Information Systems Projects with a Real Client

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Information Systems Projects with a Real Client
Teaching Sciences in English A professional
development course for Chinese university science
teachers A collaborative project between the
University of Sydney and the China Scholarship
Council.

• Dr Geoffrey Kennedy
• School of Information TechnologiesThe University
  of Sydney

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Effective teaching of Systems Analysis and Design

• Many courses present techniques and tools before
  any problem is introduced
• Students must encounter a problem before any
  solution makes sense
• Otherwise it seems to be solutions looking for
  a problem

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A typical case study approach
The Silver Tops Recreational Ski Club The system
to be modelled is used by a student recreational
ski club to manage membership and to organise
events for members. The society secretary uses
the system to record information when a new
member joins the society the information
includes the members name, term-time address,
vacation address, phone number, email, and the
different varieties of skiing in which they are
interested (for example, Peter Williams may be
have interest in the beginners cross-country,
the intermediate downhill, and the expert
bobsled). Usually members join for a period of
one winter season by paying a fee, and at the end
of that time the secretary can extend their
membership if they pay another fee
alternatively, some members choose to join for
longer periods (the fee they paid is then
reduced, compared to paying for seasons one by
one). The event manager uses the system to
arrange a ski trip, which occurs over a
particular period (such as the long weekend of
June 6 to June 8 inclusive), includes
accommodation at a particular address, and also
has one or more sessions of various varieties of
skiing, each located on a particular area of a
ski slope for example, one meeting may involve
three sessions of intermediate downhill held on
Piste X, Piste Y and Piste Z respectively, and
one session of beginners downhill held on Piste
X. Each session is scheduled by the event manager
with the appropriate number of participants from
among the members who are interested in that
variety of skiing. The cost of a meeting for
the society depends on the number of members who
are involved (as the accommodation fee is charged
per person) as well as on the number of sessions,
and the variety of each (because each different
session requires booking an appropriate area of
the ski slope). The club treasurer uses the
system to obtain reports on the total cost of the
trips held during each season, and on the total
fee income from memberships for that season.
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A typical case study approach
The Silver Tops Recreational Ski Club The system
to be modelled is used by a student recreational
ski club to manage membership and to organise
events for members. The society secretary uses
the system to record information when a new
member joins the society the information
includes the members name, term-time address,
vacation address, phone number, email, and the
different varieties of skiing in which they are
interested (for example, Peter Williams may be
have interest in the beginners cross-country,
the intermediate downhill, and the expert
bobsled). Usually members join for a period of
one winter season by paying a fee, and at the end
of that time the secretary can extend their
membership if they pay another fee
alternatively, some members choose to join for
longer periods (the fee they paid is then
reduced, compared to paying for seasons one by
one). The event manager uses the system to
arrange a ski trip, which occurs over a
particular period (such as the long weekend of
June 6 to June 8 inclusive), includes
accommodation at a particular address, and also
has one or more sessions of various varieties of
skiing, each located on a particular area of a
ski slope for example, one meeting may involve
three sessions of intermediate downhill held on
Piste X, Piste Y and Piste Z respectively, and
one session of beginners downhill held on Piste
X. Each session is scheduled by the event manager
with the appropriate number of participants from
among the members who are interested in that
variety of skiing. The cost of a meeting for
the society depends on the number of members who
are involved (as the accommodation fee is charged
per person) as well as on the number of sessions,
and the variety of each (because each different
session requires booking an appropriate area of
the ski slope). The club treasurer uses the
system to obtain reports on the total cost of the
trips held during each season, and on the total
fee income from memberships for that season.
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One feasible solution

• In-Class Individual Projects

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The Fletcher Electronics Project
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Analysis Design Assignment

• Week 1 The Problem In response to a real-world
  problem situation, you will carry out an analysis
  to ascertain the clients problem and devise a
  suitable system design to help provide a
  solution
• Week 4 Analysis documentation due
• Week 5 Initial prototype system evaluated during
  lab time
• Week 6 System proposal due
• Week 13 Final prototype evaluated during lab time

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Setting up the problem

• Meet Ross Fletcher

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Preparing for a client interview

• Identify people who know the operation
• Prepare an agenda
• Seek to gain the confidence of the client
• Ask "what is the problem"
• Consider
• What is the basic business?
• What output is required?
• What constraints apply (external, technical)
• Record findings - notes, tape, diagram.

