Lecture location:
311 West Hall, M 9 - 11 AM
Section locations:
Section 2, 431 West Hall, M 11 AM - noon
Section 3, 431 West Hall, W 9 - 10 AM
Staff:
Maurita Holland & Tom Finholt, Professors; Mary
Jane Northrop, Adjunct Lecturer
Contact information for staff:
Prof. Holland: 301B West Hall, 764-2648, mholland@umich.edu
Prof. Finholt: 303B West Hall, 647-3581, finholt@umich.edu,
Tom
Finholt's Web page
Ms. Northrop: 404C, West Hall, mjn@umich.edu
Office hours: Professors Holland and Finholt joint office hour, 301B West Hall, 3-4 PM on Mondays; Professor Holland's office hour, 301B West Hall, 3-4 PM on Thursdays; Professor Finholt's office hour, 303B West Hall, 10-11 AM on Fridays; Ms. Northrop's office hours, 441 West Hall, 10-11 Wednesdays.
Introduction
Course objectives. In this course you will obtain a mix of theoretical insights and practical knowledge that will allow you to identify requirements for information systems or services, to produce or acquire the needed technologies or personnel, and to manage the adoption and support of these systems or services. These objectives can be divided into three main areas: human-centered design; management practice; and effective teamwork.
Human-centered design. Many proposed information systems and services offer potential benefits that are not realized in practice. As preparation for the difficult task of applying human-centered design principles to improve the yield of effective systems or services, this course will: a) introduce and expand fundamental theories of individual, group, and organizational behavior that determine users' requirements; b) apply and expand your repertoire of methods for eliciting and analyzing user requirements; and c) develop models of continuous change and improvement based on iterative application of human-centered design concepts.
Management practice. Whether you chose a career as a single entrepreneur or join a large organization, you will become a manager -- of yourself, of clients or staff, and sometimes of substantial systems and services. As preparation for these important and often difficult roles, this course will: a) develop familiarity with, and appreciation for, basic management principles and the management literature; b) help you consider some key and specific duties inherent in managerial responsibilities; and c) provide a framework for understanding the management issues in venues typical for the information professional
Effective teamwork. Teamwork is one of the most important activities for generating excellence in organizations. Forging successful teams requires knowledge about team dynamics, coordination mechanisms, strategies for conflict resolution, and relationships with other teams, clients, and supervisors. As preparation for meeting these important and often difficult challenges, this course will: a) clarify the source and nature of major obstacles to productive teamwork; b) offer models of effective leadership; c) present principles of negotiation and consensus-building; and d) offer practical suggestions for improving time management, communication efficiency and accuracy, and quality of decision-making.
Course overview. This three credit course offers
a survey of the design and management of information systems and services.
Course content will balance theoretical perspectives on design and management
from the psychological and business literature with practical examples
drawn from ongoing projects at the School of Information. To avoid unpleasant
surprises we want to be as honest as possible about the demands of this
class. First, in this course a group project will involve eight weeks of
effort. As much as possible, we will prepare you to cope with the challenges
of doing group work. Second, you will be doing a total of between 120 and
130 hours of work outside of class, or an average of about nine hours per
week (this is consistent with Rackham guidelines for a three credit course,
which suggest a target of 125 total hours of outside work over a fourteen
week term). However, time demands will not be distributed evenly. Each
week we estimate you will need approximately two hours of work outside
of class to do the 100 to 150 pages of required readings. In Weeks 4 -
11 we estimate you will need an additional ten hours of work outside of
class devoted to the group projects. In Weeks 12 - 14 we estimate you will
need an additional seven hours of work outside of class to prepare for
the oral presentations. The table below summarizes our projection of time
requirements over the term.
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| Weeks 1 - 3 |
6
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0
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0
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6
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| Weeks 4 - 11 |
16
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80
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0
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96
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| Weeks 12 - 14 |
6
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0
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20
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26
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| Entire term |
28
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80
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20
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128
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Our teaching philosophy. As much as possible we want to create a classroom environment that allows you to actively participate in learning about information systems and services. Toward this end we want to encourage you to interact both formally and informally with the instructional staff and with your classmates. We welcome student initiative and look forward to hearing from you about things we do well and about areas where you think we could improve. In addition, we feel strongly that learning to write and speak effectively about the design and management of information systems is the key to thinking effectively about the design and management of information systems. Learning to write and speak effectively also has pragmatic benefits in terms of making you a better communicator and therefore a stronger candidate for employment or promotion.
