Note: You can also download a pdf version of this syllabus.

Instructor:	George Wyner
Email:	wynerge@bc.edu
Twitter:	@geowyn
Voice:	617-871-0427
Office:	Fulton 254D (@Fulton254D)
Office Hours:	Mon 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Wed 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Also: please feel free to make an appointment or stop by. Check @Fulton254D for my latest whereabouts.)
Teaching Assistants:	Terence Lau (laute@bc.edu) Mason Peterman (petermam@bc.edu) Annie Roberts (robertfc@bc.edu)
TA Office Hours:	To be determined.  Check Canvas!

 

Pre/corequisite:  ISYS3257 / CSCI2257 Database Systems and Applications

Overview

This course offers students an opportunity to gain familiarity and fluency with a set of widely used techniques for the design and improvement of information systems. The course may be of value both to students who intend to pursue careers in system development and to those who will be customers or managers of system development projects.  The course may also be of interest to those engaged in the design of businessarchitecture, who may wish to avail themselves of design techniques developed for information systems.

Central to the course is a semester long project in which students work in small teams to develop a set of requirements and a prototype for an information system which addresses business needs of an actual client.  Through this project students have an opportunity to apply the techniques learned in the course as well as to develop important project management and organizational skills.

This class is different from most CSOM classes and perhaps CS classes as well, and that is intentional. It focuses on experiential learning. It is meant to be more collaborative, process oriented, and self-directed than seems typical.  That is because the class is designed to be a microcosm of how systems organizations operate in the professional world – or at least as much as we can in an academic context.  It requires students to be more proactivethan in a theory oriented lecture class.  It also presumes that most of the work goes on outside of classas in organizations, where most of the work takes place outside of staff meetings. While this course is not primarily focused on learning to code, you will be using development tools to build a prototype so that you can see firsthand the consequences of your design decisions and thus improve your ability to make good ones. Finally, it is important for students to realize that systems analysis and design is not a subject to be studied only by those who intend to become professional systems developers or consultants.  We will all likely be end users of information technology and therefore directly involved in creating systems requirements, if not analysis and design.

Learning Objectives

Systems analysis and design is not primarily a technical process.  It is more a human process, requiring technical, management, team development, and interpersonal skills.  However systems analysis and design does require understanding technology and mastering certain technical skills.  It follows that this course includes both technical and organizational learning objectives.  

By participating actively in this course and completing the assignments you should expect to:

1. Learn how to identify an organization’s information processing requirements.
2. Learn how to use agile methods to develop an information system that meets those requirements.
3. Understand that the successful systems analyst needs to have a broad understanding of organizations, organizational culture, organizational change, organizational operations, and business processes.
4. Understand that IT strategy must be conceived in an interaction with overall organizational strategy.

In support of the more technical objectives (1 & 2 above), students will learn a set of specific techniques and methods that represent current best practice for systems analysis and design.  These techniques are primarily based on:

1. The Unified Modeling Language (UML), a visual language for describing information systems. UML is a set of diagramming techniques employed in both the analysis and design phases of object-oriented development projects.  It has emerged as a critical competency for systems analysts in today’s environment. 
2. Scrum, an agile methodology for software development.

In addition, students will learn to share code using a code repository and version control system (Apache Subversion) and to develop and deploy code using a low code platform as a service (PaaS) environment (Mendix).

In support of the more organizational objectives (3 & 4 above), students will analyze business cases, engage with industry experts, and explore current thinking about agile development, organizational culture, and research on user interactions with information systems.

Course Materials

There are three required teaching cases for the course:

• Pearson's Successmaker: Putting the Customer First in Transforming Product Development Processes
• 1-888-Junk-Van
• Ça Va de Soi: A Phoenix Rises from the Ashes of a Failed IT Project - Part A – The Fall

These cases can be purchased from the Harvard Business Publishing website.  The total cost is $12.75.

In addition, there are a number of articles that will be made available through online course reserves and links to web resources.

Website

The course website is hosted here on Canvas.  You can jump directly to this course by going to http://bit.ly/258f18.  This site includes a continuously updated version of the course schedule along with detailed directions on how to complete and submit all course assignments.

Academic integrity

Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense.  In this course many of the assignments will involve teamwork, and our learning process will hopefully be highly collaborative, but be sure that individualassignments including exams represent your own work.  Any assignments or exams that are suspiciously similar or which give rise to any suspicion of plagiarism will trigger an unpleasant inquiry.  Actual cases of cheating are generally dealt with severely.  People have failed courses and been kicked out of school for this.

