Faculty Contact Information:
email: vmock@faculty.ed.umuc.edu or via the WebTycho class space
Phone (in Germany) +49 6221 378361 or DSN: 370-6762
snail mail: Director, Graduate Programs
UMUC-Unit 29216
APO AE 09102
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Consultation:
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Dr. Mock will be available one-half hour before and after class and during lunch; other times by appointment.
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Required Texts and Readings:
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There is no text for this course.
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Supplementary Readings:
All previous INSS textbooks that may help with the activities in this course.
The standard for papers in the graduate program is the APA style. All participants in this course and all graduate INSS, MGMT, PUAD, and ECON courses should have a copy of the style guide:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition. Washington DC: Author.
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.
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Recommended Journals:
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Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line.
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Course Description:
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3 semester hours credit. Prerequisites: INSS 540, INSS 550, INSS 620, and advancement to candidacy in the M.S. program. Provides the student with practical experience in analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating an information system in educational, industrial, governmental, or military environments. The student completes a systems development project in which all of the systems development cycles can be experienced. Students can be placed in practicum sites independently or in a team to acquire practical experience. This course is graded Pass (P) or Fail (F) and is normally conducted over two terms.
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Course Goals:
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1. Critical Thinking: Students should improve their ability to analyze information and develop appropriate summarizing and reporting techniques.
2. Writing Skills: Students should improve writing skills through development of the Project Proposal and project documentation.
3. Oral Presentation Skills: Students should improve their presentation skills through oral presentations and structured walkthroughs of the project in process.
4. Computer Skills: Students are expected to improve their computer skills implementing a systems analysis and design project. In addition, the conduct of the course will make extensive use of the webboard.
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Course Objectives:
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1. Directly apply the SDLC (systems development life cycle) methodology
2. Participate proactively in a structured walk-through of code
3. Evaluate critically (on a managerial level) a systems analysis, design, and implementation proposal
4. Identify, describe and model procedures for information systems projects
5. Demonstrate data reporting and analysis techniques
6. Demonstrate technical writing skills
7. Demonstrate oral reporting skills appropriate for a managerial environment
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Grading Information:
A grade of Pass (P) will be achieved with a minimum of 80%.
The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog, available in your local Education Center or online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs.
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Course Requirements:
Output of Systems Survey Phase...........5 points
Output of Systems Analysis Phase........10 points
Output of Design Phase..................20 points
Implementation Plan......................5 points
Support Plan.............................5 points
Evaluation Plan..........................5 points
Final Project...........................40 points
Class Participation.....................10 points
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Description of Course Requirements:
You are required to work singly or in pairs to solve a problem in some aspect of information system development. (The advantages and disadvantages of individual effort versus team co-operation should be considered carefully before choosing one or the other mode.) Before the first class meeting, you must choose an IT problem to solve. This could be a problem arising from their work experience, but it is mandatory that it is something above-and-beyond normal work assignment. Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment unless you provide the original work and propose substantive changes beyond that.
See the Project Proposal Form and Suggestions at the end of the syllabus.
Students will be required to present their ideas and progress reports to the class for critical appraisal via class presentations each week (see Tentative Schedule). These presentations will detail work in progress and will take the form of a structured walkthrough (students are expected to develop their own walkthrough report) as would be used in professional systems development. Every student must make a full presentation of their (contribution to the) work and produce appropriate documentation (interim reports) for their review. Students should be prepared for a rigorous and detailed examination of their work. In addition to presenting their own work, all students will be expected to participate in the structured reviews of other students' work. These presentations and reviews will be assessed and will count towards the final grade (see grading criteria above). The Tentative Schedule suggests presentation timing; however, as part of the experience of the SDLC, students are expected to develop their own schedule for the deliverables, which will be monitored by both the student and the instructor.
The deliverables follow the SDLC and consist of:
Systems Survey/Planning: Identify the scope and boundary of the problem; plan the development strategy and goals; establish the measures of the project’s success; and determine feasibility, resources, and schedule. As part of this phase, prepare a project proposal form. Proposals are due to the instructor in draft form no later than the first class meeting. You are also expected to prepare a presentation of your proposal to be given that weekend. Project Proposals must be posted in final form to the WebBoard by the following Wednesday, incorporating feedback given by the class as appropriate.
