is subject to different restrictions
depending on when you withdraw.
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CIS 285 – End User Training and Support
Fall 2023
Disability
Please advise me and Accessibility Services at the start of the term if you have a disability that
interferes with your learning. Any request for special considerations must be discussed at least
two weeks in advance of the event. Furthermore, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that
any special arrangement that results from such a discussion is carried out.
Preparation for Class
It is your responsibility to prepare for each class. You are expected to have completed assigned
exercises, labs and additional readings from the previous class and have pre-read the textbook or
any other material that will be covered.
NOTE: Be sure that you
Pre-read – that is, READ it BEFORE class
Not only read the text but constantly use it as a reference
Grading Scheme
Exam, practice, and assignment grading: Marks will be based on spelling & grammar,
correctness, completeness, and clarity of rationale.
Note: When you write your exam, please print your answer. No credit will be given if the
answer is illegible.
Component Percentage
Quizzes 20%
Assignments 25%
Practices 5%
Midterm exam 20%
Final exam (Comprehensive & Closed book) 30%
TOTAL: 100%*
*Note: Skipping classes may lead to a deduction of up to 10% from the weighted total.
IMPORTANT: you MUST pass the Final Exam to pass the course.
Note 1: Final Exams will be scheduled in the 2nd month of a semester by Office of Admissions
and Records. All students must write the Final Exam on the scheduled date, neither earlier nor
later date. A student that misses the Final Exam will get zero marks. Therefore, ensure that your
exam weeks (Dec. 11-20) are kept available until the exam schedule is announced.
Note2: Web sites may go up and down depending on many factors, so please start any web
related questions earlier. Unless a web site goes down for an extended period of time, you're
responsible for accessing the information on time.
The final letter grade will be determined from the percentage mark for the course using the
following conversion table.
Grade Percentage equivalent
A+ 90-100
A 85-89
A- 80-84
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CIS 285 – End User Training and Support
Fall 2023
B+ 77-79
B 73-76
B- 70-72
C+ 67-69
C 63-66
C- 60-62
D 50-59
F <50 (fail)
Schedule
Course schedule is tentative and subject to change.
Week/ Chapter Topics Assignment &
Date Project Due
Week 1 0 Course Information; Introduction to Computer Assignments give out
Sept 12 1 User Support
Week 2 Customer Service Skills for User Support
2
Sept 19 Agents
Week 3
3 Writing for End Users
Sept 26
Week 4 Quiz 1
4 Skills for Troubleshooting Computer Problems
Oct. 3 Chapters 1, 2, 3
Week 5
5 Common Support Problems Assignment one due
Oct. 10
Week 6
6 Help Desk Operation
Oct. 17
Week 7
7 User Support Management and Midterm
Oct. 24
Week 8 Product Evaluation Strategies and Support
8
Oct. 31 Standards
Week 9
9 End-User Needs Assessment Projects
Nov. 7
Nov. 11-15 Fall reading break, no class
Week 10
10 Installing and Managing End-User Technology Assignment two due
Nov. 21
Week 11 Technology Training Computer for Users Quiz2
11
Nov. 28 Chapters 7, 8, 9
Week 12
12 A User Support Utility Tool Kit Assignment three due
Dec. 5
Week 13
Final Exam
Dec. 11-20
Note: Unforeseen circumstances and extended coverage of interesting topics may result in
changes to this schedule. Therefore, the instructor reserves the right to change, adapt, or modify
assignments, projects, labs, and topics during the course including due dates and delivery times.
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