MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY
CIS 401 COURSE SYLLABUS

revised 12/27/2001

GENERAL INFORMATION

Course number: CIS 401
Credit/Contact hours: 3
Term: Spring, January 14 - May 3, 2002
Course title: Management Information Systems
College website: www.mansfield.edu

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Instructor name: John Phillips
Instructor office location: Elliott 205 A
Instructor office hours: to be announced
Instructor telephone: 570-662-4704
Instructor e-mail address: jphillip@mnsfld.edu
Instructor website: www.programbetter.com

COURSE INFORMATION

Course Description

Advanced study of information processing systems which provide transactional processing for an organization and information and processing support for management and decision functions.

CIS 401 is a "Writing Across the Curriculum" course. An important component of the course will be the production of professional quality documents, such as formal system documentation or a User Manual.

Prerequsite: Cis 310

Textbooks

On-line and library resources will be used in this course.

Suggested References

The Elements of Style, 4th edition, William Strunk, Jr., 1999, Allyn & Bacon; ISBN: 020530902X. Do not buy this book as we will use the on-line version as a reference.

Online Technical Writing: Online Textbook, David A. McMurrey.

Course Websites

www.programbetter.com for the syllabus and course information.

www.coursenotebook.com for the class discussion board.

Course Outline

  1. Overview of Management Information Systems
  2. Technical report writing and software documentation standards
  3. Extreme programming
  4. Microsoft Project software
  5. User interface design
  6. Database design
  7. The design of coursenotebook.com
  8. Project Phase I - Progress Report and Presentation
  9. Project Phase II - Final Report and Presentation

Class Schedule

MWF 11:00 - 11:50 AM

Equipment and Supplies

Access to the Internet is required either using your own computer or by using a computer in the school's computer lab. You should keep a backup copy of all work you do on one or more diskettes.

Grading Scale and Policy

Work that meets the stated requirements will in general earn a C grade. Work that goes beyond the basic requirements will in general earn anywhere from a C+ to a B- grade. Work that is very good and exceeds the instructor's expectations will in general earn a B grade. Only the most outstanding work will earn an A grade.

(Refer to the Mansfield University Catalog for grades that can be awarded.)

A >= 90%
B >= 80%
C >= 70%
D >= 60%
F < 60%

In addition, the instructor may choose to further differentiate grades with plus and minus subdivisions as outlined in the catalog.

Course Grade
% of Grade
Essays and Assignments
30
Project Phase I
30
Project Phase II
40

Late Work Policy

Any work that is late will lose one letter grade for each day late. No excuses. Computer, server, ftp, and Internet problems will happen, therefore, make it a point to complete your work at least one day before the deadline.

Methods of Instruction

This is a project-oriented course. You will work in teams to implement, test, document, and maintain a real-world software project.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all courses and course activities for which they are registered. Any class meeting missed, regardless of cause, reduces the opportunity of learning and may adversely affect a student's achievement in the course.

Bad Weather Policy

On days that we have icy or snowy weather, the instructor may choose to hold class on-line. This will be announced on coursenotebook.com

Academic Integrity

It may be tempting to cheat in this class. Do not do it! You will be posting some of your work for all to view. Feel free to browse other students' posted work, on-line web sites, and other books for ideas. However, if you copy that work and you do not give credit for it, that is plagiarism. Likewise, if you discuss an exam you have taken with another student before they take it, that is cheating. You may not do anything that gives you or another student an unfair advantage. If you are in doubt then discuss the situation with your instructor.

Withdrawal Policy for Individual Courses

The last day to withdraw from a College course with a "W" grade is published in the Academic Calendar. It is the responsibility of the student to complete and submit the necessary forms to the Registrar's Office. An official withdrawal would entitle the student to a grade of "W" in the course.

Syllabus Change Policy

The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus as the course progresses.

COURSE TIMELINE

Week Week Of Topics
1 01/14 Introduction and team assignments
Discussion on essay and report writing
2 01/21 Review of Extreme programming
Microsoft Project
3 01/28 The design of coursenotebook
4 02/04 Development
5 02/11 Development
6 02/18 Development
7 02/25 Short Presentations and Progress Report
8 03/04 Spring Break
9 03/11 User feedback and refactoring
10 03/18 User feedback and refactoring
11 03/25 User feedback and refactoring
12 04/01 User feedback and refactoring
13 04/08 Documentation and presentation preparation
14 04/15 Final report due
Presentations
15 04/22 Presentations
16 04/29 No Final Exam