Course information
Contents
Course Overview
This course will provide opportunity for BSc(IS) student to
- Develop an IT system or proof of concept application that satisfies a list of functional and quality requirements. Student will work with a team and practice their requirements gatherings, analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment and project management skills.
- Build the addition depth required to become a Business IT professional. This includes building up competence in the student's selected track, applying their learning domain knowledge and technology to the relevant track domain industry sector.
IS Project Experience Options
Student must work on a project that is aligned to the declared track (1st Major or 2nd Major). Student may choose to complete an IS Application Project or an IS Research Project or an IS Project Experience (FinTech).
| IS485: IS Research Project | IS483: IS Application Project | IS484: IS Project Experience (FinTech) |
|---|---|---|
| Research + Data Collection + Solution approach + solution implementation + report | Requirements + Scoping + Design and Development (POC) + Testing (System and User Testing) | Financial Technology track students are given priority, to take this course in place of IS485 or IS483. |
| Implemented POC (Demo of the implementation is need) | Implementation (Demo of the implementation is need) | See details at IS484: IS Project Experience (FinTech) |
| Student with GPA > 3.4 |
Prerequisites
Student must pass the following courses:
- Software Project Management (IS212): This can be taken in the same term as IS Project Experience. However, if a student drops IS212 in the term IS Project Experience is also being taken, the student will get an "F" grade for IS Project Experience.
- Any two (2) track courses: One of the track courses can be taken in the same term as IS Project Experience. However, if a student drops this course in the term IS Project Experience is also being taken, the student will get an "F" grade for IS Project Experience.
Student must also be in year 3 or year 4. Do note that this is a mandatory course for ALL SIS (IS) undergraduate students. Students are likely to get most value out of IS485/IS483 if they take it late in their curriculum, after maximal exposure to ideas in various courses. So, taking IS485/IS483 in the first term of year 3 is discouraged. A maximum of 4 (four) additional courses at SMU can be taken by a student in a term along with IS485/IS483/IS484.
Student who wish to complete an IS Research Project will need to have a GPA of > 3.4.
Multi-track Projects
Multi-track projects can include two tracks only. There has to be more than one student from each track in the project team. Acceptance of multi-track project proposals and project grading will be on the basis of required criteria being fulfilled for both the tracks.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the course, student will be able to:
- Showcase expertise in executing a project using knowledge acquired from the courses taken from the IS curriculum
- Experience developing of some technology deliverable for an IT system or proof of concept
- Experience working in a team environment with a sponsored project (internal, external or self-proposed) using project management skills experience throughout the courses taken in IS
- Learn about an industry or technology that is related to his selected track not otherwise available in the course curriculum.
- Work on complex and real project used by the project sponsor
Stakeholders & Students
Stakeholders
- All track project will be manage by Track Coordinator of the corresponding track.
- Each project will have a faculty supervisor and a faculty reviewer.
- Sponsors/Mentors of the project may be an internal faculty or from the industry for external industry depending on the nature of the project.
Students
- All project must be completed in teams.
- Application project will consist of students of group size 4 to 6.
- Research project will consist of students of group size 2 to 3.
- Application project must be done only once
- Students are to self-form their teams prior to registration of the IS Project Experience course. Thus, team formation is the responsibility of the students. Students may post messages at the “Team formation” forum under the “IS Project Experience” course on eLearn to contact one other regarding team formation.
- Students from different cohorts are welcome and encouraged to work together.
| IS Application Project IS483 | IS Research project IS485 |
|---|---|
| 4-6 student members | 2-3 student members |
| Sponsors/ Mentors | Sponsor is the supervisor (internal faculty) |
| Supervisor + Reviewer 1 + Track Coordinator | Supervisor + Reviewer 1 + Track Coordinator |
Project Timeline and Milestones
| Activities | Timeline | Term 1/ Term 2 | Action By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Sourcing and Registration | Week -16 to Week -8 | Teams Formation, Project Sourcing & Requirements Gathering | Students |
| Proposal | Due before the start of Week -8 | Proposal Submission | Students |
| Decision on Proposal | Week -4 | Presentation (whether a presentation by students on the submitted proposal is required will be decided by the Track Coordinator), Acceptance/Rejection | Track Coordinator, Students, (Optional: Sponsor) |
| Supervisor Assignment | Week -3 | Supervisors - Teams assignment | Project Coordinator |
| Start of Project | Week 1 | Supervisors - Teams | Student |
| Midterm | Week 7 to 9 | Presentation | Students, Supervisor, Reviewer (Optional: Sponsor, Track Coordinator) |
| Finals | Week 13 to Week 16 | Presentation | Students, Supervisor, Reviewer (Optional: Sponsor, Track Coordinator) |
Project Sourcing: You may select projects listed on the wiki's individual track link for your track project or you may self-source your own projects with the companies. For self-source projects, please approach your track coordinator to verify if the project is suitable to for the track.
