THE WALLACE E. CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
MD240: Management Information Systems
Spring 2005
MD240 Home
Syllabus/Schedule
Guidelines/Grading
Team Project
GRADING:
The percentage breakdown of your final grade will be as follows:
20% Class Participation
10% Case Study Analysis Outlines
10% Quiz Scores
25% Team Project
15% Midterm Exam
20% Final Exam
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100%
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Participants are expected to contribute constructively to the class discussion. Grading for your participation will be based on: (i) being present in the class, and (ii) the instructor’s evaluation of your discussion of the assigned readings and cases.
Getting used to talking in the language of IS and reasoning about IS on one's feet is important. Therefore, it is important that everyone makes their best effort to contribute to class discussions. You should be prepared to make some substantive comments on the topic of the day when called upon in class, and you should attempt to ask any questions you may have regarding the topic during class, so everyone can learn.
Class contribution will be graded in a holistic sense. From prior experience, those students who openly contribute to classes tend to get A's. Other students who contribute less, or not at all, tend to get grades somewhere below those who contribute. To get a good participation score, you need not speak in every class. But, it is expected that throughout the semester you will contribute substantially to the learning of others. Note that it is the quality of comments that counts the most. You are always free to ask me in person directly about your participation.
CASE ANALYSIS OUTLINE:
Over the course of the semester, we will have several discussions about case studies. For these discussions to work well, it is essential that all students come to class fully prepared. To help you structure your preparation, I will provide a list of discussion questions for each case study.
You will be asked to turn in a typed, one-page outline for four of the case studies. The syllabus indicates which case studies have these required write-ups, and which do not. For each of the write-ups you will do your analysis individually. The case analysis outline should concisely present your thoughts on each of the discussion questions. For the individual write-ups, your outline should be in the range of 1-2 pages (note: 0.5 pages is not enough), use full 1 inch margins, using a font no smaller than 12 pt Times Roman. Bullet points or other devices to get your thoughts across quickly are recommended.
Grades will be assigned on a 10 point scale, as follows:
Checkmark-plus = 10 pts: Outstanding analysis
Checkmark = 8 pts: Good analysis
Checkmark-minus = 6 pts: So-so analysis
TEAM PROJECT:
In the team project, you will experience what it is like to work as an IT consultant. You will be asked to form teams of approximately 4 or 5 students each. Your team will work under the guidance of professional consultants from Deloitte Consulting to provide a solution to a case study. More information on this exercise will be given as the semester progresses (also see the Team Project section below). Grading of the case consulting experience will be based on the following elements:
Grading will be based on the following elements:
(1) quality and thoroughness of your analysis and solution,
(2) quality of your written deliverables,
(3) quality of presentation of your solution, and
(4) apparent original research effort involved, e.g., how thoroughly you interviewed your client, researching technologies that might relate to your project, etc.
QUIZ:
There will be a total of three multiple choice quizzes based on the readings. Quizzes will be taken during class time, but won't be discussed in class. Grade results, disputes, and question content discussions will be handled completely after class or via email. This way, the administrative aspects of the quizzes will be handled outside of class, leaving class time for other topics. A zero will be given on any quiz missed and there will be no make-ups.
MIDTERM EXAM:
The midterm exam will be oriented toward mastering terminology and technologies from the first half of the course. The format of the midterm exam will be short answer.
FINAL EXAM:
The Dean of the Carroll School and the faculty’s Education Policy Committee (EPC) require that each CSOM class must hold a final exam at the end of the semester, and that this exam may only be held during Finals Week, unless the Dean is otherwise notified. As such, MD240 will hold a final exam during Finals Week. Preparing for and taking the final exam will provide the opportunity to reflect on the class material, and to integrate and internalize the concepts and methods discussed in the course.
Disability Accommodation:
If any student has need for a specific accommodation, please discuss this with me early in the semester.
Plagiarism and Cheating:
All students are expected to do their own work, unless specifically instructed to work in groups. If any homework instructions are unclear, please ask me to clarify. I will not tolerate cheating of any kind. Any academic offense, such as plagiarism or cheating, will be handled according to protocol in the Boston College student handbook.
Unduly Stressful Situations, etc.:
If you are having trouble keeping up with the material because of uncontrollable situations (e.g., bad sickness, personal loss, girlfriend or boyfriend left you, who knows what else) and have missed some classes or quizzes, please talk to me about it. I would rather know what is going on, and be able to adjust the schedule for you, than to just be left wondering why you are not in class, and as a result, unjustifiably mark down your grade.