Systems Analysis: Study and analyze the problems, causes, and effects. Then, identify and analyze the requirements that must be fulfilled by any successful solution; that is, analyze the problem domain for causes, effects, and opportunities; as well as communicate the requirements to be fulfilled by any successful solution, regardless of technology chosen. Specifically state the characteristics of the users, the information used, information flows, and other characteristics of the information used (such as timing). Prepare an RFP (Request for Proposal).
Systems Design: Prepare a detailed design for a major portion of the solution including statements regarding implementation, training, documentation, and maintenance. Prepare a formal budget and schedule and other Design Documents.
Implementation Plan: Complete all or a major portion of the proposed design (by agreement between instructor and student(s)). Prepare deliverables.
Support Plan: Prepare a Support plan.
Evaluation Plan: Prepare forms and processes that will ensure quality development and post-implementation evaluation.
Final Project/Written Report
At the end of the course, students will submit a final written report of their work. Where students work in pairs, the reports must show clearly which student was responsible for each section. (It is expected that joint projects will involve the same amount of effort per student as for a student working alone.) The final project report should show relevant sections of the solution process as described in courses INSS 540 Information Systems Analysis and Design and INSS 550 Database Management and Decision Systems and the phases should be clearly demarcated. It is impossible to prescribe the length of a report - each problem is unique. However, it is strongly recommended that students select a small problem, which they can complete in the set time in preference to one which is too large and which can be only partially solved within the time constraints.
Criteria for Grading Final Project/Written Report
Content and correctness.......................60%
Degree of completion..........................15%
Quality of presentation.......................10%
Quality of structure, organization, English...15%
Class Participation/Conferences: each student will be judged on the quality, not quantity, of participation in class discussions. For this class, class participation is contribution to discussions in the Alconbury classroom and the WebTycho classroom. In order for us to stay connected during the class, there will be one WebTycho conference for each student in the class. I would like for you to treat your conference as your workspace where you submit your work to the rest of your virtual company for review/comments. I would like for you to treat your peers’ Conferences as though they were members of your corporation and that together we are producing these products for our customers. In this way your comments on your peers’ work should be constructive and help their work be more efficient and responsive.
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Course Schedule:
September 11
Introduction to course, lecturer, and other class members; The
Planning/Survey Phase; The Analysis/Study Phase; Walkthroughs Review; User Definition Review. Assignment: Complete (prior to class) and present the Project Proposal Form; obtain instructor’s approval for your project; review the SDLC and discussion on walkthroughs in Satzinger et al., paying particular attention to the deliverables and tasks by Phase
September 19
Assignment: Post final proposal to WebTycho conference; Review and comment on peers’ Proposals; develop a walkthrough report for use by other students in analyzing your work and post with proposal.
October 2 and 3
Analysis/Study Phase and/or Definition Phase; Review of Budgeting and
Scheduling; Review of implementation plans, evaluation plan, and support plan; conduct walkthroughs. Assignment: Submit for review to class: 1) User requirements, 2) A detailed analysis of the users, including their tasks, experience level, and other demographics, 3) A rough budget and schedule estimate.
October 10
Assignment: Post final documents through Design Phase to WebTycho conference; Review and comment on peers’ deliverables.
October 10-November 5
Assignment:Begin the Implementation Phase and post intermediate items as appropriate. Provide either a status report or submit materials for walkthrough; Be an active participant in the walkthroughs as requested by fellow students.
November 6 and 7
Discussion of lessons learned; conduct walkthroughs. Assignment: Submit for review to class: 1) status report and 2) drafts of all deliverables.
November 14
Assignment:Incorporate comments from the class session and repost; Review and comment on peers’ deliverables to ensure your comments were incorporated appropriately.
December 4 and 5
Discussion of lessons learned. Assignment: Submit for review to class: final project.