Project Registration: For resource planning, the school needs to keep track of the number teams planning to enroll in IS485/IS483 projects in forthcoming terms. As soon as your project sourcing is complete, please register your project (one registration per group only) at IS Project Experience Registration. Please note that project teams which have registered but did not submit their project proposal within the deadline for a particular term will be automatically disqualified.
Proposal Submission: To be submitted on eLearn. The next proposal submission deadline is November 8, 2020 23:59 for the term starting on January 11, 2021. Proposals to be submitted to the eLearn Assignments folder: "AY20-21 Term2 Proposal Submission". Each team needs to submit a duly completed "Prerequisite Summary for Team Members" (template available in the Resources section below) along with the proposal. If a team does not submit this form with the required information, the team's proposal will not be evaluated. After acceptance of the project proposal students need to bid for IS Project Experience during BOSS2A and they should bid only e$10. If there is insufficient e$ balance in a student's account, he/she will not be able to enroll in IS485/IS483 even if his/her team's proposal is accepted.
Proposal Submission template: Download Proposal template from Resource link below.
Grading
| Grading components |
|---|
| Proposal Review [10%] (by TC) [Rejected project will not be registered] |
| Midterm Presentation [25%] (by Supervisor) |
| Final Evaluation (Presentation and Report) [45%] (by Supervisor, Evaluators) |
| 1 min Project Video [5%] (by Supervisor, Evaluators) |
| Poster [5%] (by Supervisor, Evaluators) |
| Individual contribution [10%] (by Supervisor, Evaluators) |
Roles and Responsibilities
Track Coordinator – (All Tracks):
- Create and maintain both course design documents for Track X (Application and Research)
- Arrange project briefing to students and supervisors- optional (Week 1)
- Manage the Requirements + Scoping of projects
- App Projects and Research projects
- Preparing the proposal doc outline and share with students
- Project requirements
- Alignment to track
- Time line
- Solution approach
- Technology
- Any preliminary design/analysis/research
- Manage Grading regulations
- App Projects and Research projects
Project Supervisor: Supervision is not track dependent. Faculty from any track can supervise the IS projects.
- Weekly/Bi-Weekly supervisions
- Tracking Project progress (PM skills)
- Participation during the milestones’ timeline
- Grading
Project Coordinator: The project coordinator is the instructor who manages the admin aspects of the course
- IS Project process management
- Wiki management
- Policy management
- Posters Submission & Poster day
- Award Management (Awards - Best track project, Best IS project)
Project Sponsor: Project sponsor is the stakeholder who provides the project opportunity for the students.
- Recognize that IS Project Experience is an academic course for students rather than an internship or industrial attachment program.
- Recognize that a team’s outcome from this course is expected to be a proof of concept, rather than an industrial strength system.
- Work with the team and faculty supervisor to define the team’s goals and objectives at the start of the project.
- Ensure that a project team’s progress is not hindered by lack of access to relevant data, software/hardware resources or internal rules and procedures of the sponsoring organization.
Project Team Members: Project team members are students enrolled in one of the IS Project Experience set of courses.
- Work on the project as defined by the supervisor and sponsor towards a course grade.
- Fulfill individual and collective responsibilities towards successful completion of the project.
- Maintain professional conduct in their interactions with various stakeholders.
Resources
Proposal Template
1. Software Development & Digital Business Solutioning Proposal Template [link]
2. CyberSecurity Proposal Template [docx]
3. Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics Proposal Template [docx]
4. Financial Technology Proposal Template [docx]
5. IS483 Generic Proposal Template [docx]
6. IS485 Research Template [docx]
Prerequisite Summary
1. Prerequisite Summary for Team Members [docx ]
Grading Templates
1. Proposal Review [xlsx]
2. Midterm Presentation [xlsx]
3. Final Evaluation [xlsx]
