Student CommentsStudent Comments

Types of StudentsTypes of Students

• Which one are you? – Busy body:

• “I’m too busy for everything”

– Slacker: • “Not only do I not know, I don’t care”

– The Leader:• The Dominator• The Reluctant Leader• The Mentor

– The Follower (the Passivist)

Being passiveBeing passive

Being an international student, I have a difficult time when I want to give my group members some idea about the project… it is difficult for them to clearly understand what I want to say. I think I should speak English more often…even though I was afraid to contribute, I should have said more. In my future classes I need to do this.

Being the DominatorBeing the Dominator

Keeping an open mind was surprisingly difficult for me in this group… I was not able to maintain my normal patience with a team member who lacked proficiency in English…I hope the impatience I felt was not evident to anyone in the group. If it was, I apologize for it…This proves to me that I am not yet ready to lead a truly international team and the exercise has definitely exposed flaws in my own character and demeanor and limitations in my own expertise that must be addressed in the very near future if I am to continue in this, my chosen track.

Communication…Communication…

• I also learned that when you are in a group you should always say WE and not I.

• Sometimes we would communicate our disagreement by questioning the reasoning by which people arrived at their different conclusions. Although each of us found ourselves becoming a bit defensive from time to time, this approach inspired the debates that ultimately led to the best results of our combined efforts.

Seek First to Understand… then to Seek First to Understand… then to be Understoodbe Understood

• What I learned working with this group was that it is not essential to endorse my views on members, though I was right the whole time. This grants them an opportunity to articulate and convey their side of the story.

About the course…About the course…

• Although I don’t design the system, these will help me to understand what the designers do, so that if and when I become a project manager I can take into consideration what designers do and can streamline the project.

About the classAbout the class

• Overall, I really enjoyed the class. Especially, that we were able to create our own system without too many restrictions around it. It is refreshing since in real life you rarely have opportunity to do that.

The good…The good…

• In my undergrad days, third normal form was something you just strived to get to, but I know I really understand what it means and what anomalies are.

The good…The good…

• I am also satisfied with the way this class was organized and operated. This class was completely project management driven. Through intensive group activities, I can test and apply my management skills. These activities gave me hands-on opportunities to plan, analyze, design, and create construction and implementation procedures. Not only I learned the skills on how to manage a project, but I also learned on how to deal with people with various personalities and how to make it work in order to accomplish our project goals. “We basically learned how to be a team player.”

Why a sequenceWhy a sequence

• After finishing these two classes (IS 421-422) I am in a better position to understand the whole development cycle and to contribute to its implementation.

• After having taken the two consecutive courses, IS421 and IS422, I could see how this theory became practical.

Importance of AnalysisImportance of Analysis

• If there are miscalculations in the Planning Stage you can always make changes that are not essentially crucial to the overall project. But if you make serious mistakes in the Analysis Phase, such as forgetting elements that are part of the system, those mistakes will have effects in the subsequent phases.

Importance of AnalysisImportance of Analysis

• Looking back at the beginning of our project, I would say that we did not spend the time and effort necessary to identify the requirements of the business.

How rigorous?How rigorous?

• I wouldn’t change a thing. We had to struggle, so should the next classes.

• At the end of two quarters, if I had my druthers, I’d make this course flat out tougher. Weed ‘em out, Al. You’re not here to pass a bunch of kids (ok, young adults). You’re here to learn ‘em. And, while you learn ‘em good, I say, learn ‘em harder!!

How rigorous?How rigorous?

• I believe that the learning process could also be improved for students if the threat of pop quizzes loomed over them.

• I also would give more deliverables for the students as assignments and also try to make the project a little bit harder.

The bad (?) …The bad (?) …

• Burns needs to remember that a good percentage of the class works full-time. Also, he needs to remember that his class is not the only class students are taking. Some of us work fulltime, he expects too much.

The ugly (?) …The ugly (?) …

“My current job is completely unrelated to this and I don’t think I’m going to apply this for future classes. I do not want to become a systems analyst and do not agree with the methodology to place such an emphasis on this for the IS program. All three of the core classes could and should be combined into one.”

The ugly (?) …The ugly (?) …

“I search for future jobs everyday and have many conversations and interviews with employers. Yes, questions have come up about what I have done to analyze a system. Yes, questions have come up about what I have done to design a system. However, every employer prefers more technical skills over these theories.”

The ugly (?)…The ugly (?)…

“I understand this is a tight job market, but the way I evaluate classes is, “Is this going to help me get a job?”

Types of Learning in IS422Types of Learning in IS422

LOWER ORDER

Structured Design

Techniques

HIGHER ORDER

Normalization Structure Charts

Client Presentation

Skills

Teamwork

Analysis-Design Interaction

Problem Solving

Communication Skills

Conflict Resolution

Conversion Planning

Navigation Strategies

User Interface Design

Negotiation

SDLC

Construction Planning

Critical Thinking

Reality vs. AcademiaReality vs. Academia

• But, this isn’t a real world, its DePaulLand, an ivory tower. The real world is dirty and tough, and in the real world, I’d never ever design the interface – that’s what HCI students are for. This is not to say that I wouldn’t give direction, seek client input, etc., but I sure wouldn’t code it.

www.polyvista.com

Group issuesGroup issues

• The team interaction strengthened my communication and leadership skills. You can never have too much experience working with people. The more you work with people in problem solving situations, the better you become at solving problems as a group.

Another viewAnother view

• More obviously, it encourages interpersonal problem solving skills. While some people might respond to that by saying “I get enough of that at work” I would disagree.

PresentationsPresentations

• I’ve learned quite a bit at DePaul, and public speaking is probably the most important skill that I have at least started to learn. I’m certainly not claiming to be a great speaker, but what I do know is that compared to 18 months ago, when I would dread giving presentations, not be able to sleep the night before them, and contemplate avoiding classes where they were required, I now enjoy them, give them at work all the time, and look forward to them in class. Again, this revolves around many IT people’s wonky, reclusive nature, and teaching them to communicate in various formats is important. I’m glad you require this.

Funny…Funny…

• Prof Burns need to change his picture online. He looks like a deer caught in headlights. :P