Overview
Information systems analysis and design is a complex, challenging, and stimulating organisational process, that a team of business and systems professionals use to develop and maintain computer-based information systems. In this unit, you will learn the importance of responding to and anticipating problems through the innovative use of systems development process. You will learn how understanding user-centered design and task-centered design are fundamental to good systems design. In order to understand these concepts, you will study how to determine user-requirements and convert user requirements to system design. You will demonstrate this understanding by designing web-interfaces of given case studies and practical examples. You will study different phases of the systems development life cycle, which includes developing a system proposal, determining user requirements, designing a system, and applying key principles to the implementation of a system. You will also explore the organisational context and the iterative nature of systems analysis and design.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Anti-requisites: COIS20025 Systems Development Overview. Students who have studied COIS20025 in the past cannot take COIT20248.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from In class
Some assessments in the unit are generic and can be easily replicated, reducing their effectiveness in evaluating individual understanding and application of concepts.
Update the assessments to better measure each student’s understanding by using tasks that encourage original thinking and individual work.
Feedback from Unit Coordinator
To include contemporary content.
To incorporate more recent knowledge and up-to-date information into the unit content.
- Develop requirements, specifications and provide academic and practical arguments to defend the solutions by employing core principles of information system analysis and design
- Develop prototypes for computer-based information systems demonstrating initiative and problem-solving judgement to meet client briefs
- Employ effective interpersonal and professional skills to collaborate with and influence team members to achieve a negotiated team outcome while maintaining responsibility and accountability for their own learning and work
- Analyse and evaluate to critically reflect on the alternative methodologies used in developing business information systems
- Critically analyse and evaluate different modelling techniques for developing business information systems.
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is adopted by organisations, governments and individuals in many countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles. ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile.
This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA 9 (the SFIA code is included):
- Strategy Planning (ITSP)
- Business Situation Analysis (BUSA)
- Requirements Definition and Management (REQM)
- Business Modelling (BSMO)
- Systems Design (DESN)
- User Experience Design (HCEV)
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Project (applied) - 30% | |||||
| 2 - Project (applied) - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Project (applied) - 40% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | |||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design (Global Edition)
- Edition: 6th (2015)
- Authors: J.S. Valacich, J.F. George, J.A. Hoffer
- Pearson
- Boston Boston , USA
- ISBN: 1-292-07661-5
No
No
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- MS Office
- MS Project
- MS Visio
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.jha@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 10 Mar 2025Module/Topic
Systems Development Environment & the sources of software
Chapter
Chapter 1 & 2 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2
Begin Date: 17 Mar 2025Module/Topic
Managing the Information Systems Project; Systems Planning & Selection
Chapter
Chapters 3 & 4 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 24 Mar 2025Module/Topic
Agile Methodologies
Chapter
Appendix B (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 31 Mar 2025Module/Topic
Determining System Requirements; Use Case Modeling
Chapter
Chapter 5 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 07 Apr 2025Module/Topic
Structuring System Requirements: Process Modeling
Chapter
Chapter 6 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 14 Apr 2025Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 21 Apr 2025Module/Topic
Designing the Human Interface
Chapter
Chapter 8 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 28 Apr 2025Module/Topic
Structuring Systems Requirements Conceptual Data Modelling
Chapter
Chapter 7 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 05 May 2025Module/Topic
Object-Oriented Analysis & Design
Chapter
Appendix A (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 9
Begin Date: 12 May 2025Module/Topic
Systems Implementation & Operations
Chapter
Chapter 10 (Prescribed Textbook)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 19 May 2025Module/Topic
Software Testing
Chapter
Ian Sommerville, (2011), Software Engineering, Chapter 8: Software Testing, Ninth Edition, Addison-Wesley.
Pooja Kaplesh, Severin K. Y. Pang (2020), Software Engineering for Agile Application Development, IGI Global, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2531-9.ch008
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 11
Begin Date: 26 May 2025Module/Topic
Software Quality Management
Chapter
Ian Sommerville, (2011), Software Engineering, Chapters 24: Quality Management and Configuration Management, Ninth Edition, Addison-Wesley.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 02 Jun 2025Module/Topic
Software Evolution
Chapter
Chapter 9: Software evolution from Ian Sommerville (2011), Software Engineering, Ninth Edition, Addison-Wesley.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Review/Exam Week
Begin Date: 09 Jun 2025Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 16 Jun 2025Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Coordinator: Dr. Meena Jha
Room 2.09, Level 2; 400 Kent Street; Sydney NSW 2000
P +61 2 9324 5776 | X 55776 | E m.jha@cqu.edu.au
Communicating with Staff
You should use your lecture and tutorial classes as the first point of contact with teaching staff. Ask your lecturer/tutor questions in class each week.
