MIS 353 - Principles of Information Systems
Creighton University, College of Business Administration
Section D, Tues-Thurs 4:45 – 6:00pm
Spring Semester 2001

Terry Begley MBA, MCSE
COBA Technology Coordinator
tbegley@creighton.edu or terry@tbegley.com
280-2619 (office) 280-2172 (fax)
http://eden.creighton.edu/mis353d

 

Course Resources

The textbook is Management Information Systems for the Information Age by Haag, Cummings and Dawkins. We will also use HTML 4 for Dummies – Quick Reference, Second Edition by IDG Books. The ISBN is 0-7645-0721-4. The company website for the textbook is http://www.mhhe.com/business/mis/haag/. You should also check out the Online Learning Center link, which has information from the authors of the textbook. Our course website is http://eden.creighton.edu/mis353d. Check the link to news for updated class information before every class. We also have a class listserv, called mis353d@creighton.edu that you should subscribe to. Finally, all sections of MIS 353 share a common Usenet newsgroup, cu.mis353.

You will also need a Creighton University email account, an account on Flamingo, and access to the World Wide Web, either at a computer lab, home, or office. I will provide some of the supplements. Others will require a library or World Wide Web (WWW) search by the student.

Contact Information

I am a Creighton staff member, and my office is located in BA 112A. I am here generally from 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. See above for phone and email information. If you send email with attachments, please note that Creighton does not allow emails over 2 megabytes in size. If you wish to email larger attachments, please email them to terry@tbegley.com. When you email, please use a subject line with the words MIS 353 in the title so I can identify the message in my inbox easier.

Summary

The Principles of Information Systems presents an introduction to the fundamental concepts and issues relevant to the successful development, management, and use of organizational Information Systems (IS). The course includes an overview of current and emerging Information Technologies (IT), and covers the support commonly offered by IS for operations, transactions processing, tactical management, and strategic decision-making. The course emphasizes the areas that reflect the future directions of the field, such as artificial intelligence, telecommunications and networking, the Internet, intranets, CASE (Computer-Assisted Software Engineering) tools, and end-user computing.

HTML and Unix Assignments

We will be creating individual websites on our Linux server, Flamingo, as well as using it for hands-on exercises in networking. Your research paper will be published on your website at the end of the semester. We will use the HTML text to follow along as we create our pages.

Tech Tips and News

There is always something new and exciting in the technology field. Twice during the semester (once before midterm, and once after) you will make a presentation to the class on an interesting website, a new product, a new service, or something new and exciting in the technology field. You can use any of the presentation media in the classroom. You must turn in a one-page sheet to me describing to me your site, item or news as you present your Tech Tip and News. Each item should take about three to five minutes to present.

Quizzes

There will be a total of fourteen quizzes, of which one will be dropped. A quiz cannot be made up under any circumstances. A missed quiz will be considered the one to be dropped. Quizzes may be short answer, true/false, matching or multiple choice. They may be given out on paper, assigned via email or on a web page.

Research Paper

You will research an issue in technology during the semester, and present the results of your research as a paper published on your website during the final exam time. Your paper will be turned in on paper as well as published on your Flamingo website. More information on the paper will be forthcoming.

Grading and Grading Scale

The student is required to take notice of where he or she stands in regards to their performance and attendance in this class. If special needs arise, or their is a problem with the students attendance, or grade, the student is responsible for contacting the professor to discuss those concerns, in as timely a manner is as reasonable. Students may contact me by any of the methods listed earlier at any time. Email and telephone voicemail are available 24 hours a day. Failure on the part of the student to proceed under these guidelines, or to violate any rules set out in this syllabus, or in the Student Handbook, including those dealing with academic honesty, may result in a lowering of the students grade, or a grade of F or AF, at the discretion of the professor.

The following are the grades and their descriptions available to the students. A student’s grade totally depends on what he or she has achieved during the course: the grades will be earned, not given.

"A" indicates not only outstanding achievement but also an unusual degree of intellectual initiative.
"B" indicates attainment of above the average, satisfactory for 500-level courses.
"C" indicates satisfactory but minimum quality work in courses above the 500-level.
"D" indicates failure—no credit.

Percentage Grade

Letter

90–100%

A

88-89%

B+

80-87%

B

78-79%

C+

70-78%

C

60-69%

D

59% or less

F

Incomplete

I

Final Exam Not Taken
(Presenting paper in class)

IX

The point values of the assignments and exams are given below:

ITEM

Points

Quizzes
(13 @25 points each)

325

HTML pages

100

Research Paper

150

Unix and Email Assignments
(2 @25 points each

50

Tech Tips and News
(2 @25 points each)

50

Class Participation

25

TOTAL

700

Make-Up and Late Policy

All assignments that are handed in late will be docked 10% per day that they are late, unless arrangements have been made at least 24 hours before the due date. The term LATE refers to all assignments turned in after the class time on the assignment's due date.

Attendance Policy

Please note that all students are expected to attend every class session on time. Students are responsible for the material covered each class time, and missed notes, handouts and URL's should be obtained from another student who was in class that day. In the case of severe weather closings and cancellations, call the Creighton Weather Hotline at 280-5800.

Course Outline and Assignments

January 11

Introductions and Administrivia
Syllabus and Class Overview
Set up Flamingo accounts

January 16

Chapter 1, The Information Age in Which You Live
Chapter 2, Information Technology Systems

January 23

Hardware Presentation and Appendix A

January 30

Hardware, continued

February 6

Chapter 3, Strategic and Competitive Opportunities

February 13

Chapter Four, Databases and Data Warehouses

February 20

Chapter Five, Decision Support and Artificial Intelligence

February 27

Chapter Six, Networks
Appendix B, The Internet

March 6

NO CLASS – Spring Break!

March 13

Networks, continued

March 20

Chapter Seven, Emerging Technologies

March 27

Chapter 8, Planning for IT Systems

April 3

Chapter 9, Developing IT Systems

April 10

Tuesday, April 10 – Catch-Up/Class Exercises
Thursday, April 12 – NO CLASS, Easter Break

April 17

Chapter 10, Managing IT Systems

April 24

Chapter 11, Preparing for the Future

May 1

FINAL EXAM TIME, 4:45-6:00pm: Class paper presentations

 

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