Faculty Contact Information:
Instructor: Nancy V. Cox
Mailing Address: UMUC – Unit 29216, APO AE 09102
Email Address: ncox@faculty.umuc.edu | |
Consultation:
In classroom 30 minutes before and after class, otherwise by appointment.
Class meets 4 weekends in 7 Sessions: 28/29 Aug, 12 & 25/26 Sept, 9/10 Oct, 0900-1700
| |
Required Texts and Readings:
| Satzinger, J., Jackson, R., and Burd, S. (2004). Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World (3rd ed.). Boston: Course Technology. In addition, a case tool will be utilized. | |
Supplementary Readings:
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. | |
Recommended Journals:
None required. 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. | |
Course Description:
| 3 semester hours credit. Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and quantitative methods, and either INSS 510, INSS 520, INSS 530, or permission of the Program Director. Provides an in-depth look at all phases of information systems development. Requirements acquisition methodologies are reviewed and evaluated with respect to different application areas. Logical design is reviewed and implementation issues are addressed. Data-centered as well as process-centered approaches to system design are reviewed. Particular design methodologies including structured design and object-oriented design are discussed. Life cycle as well as heuristic approaches to system development are examined and discussed. Organizational and behavioral issues with respect to information system development are examined. An analysis and design project will be required. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: INSS 540 or INSS 610. | |
Course Goals:
Upon completion of the course, participants should understand and be able to describe/explain:
1. The systems development life cycle (SDLC)
2. The reasons for formal systems analysis and design
3. Ethical, organizational and behavioral issues
4. Non-traditional systems development | |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast methods for systems security and controls
2. Describe the processes and phases of IS development, and the deliverables associated with each phase of the SDLC
3. Distinguish methods for requirements acquisition
4. Justify the importance of structured logical analysis
5. Explain the difference between data centered and process centered methodologies
6. Compare and contrast conventional and object-oriented design methodologies
7. Discuss the steps involved in systems prototyping and Rapid Application Development
8. Design plans for systems implementation, operations and maintenance | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%
B 80 – 91%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. 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.
| |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
30% Learning Modules (class discussions, assignments, exercises)
30% Midterm Examination
20% Final Examination
20% Database Project and Presentation (including peer review) | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner. Usually this requires two to three hours for every hour of a face-to-face class. Extensive review questions and problem sets will be assigned.
Complete graduate level projects or programming assignments, write graduate level papers or case studies: You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Plan on committing approximately 150 hours over the duration of this course to producing professional level deliverables, to include programs, projects, papers, and/or case studies.
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your results in a professional manner. In a face-to-face course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material.
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary for successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The examination questions used for this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam.
There will be a mid-term and a final examination as well as extensive in-class review questions and problem assignments. The mid-term will fall on Saturday morning, Sept. 25, and will cover all readings, lectures, and problems to date. The final examination will fall on the last class session of Weekend Four and will cover all readings, lectures, and problems since the mid-term exam. Exams for graduate students will consist primarily of essay questions.
In addition, this course will give small project teams the opportunity to propose, design, develop, document and present a system design project that solves a typical business problem. Additionally, a quality User Manual describing the use of the system will be produced. The class, performing as organization executives, will hear and evaluate each proposal. Graduate students are expected to produce a much more complex system design as well as a more formal presentation. Detailed project and presentation guidelines will be distributed during the first class meeting. | |
Course Schedule:
Session 1 - Saturday, August 28
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject
Learning Module I: THE MODERN SYSTEMS ANALYST
Chapter 1: The World of the Systems Analyst
Chapter 2: Approaches to System Development
Chapter 3: The Analyst as Project Manager
Session 2 - Sunday, August 29
Appendix A - Principles of Project Management
Learning Module 2: ANALYSIS
Chapter 4: System Requirements
Chapter 5: Modeling System Requirements
Chapter 6: Traditional Approach to Requirements
Select Term Project Topic
Session 3 - Saturday, September 12
Chapter 7: OO Approach to Requirements
Chapter 8: Evaluating Alternatives
Review for Mid-term
Team Project Planning
Session 4 - Saturday, September 25
Mid Term Examination
Learning Module 3: DESIGN
Chapter 9: Moving to Design
Chapter 10: Traditional Approach
Team Project Planning
Session 5 - Sunday, September 26
Chapter 11: OO Design Approach - Use Cases
Chapter 12: Advanced Topics in OO Design
Chapter 13: Designing Databases
Project Presentations
Session 6 - Saturday, October 9
Chapter 14: Designing the User Interface
Chapter 15: Designing System Interfaces
Learning Module 4: IMPLEMENTATION & SUPPORT
Chapter 16: Making the System Operational
Project Presentations
Review for Final Examination
Session 7 - Sunday, October 10
Chapter 17: Current Trends in System Development
Chapter 18: Packaged Software and ERP
Final Examination
Course evaluations | |
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 plagiarismThe 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. | |
Faculty Bio:
Before joining UMUC, Nancy Cox was the Manager of New Technology Integration for Walt Disney World in Orlando, a role that included strategic planning and implementation of core infrastructure applications such as directory services, electronic messaging, calendaring, workflow and e-business technologies for over 55,000 users.
Prior to joining Disney, Cox was the Sr. Technology Editor for Network Computing magazine writing articles on collaborative computing products. Previously, Cox was the Messaging Systems Architect for Lockheed Martin in Orlando, planning and implementing large-scale messaging system interconnectivity, directory services and multimedia technologies for 190,000 users.
Nancy Cox's publications include Directory Services: Design, Implementation and Management (Digital Press, 2002), Building and Managing a Web Services Team (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997), Auerbach's Handbook of Electronic Messaging (1998, 1999 and 2000 editions), LAN Times Guide to Multimedia Networking and the LAN Times E-Mail Resource Guide (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1994 and 1995).
Cox was an adjunct instructor for Florida Southern College, Barry University and Valencia Community College. She holds a BS in Education from the University of Georgia and an MBA in Information Systems from the Florida Institute of Technology. | |