The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2005: §3554    Home    Papers/Indices    prev (§3553)    Next (§3562)
Sat, Oct 8, 3:30 - 3:55, Senate B     Paper (refereed)
Recommended Citation: Rebhun, H and S Hashemi.  Systems Development Projects – Gaining Practical Experience while Meeting Community Needs: A Win-Win State of Affairs.  In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2005, v 22 (Columbus OH): §3554. ISSN: 1542-7382.
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Systems Development Projects – Gaining Practical Experience while Meeting Community Needs: A Win-Win State of Affairs

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Refereed8 pages
Herbert Rebhun    [a1] [a2]
Computer Information Systems Department
University of Houston Downtown    [u1] [u2]
Houston, Texas, USA    [c1] [c2]

Shohreh Hashemi    [a1] [a2]
Computer Information Systems Department
University of Houston Downtown    [u1] [u2]
Houston, Texas, USA    [c1] [c2]

During their senior year, students in the Computer Information Systems Bachelor degree program at the University of Houston-Downtown are required to complete a capstone Senior Project course under the guidance of the Computer Information Systems faculty. To meet this requirement, either online or in a face-to-face setting, students design and implement systems for various Houston-area businesses at no cost. The students benefit by gaining the needed “real world” experience, and local businesses benefit by having a new system at no cost -- a win-win situation. After describing the capstone Senior Projects course at a four-year public institution, this paper focuses on the pros and cons of the Senior Project capstone course and addresses such questions as whether this course should be required or elective, who should be allowed to enroll in it, what the expected outcomes from the course are, what its prerequisites should be, what topics should be covered in the course, what methods should be used to deliver course materials, what projects are acceptable, and whether group projects should be allowed. In addition, the authors will share their experiences teaching this course, exploring the pitfalls that can be avoided to ensure successful delivery of the course.

Keywords: senior projects, capstone course, systems analysis and design, computer information systems

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