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2012/2013  KAN-DISF  Designing Information Systems for the Future

English Title
Designing Information Systems for the Future

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 15 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Spring
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Information Systems, BSc
Course coordinator
  • Daniel Hardt - ITM
  • Nikhil Srinivasan - ITM
Main Category of the Course
  • Information Systems
Last updated on 20-12-2012
Learning objectives
After the course the students should be able to:
• Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary trends and debates in the ISD practice and literature, critically assess the literature on current trends and challenges in ISD, and discuss these in relation to general perspectives and schools in ISD.
• Analyze development methods, identify core parts, and synthesis the perspective behind, and analyse the need for skills and capabilities within an ISD approach and discuss differences and similarities between the contemporary trends included in the course.
Examination
.
Designing Information Systems for the Future:
Type of test Oral with Written Assignment
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner External examiner
Exam period May/June
Aids Without preparation
Duration 30 Minutes

The course contains two obligatory assignments (1 & 2) and finishes off with an oral examination based on a project written in groups (3). 1 person/15 pages, 2 persons/ 30 pages, groups of 3 or more/45 pages.

1) obligatory assignment: A literature synthesis consisting of max 4000 words:

To be approved, the literature synthesis should apply the concepts, theories, and models of the theme in question, and it should demonstrate the clarity of argumentation.
In this specialization, the literature synthesis must provide an overview and discussion of contemporary challenges and trends in the ISD context.


2) obligatory assignment: Project description (3-5 pages)

Project description in preparation of an in-depth study of a contemporary ISD challenge or trend, leading to the formulation of the final project.
To be approved, the project description must reflect that the student is able to:
• Choose a relevant theme
• Investigate the theme based on a literature study.
• Formulate a problem related to the theme and plan an investigation into that problem; i.e. the final project.

The theme and problem can be based on debates in the literature and/or on a concrete problem in a company or group of companies.

3) Examination: In-depth study of a contemporary ISD challenge or trend. (Overall assessment of project and oral performance).

Examples of final project (defined in the second obligatory assignment )
• An empirical study of ISD in practice
• A case study of outsourcing
• A survey of how a group of companies address an ISD challenge
• An experiment with development tools and methods.


Make-up and re-examination take place in August. The exam is equal to the regular exam.
Course content

The course covers a range of subjects selected by the teachers, combined with subjects chosen by the students. Hence the course has four major parts; first an introduction to the developments in ISD theory and methods and major debates and controversies in the field. There will be a special emphasis on the relationship between theory, method, and practice. Second, lectures covering four contemporary trends in ISD. The third part of the course is organized around 3 workshops about topics selected by the students. The fourth part of the course consists of a project assignment in an area chosen by the individual project groups.

A particular focus in all parts of the course will be on the role of the systems developer as project manager and mediator between development and use of information systems.

The subjects for the compulsory course of lectures will be:

· Agile software development

· Distributed software development and outsourcing

· Product-line and standard package development

· Open source development

 

The subjects will be discussed in their technological, economic, and historical context, their similarities and differences, as well as their claims, range and application will be critically assessed.

The projects will allow the students to work practically (hands-on), empirically (study practice) or theoretically with an ISD topic of specific interest to the student. The students are free to define their own projects as long as the problem formulation is relevant for ISD. Workshops and supervision are performed to support the students’ immersion in the chosen topic. The subjects for the workshops depend on the trends/issues the students choose to work with. The course coordinators will arrange that relevant workshop hosts (professors) and supervisors are assigned to accommodate the topics chosen for the projects.
Teaching methods
A mix of lectures (including guests from industry), workshops and project work will be used.
Expected literature

The course literature will be divided in two parts

· Literature selected by the teachers for the first two parts of the course (80%)

· Project relevant literature selected by individual project groups (20%)
Last updated on 20-12-2012