How we run things. A typical week includes a two hour lecture on Monday, followed by a one hour section meeting on either Monday or Wednesday. The lecture will identify and develop major themes from each week's readings. In addition, the lectures will be opportunities to develop pragmatic knowledge about the assessment, selection, implementation, and management of information systems and services. During some class sessions we will breakout into smaller groups for presentations and group exercises. The lecture style will be informal, with an expectation of high participation on your part.
Criteria for success in this course. To support high performance, the staff of SI 505 have outlined the following guidelines:
1) Please complete the weekly reading assignment in advance of the Monday lecture. An important part of class sessions will be the dialogue between you, your classmates, and the instructional staff. Although you may feel these conversations put you "on the spot," questions will be posed in a friendly and non-confrontational manner. Further, the staff will use these classroom conversations to help you discover new ways of thinking about the material you've studied, rather than as tests of whether you can recite a specific set of facts.
2) Your written work should be grammatically correct, free of spelling errors, logically organized, precise, concise, clear, and original. The teaching staff understand that scholarly writing is difficult. Therefore, the staff are willing to read drafts and to provide feedback. This gives you extra help to do well on written assignments and it introduces you to important general writing practices of editing and revision that produce effective prose.
3) Your final oral presentation should conform to professional expectations in terms of organization of content, speaking style, quality of audio-visual materials (particularly the readability of overhead slides), and dress (i.e., you wouldn't wear jeans and a sweatshirt for a key job interview, nor should you do so for presentations in this class).
4) Your contributions to class discussions should indicate a thorough reading of course materials, distinguish between facts and opinions, take into consideration contributions by your classmates, and indicate a willingness to test new ideas. The teaching staff appreciate that you may be hesitant to speak in class. Therefore, we will conduct discussions in a low-key and inclusive style designed to reduce anxiety about talking in front of others.
5) Please make a commitment to attend every lecture and to regularly attend office hours. Each staff member will have at least two scheduled office hours per week.
Helping you become an effective team member and manager
We believe it is important for students to learn how to work effectively as members of teams. Therefore, the foundation of this course is an eight week project (February 1 through April 5) that you will complete as part of a five person group. The sections that follow describe an example project that will help you determine the appropriate scope and level of effort for your own projects, as well as a description of the process of project identification and of group formation.
A typical project. The group projects should involve about 400 person hours over eight weeks (or an average of ten hours per group member per week during this period). Given this amount of effort we do not expect you to implement an information system or deliver an information service. Instead, you will perform a consulting role for an actual organization that is either confronting a problem with an existing information system or service, or that faces an opportunity for gain through the introduction of a new information system or service.
Project identification and group formation. The focus for all projects this term will be the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), located in G625 Haven Hall, and the University's Information Technology Division, located off campus at the Arbor Lakes facility.
SSD offers a range of free services to help students negotiate disability-related barriers to pursuit of educational opportunities at the University of Michigan. For example, SSD strives to improve access to University programs, activities, and facilities for students with disabilities as well as to increase awareness of disability issues on campus. These efforts include taped textbooks for students with visual impairments, notetakers for students with hearing impairments, as well as transportation for students with mobility impairment. The staff of the SSD confront a number of issues relevant to the content of this course, including how to create Web content that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, how to assess the needs of students with various disabilities, how to measure the quality of supported services, how to determine the structure of new services, and how to integrate technology to enhance existing services (e.g., captioning of videorecordings made of lectures). On Monday, January 11, Sam Goodin, the director of the SSD, will join us in class to outline several potential projects that he has designed in consultation with the SI 505 staff.
ITD provides academic and administrative computing services to the University of Michigan. These services include managing and maintaining central network resources as well as telecommunications. In addition, ITD is committed to providing leadership in the innovative application of information technology in higher education. ITD staff confront a number of issues relevant to this course, particularly in the way ITD presents services and products to campus users. The Web is a primary mechanism for both disseminating information, training users, and assisting users in trouble-shooting. ITD would like to improve the usability and quality of their Web sites. In addition, ITD has ambitious plans to provide call center support, via the Web, using e-commerce models. On Monday, January 11, Andy Palms, ITD manager, will join us in class to outline some projects he has designed in conultation with the SI 505 staff.
