Workbook exercise #1: Word processing using Word

Due dates for all assignments can be found on the [main grid] of the course webpage.

Note: The computer lab for CPSC 203 is located in MS 119 (the "Computer Science computer lab"). If you find that your particular version of Word (e.g. Office 365, older versions of Office, MAC users) does not include everything needed for a feature then you should to complete that feature in MS119. You can enter the lab 24/7 but card access is required. However one of the security doors (entrance closer to the Earth Sciences building rather than Science Theaters) should allow public access on weekdays roughly during normal business hours. And to login to the computers in the lab you need to [set up your CPSC login credentials]. [Image of the doors that don't require card access during business hours]

Alternatively login to a lab computer from your own. [Information link created by UC-IT with modifications by James Tam, for questions: www.ucalgary.ca/it]. Keep in mind that the remote login method to a Windows computer works (I've tested it), it is convenient (you don't have to be on campus), the process is a bit of learning curve and sometimes operations are slow.

To be awarded credit for this exercise you need to use the starting files found at these locations:

• Starting Word document: [Invitation_letter]
• Excel spreadsheet (data): [previous_clients]

Use the "Mail Merge" feature of Word to personalize the starting invitation letter with the data found in the spreadsheet. In the following image the blue text boxes shows the additional information that can be added to the starting letter.

This information comes from columns in the spreadsheet:

Details of the merged  fields (The angled brackets are used to group information and they don't appear in the actual letter. Columns start counting from the left). To have the lines in the recipient contact information fields (name, address etc.) appear closer together you can use "soft returns" rather than just hitting enter on your keyboard. (Soft returns are part of the "assumed student knowledge of Word").

1.      <Honorific> <Last name>: The information comes from the third and the second columns. There is a space between the honorific and the last name. This line is blank for the first person (John). (Worth 0.6 GPA for the 3 parts: honorific space name)

2.      <Address>: The information comes from the fifth column.  (Worth 0.2 GPA for the 1 part)

3.      <City>, <Country>: The information comes from the sixth and the eighth columns. A comma and a space follows the city.  (Worth 0.8 GPA for the 4 parts)

4.      <Postal / zip code >: The information comes from the seventh column. (Worth 0.2 GPA for the 1 part)

5.      Greeting: The greeting will be customized with information from the third and second columns and take this form: Dear <Honorific> <Last name>, There is a space after 'Dear', after the 'Honorific' and a comma comes after the last name. Generally what you should do if there is a problem matching the information from the spreadsheet (again there will be a problem 'John' because this record has no last name) then the greeting should default to "To whom it may concern" (Greeting line for invalid recipient names). But because handling the case where the last name is blank may be extremely problematic for a portion of the class (i.e. MAC users) this is not an assignment requirement. Instead it's being mentioned here so students are aware of this feature and can make use of it if they wish. (Worth 1.2 GPA for the 6 parts)

6.      A custom message will precede the main body of the letter: "Greetings fellow Canadian!" which is followed by a space to separate it from the next sentence. This message will only appear if the country (eighth column) is "Canada" (Worth 1.0 GPA)

Go through the first 5 steps of the wizard. (Normally there's 6 steps in real life but don't complete the last step for the assignment). To keep things consistent and easier for the marker don't sort the data source just keep the letters in the same order that they appear in the spreadsheet. MAC-users: with at least some versions of MS-Word the mail merge feature matches an older version of the Windows version of MS-Word so the wizard may not be available. Likely you have to manually insert each merged field after you select the spreadsheet as a data source ('recipients').

If you have completed the mail merge correctly then your 'Merged_letter' document will contain all of customized letters. When you select 'Mailings' in the Word ribbon then you will be able to "click through" all of the letters. When you submit this document via D2L then your marker can check your results as well. Because your marker can see all the merged letters you don't need to select the option to 'Finish and Merge' the process. (Submitted only the finished document (created via Finish and Merge') will only show the end results of the merge process which may be needed in "real life" but in the case of the assignment will not merit any credit because the finished document could have been manually typed in without using a mail merge).