Outside of class times, you are encouraged to ask questions in Microsoft Teams. A link to the unit Teams site is available in the "Learning Community" tile on Moodle. You may post a question at any time in the Teams General channel. All staff and students can see posts in the General channel, so avoid posting personal information (such as phone numbers or your assessment solutions). The teaching team will try to respond to Teams posts as soon as possible, often within an hour during work days and with an aim of within 24 hours. While response times by staff over weekends may be longer (and may not be until Monday morning), other students may respond to your question as well.
Avoid using private chat to contact staff members in Teams. Instead, post in the General channel so all staff and students can see and potentially respond to your question, and so the answer can be shared with all students. If you have a private matter that you do not want to share with others, then contact the Unit Coordinator via email. However, if you ask questions about the unit content via email, then the response may take longer than if using Teams, and the staff may choose to reply via Teams (so all students see the answer).
1 Project (applied)
Assignment 1 is an individual assessment. You will plan & manage a project as well as analyse & select the most appropriate systems development methodology based on the project on hand. You will produce a report that discusses the project based on your understanding & analysis. The case study will be provided to you via Moodle in Week 1 or 2. This assignment will assess the unit knowledge gained between Weeks 1-3 about the different facets of systems development.
Week 5 Monday (7 Apr 2025) 11:45 pm AEST
Late submissions are subject to the university's late submission penalty policies
Week 7 Monday (28 Apr 2025)
Marking & feedback will be returned to students via Moodle
The assessment criteria will cover the contents & the presentation/format of the submission. Students will be assessed based on their knowledge & understanding about how to: (a) analyse the business & project environment, (b) analyse & choose the most appropriate systems development methodology, & (c) perform project planning & management. In addition, all the different parts of the assessment should be written in a professional & coherent manner. A detailed marking template will be made available together with the assignment details on the Moodle unit webpage.
- Develop requirements, specifications and provide academic and practical arguments to defend the solutions by employing core principles of information system analysis and design
- Critically analyse and evaluate different modelling techniques for developing business information systems.
2 Project (applied)
Assignment 2 is a group assignment. You are required to form a team of 3- 4 members. Your knowledge gained about how to model the systems requirements in both the object-oriented & traditional approaches will be assessed in this assignment. Your group needs to submit a design of a web-based system. Your design should include various elements such as critical use cases & data flow diagrams. Your submission should also include a "prototype" of website design. Assignment details are released via Moodle in week 4.
Week 8 Monday (5 May 2025) 11:45 pm AEST
This is a group assignment to be submitted online via Moodle. Only one group member will submit the report. Late submissions are subject to the university's late submission penalty policies
Week 10 Monday (19 May 2025)
Marking & feedback will be returned to students via Moodle
For the group report, the assessment criteria will cover the contents & the presentation/format of the submission. In addition, all the different parts of the assessment should be written in a professional & coherent manner. Your technical diagrams will be assessed to see whether or not they follow the correct notation/format. A detailed marking template will be made available on the Moodle unit webpage.
- Develop prototypes for computer-based information systems demonstrating initiative and problem-solving judgement to meet client briefs
- Employ effective interpersonal and professional skills to collaborate with and influence team members to achieve a negotiated team outcome while maintaining responsibility and accountability for their own learning and work
- Analyse and evaluate to critically reflect on the alternative methodologies used in developing business information systems
3 Project (applied)
Assignment 3 is an individual assessment. You will design how to test a software system & plan for a systematic system installation process. Overall, this assessment tests your knowledge & understanding on how to deliver an effective & high-quality system to end users. In this assignment, you will be assessed on your understanding of the relevant concepts & ability to apply these concepts to a commercial-like development project.
Week 12 Friday (6 June 2025) 11:45 pm AEST
Late submissions are subject to the university's late submission penalty policies
Marks of Assignment 3 will be released to students on the certificate date as this is the final assessment (in line with CQU policy).
The assessment criteria will cover the concepts & the presentation/format of the submission. In addition, all the different parts of the assessment should be written in a professional & coherent manner. A detailed marking template will be made available when the assignment details are released via Moodle.
- Develop requirements, specifications and provide academic and practical arguments to defend the solutions by employing core principles of information system analysis and design
- Analyse and evaluate to critically reflect on the alternative methodologies used in developing business information systems
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
