OFFICE HOURS: M/W/F 9:30 - 10:45 A.M.. Also available by phone, e-mail, and appointment

PHONE: 330-1767

E-MAIL: braun@augsburg.edu. Note: If you do not have a personal or school e-mail account, please get one ASAP. Call 330-1044 for details.

TEXT: Systems Analysis & Design Methods, Fourth Edition by Whitten, Bentley, and Barlow. Students should also receive the software and text for Visible Analyst, a computer aided software engineering (CASE) tool, along with the Whitten text. These texts are expensive, but you don’t need to buy any more for MIS476. There is a lot of information on the web for this text at http://www.tech.purdue.edu/textbooks/sadm/

OBJECTIVES: The student who successfully completes this course:

1.  Understands basic information about the process of systems analysis and design
2.  Demonstrates basic skills in performing systems analysis and design such as:
        - data, process, and network modeling
        - defining requirements in a project repository
        - data and process analysis
        - file and database design
        - input and output design
        - user interface design
        -  program design
        -  object modeling
3.  Prepares a project notebook which applies the above techniques
4.  Demonstrates knowledge of new software tools such as Visible Analyst and develops greater skills in
     using other software like MS Access
5. Develops technical writing, teamwork, and presentation skills
6. Appreciates the many skills required to do good systems analysis and design and is prepared to tackle a
     "real" system in MIS476.

APPROACH: Systems analysis and design techniques will be demonstrated and practiced in class, and case studies will be used to enhance understanding. A semester-long project will dominate homework activities for the course. Visible Analyst will be used for some of these assignments.

EVALUATION:

1. Project Notebook/Homework     40%
2. Midterm Exam                              20%
3. Final Exam or prototype                20%
4. Learning Journal                            10%
5. Participation                                  10%

Honesty:

In accordance with Augsburg's new academic honesty policy, students will sign a statement at the beginning of the course and write the word "pledged" on each assignment and test to reaffirm student honesty.

Makeup Tests and Quizzes:

Must be approved in advance by instructor.

Participation:

Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions and exercises. Students will be randomly selected to present their homework for classes. Students will also be given opportunities to lead the class in certain activities like learning new software, role playing cases in the text, etc. Students should also be prepared to discuss their continuing work on HW#1 (keeping up on the IS field!) Since the weekend college trimester contains only 8 class meetings, students are expected to attend all classes unless prior arrangement is made with the instructor.

Schedule: Below is the initial class schedule. Any changes will be negotiated between the class and the instructor. More detailed instructions for each milestone will be provided during class discussions.

Course Work:

HW#1: Life Long Learning

Information systems (IS) professionals must keep abreast of the latest trends and techniques. The authors of your text suggest developing a disciplined reading program. To help you develop this habit, your first homework is to visit the new Lindell Library and/or your local library, talk to people you know in the IS field, and review on-line information. Then write a paper with the following information:

• Make a list of all (you can stop at 20, but get some variety) computing, data processing, and system-oriented publications and conferences you find that you personally would have easy access to. Don’t forget to look for technology sections of business magazines and journals.
• Skim a few issues of several different publications, then develop a list of five sources that you find most interesting and helpful. Give a reference and summary of each of these and describe what you like about them. Bring at lease one article that you’d like to share with the class, and please bring me a copy or provide the url.

Be prepared to discuss this assignment with the class. As part of your learning journals and class participation, you will be asked to describe some new information you learned from outside readings, T.V. shows, on-line services, etc. about the MIS field, so try to keep reviewing these sources. Some of my "must read" sources include Fortune Magazine, PC Magazine, MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Systems, AITP newspaper and Journal of Information Systems Education, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I also surf the Web now and then, and especially like PC Magazine’s and Microsoft’s web sites. I’ll also check out web sites as I read or hear about them from different sources.

HW#2: Learning Journal:

Your journal will be a record of how you make sense of your own learning primarily in this course but also in other courses or life experiences. You will be given time during class each week or two to jot down your responses to the following questions:

1. What activity or idea in the last week or two gave you the most intense learning "high"? What was it that made   the activity/idea so stimulating?

2. What activity or idea gave you the most intense learning "low"? Why?

3. Briefly describe any articles you've read, T.V. shows you've seen, etc. about the field of MIS (See HW#1.) What   was your reaction? Be ready to share this with your classmates at least twice during the semester.

Before handing in your complete journal on the last day of class, write (please type this part) a one to two page summary of themes, generalizations, or principles that seem to run through your course record. Also summarize the items for #3 and provide detailed references (urls, copies of the articles, etc.)

Project Notebook:

Students will either propose their own project (preferably one that can be continued in MIS476) or be assigned a project by the instructor at the beginning of the semester. There are a couple of "textbook" projects students can work on. As different topics and techniques are discussed in class, students will apply systems analysis and design on their projects by completing successive milestones. More details on these milestones will be provided in class, and samples are in your text and on the web. The final Project Notebook should be a valuable tool for job hunting and professional reference. To ensure accuracy and quality, milestones may be returned by the instructor for rework. These may be resubmitted for grading on the last day of class. Regraded milestones will be capped at a 95% grade. Students are encouraged to form teams of two people for the Project Notebook. Each team or individual will submit a proposal for grading their work by the end of the first class meeting. (Time will be allocated in class.) Each milestone will be worth 100 points. Late work will be penalized by 10 points.