Marking and grading

• Operating system specific issues: Non-functional submissions will receive only partial credit (if any at all). They are extremely unlikely to occur. Just in case it does come up here's the rule: submissions must work on the lab computers (MS119). This the common environment used to determine if your assignment features are truly working. That way odd cases such as submission only working on a student's machine or the marker's machine don't come up.  It's up to you to test and check this is the case.
  • MAC users: you can test your submission on the Windows machines in MS119. Alternatively you can also try using [a remote login program] to test your submissions from home.
  • Caution for Windows users: take care that you don't accidentally submit a shortcut to a file instead of the actual file. (Check the file name and compare the file size to your original file. Simply downloading the shortcut file as a test won't work because that shortcut will work on your computer but not on anyone else's machine).
• Late assignments or components of assignments: Alternate submission mechanisms (non exhaustive list of examples: email, uploads to cloud-based systems such as Google drive, time-stamps, TA memories) cannot be used as alternatives if you have forgotten to submit work or otherwise have not properly submitted into D2L. Only files submitted into D2L by the due date is what will be marked, everything else will be awarded no credit. The final cut off date after which full assignments will not be accepted is after the maximum progressive penalty (listed below) can be applied.
• Assignment extensions: 
  • Because of the possibility of a large number of illness (Covid) you may have up to 1 full assignment (A1 - A4) or up to 2 of the workbook exercises removed from the calculation of your term grade. If you request an extension from me let me know the name of your tutorial instructor and the tutorial number [link to : tutorial and TA information) because the markers won't accept late submissions without directly getting an email from me and I need to know who to contact. Also extensions need to be requested before the due date and not afterward. You can find information about your registration (e.g. which tutorial you are registered in) in the "Student Center" in [PeopleSoft].
  • You will not get these special considerations (dropped graded components) for other reasons. Details were provided during the administrative lectures [covered during the first week of the term]
• How you will be graded for assignments. Because most exercises are fairly simple a marking spreadsheet isn't required. Instead you can find your grade point in the D2L Dropbox and read any comments that the Teaching assistant may have entered.
• Questions or concerns about grades have been released: Assignments will be marked by your tutorial instructor (the "Teaching Assistant" or "TA") for your tutorial section that you are officially registered in (instructor information listed here as well). When you have questions about marking this is the first person that you should be directing your questions towards. If you still have question after you have talked to your TA, then you can talk to your course (lecture) instructor but please indicate in your email that you first contacted your TA before going into your concerns. If you don't know which tutorial section you are officially registered in then you can find this information in the "Student Center" via [PeopleSoft].

Collaboration:

Assignments must reflect individual work; group work is not allowed in this class nor can you copy the work of others. Some "do nots" for your solution: don't publically post it, don't email it out, don't show it to other students, don't get help with your assignment from a tutor (if you have hired one).  For more detailed information as to what constitutes academic misconduct (i.e., cheating) for this course please read the following [link].

Submitting your work:

D2L configuration for this course

• Do not use compression utilities (such as zip) or archiving utilities (such as tar) otherwise your submission may not be marked. The space savings in D2L is not worth the extra time required by the marker to process each submission.
• How often can you submit: Multiple submissions are allowed for this assignment: You can (and really should) submit work as many times as you wish before the due date. Due dates are strict, only what is in D2L by the deadline is what will be marked. Other methods of verifying that your work was completed on time (e.g. checking timestamps, emailed files etc.) will NOT be accepted. However only the latest versions of each individual document are the ones that will be marked, everything else will be ignored (because it is not fair to your marker to sort through multiple versions of your files). In the case of A1 the marker will just look at the latest version of: Calgary and the merged letter that the marker can 'click through'.

Late submissions for assignments  when there is no extension granted: Make sure you give yourself enough time to complete the submission process so you don't get cut off by D2L's deadline (or your submission will be automatically flagged as late by D2L and it will be graded appropriately)..