Oregon State University
Oregon State University Home Page

BA378 Syllabus BA378 Syllabus

Winter 2006

BA378 Group Project: Design and Build Your Own AIS

Project Summary:

Group projects can be the most rewarding and important of educational experiences. Group work will be a primary course component because:
1) Students sharing assignments learn without doing all the work themselves.
2) AIS are used, managed, evaluated, and designed collaboratively.
Due Date Points
(out of 500)		 Assignment
 Thursday, Jan. 19 50 PRJ1
 Tuesday, Jan. 24   PRJ2 Individual Assignment
 Thursday, Feb. 02 75 PRJ2
50 PRJ3
 Thursday, Feb. 09 50 PRJ4
 Thursday, Feb. 23 50 PRJ5
50 PRJ6
 Tuesday, Feb 28 Completed Project
50 Draft revision Log
125  Final Draft Packaging and Self-Evaluation

Late Deliverables
Individual Assignment for Part 2
Group Member Evaluations

PRJ1-PRJ6

PRJ1

From Chapter 2, Jones and Rama, page 57-58, complete all 4 questions.
This part asks you to create a business scenario and describe a business process. Grading Criteria (out of 50 pts):
1) How good is the writing? (20)
2) Is the scenario reasonable? (10)
3) Do the process descriptions (DB2.2, 3, & 4) contain enough material to relate to several important AIS concepts? (10)
4) Do the charts reflect good analysis? (10)

Return to Contents

PRJ2

From Chapter 3, Jones and Rama, page 102, complete all 4 questions. Turn in DB3.1, DB3.3, and DB3.4. This part asks you to create UML Activity diagrams for the business processes.
Each student is to attempt questions DB3.1 and DB3.2 for themselves first before you meet as a group to hammer out an answer.
The PRJ1 narratives are bound to be inadequate so each student will need to make some assumptions. Hopefully, you will have different ideas which are resolved in a collaborative process. Each student’s original annotations and diagrams are to be included. However, the individual student results are graded only as pass/fail with any reasonable attempt receiving a pass. Failing will result in a 2% reduction in the student’s final course grade.
At this point you should begin preparing your draft revisions. As you do each new part of the project, you will need to go back and expand or change the previous documents. In your "draft revisions" document, write a brief paragraph describing the needed changes and include the relevant portions of the updated documents.
Grading Criteria (out of 75 pts):
1) Annotated copy of the narrative from DB2.2 (15)
2) Overview Activity Diagram (30)
3) Detailed Activity Diagram (30)
Diagrams are scored for: Presentation (1/4), Correctness (1/2), Relevance to AIS (1/4)

Return to Contents

PRJ3

From Chapter 4, Jones and Rama, page 151, complete all 5 questions.
This part asks you to consider controls and risks for your AIS.
Revise PRJ1 and PRJ2 as appropriate. If you have created a scenario or selected a process which does not significantly involve controls, you will likely get a poor overall grade unless you adapt your scenario now.
Grading Criteria (50 pts): 10 for each question, analysis quality (6) and writing (4)

Return to Contents

PRJ4

From Chapter 5, Jones and Rama, page 199, complete both questions.
This part asks you to create a class diagram. CHANGE: No need to make the tables in Access. Identify the appropriate primary keys and relationships. Write up a narrative description telling how those relationships relate to accounting controls (one or more paragraphs as needed.)
Grading Criteria (50 pts):
- UML Diagram (20),
- Entities/Attribute list(20), and
- write up quality (10).
For the diagrams and tables I will consider
- accuracy (did you sensibly and consistently organize the items),
- coverage (have you included enough entities to meet the needs of the system), and
- completeness (have all the needed attributes).
For the write up, I will consider analysis quality (2/3) and writing quality (1/3).

Return to Contents

PRJ5

From Chapter 6, Jones and Rama, page 258, complete all questions. Design exemplary reports.
Grading Criteria (50 pts): I will consider conceptual understanding (did you correctly understand the types of reports 1/3), completeness (do your reports include the right data 1/3), and formatting (professional and well-organized 1/3).

Return to Contents

PRJ6

From Chapter 7, Jones and Rama, page 306, complete DB7.4
(ignore the last bullet point about the "order data".)
CHANGE: No need to make the forms in Access.
Grading Criteria (50 pts):
- Design templates (completeness and correctness, include use case descriptions) (30),
- Control Templates (20),

Return to Contents

Draft Revision Log

As you do the various exercises, expand and/or change the original scenario narrative and process descriptions. This is a way to help your team apply the concepts from class and to expose you to the system documentation process. A thoughtful and systematic draft revision log will enhance your learning as well as your grade. A good project will demonstrate many of the principles covered in the course. Don’t get caught saying "Our scenario didn’t involve any of that." Be positive, you chose your scenario and you can change it.
Return to Contents

Final Draft Packaging and Self-Evaluation

Finally, you will be asked to package and analyze your system design. This should represent a quality piece of work you can refer to in your job application process.
1) Write an executive summary for your report.
2) Create a table of contents.
3) Write a 1-2 page summary of the work you did. Include comments on the controls embedded in your system and key evaluation points to be considered in governing the information system you describe.
4) Include a final revised version of all parts. (Do not include the individual assignments prepared for part 2 or your original work plan).
5) Include your draft revision log.
6) Write a 2-3 page summary of the lessons you learned while doing this project. Be honest about things you could improve or could have done better.

The write up won't be easy. It is harder to write a good, concise summary with key ideas and sufficient detail than it is to create a "laundry list" style report. The 3 summaries should all include significant details and key points, be concisely written, and carefully edited for grammar and formatting.

Return to Contents

Late Deliverables

Occasionally projects run late. A small amount of lateness can be overlooked (one class session at most) if 1) You tell me in advance you are running behind (keep me in the loop), 2) you have a good explanation, and 3) if you only turn in one or two parts late. Otherwise, you will be penalized 10% per week. Individual assignments for Part 2 will not be accepted late.
Return to Contents

Group Member Evaluations:

Being a good group member is important!
Each group member is to complete 2 team member surveys: one after completing PRJ4, and one at the end of the term. Each team member is to create their own survey labeled with their name and group name. Describe, in one sentence, the contribution of each group member (including yourself). Also, rank each member's contribution as: Failing to complete a required group member evaluation will result in a deduction of 2% against your final course grade. These confidential surveys will only be considered in the unlikely event that a team has a serious problem. I reserve the right to assign lower individual grades to under-performing students.
Return to Contents


This page is maintained by Byron Marshall. Send E-mail to (byron.marshall@bus.oregonstate.edu)
This page was last modified Friday, December 09, 2005