Faculty of Business, Government and Law
Business Intelligence Systems 7156 and 6680
Assignment 2: Proposal Requirements for DSS/BIS Project
Due Week 5, Friday 18th March 2016 by 11pm
Value 10%, 1000 Words, Individual Work.
For this project, each student is expected to develop individually a computer-based decision support system (DSS) or business intelligence system (BIS) prototype using a software tool or application of choice. The purpose is to analyse the data provided in a data set and to provide insights by presenting the information in a meaningful way.
You are provided with a data set which contains limited data for the health sector called heart data.csv. Your task will be to investigate the data and analyse the problem, design and build a prototype, extract information to ‘tell us what we should know about the data’ from this data set, and then to present the information meaningfully. You may decide to add additional data to the data set.
The project is worth 50% of your marks in the unit and consists of three stages :
1. Proposal to a maximum of 1000 words, worth 10% and due week 5
2. Presentation of ongoing progress worth 10% and due week 10. Students may present in either of two ways -
a. online in a 3 minute video submitted to Moodle by the end of week 10. The student must be the actor who is visible and speaking in the video, or
b. face-to-face in the week 10 tutorial. The presentation by the student must be no longer than 10 minutes and 3 slides.
If a student does not present as specified, there is an automatic fail grade awarded for the unit.
3. DSS/BIS prototype must be functioning and non-trivial with a user-friendly interface. This stage is worth 30% and due week 12. The report briefly documents
a. the development process, and
b. a user guide, and
c. a research component
i. related and relevant issues with an industry focus (for UGs 7156) or
ii. related and relevant issues with an academic focus (for PGs 6680).
Project Proposal
The assessment overall is scaffolded with each stage incrementally contributing to your learning. The assessment is designed to enable you as a student to acquire an understanding of the business intelligence field as well as to develop graduate attributes: analytical and inquiry skills; writing, oral and interpersonal communication skills; organisational abilities, and a sense of professionalism.
Criteria for Proposal Report: 1000 words
Section Words
Executive Summary: Brief overview of the proposal as a whole and recommended course of action.
Introduction: What the proposal contains.
Section 1 Identification and Intelligence: A brief description of the health sector, what health information systems exist already, what do they do or not do in terms of business analytics.
Section 2 Analysis and Design:
1. Statement of the problem and your solution eg, what is the problem and what are you are intending to do ?
2. Explain level of managerial control (operational, tactical, strategic) for your system and why ?
3. Explain decision structure (structured, semi-structured or unstructured problem) and why ?
4. DSS/BIS architecture including
• users of the proposed system,
• model deployed (optimisation or what-if or heuristics or simulation or satisficing etc)
• issues with provide data eg is it ‘clean’, adequate, timely, complete, accurate etc ?
5. Software options proposed for the DSS/BIS prototype solution eg Access, Excel, Powerpoint click-through, SAS software, Tableau, C#, Java, etc. Which software option do you prefer and why ? Do not use too technical an explanation.
6. Design an interface to display your findings. Think about business analytics and data visualisation through graphs, charts, dashboards etc.
Conclusion: Concluding remarks including the benefits and limitations, and a plan for the development of the DSS/BIS prototype at a later date.
100
100
200
500
100
Total 1000
This task draws on your growing knowledge from previous Information Systems units such as Database Design, Systems Analysis and Modelling, Designing Human-Computer Interaction and Research Methods (PGs 6680). This document explains the requirements for stage 1. Stages 2 and 3 will be explained in the near future. There will be time during classes over the semester to work with your tutors on your project.
Guidance on Scholarly Writing
Guidance on scholarly writing is available from the University of Canberra Study Sills resource http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills . As well, forthcoming classes will discuss writing requirements.
-All my own work-
By submitting an assignment you are certifying that the assignment is the product of only your work, based on your personal study and/or research. Collaboration or collusion is not permitted in the production of this assessment item. All material and sources used must be acknowledged. The university takes a very dim view of attempted deception - passing off others' work as your own. Read the Academic Integrity Policy! If you have any doubts about how to handle intellectual property, follow the link on our Moodle site to the Academic Integrity Module.
It is not acceptable to simply copy and paste from sources. Exact or direct copying is a last resort and should be done only to emphasise a point that is best explained in the words of the original author. Exact copying should be in italics or between apostrophes (depending on the reference style) and must always be referenced with author, year and page number, if known. It would be expected that exact copying is no more than 5% of the report. Even when paraphrasing, by re-writing the ideas of other authors in your own words, you will need to reference. The use of the Harvard author-date referencing style is mandatory for this assessment.
The University of Canberra has available, through LearnOnline (Moodle), text-matching software that helps students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understandings of academic integrity. Known as URKUND, the software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.
Submission Instructions
The assignment should be organised using the following guidelines:
• The assignment must use 12 point font size minimum and at least single line spacing with appropriate section headings.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed at the end in a reference list. Harvard referencing style must be used.
• Marks will be lost for poor writing, inadequate structure, careless report presentation, and if the report exceeds the word limit by more or less than 10%.
The assignment must be submitted to the Moodle DropBox.
Extensions
Requests for an extension must be received by the convenor on the authorised extension form, accompanied by supporting documentation, before the due date else penalties may apply for late submission without an approved extension. Refer to Assessment Policy and Procedures for details.
Marking Rubric for Project Proposal: worth 10%
Awesome Amazing Admirable Attempted Unacceptable
Grade
Mark HD
9-10 DI
8 CR
7 P
5-6 Fail
5
Proposal Content
5% All topics are pertinent and covered in depth. Ability to think critically and to synthesise source material is demonstrated. Logic is clear and easy to follow with strong arguments Topics are relevant and soundly analysed. Consistently logical and convincing Generally relevant and well analysed. Mostly consistently logical and convincing Some relevance and analysis presented. Adequate cohesion and conviction Little or no understanding of the topic.
Missing content. Lacks conviction.
Descriptive rather than critical thinking demonstrated. Arguments are confused and disjointed
Proposed Project Plan
2% Well thought-out plan, do-able within timeframe Completion within timeframe most likely Completion possible Some chance of succeeding Totally unrealistic plan and timeframe
Proposal Structure
(Executive Summary, Introduction Body and Conclusion)
1% All elements are present and very well integrated. The proposal is the exact length. Headings are clear for each section Components present with good cohesive and appropriate section headings Components present and mostly well integrated. Most headings are given Some components present Proposal lacks structure. Essay is much too long or too short. Not readable
Writing Style
1% Totally clear with excellent English expression and spelling Clear writing style Generally clear writing style Sometimes clear writing style Lacks clarity with many grammatical and spelling errors
Research and Referencing
1% Excellent use of creditable sources. Accurate referencing. Obvious that outstanding effort made Extremely good effort Good effort made but not outstanding Made some effort. For example, Web searches only Very little attempt to reference. Lazy effort with inaccuracies
Student Name:
Student Id:
Date Submitted: ………………/………………/ 2016 Mark Achieved: Grade Achieved: