Course Information
Meeting Times:
Classroom:
Credit Hours:
Prerequisites:
Instructor
Tsangyao Chen, Ph.D.
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Messaging:
Office Hours Come to the office hours for
technical consultation or
just to chat.
Online conferencing Online conferencing
with the instructor
when you are not able
to meet in person.
Text Messaging Use text messaging, as
permitted by institutional
policy, for quick
technical assistance.
Emailing
- Use the institutional learning management system email instead of regular emails for threaded email correspondences.
- Emails are generally responded to within 24 hours.
- If needed, the instructor's email address is tychen@university.edu.
This course introduces students topics that connect their learning in information systems and IT management in
organizations. It includes an introduction to information system hardware components, operating systems,
scripting languages, with practical applications in databases and networked servers. In addition, this course
provides practice in managing the people, processes and events (planned or otherwise) involved in information
system and information service management. Information management topics include system management, maintenance,
quality assurance, reporting services, and management of physical and human resources as services.
OS, Linux, scripting, Bash, DBMS, Relational DBMS, SQL, MySQL, SQL Queries
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Describe basic principles, practices, and components of information systems.
- Identify fundamental concepts and components of networked information systems.
- Identify common information system operation and testing procedures.
- Explain the relationship between different information system processes, including testing, development, maintenance, service continuity, and disaster recovery.
- Develop solutions for improving integration between technologies in order to streamline operations or automate processes.
- Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in identifying and trouble-shooting IT system problems.
Course Activities
Lectures
The lectures introduce students the concepts in information systems and services management. The
information services topics are about how information systems are created, implemented, and used in the
organizational and management context, with an emphasis on the perspectives of IT professionals. The
information systems concepts are introductions to computer science, information systems, and information
technology, with chosen topics focus on the context specified in this course and how to apply and integrate
the elements to construct information systems as a way to provide information services.
Examples of the information systems topics covered in the lectures include:
- Unix-like systems
- Shell scripting vs programming
- Variables
- Environment variables & aliases
- Functions
- Conditional statements
- User input
- Iterations: for loops and while loops
- Bash arrays and shell variables
- String processing
- Regular expression
Examples of the information service topics covered in the lectures include:
- IT infrastructure
- Business flow and best practice
- Information systems frameworks
- Data management lifecycle frameworks
- Data quality control and management
- IT project management: SDLC and agile
- IT service management: ITIL
- PM lifecycle phases
- ITIL lifecycle phases
- Risk and change management
Lab Activities
The laboratory activities ( labs ) are used to systematically practice the basic concepts and skills
used in this course. The instructor will provide explanation and demonstration when necessary, and the
students would work collaboratively to solve the problems.
Examples of the topics covered in the labs include:
- Operating Systems 1: Students will practice a variety of operating system command line functions and learn to navigate the file systems.
- Operating Systems 2: Students will practice operating systems commands and shell scripts to use and manipulate files.
- Operating Systems 3: Students you will practice operating systems commands and shell scripts to use and manipulate your computer environment.
- Databases in Information Systems 1: Students will begin using database commands from the command line to create a database that they will use for the remainder of the course. User management and data manipulation commands will also be used.
- Databases in Information Systems 2: Students will insert a large dataset into the database they created and use database commands from the command line and in shell scripts to access database information. For quality assurance, information from both the database and the original text data files will be compared to check for information consistency.
- Data Management and Quality Assurance 1: Students will use shell scripts, operating system commands, and a variety of applications to manage databases and to ensure data quality.
- Data Management and Quality Assurance 2: Students will learn how to replicate, backup, recover, and verify databases. Students will also learn now to use scripts to guard against failures while updating running information systems.
- Data Management and Quality Assurance 3: Students will practice how to set up the environment, create a wrapped design script for pulling required information from the database iteratively. Students will also learn how to turn the query script output into well-built reports using scripts.
Course Materials
No textbook is required for this course. Required and suggested reading materials, if
any, will be provided. The following textbooks are recommended as resources for more
complete and in-depth investigation on the topics covered in class.
Linux Resources
Bash Programming
MySQL Resources
Note:
- Laptop Computer: You are encouraged to bring a laptop computer to the class meetings for use in the hands-on activities.
- Software: Software applications needed for this course is available via https://labs.university.edu.
- Help Desk: If you need help using the applications or have issues accessing the virtual machines, speak with the personnel at the Help Desk (https://helpdesk.university.edu) in the Department building or create a support request ticket.
Course Assignments
Submission Guidelines:
- All assignment submissions will be accepted during the scheduled assignment submission period.
- Late submissions will be granted only in excused situations per university attendance policy with necessary documentation.
- Note that some assignments must be done in order. For example, in order to analyze data using certain applications, system configuration and dataset import may need to be completed in a prior assignment.
Homework
Homework assignments are designed to give students the opportunity to practice the learning from the lectures and
Lab activities. Homework assignment instructions are detailed separately in each assignment.
Lab
Lab instructions are provided in the form of detailed step-by-step lab documents.
The instructor will lead the lab activities by providing short lectures followed by
demonstrations before students working on the exercises.
Lab exercises provide opportunities for students to:
- learn and practice technical skills;
- increase conceptual understanding related to skills practiced;
- gain knowledge and skills needed for answering homework questions
Project
The project will require you to work individually or as a group to develop a three-tier client-server
application with database backend. The details on the project will be issued in a separate handout.
Examination
Exams are comprehensive assessments of student learning over a period of time. Each of the exams:
- Will cover the materials from the lectures, lab activities, and homework assignments;
- Will mainly not be cumulative. However, the learner will need the knowledge and skills from earlier assignments to complete the exam questions successfully.
If a makeup exam is granted, an alternative format (e.g., essay, oral, or lab assessment) may be used.
Attendance/Participation
In-class short assignments and quizzes are administered during class meetings to:
- take class attendance; and
- assess participation and diagnose student learning.
Note: No late or makeup submissions for attendance assignments/quizzes.
Grading Scheme
Tis course intends to enable students to complete all of these activities following the “learning by doing”
principle. The grading scale is based on the assumption that the students will work independently and collaboratively
to complete all the activities with very few errors. Generally, a student attending all the class meetings and
complete all the assignments by schedule will do very well in this course, even with minimal prior technical
experience.
| Course Requirement | Number of Items | Points per Item | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework | 10 | 15 | 150 |
| Lab | 7 | 10~15 | 100 |
| Project | 1 | 50 | 50 |
| Exam | 3 | 50 | 150 |
| Attendance/Participation | 50 | ||
| 500 |
| Letter Grade | Range |
|---|---|
| A | 100% to ≥ 93% |
| A- | < 93% to ≥ 90% |
| B+ | < 90% to ≥ 87% |
| B | < 87% to ≥ 83% |
| B- | < 83% to ≥ 80% |
| C+ | < 80% to ≥ 77% |
| C | < 77% to ≥ 73% |
| C- | < 73% to ≥ 70% |
| D+ | < 70% to ≥ 67% |
| D | < 67% to ≥ 63% |
| D- | < 63% to ≥ 60% |
| F | < 60% to ≥ 0% |
Course Schedule
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| 16 | Final exam |
Assignment Schedule
All course assignments with due dates are listed below. To be successful in this course, be sure to complete
and submit all required assignments by the due date.
| Date | Assignment | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment h01 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a01 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h02 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a02 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h03 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment e01 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a03 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h04 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a04 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h05 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a05 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment e02 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h06 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment a07 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h07 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment h08 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment e03 | 11:59pm | |
| Assignment Attendance |