December 12
Assignment:Incorporate comments from the class session and repost your final project report, including report on Lessons Learned and Actual vs. Budgeted schedule and resources.
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Academic Policies:
The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center.
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Faculty Bio:
After obtaining a BA from the University of Chicago in Anthropology, Dr. Mock worked for IBM for 15 years, primarily in the technical writing field as writer, editor, manager, and second-line manager. Her highest position was as the division's publications coordinator in the Systems Architecture Department reporting to the General Systems Division Vice President of Manufacturing. She has worked with the IBM 1800MPX System, the 360 and 370 Systems, the System/34, /36, and /38, among others. For several years she was a member of an application development team working in the manufacturing, health, education, and banking industries. After leaving IBM, she worked as an consultant to the IBM Corporation, the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Time Systems International, and Zygonic Technologies.
In 1981 she received her MBA from Emory University and completed her Ph.D. at Georgia State University in Management in 1992. Since that time she has been teaching business courses at Piedmont College in northeast Georgia and at Fort Valley State University in central Georgia. She has been a member of the University of Maryland, University College--Europe for six years, and currently serves as the Director, Graduate Programs.
PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM
This is the form to use for submitting a project proposal. This form should be submitted the first week of class. Use as much space as needed to answer each one of these items. Detailed elaboration on some of these items will be expected during the course of the class. This form is designed so that student, faculty, and sponsoring organizations can present a Project Proposal that meets the academic integrity of Bowie State University and the University System of Maryland. Specifically, the proposal must meet the following guidelines:
Proposal Name:
Name of Proposer(s):
Project Description:
How much time/effort do you expect that this project will require?
Specific Deliverables:
Sponsoring Activity/Unit:
Sponsor Point of Contact (POC) Name and Telephone Number:
Special Requirements:
Security Clearance? Yes/No
Access to Users? Yes/No
Other:
What special skills must any student have who is assigned to this project?
Please do not try to use this requirement to select a student or a team that you personally want to work on the project. The more restrictive your requirements, the less likely it is that the instructor will accept them for a project. If there is only one person who meets your requirements, then hire them, or pay them overtime to do the project. Do not expect the instructor to give someone a grade in a graduate course to do another task at work.
Sponsor Support (please have your project sponsor complete this part, if appropriate):
What days and times are available for the students to conduct work at your facilities? What hardware and software will be available for the student or team to use for the project? What physical documents, functional descriptions, current forms, requirements, etc., are available that will assist the student or team in defining this project?
Some students and/or organizations may wish to get a Project Proposal approved to accomplish a task or project where the student currently works. If this pertains to your proposal, read the following and provide the set of rules requested in the paragraph below. Otherwise, skip this section.
Those projects that have this conflict of interest are required to provide a clear, detailed and robust set of rules and evaluation methods that will be implemented. This set of rules is required to try to prevent any conflict of interest, or at least to minimize the conflict. It is your responsibility to provide the rules. Proposals that involve tasks or projects where a student currently works have inherent conflicts of interest. This item is a non-negotiable item for INSS 680 Project Proposals.
POSSIBLE PROJECT TOPIC AREAS:
1. Development of a system for a local firm: Under supervision, students will develop a small application for a computer-based management information system for a local firm, e.g., insurance company, payroll application, product/goods company.
2. Development of a system for a local organization: Under supervision, students will develop a small application for a computer-based management information system for a local organization, e.g., membership database, classroom allocation and enrollment, inventory management, mass mailing for solicitation of funds and accompanying accounting data.
3. Development of a system for a university, college, or school: Under supervision and help from the data processing unit of the university/college/school, the student will develop a system to benefit the university/college, e.g., alumni record and follow up system, bookstore order/accounting, on-line registration, scheduling program, etc.
4. Other of interest to the student.
SAMPLE LIST OF PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED TOPICS
Automation of a small business
Automation of a base library
Requirements determination and strategic selection for information systems for a particular company
Automating accounting control procedures for a company
Economic analysis of an automated identification card system
Development of an order processing system
Personnel tracking system
Inventory system
Ordering system for salespeople in the field
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