Course Title: Project Management for Information Systems

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Project Management for Information Systems

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ISYS2051

City Campus

Undergraduate

620H Business IT and Logistics

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2006,
Sem 2 2006,
Sem 1 2007,
Sem 2 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 1 2009,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 2 2012

ISYS2131

RMIT University Vietnam

Undergraduate

620H Business IT and Logistics

Face-to-Face

 Viet2 2011,
Viet3 2011,
Viet1 2012,
Viet2 2012,
Viet3 2012,
Viet1 2013

Course Coordinator: Ian Searle

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5824

Course Coordinator Email: ian.searle@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 108 Level 17


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

You should have satisfactorily completed all of the following pre-requisite course before you commence this course:

  • Applications Development 2
  • Systems Analysis and Design 2

Aternatively you may be able to demonstrate the required skills and knowledge before you start this course. Contact your course coordinator if you think you may be eligible for recognition of prior learning. For further information go to Recognition of prior learning (RPL) in Higher Education.

Note it is a condition of enrolment at RMIT University that you accept responsibility for ensuring that you have completed the prerequisite courses before enrolling in a course.
For your information the RMIT University Course Requisites policy can be found at Course requisites – 7.29.1.6.


Course Description

You will gain a practical knowledge and understanding of the professional practice and the total management process associated with the development and enhancement of information systems. Underlying themes focus upon the key issues of globalisation, organisational structure, and the management of change in the workplace. Within this context particular attention will be given to skills development in the areas of project management, contract administration and tender evaluation, organisational, cultural and ethical issues, and human resource management.

If you are undertaking this course in Melbourne from semester 2, 2012 onward your class will be held in a device-equipped teaching space. Each student group will have access to a laptop. It is however recommended that you have access to a mobile computing device to allow greater flexibility in terms of where you can work on campus both in and outside class times.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The capabilities that are developed through the program in which you are enrolled are described in the Program Guide. This course contributes to the development of the capabilities in the following way.

It is expected that you will acquire capabilities in the following areas:

  • Project Management:  Ability to manage the total management process associated with the development and enhancement of information systems with a critical appreciation of the relationship between systems development, and the management of time, cost, quality, and change management, within the organisational contexts of governance, cultural and ethical issues.
  • Professional Practice:  Ability to frame judgements and work practice within professional, legal and ethical frameworks.
  • Interpersonal Skills Development:  Ability to engage with others in culturally diverse and technically complex situations.. The cluster of interpersonal skills is addressed in every course at various levels within the program. It is also recognised that the sustainable development in global organisations require the development of life-long learning skills and effective project team membership.
  • Tools and Techniques Application:  Ability to apply the most appropriate tool and/or technique for the situation at hand.
  • Tolerance for Ambiguity:  Ability to recognise the uncertainty of business decision-making due to the dynamic, global context businesses operate in.
  • Management of IS in a Global Business Context: Ability to align strategic business objectives with the development and governance of business information systems.

Seoul Accord
The School of Business IT and Logistics embraces the intent of the Seoul Accord. Across the world, accrediting bodies that endorse graduate qualifications if ICT are increasingly adopting the Accord. You need to be mindful that satisfying the spirit of the Accord involves an intellectual stretch. This is apparent in the following account of the Accord, which is quite specific about indicating what is expected from a graduate. It requires that graduates have knowledge and skills appropriate to solving complex problems. An aim of Project Management for Information systems is to assist you to deal with such situations. More about the Accord can be found at http://www.abeek.or.kr/accord/contents.jsp

Australian Computer Society Core Body of Knowledge
The ACS expects graduates of accredited courses to be well versed in a range of knowledge and skills. To this end Project Management for Information systems in particular seeks to have you apply and analyse relevant knowledge in the following areas drawn from CBoK:
 

  • Problem Solving Using Modelling and Abstraction
    • Professional Knowledge:
    • Ethics
    • Professionalism
    • Teamwork Concepts and Issues
    • Interpersonal Communication
  • Outcomes Management
    • IT Governance
    • IT Project Management
    • Change Management

Other aspects of the CBoK may be touched on in less depth. Further details of the CBoK can be found at www.acs.org.au

Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA)
SFIA offers a classification of IS skills now increasingly adopted in industry. Project Management for Information Systems seeks to have you foster skills at a level commensurate with that expected of a recent graduate in the Project Management classification. Further details at www.sfia.org.uk


Upon successful completion of this course you may be able to:

 

  • Describe the Project Management Body of Knowledge formulated by the Project Management Institute (http://www.pmi.org).
  • Apply knowledge of the key areas of project management to the formulation and execution of a project plan.
  • Work effectively within a team setting, employing professional and change management skills (analytical, problem solving, and policy-making skills, communication skills, leadership and ethical practice) to manage organisational and technological change.

A key objective of this course is to prepare you to perform the duties associated with the management of the change, especially change driven by the adoption of new information technologies within organisations.

You may be able to assess your progress throughout the course through weekly test on the lecture, on assessment of your and your groups success in problem solving exercises. Your tutor will give you advice and commentary on you and your group’s execution of the simulated project.


Overview of Learning Activities

The course activities have been designed to maximise the opportunity for you to be active participants in the learning process. The more active and involved you are, the more they will gain from the course.

The learning experience may consist of:
 

  • You may take part in weekly workshops, quizzes and group problem solving activities.  These activities develop your Professional Knowledge and Outcomes as described in the Australian Computer Society core Body of Knowledge described above. They also relate to the Skills Framework for the Information Age, also referred to above.
  • Workshops also involve a simulated project management exercise. These activities also develop your practical skills described in the ACS Core Body of Knowledge and the Skills Framework.
  • You may need to read the course notes, the textbook and recommended journal articles. This reading will develop and reinforce material presented and discussed in workshops and are required for the weekly classroom room tests.


Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT university will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems and computer laboratories.
You have access to extensive course materials on myRMIT Studies, including digitised readings, lecture notes and a detailed study program, external internet links and access to RMIT Library online and hardcopy resources.


Overview of Assessment

The assessment for this course may include satisfactory completion of the project simulation and workshop activities and an examination.

 

The your Professional Knowledge and Outcomes developed during Class Room activities may be progressively assessed as part of those activities. The workshop activities and project simulation is intended develop and access your capabilities with the practicalities of managing a project and to apply theory to practice. More specifically they relate to systems infrastructure, project management, professional practice and interpersonal skills. The examination provides an overall assessment of  your learning and your ability to apply the learning to new situations.

Feedback may be provided throughout the semester in class and/or online discussions, through individual and group feedback on practical exercises and by individual consultation.

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or the Disability Liaison Unit if you would like to find out more.

Your course assessment conforms to the RMIT university assessment principles, regulations, policies and procedures which are described and referenced in a single document Assessment Policies and Procedures manual. An 1.2.4 Assessment Charter section of this document summarises your responsibilities as an RMIT student as well as those of your teachers.