Course Syllabus

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Southern Utah University

Fall Semester 2025

Data Communications and Networking (Face-to-Face)

CYBR 2500-01

Course:	CYBR 2500-01
Credits:	3
Term:	Fall Semester 2025
Department:	CSIS
CRN:	30392

Course Description

This course teaches students, through lectures, discussions, scenarios, demonstrations, chapter review questions, textbook exercises, and classroom labs, the skills and knowledge necessary to configure, manage, and troubleshoot computers in a network environment. This course is designed for students who want to learn how to design, implement, support, and troubleshoot computer networks. Students will be prepared to sit for the CompTIA Network+ certification exam. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll

Required Texts

Greg Tomsho, Guide to Networking Essentials, Eighth Edition Course Technology Inc., 2020, Cengage, ISBN 9780357118283 (NOTE: does not require Mind-Tap software)

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Explain the role of network media and topologies
Implement and explain protocols and standards
Install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot a network
Define and describe benefits, limitations, and characteristics of different types of network topologies including bus, ring, star, and hybrids
Identify security risks and how to minimize them

Course Requirements

To succeed in this course, the student must (1) attend all classes of instruction and/or actively observe all electronically published instructional presentations, (2) work with the software outside of scheduled class times, for a minimum of 90 hours that are typically required for a 3-credit course, and (3) focus on mastering the student learning outcomes published for this course.

Course Outline

Week 01:

Chapter 01 – Intro to Computer Networks

In-Class Exercise – How to access the Lab VMs

In-Class Exercise – BIOS and Finding MAC and IP addresses

Assignment - SUU Commenced Attendance Quiz

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Exercise finding MAC and IP addresses (5 points)

Extra Point work – Discussion Question (5 points)

Extra Point work – Entrance Quiz (10 points)

Extra Point work – Plagiarism Quiz (10 points)
Extra Point work - Class work agreement (10 points)

Week 02:

Supplement 02 – Life Before Networking Devices

In-Class Exercise – Using Ping and Tracert

Chapter 02 – Network Hardware

In-Class Exercise – Installing Wireshark

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Exercise on install Wireshark (5 points)

Week 03:

Chapter 03 – Network Topologies and Technologies

In-Class Exercise – How to check Network Speeds

In-Class Exercise – Gathering packet information using Wireshark

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Exercise on home network speeds (5 points)

Week 04:

Chapter 04 – Networking Media

In-Class Exercise – Network Cable types

In-Class Exercise – Determining packet information from Wireshark scans

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Home router research (5 points)

Assignment – Parsing Wireshark scan information (10 points)

Week 05:

Chapter 05 – Network Protocols

In-Class Exercise – Utilizing ARP and NSlookup commands

In-Class Exercise – Scanning wireless networks and vulnerabilities

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Wireless Network scanning (5 points)

Chapter 06 – Internet Protocol Addressing

In-Class Exercise – Conversions (Binary, Hex, ASCII) and network class types

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Conversions (15 points)

Week 06:

Chapter 07 – Network Reference Models and Standards

In-Class Exercise – How to use NMAP

In-Class Exercise – Linux

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Port Scanning (15 points)

Week 07:

Mid-Term A – Multiple Choice and True False from Chapter Publisher Quizzes (80 Points)

Mid-Term B – Binary, Hex, and ASCII conversions (20 points)

Mid-Term C – Essay Questions from Chapter Homework Questions (50 Points)

Week 08:

Chapter 08 - Network Hardware in Depth

In-Class Exercise – How to use a DVM

In-Class Exercise – Defragging a Spindle Hard Drive

In-Class Exercise – Network routing Tables

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Building a Network Routing Table (25 points)

Week 09:

Chapter 09 – Intro to Network Security

In-Class Exercise – Steganography

In-Class Exercise – Overview of the Final Project

In-Class Exercise – How to configure a SOHO Router

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Steganography (10 points)

Week 10:

Chapter 10 – Wide Area Network and Cloud Computing

Supplement 10 – Virtualization

In-Class Exercise – Lock out policies at the OS level

In-Class Exercise – Bitlocker

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Netinfo scan (10 Points)

Week 11:

Chapter 11 – Network Operating Systems

Supplement 11 – Supporting a small business with Networking

Supplement 11 – Operating Systems

In-Class Exercise – Install and using Snort

In-Class Exercise – Creating an OS restore point and backups

Assignment – Discussion Question (10 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (30 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (15 points)

Assignment – Create an OS restore point (10 points)

Week 12:

Chapter 12 – Network Management and Administration

In-Class Exercise – Final Project review

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Week 13:

Chapter 13 – The Internet of Things

In-Class Exercise – Tracing Email Headers on a network

In-Class Exercise – Browser cache

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Tracing emails (10 points)

Chapter 14 – Troubleshooting and Support

In-Class Exercise – Troubleshooting

Assignment – Discussion Question (5 points)

Assignment – Homework Questions from chapter readings (10 points)

Assignment – Open Book Practice Quiz from Publisher (take as many times as the student wishes) (5 points)

Assignment – Open Book Quiz from Publisher (student can take only once) (5 points)

Assignment – Troubleshooting (10 points)

Week 14:

In-Class Lab on Entire Network Assembly

Assignment – Final Project to build a SOHO network (150 points)

Extra Point work – Exit Quiz (10 points)

Extra Point work – LinkED-In Creation (5 points

Week 15:

Final Exams (150 points) Student can be exempt from the final exams if they have 895 points after the final project

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

DELIVERABLES:

No deliverable will be accepted late for any reason. At the discretion of the Professor, with extreme documented circumstances, a deliverable may be accepted late. Any deliverable accepted late will, maximally, only be worth half of its original point value.

MISSED EXAMS:

Any missed exams can be made-up BUT if it is an open book exam, then the make-up becomes closed book. There is also a penalty of 10% deduction.

DUE DATES and COMPLETION DATES:

If the Due date is September 19 and the Completion date would then be seven days later on September 26. This provides an additional week for any [personal issues rather than going through a lot of resets. There is no penalty for using the completion date for submittals. With that said, if you, the student, are used to submitting assignments on completion dates, at Mid-Term and Class completion time frames the Due Dates and Completion Dates are the same date for those weeks!

CALCULATION OF GRADES:

NOTE: This class is worth 1000 points!!!

To calculate a student grade, take the total points as shown and divide by 10. This score will be the final grade based upon the grading scale for this class.

GRADE CURVING/EXTRA WORK POLICY:

No grades are curved. There are 50 extra points available for any student to earn. No other extra points are awarded.

Attendance Policy

ATTENDANCE:

It is always a student’s responsibility to drop/withdraw from class by the published drop/withdraw date. Students enrolled in class at end of term will be issued a grade. The instructor is not required to provide makeup provisions for missed coursework unless there is a documented medical excuse.

PARTICIPATION:

Participation in each class is vital to class. Classes will normally be conducted utilizing a combination of lecture and discussion. For the classroom experience to be meaningful and interesting, students MUST come to class prepared and be willing to contribute to the discussion. The student is expected to read the material and participate in class discussions. In particular, the student is highly encouraged to share personal experiences and thoughts with other classmates and the instructor.

ABSENCES:

Attendance is critical to success in the course. Should the student miss class, it is the student’s responsibility to make up all missed work. Any student who misses a deliverable and/or test must present a documented reason for the absence within one week of the occurrence. It should be stressed not to miss a test or deliverable. If the student has an emergency situation, please notify the Professor, and a decision will be made on how to handle the situation.

Course Fees

There is a $20.25 fee for this class.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

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