INSS 680 DE Syllabus

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INSS 680 DE Syllabus

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Maryland in Europe
Distance Education Programs

PROMOTIONAL SYLLABUS

INSS680: Information Systems Practicum (3)

Term 1, Academic Year 2002/2003
Course Dates: 26 August - 13 December 2002
Break: 12 - 25 October 2002

Lecturer: Joyce M. Rowe, Ph.D.

Office Hours: Anytime, on line by appointment

Phone: e-mail: jrowe@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Pre-requisite: Advancement to Candidacy in the MIS program and INSS 620.
COURSE DESCRIPTION

Provides the student with practical experience in analyzing, designing, implementing and evaluating an information system in industrial, governmental, or military environments. The student is assigned to a systems development project in which all of the systems development cycle can be experienced. Students are encouraged to develop their own projects and/or practicum settings.Students can be placed in practicum sites independently or in a team to acquire practical experience. This course is graded (P)ass / (F)ail.

Grading Scheme

Grading is by a combination of instructor and peer evaluation. See table below.


	Presentations – 40% Student peer evaluation of presentations weighted 50-50 with instructor’s weighting on all presentations.
	Initial Proposal		1) Specify / Describe Project Goals & Background 2) Describe System Design Objectives 3) Describe likely design / implementation scenario 4) Plan project; establish timeline		10% All presentations are evaluated on their completeness, organization, clarity and grammar/spelling
Work In Progress – I		Establish Project Technical / Economic Feasibility Establish Project Requirements		10%
Work In Progress – II		Present System Design; Prototype if available, Initial versions of database schema, models as appropriate to development approach		10%
Final Report		Cumulative Integration of Previous Presentations to include topics specific to Final Report (see below)		10%


	Reports – 60% Student comments on reports will be used by the instructor in evaluating the project, as well as the quality of the student’s responses to peer comments.Student peer comments should be constructive, in substance and tone, and personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Project Overview		Specify / Describe Project Goals & Background Describe System Design Objectives Describe likely design / implementation scenario Plan the project; establish completion timeline	15% Student project reports will be posted in the Conference areas of WebTycho for comment by the instructor AND by peers. All reportsare evaluated on completeness, organization, clarity and grammar/spelling
Project System Design		Development of documentation for a Systems Administrator / Future Enhancements team to include: 1)System Design Background / Major Decisions 2)System Design Diagrams and adequate commentary 3)Data Dictionary and Glossary or Specialized Terms 4)Program Design Diagrams	15% For Systems Design Diagrams use either Flowcharts and/or DFD’s or End-User Case Usage Diagrams(OOP). For Program Design use InformationEngineering Models Prototypes and RAD techniques are encouraged but may be impractical.
Project User Manual		Development of documentation for a typical user 1)Purpose of System 2)Sign on Procedures 3)Desired executable functions 4)Correction of problems encountered in normal operation	15%
Final Report		Integration / completion of all previous report material PLUS— 1)Detailed Implementation Plan 2)Backup Requirements 3)System Trouble/Error Diagnosis Chart 4)System Recovery Procedures 5)System Security Requirements 6)Quality Assurance / System Test documentation 7)Responses to Peer Comments	15% Projects programming are to be sent to the instructor to demonstrate actual completion of the project. Alternatively, where that is impractical, implementation may be required at a UMUC lab site and demonstration viewed by UMUC faculty or field rep at that location.

Project Subject Areas

A)Any departmental type information problems where the students have access to the people responsible for the information.The project must involve substantial design, and implementation issues. Just a hypothetical problem is not sufficient.For example, a personnel department database system to track usage of an employee support program.

B)Any intranet or internet problem that does not involve 3^rd parties, like banks or shipping companies, being interconnected to Maryland computers, and can be demonstrated within the limits of UMUC computer lab settings.

C)A consolidation of fragmented information systems for improving efficiency. For example there are six different but related information sources to manage personnel records for a certain brigade. The project to provide consolidated access and integration of information from all 6 sources is a good type project.

D)There may be some project ideas contributed by UMUC-Europe IT department, inquire with the instructor at the beginning of the course if interested.

E)A commercial, governmental or military information systems setting where the student(s) will be under the supervision of accomplished IT professionals and working on a project that meets the academic requirements of the practicum, see project proposal guidelines below.

F)One person ‘research’ projects, without an interested, real client are not acceptable.

Course Conduct

Since the goal of the project is completion of the project, the bulk of the formal meeting times will be devoted to achieving this goal. This will be accomplished via formal status reports on the projects, beginning with the Project Proposal which will be presented the 3rd week of the course.

Subsequent due dates will be established for the work in progress presentations in the 7^th, and 11^th weeks with the Final Project Report due during week 15. The final week is for reviewing fellow students presentations and projects and submitting peer evaluations.