MILESTONE 1: Surveying the project

Purpose: Determine what system you'd like to analyze and design throughout the course and if you'll be working individually or in a team for your Project Notebook.

Prepare a "Request for System Services" form similar to the one on page 130 and a problem statement matrix like the one on p. 132 for your proposed project for this course. You can choose from two textbook projects ( the Grand Prix Automobile Insurance Company or Tarheel Toys, Inc.) or the new one on the web (Employee Self Service system - http://www.tech.purdue.edu/textbooks/sadm under instructor support materials), or you can propose your own project. If you do propose your own project, write a cover letter to me explaining why you want to do the project and how you will gather information

Include the names of the people on your project team, if you are doing this as a team. I strongly recommend you try to do the whole notebook with one other person, perhaps two. I will randomly call on group members to explain the milestones in class. Remember to hand in these 1-3 things, depending on what you do:

1. system profile form
2. a problem statement matrix
3. letter explaining your project if it’s not Grand Prix Automobile, Tarheel Toys, or the web case
4. list of team members

1. Background information (1-2 pages)
1. Brief description of project request
2. Brief explanation of the survey phase activities (p. 84)
2. Scope of XXX System (3-4 pages)
1. Participants and roles
2. Data involved
3. Processes
1. Inputs (i.e. policy application, claim, etc.
2. Outputs (i.e. invoice, payment, etc.)
3. Reports (i.e. policies by agent, rejected claims, etc.)
4. Queries (i.e. claims against a policy, invoices for a policy, etc.)
4. System Interfaces
5. Geography
3. Constraints (samples on p. 144) (1 page)
4. Detailed recommendation
1. Narrative recommendation (1 page)
1. Immediate fixes
2. Quick fixes
3. Enhancements
4. New systems development
5. Project Plan - produce the Gantt chart on p. 604 (1 page)

Milestone 3, Modeling the System’s Data. Note: Because this is a difficult Milestone, it will count twice as much as the previous Milestones.

Prepare and hand in the following, preferably done in Visible Analyst or other appropriate software:

1. Entity/Definition Matrix. Use Table 5.5, page 192 as a guide.
2. Context Data Model: Use Figure 5.11, page 194 as a guide.
3. Fully Attributed Data Model: Use Figure 5.14, pages 200-201 as a guide.

Milestone 4, Modeling the System’s Processes. This one is also worth double.

Prepare and hand in the following, preferably done in Visible Analyst or other appropriate software:

1. Context Diagram: Use Figure 6.20, page 242 as a guide
2. Functional Decomposition Diagram: See Figure 6.20, page 243
3. Event-Response List: See Figure 6.22, page 245. Include at least six events
4. System Diagram: See Figure 6.27, pages 250-251. Try to make it make sense based on your event-response list.

Milestone 5, Modeling the Network

Create a Location Connectivity Diagram: Use Figure 7.10, page 279.

Milestone 6, Defining and Analyzing Candidate Solutions

Complete the Candidate Matrix, using Figure 9.5, page 322, and Figure C.7, page 658 as examples. There is a template of this matrix on the author’s web site. Use your imagination to come up with three different candidate solutions. For example, you could assume a mainframe, character-based solution, a client-server solution without Internet access, and an Internet-based solution. Don’t worry about given restrictions for this milestone – be creative.

Milestone 7, Modeling the Application Architecture

Construct a physical data flow diagram using Figure 10.8, page 373, as an example. Make assumptions where necessary.

Milestone 8, Designing the Database (double value)

1. Using Milestone 3 as a starting point, first prepare a data dictionary defining at least 40 attributes for the entities in your system. Group these attributes by entity. Create a table (in Word is fine, or you can do this in Access) with column headings for the attribute name, type (character, numeric, date, etc.), size, default value (if any), edit rules (if any), and an example. Below is an example for possible attributes for an employee entity:

Attribute Name	Type	Size	Default value	Edit rules/format	Example
Employee Number	Numeric	5			34533
Last Name	Character	25			Jones
Birth Date	Date	8		MM/DD/YYYY	12/05/1952
Status	Character	1	A	=A for active, R for retired, L for on leave, F for former	F

2.  Then construct an ERD in 3^rd Normal form, following the procedure outlined on pages 409-418 of your text. Do this in Visible Analyst.

1. Using your system or an example in the text (p. 521 or 525), use Visible Analyst to create a structure chart.
2. Write a brief description explaining the symbols on the structure chart and what this is used for.

1. Create a use case for part of your system
2. Identify behaviors in your use case, then develop a CRC card for one of the use case objects

1. Construct an ideal object diagram based on Milestone 11 information.
2. Construct an interaction diagram.

Milestone 13, Final Project Notebook

Put all of your milestones together neatly in a binder. Include a cover page, table of contents, and executive summary/brief description of each milestone. If you want any of your milestones regraded, include the new one on top and the old one right behind it.