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Your task today

• To determine the requirements of the project
• It is important that you take adequate notes at
  this interview.
• You are welcome to use recording devices at the
  interview.
• This information will not be made available
  through any other medium.

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• And now
• Meet the client

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Current source documents
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Job Book Exhibit 10
 
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Current document set (front)
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Current document set (back)
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Timesheet Exhibit 6
 
 
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Used time sheet document
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Output requirements (1)

• Current outputs

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Invoice Exhibit 9
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Output requirements (2)

• Desired outputs

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Timesheet Summary Exhibit 7
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Variance Report Exhibit 8
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• Now, you go ahead with the
• Fletcher Electronics Project

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Assignment One Requirements specification
document Due in Week 4

• a high-level functionality, expressed in the form
  of a context DFD
• specification of expected outputs with specimens
  of each including suitable sample data values
• a preliminary design of proposed input screens,
  including suitable sample data values
• a detailed data analysis in the form of tables of
  sample data values
• a preliminary data model expressed in the form of
  an entity relationship diagram.

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Fletcher Electronics Real World
Dynamic!
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Timesheet processing
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Sequence diagram
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Data flow diagram
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Entity relationship diagram
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Fletcher Electronics Database
Record data on timesheet
Answer phone
-1
0
1
2
3
4
Take down job details
Mark job complete
Prepare Quotation
Send Invoice
Static!
Make out job card
Send Statement
Carry out service
Receive payment
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Laboratory Manual

• Preparation The Uni Results Application 4
• Lab 02 Creating database tables in Access 7
• Lab 03 Creating forms in Microsoft Access 10
• Lab 04 Building a Switchboard System in MS
  Access 14
• Lab 05 Improving Usability and Data Quality 18
• Testing Schedule Milestone One Assessment
• Lab 06 Separating Data from the Application
  23
• A new database for North-End Panel Beaters
• Lab 07 User Interface Design 28
• User Interface Evaluation
• Lab0 8 Assessed Laboratory 32
• Preparation for Assessed Laboratory
• Lab 09 Report Design Obtaining Information from
  Data 34
• Lab 10 System Testing 39
• Lab 11 Project Management (1) Introduction to
  Microsoft Project 44
• Lab 12 Project Management (2) Using Microsoft
  Project 51
• Lab 13 Evaluation of another Students Milestone
  Two 52
• Testing Schedule Report Confirming Satisfaction
  of User Requirements

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The End product

• A working prototype

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Prototype evaluation
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Requirements for In-Class Individual Projects

• Need to find suitable case
• Source documents are most important
• Visual or audio record of original interview to
  provide realism
• Role play presentation client, analyst
• Completed prototype for demonstration purposes

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The real thingProjects with an External Client
A different solution
Group projects
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Group work in computing courses the issues

• Objectives what are we trying to achieve?
• Quality control what makes a project good?
• Management how can we manage the experience?
• Assessment what do we assess and how?