Grading

The course grade will be based on the following items, each of which will be explained below:

Exercises	25%
Midterm	10%
Final Exam	15%
Sprint Deliverables	15%
Project Presentation	5%
Final Project Deliverable	30%
Total	100%

 

Exercises.Exercises are intended as a quick check of your understanding and a chance to immediately apply what you are reading and learning. Exercises may involve a brief written answer or a diagramming exercise.  Each exercise is worth 2 points.  Note that if you "meet expectations" you will get the full 2 points.  Exercises are generally due at midnight (so after class). I recommend starting the assignment before class as a way to prepare to get the most out of class discussion, and then resubmitting any changes and additions after class.  I will always grade your final submission.  Late assignments will be accepted but will receive at most 1 point.

Midterm. The purpose of the midterm is both to assess your learning of course topics and to provide you with some constructive feedback on where you need to go deeper into the material.  Note that the midterm accounts for a smaller percentage of the course grade than in most classes; this is reflective of the focus in ISYS4258 on project-based, experiential learning.  The midterm will be a take home exam that focuses primarily on UML modeling techniques such as activity diagrams and class diagrams and will be made available mid-semester with a due date one week later.  More details about the midterm and how to prepare for it will be provided as the date approaches.  

Final Exam.  The purpose of the final exam is to provide one final assessment of your learning of course topics. As with the midterm, the percentage of the grade is smaller than in many courses because of the unique focus of ISYS4258 on project-based, experiential learning.  The final is cumulative in that it may include all topics covered in the course, but the main focus of the final will be on “the big picture” including reflections on the team project and insights about the overall development process.  The final will be a take home exam and will be made available on the last day of class (12/10).  The final will be due at midnight on 12/18.

Team Project.  The team project is the keystone of the course and this is reflected in the large weight given to the project grade.  Student teams will each identify a client with information system needs and will develop a project proposal, design documents, and a prototype for a system to address those needs.  The project grade is based on several components: 

• A final project deliverableconsisting of design documents, planning documents, a business case, and a prototype.
• A final in-class project presentationin which each team makes the business case for its project.
• A set of sprint deliverablesthroughout the semester. These assignments are intended to give teams initial feedback on the various components of the final deliverable.  Examples of such deliverables are first versions of the business case, use cases, and data model.  Deliverables will also include project status reports and occasional “sprint retrospectives” (the format for these will be provided during the semester. Each deliverable is worth 2 points.  Note that deliverables which “meet expectations” for a first draft will get the full 2 points but will also receive feedback on how to further improve the deliverable.  This feedback can be invaluable in developing a strong final deliverable.  A grade of 2 points does not mean there is no room for improvement in the next version!

Team Evaluations

Given that the project represents a team effort, a team evaluation will be completed by each student at the end of the semester assessing the relative contributions of all team members both to the team’s product and its process.  The evaluation form and instructions on how to complete it will be provided later in the semester.  I will, if necessary, adjust individual project grades up or down to reflect the consensus of each team on members who contributed significantly more or less than expected.

• Attempts to game the evaluation system (e.g. punishing another team member because of a personal issue) are generally very easy to detect and are not rewarded.
• Small differences in contribution will not affect your grade.Adjustments are reserved for big differences.
• Downward adjustments are reserved only for cases in which someone did not carry their share of the team project to a significant extent. In the case of a team where everyone was “all in” but some people worked even harder, then no one would receive a lower grade, but some team member(s) might receive an even higher grade.
• I consider the evaluations to be confidential and will treat them as such.

If at any point in the semester you have concerns about team issues, please bring them to my attention.

All that said, it is worth bearing in mind that students in ISYS4258 are generally very favorable about the team project as a key learning experience, and learning to work effectively on a system development team will be an important and positive part of our learning this semester.

Use of Laptops and Other Devices

The success of the class depends on all of us being fully engaged in the class.  I ask that you treat your electronic devices as you would in an important business meeting in which you are highly visible.  Laptops should be used only for note taking or other class related matters.  If you don’t absolutely need your laptop I suggest you keep it closed.  Cell phones and tablets should ideally be shut off during class or at least silenced.  If you are going to be distracted by a vibrating phone, please turn it off completely. If you have an urgent need to use your device during class time, please be discrete about it and respect those around you.  If you need to briefly leave the class in order to attend to urgent business, that would be preferable to staying in class and distracting others.  I reserve the right to adjust the class participation grade in response to classroom use of devices that creates a distraction for me or other students.   If you have any questions or concerns about this policy please bring them up.

Disability Services

If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470, paulette.durrett@bc.edu, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities, including temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for accommodations.