MIS 300

DELIVERABLES

There are three components of the deliverables for this course, as follows (all assignments are due at 6:30 pm on the Monday of the week following the one indicated and are to be emailed to the instructor[click here for general procedures for emailing assignments]. Examinations are given in the classroom on announced days and times):

G Group Project  (Multiple Components = 40%)
& Examinations: Midterm Examination (M) (20%) and Final Examination (F) (40%)

As can be seen by the diagram below (each cell represents 5% of the final grade), group work makes up 40% of the deliverables and individual work the remainder (60%).  Assignments constitute 40% of the work and exams the remainder (60%).  To see how grades are calculated, click here.

General Note on Assignments (IMPORTANT)

Since all non-examination assignments are submitted electronically, you should get into the habit of retaining original copies (electronic or on paper) of everything you submit.  Who knows what goes on in Cyberspace?  We all have read (or even experienced) horror stories about email gone missing, so take some steps to protect your investment in assignments, please.

Group Project

One component of this course is a real-world, applied course project (done in groups and focusing on the design and development of a prototype Information System for a small organization). The purpose of having this component is six-fold:

 1.      To develop and exercise project management skills, especially focused in the area of information systems management
2.      To understand how IT professionals work and what shapes their ability to respond to users’ needs by playing the role of various IT professionals during a complete application development cycle
3.      To develop group cooperation skills and to understand how groups function in the context of a development exercise
4.      To develop and exercise information tool and tool creation skills
5.      To develop and exercise critical thinking, writing and presenting skills in the context of attempting to convince others of the value of an idea and an implementation
6.      To develop and exercise research skills, especially interviewing skills. 

Any interviews that might be conducted in conjunction with this term project will be for the benefit of developing professional skills and knowledge and are not intended for academic publishing purposes.  At the end of the academic term or after the student team’s presentation to their business client, the team will leave a copy of their prototype software and user documentation with the client.

 The Group Project is done in teams of 5 or 6 students.  The tasks of the project involve:

·        Finding a real-world business information need with an organization

·        Interacting with an organizational client (typically a non-IS person) from an IS perspective

·        Submitting 3 project status reports

·        Designing and constructing a working prototype solution

·        Making recommendations on all aspects of an IS, from an information requirements analysis through to diffusion of innovation and what you would do differently the next time with a similar project

·        Submitting a 20-page final report

·        Demonstrating the working prototype solution, with emphasis on the business fit

·        A 15-minute class presentation and a separate presentation to the client organization  (typically at the client's site)

·        Completing an open peer evaluation of all group members

·        Student Code of Behavior for Field Projects form signed by student

·        Waiver (Client Agreement form) signed by client

The 100 marks assigned to the Group Project are allocated as follows:

• Status reports, 1% each x 3 = 3%
• 20-page written final report applying course theory to real-world case, 50%
• 15-minute in-class prototype demonstration, 20%
• Client evaluation of prototype solution, 10%
• Group-designed client evaluation form, 2%
• Peer assessment (open, one form signed by all members), 15%

Delivery of the group project final report and/or the file(s) of the prototype after the submission deadline will result in a penalty of 10 marks per day (24-hour period) late up to a maximum of three calendar days. This deduction will be applied to the final report mark assessed by your instructor. For example, if your report was graded at 43 out of 50, a one-day late penalty will reduce that mark to 33 out of 50. Submissions more than three days late will not be accepted and, in that case, the final report mark will be recorded as zero. The final report is a group effort and all members of the group will receive the same mark, i.e. all members of the group will suffer any applied penalty. 

In addition to the admonitions on the policies webpage, please refer to the University Catalog for details concerning the circumstances and consequences of academic misconduct and dishonesty.  While all the factors outlined pertain to your conduct in your undergraduate program it is especially important to note that there are two areas of particular importance for this course:  

(1)  The use of improperly licensed software or the contravention of licensing provisions, especially in preparing course and assignment materials, may constitute a criminal act and, as such, will be reviewed under the Academic Misconduct procedures. 

(2)  The Course Project is a group assignment for which a single submission is required from a team of students.  If a student allows his/her name to stand on group work submitted when, in fact, there was essentially no contribution made or the student's contribution is misrepresented, then that student and the rest of the team may be guilty of academic misconduct and the situation will be reviewed under the Academic Misconduct procedures. 

All project assignments are due on Mondays at 6:30 pm on the week indicated. 

Check the Group Project Webpage for more detail on the project, including forms, evaluation procedures, and suggested timeline.  

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Examinations

These examinations will be given in the class lecture venue. The midterm, which will have about 50 multiple-choice questions) must be finished within one hour; the final (which will have about 100 multiple-choice questions), within two hours (although three hours are scheduled in the room, only two hours will be allocated to the exam).  Examinations are closed-book.  No materials other than pencils and Scantron forms will be allowed during the examinations.  Student IDs will be checked.   

Midterms are given during regularly scheduled class time.  The final examination schedule is as follows:

Section        Class meets        Examination Date/Time

11366        MWF 2:40          Monday, April 23, 3:30-5:30 pm
11369        M 6:30 pm          Monday, April 23, 7:00-9:00 pm

From the syllabus:

"There will be a Mid-Term and a Final Exam concerning the concepts of Management Information Systems covered in the readings, exercises, tutorials and the class discussions. The exam format will be multiple choice. For both the Mid-Term and Final Exams, you will need Scantron Form No. 882-ES, which is available at the bookstore in the Oakland Center. You will also need a #2 pencil (bring a spare, too) for filling out the form during the test.  Make-up exams will not be given, except in extenuating circumstances." 

The final examination is comprehensive in the sense that there may be questions specifically about material already covered on the midterm examination.  It is also comprehensive in the sense that the concepts covered prior to the midterm are foundational.  Lack of understanding of these concepts will be a serious impediment to understanding the material in the second half of the course.

The questions on the midterm will be mostly definitional and conceptual in nature.  For the final examination, at least 1/3 of the questions will be related to cases you will read and analyze.

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Grade Calculation

Calculation of the grade is as follows:

Explanation:
The group project has two components. The group result is worth 34% of the course grade (and has several components itself; see the group project webpage).  Each person in each group will have a peer evaluation ranging from 1 to 15 and will represent 6% of the course grade (or 15% of the project; these are equivalents).  Together these contribute a maximum of 100/250 or 40% of your course grade.
The midterm will have 50 questions.  The number of questions answered correctly provides a contribution to a maximum of 50/250 or 20%.
The final exam will have 100 questions.  The number of questions answered correctly provides a contribution to a maximum of 100/250 or 40%.. 

Example.  Suppose your deliverables were marked as follows:

Group Result: 68/85; peer evaluation 12/15 (i.e., overall 80% on the project)
Midterm: 44 correct answers (i.e., 88% on the midterm)
Final Exam: 90 correct answers (i.e., 90% on the final)

Your grade would be calculated as follows:

TOTAL = 68+12+44+90= 214
Ratio is 214/250 = 0.855
= 3.3 on the Oakland Scale

Click here for Grading Conversion Table from ratios to the Oakland scale.

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Emailing Assignments

Where the assignment is a group assignment, include in your "To:" or "CC:" fields email addresses for all members of your group (including the actual sender). In the BODY of the message, list the names of all group members.  The attachments will be your materials submitted.  

These procedures guarantee (1) an original backup copy of the text and (2) that evaluations will be sent to all group members via a "Reply All" action on the part of the course instructor. In addition, this allows you to attach files in any format you desire (so long as the instructor can open and peruse the files).

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This webpage last updated on January 2, 2007