Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Andreas Oberweis

Description

This course is an introduction to the field of information systems development. The principal goal of the course is to teach the fundamental concepts and methods necessary for this purpose. IS development is always based on similar approaches: Analysis of the requirements and of the current system (if existing), conceptual modeling, design and implementation of the target system, feedback from users and other participants in all phases. Main prerequisites for successful development are the right modeling concepts.

This course addresses all stages of the development of information systems in general, and focuses in particular on the stages of analysis, modeling and design. Main topics are modeling concepts, methods and diagramming techniques for the different aspects of information systems analysis, modeling and design - e.g. data, object relationships, processes views. These application-oriented concepts are based on formal or semi-formal models like relational model, entity-relationship model, Petri nets, object-oriented model etc.

The various modeling concepts, methods and techniques are illustrated by many case studies and examples showing how those concepts, methods and techniques are applied in the different phases of the information systems development process. By studying this course you will gain a fundamental understanding of information systems development. This basic understanding is applicable to the development of any type of information systems, such as health information systems, accounting information systems, human resources information systems, marketing information systems, finance information systems, and even home management information systems.

Outline

Part I: Introductionn
  Chapter 1: Introduction
Part II: Planning phase
  Chapter 2: Requirements in general
  Chapter 3: Requirements engineering process
  Chapter 4: Cost estimation
Part III: Modeling and design phase
  Chapter 5: Introduction to modeling and design of information systems
  Chapter 6: Data-oriented view
  Chapter 7: State-oriented view
  Chapter 8: Object-oriented view
  Chapter 9: User Interface Design
Part IV: Implementation and test phase
  Chapter 10: Implementation and test

Learning Objectives

After completing this course successfully, students can expect to:

1. possess a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts, methods, and techniques necessary for information systems development,
2. know how to apply these concepts, methods and techniques in different phases of information systems development,
3. be able to realize and to manage information system development projects of different kinds,
4. have the ability to integrate the knowledge which they gained from other courses in the MBI program in information systems development,
5. have a fundamental understanding of IS development so that they are able to evaluate and integrate new concepts, methods, and techniques, and to apply them in IS development projects as well.

Method of teaching

This course takes the form of a video-based course (type 1). Weekly lectures provide videos in a streaming format (e.g. WMV), accompanied by a presentation of Powerpoint slides and online screen recordings. As a student, you can watch the videos with a freeware plug-in (Windows Media Player) at any time and as often as you want.

The course is divided into lectures and exercises. Lecture means that the videos and the additional materials to be studied. They are provided in weekly lessons. The time for studying all these materials is approximately two hours per week. Exercises are given for studying the subjects covered in the lectures in more depth. Solving those exercises will take another two or three hours per week. Exercises comprise theoretical questions and solving practical problems. In this way students gain the ability to apply the concepts, methods, and techniques taught in the lecture. Exercises are an essential part of the course. Submitting the solutions is mandatory as the final grading is based on the quality of the solutions received.

Communication (e.g. discussion of the lecture's topics, questions, answers, exercises etc.) between students and instructors is based on electronic media like discussion forum, bulletin board, chat room, and e-mail. Students are always welcome to ask questions and will receive answers as soon as possible.

Requirements

Students should have studied the first-semester MBI courses. Above all, knowledge and experience in programming (cf. "Introduction to Programming") and database management systems (cf. "Data Management"), and a fundamental understanding of computer science (cf. "Introduction to Computer Science") are required.

Credits

6.0 credit points