Project Proposal Guidelines

The Project Proposal Guidelines are designed so that student, faculty, and organization 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:

This course provides the student with practical experience in analyzing, designing implementing and evaluation an information system in industrial, governmental or military environments. The student is assigned a systems development project in which all of the systems development cycle can be experienced. Students can be placed in practicum sites independently or in a team to acquire practical experience.

The guidelines are to be used in completing the Project Proposal will be further detailed in the first week of the class.

Intellectual Property Rights

Under development.

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ASSIGNMENT/TEST SCHEDULES:

Students are expected to submit all assignments and complete all tests on the days they are due. If to meet deadlines will resulting a 10% grade reduction for each day late

MUTUAL RESPECT FOR CLASSMATES AND TEAMMATES

Each class member is expected to conduct himself/herself with appropriate mutual respect and basic fairness in all matters related to class and project work with no one unduly burdened, and no one treated in other than a professional, collegial manner. Harassment, bias or intimidation in any form will not be tolerated and should be reported to the instructor as soon as practical. See Student Handbook for Maryland policy statements on non-discrimination and sexual harassment.

Class Preparation
Students are expected to be prepared for on-line classes just as if they were meeting face-to-face and to submit material on time. Preparation requires that the student check assignments and respond several times a week.

STUDENT TEAM CONDUCT

Students in team projects are expected to comport themselves like regular IT professionals in an atmosphere of mutual respect and individual dignity. Project assignments are expected to best utilize the skills and abilities of all team members fairly and equally with no team member(s) unduly burdened with team project or presentation assignments. Remember that teams in civilian IT settings develop leadership through mutual respect and without regard to rank or seniority.This can be different from conduct in military situations, but class and all meetings associated with it are under the standards of IT professional conduct since one purpose of these classes is to prepare you for civilian IT settings.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To provide the student with experience in analyzing, designing, implementing and evaluating an information system. The student is expected to have successfully completed the following courses: Information Management Analysis, Information Systems Design, and Information Systems Policy. And to have been advanced to candidacy prior to registering for the course.

During this one term course, the student will be evaluated based on four presentations of the project decided upon by group or individual and the course grade will be based on the final project to be presented in PowerPoint slide form with supporting project manuals.To obtain a (P)ass the student’s performance must be ‘B’ or better. There are no letter grades, there are no lectures, The instructor’s responsibility is to guide the student toward successful completion (implementation) of their project.

The activities and assignments for this course are designed to help the student know, comprehend, and apply the basic concepts of systems analysis and design. In addition to the academic objectives, students are expected to improve their skills in the following areas:

Critical Thinking: Students should improve their ability to analyze computer user situations and make appropriate suggestions for resolving business problems through computer systems. The projects in this class encourage students to think critically about real-world situations.
Writing Skills: Students should improve writing skills through development of the Feasibility Study and formal report on the major project and on the mid-term and final.
Oral Presentation Skills: Students should improve their presentation skills through their oral reports on the major project, class discussions, and group presentations.
Computer Skills: Students are expected to improve their computer skills by using word processing and project management software. The use of Internet and e-mail are also encouraged.

SUCCESS TIPS:

If the last 40 years of computer project management teaches us anything, it is that the more carefully a project is thought out in the initial stages, the more likely it is implemented on time and in budget. Most IT disasters can be traced to mistakes made in the first 2% of the schedule.

Course Deliverables

26 August - 15 December 2002

I. Project Proposal

Posted by 14 Sept. (Fri.)
Comments 15 Sept.- 19 Sept.

II. Work In Progress-I

Posted by 9 Oct. (Wed.)
Comments 10 Oct.-14 Oct.

BREAK 14 Oct.-25 Oct.

III. Work In Progress-II

Posted by 8 Nov.(Fri.)
Comments 9 Nov.-13 Nov.

IV. Final Report

Posted by 11 Dec.(Wed.)

Comments: 12 Dec. – 15 Dec.

Considerations

A. PowerPoint slides recommended for presentations

B. WinZip utility or equivalent to upload/download files

C. Final Project or transportability to Instructor.

D. Project documents should be in MS-Word format.

E. Peer comment periods are after posting deadline for each phase of project. See calendar below.

Types of Projects

Real client or organizational problem to develop.

No real client but seek to design/develop project, like a 3rd party or independent software developer.

Participate in an ongoing project as an intern and have specific responsibilities within that project. Your project reports will be based on that project.

Something else that doesn't fit under 1-3 above.

Calendar

Action	Due by
Proposal	14 Sept
Comment	15 – 19/09
W-In-P I	09 Oct
Comment	10 – 14/10
BREAK	14 - 25/10
W-In-P II	08 Nov.
Comment	09 – 13/11
Final	11 Dec.
Comment	13 – 15/12

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