After considering the SSD and ITD project ideas, you should spend the period before Monday, January 25 deciding which project interests you the most and identifying other students in the class with similar interests who will work with you. Once you have determined a project and a project team, you should formally acknowledge your group by signing up on the sheets outside of Maurita Holland's office in West Hall. The sign-up sheets will be posted at 9 am on Tuesday, January 12. Please note that we are restricting project teams to 4 or 5 members without exception. As soon as a project has a full complement of students that project's sheet will be taken down. You should try to identify your project and team quickly and then sign up, to avoid losing your project to another team. Also, you should consider a number of projects in case your preferred choice is taken before you can sign up. All of the projects will provide excellent learning opportunities and each project represents the same level of effort. Therefore, you should not feel badly if you don't get your first choice -- this is one situation where all the choices are excellent! You must have a project assignment by Monday, January 25.
Project milestones. Between February 1 and April 14 you and your group will be responsible for a variety of deliverables. Your first responsibility is a Group process plan, due in lecture on Monday, February 8 [Link to Group process plan assignment, Download RTF version of assignment]. The Group process plan is a three page, double-spaced document that explains how your group will be organized and how you plan to cope with potential problems, such as underperformance by group members. The Group process plan is worth 10% of your grade. Your next deliverable is the Project contract with client, due in lecture on Monday, February 15 [Link to Project contract assignment, Download RTF version of assignment]. The Project contract is a five page, double-spaced document that specifies project goals, deadlines for goals, and criteria for success. The Project contract is worth 10% of your grade. On Monday, March 8 you will turn in a Progress report. The Progress report is a three page, double-spaced document containing an assessment of current progress relative to the project timetable, total hours of effort to date, and plans for revisions to the project plan [Link to Progress report assignment, Download RTF version of assignment]. The Progress report is worth 5% of your grade. The Project report is due on Monday, April 5. The Project report should be 15 pages double-spaced, with complete findings and recommendations [Link to Project report assignment, Download RTF version of the assignment]. The Project report is worth 30% of your grade. During the period between Monday, April 5 and Wednesday, April 14 you will make a 45 minute formal presentation of your findings and recommendations to your client, a subset of your classmates, and the course instructors. The formal presentation will be worth 20% of your grade [Link to Formal presentation assignment, Download RTF version of assignment]. We have scheduled the presentations for Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 9 pm April 5 through April 14. The presentations will be held in the Collaboration Technology Suite at the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work (CREW), C2420 School of Business Administration. The CTS will be reserved for rehearsals Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 2 from 3-5 pm, and also during section meeting times Monday, April 5 and 12, as well as Wednesday, April 7 and 14.
Participation
Participating in lecture and section is an important way for you to actively learn the material in this course. Talking about the issues raised in lectures, readings, and videos will help you develop your thinking about the design and management of information systems. In addition, throughout the term, you will be asked to complete short homework assignments. These may include brief reaction papers based on course readings or other activities. Class participation is worth 25% of your grade.
The bottom line
Your grade in SI 505 will follow this breakdown:
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The following texts are on order at Ulrich's (662-3021;
549 East University).
Note: Due to an ordering mix-up the Ulrich's order
was processed late. Therefore, the Landauer and DeMarco texts will not
be available until early February. There are a limited number of copies
of the Turkle book. We recommend that you go ahead and obtain DeMarco from
an alternate supplier, such as an online bookstore. :
Landauer, T.K. (1996). The trouble with computers:
Usefulness, usability, and productivity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
[ISBN: 0262621088; $17.50] Review: http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/book-home.tcl?isbn=0262621088
Order information: (617) 625-8481; mitpress-order-inq@mit.edu
Turkle, S. (1997). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York: Touchstone Books. [ISBN: 0684833484; $14.00]
DeMarco, T. (1997). The deadline: A novel about project management. New York: Dorset House. [ISBN: 0932633390; $24.95].
Broadwell, M. (1998) The New Supervisor: How to thrive in Your First Year as a Manager. 5th edition. Addison-Wesley. [ISBN: 0201339927;$15]
Note: Many Web-based booksellers offer all of these books with possible savings over bookstore prices, even after including shipping.
Course schedule, assignments, and lecture slides
You can view the course schedule with accompanying lecture slides [Link to course schedule, assignments and lecture slides].
Last updated 2/9/99
Tom Finholt