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What do we mean by group work

• Work carried out on a single task or set of
  tasks by a group of three or more students in a
  collaborative manner.
• Tasks referred to as collaborative tasks
• Often referred to as projects where tasks are
  of an open-ended nature

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Why do we have group projects?(a) altruistic
reasons

• To provide a capstone course where students can
  apply knowledge and skills learned elsewhere in a
  novel problem domain
• To allow students to undertake interesting and
  relevant projects which would be too big for one
  student to handle alone in the time allowed
• To take advantage of beneficial aspects of group
  learning and to exploit what might be described
  as group wisdom

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Why do we have group projects? (a) altruistic
reasons

• To allow students to experience collaborative
  work, a mode of endeavour common in industry
• To provide a context in which students can learn
  new specific knowledge and skills relevant to the
  discipline area of the course and not encountered
  previously
• To provide a context in which students can
  develop project management skills and other
  skills relevant to collaborative work

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Why do we have group projects?(b) pragmatic
reasons

• To reduce to a manageable level the burden of
  project supervision and assessment
• To make best use of a necessarily limited number
  suitably qualified supervisors
• To reduce the demand for suitable projects, which
  are never easily found, especially if it is
  desirable to involve real clients from outside
  the university.

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Definitions

• Group Work
• Work is carried out collaboratively by a team
• There is usually a single output per team at each
  stage
• Assessment
• Individual assessment one mark per student
• Group assessment a single mark is awarded for
  the group (a group mark)

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Possible objectives of group work

• To learn to work effectively in a collaborative
  endeavour
• To experience working in collaboration with a
  group
• To experience a range of aspects of scientific
  research
• To gain specific knowledge and skills
• To learn skills necessary for working
  collaboratively
• To learn skills necessary for work in industry
• To apply skills and knowledge learned elsewhere
  to solving a specific problem

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Group work at Sydney University

• Project and team selection
• Conduct of course
• Assessment package
• Staff involvement and duties
• Student opinion

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Nature of the Course

• Information system project undertaken by teams of
  six students
• Two sorts of projects
• to research a question proposed by a real client
  from the local community, or
• to find a solution to a problem proposed by a
  real client from the local community
• Collaborating with a group of colleagues is seen
  as a key aspect of the course
• Experiences include client interviews, class
  meetings, team meetings, oral presentations
• Students are required to keep a diary of hours
  spent

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Objectives of the CourseStudents who
successfully complete this unit will

• have experienced all aspects of an information
  system research or development project,
• appreciate the problems of working effectively in
  a team,
• be able to make effective use of system
  development techniques, methodologies and skills,
• have applied several of tools and techniques to a
  solving real life problem,
• have gained experience of giving an oral
  presentation and writing a research report,
• be able to demonstrate a professional approach.

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Satisfying the course

• Individual obligations
• satisfactory attendance at class meetings, team
  meetings, and client visits (85 minimum),
• satisfactory completion of tasks allocated by the
  team and agreed to,
• participation in the class presentation at the
  appointed time,
• keeping an individual logbook.
• Team obligations
• satisfactorily completion of a project proposal
  and presentation to client for confirmation,
• Completion of the teams final project report
  and/or prototype development,
• supplying the client with a copy of the report

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Monitoring progressWeekly meetings

• Class meeting each week (1 hour)
• One hour per week
• Students hear about other projects
• Up to six oral progress reports per week(7
  minutes, using PowerPoint)
• Team meeting each week (up to 1 hour)
• Held in staff members office
• Progress and team dynamics supervised
• Participation mark based on contribution

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Administration of the course

• Number of students about 144 (24 groups of 6
  students each)
• Students allowed to select their own groups,
  subject to some constraints
• Students encouraged to provide projects, for
  example from relatives, friends, work

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Staff involvement and duties

• Nine staff for 144 students
• Assessment of oral presentations
• 1 hour per week (12 weeks)
• Team meetings
• Up to three per week (7 weeks)
• Grading of group work
• Three items project plan, proposal, report
• 5-6 hours per group - up to three groups
• Oral examinations
• 15 minutes per student
• Coordinator responsible for quality control

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Staff commitment during semester
This amounts to 4 hours contact most weeks of
semester
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Software support

• Class marks system
• Recording structure of teams
• Recording of assessment and attendance
• Publishing progressive marks

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Next Week

• Assessment of Group Work
• Peer-assessment in Group Projects