| PAFIS - 2003-04 | |
Code 2157 (7.5 ECTS credits), Autumn 2003
This course focuses on fundamental techniques for understanding and managing research and development projects, particularly software development, consulting and implementation projects. The course is structured in three parts.
The first part of the course deals with finding, validating and efficiently utilizing existing information, and with developing new knowledge in a scientific way. It is, in practice, very much focused on things that you need to know in order to write your master's thesis. It consists of two lectures, followed by four combined lectures and case presentations, where you will be asked to find information, review the methodology and validity of published research papers, and so on. There is a readings package, and an exam.
The second part deals with project managment, as applied both to research and development projects, particularly in the software field. There is a book - Futrell, Shafer & Shafer: Quality Software Project Management (Prentice Hall 2002) - which is the subject of an exam, and two supporting lecture pairs. Since people who graduate from this program are very likely to come into contact with software projects, it will be a good investment of time and effort to make sure you have read one (the!) book on software project management, as a bare minimum.
The third part is strongly focused on the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which has emerged as the dominant way of describing processes, systems, and software. Like project management, it is something that everyone who graduates from the program needs to be conversant with - we can't make you UML gurus, but you need to know what it is all about. We'll try to accomplish this with two pairs of lectures and a (the!) book: Larman: Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and the Unified Process, 2nd ed. (Prentice Hall 2001).
In order to attend this course, you either have to be a student in the Program in Advanced Financial Information Systems, or be accepted individually as a participant by the examiner. Reasonably senior accounting, information systems, and PIB exchange students will generally be accepted as long as there is space available, but do please contact the examiner first.
There are 12 pairs of 90-minute lectures, including the case presentations, scheduled, always in the classroom called Futurum (in the basement, used to be the coal cellar) on Tuesday afternoons. The aim of these is to, as far as possible, tell you stuff that you need to know that isn't in the textbooks.
Attendance is nominally voluntary, but do bear in mind that the exams will draw on both the literature and the lectures, and that, really, as far as possible the lectures aim to complement and extend, not overlap, the material in the books. Also, of course, note that you do need to be there in order to present your cases.
Guest lectures may be added - watch your mail!
In part one, you will be asked to prepare and present four case exercises. They will be reviews and analyses of scientific papers and M.Sc. theses, exercises in searching for scientific literature, and related stuff. You'll be writing and submitting them as web pages, and presenting them in class. The cases should be done in groups of two persons.
Readings package & assigned material.
| Tu | 09.09 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 01-02 | Introduction to the course and to scientific reasoning |
| Tu | 16.09 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 03-04 | Scientific arguments and the theory of science |
| Tu | 07.10 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 05-06 | Case 1; Finding and using scientific information |
| Tu | 14.10 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 07-08 | Case 2; Different types of research |
| Tu | 21.10 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 09-10 | Case 3; Writing a M.Sc thesis |
| Tu | 28.10 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 11-12 | Case 4; Wrap-up |
| Tu | 04.11 | 14:30-18:00 | Max | Exam part I | |
| Tu | 11.11 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 13-14 | Software Project Management 1 |
| Tu | 18.11 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 15-16 | Software Project Management 2 |
| Tu | 25.11 | 14:30-18:00 | Max | Exam part II | |
| Tu | 02.12 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 17-18 | UML 1 |
| Fr | 05.12 | 10:30-18:00 | Fut | Part I - Case 4 | Research proposals seminar |
| Tu | 09.12 | 14:30-18:00 | Fut | Lecture 19-20 | UML 2 |
We 7.1.2004 Exam part I and/or II and/or III
Sa 24.1.2004 Exam part I and/or II and/or III
Sa 6.3.2004 Exam part I and/or II and/or III
Please note that the schedule is subject to changes and extensions.
The three examinations after the lectures have passed are standard exam dates, supervised by the study office for a lot of courses on the same day. You need to register in advance for these, using the school's web-based system. The examinations on November 11th and 25th are arranged internally for this particular course, and you do not need to register for these ones. Just show up.
The course will be graded based on written examinations and case work.
The literature and contents of the lectures will be examined in three parts. The examination for the first part, comprising the literature specified under "Part I" above, assigned readings and material, and the contents of lectures 1-12, will be worth 20 points. You need to get at least 10 points in order to pass. There will be an opportunity to take the examination for this part on Tuesday, November 4th, and then three exam opportunities after the lecture period when you can take any or several of the three parts.
The examination for the second part, comprising the literature specified under "Part II" above, assigned readings and material, and the contents of lectures 13-16, will be worth 30 points. You need to get at least 15 points in order to pass. There will be an opportunity to take the examination for this part on Tuesday, November 25th, and then three exam opportunities after the lecture period when you can take any or several of the three parts.
The examination for the third part, comprising the literature specified under "Part III" above, assigned readings and material, and the contents of lectures 17-20, will be worth 30 points. You need to get at least 15 points in order to pass. There will be an opportunity to take the examination for this part on the three exam opportunities after the lecture period, when you can take any or several of the three parts.
The four cases in Part I will be graded with between 0 and 5 points each, and you need to collect at least 10 out of 20 possible points in order to pass this block.
In order to pass the course, you consequently need to:
pass the exam for part I with at least 10 points out of 20,
pass the exam for part II with at least 15 points out of 30,
pass the exam for part III with at least 15 points out of 30,
present and submit the four cases and collect at least 10 points out of 20.
Your grade, on a scale of 1 (satisfactory) to 5 (excellent), will be based on your total points (between 50 and 100) on the standard linear scale.
We - the school, the faculty, and your fellow students - expect and require that you make a good-faith effort to do the required work in this course without cheating. Briefly: It is not considered okay to copy-paste from anywhere into work that you submit as your own, except under the very strict code governing the use of scientific citations and quotations. It is certainly not okay to use other people's work as such in the case submissions, with or without asking their permission. But on the other hand it is quite okay to discuss, compare, collaborate over glass of whatever - the cases are not a competitive sport! We will discuss this issue in the first lectures, and there will be more detailed guidelines and instructions in the case assignments. If, despite this, you feel that something is unclear regarding what goes and what doesn't, please ask the faculty directly.
Please refer to the web pages for current contact information for the faculty. Oana Velcu handles most things of an administrative nature. Anders Tallberg does the lectures and is responsible for the course as the official examiner.
The web pages of the students attending the course are, of course, on the PAFIS web server. There is also an email list, meth03@pafis.shh.fi , which forwards mail to all the students attending this particular course, and of course to the faculty. Please feel free to use this one to communicate with fellow students regarding matters specific to this course. However, please also think twice before using it. Make sure that what you are mailing is both related to this course, and relevant to all participants. Questions regarding the exams, lectures, exercises and so on are perfectly all right; so are, for instance, tip-offs about useful and relevant web pages you've found. It should be obvious that off-topic stuff like advertisments, forwarded jokes, politics, or anything resembling spam is not okay at all. Abuse will be dealt with in a brutal and efficient manner.
Because this email list is also used to communicate possible changes in the schedule and other possibly urgent or important (or both) stuff, and because it works by sending mail to your @pafis.shh.fi email address, please make sure that you either read your mail on the pafis.shh.fi server regularly, or have it set up to forward your mail to a mailbox that you do read regularly.
All changes, instructions, updates, announcements and so on will of course be posted on the course pages on the PAFIS web site. Please note that this particular page - the main course page on the web - and in particular the schedule section is where you will find the links to lectures, readings, workshop assignments, exam results and everything related to this course.