Students

COMP1750 – Introduction to Business Information Systems

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer
Frances Louise
frances.louise@mq.edu.au
Contact via Unit email: comp1750@mq.edu.au
Available on iLearn
Lecturer
Shan Chen
shan.chen@mq.edu.au
Contact via Unit email: comp1750@mq.edu.au
Available on iLearn
Super-sessional
Kristi Ovsthus
comp1750@mq.edu.au
Contact via Unit email: comp1750@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit provides students with a basic understanding of the content of information systems; the types of information systems; the current roles of information systems in organisations; and the opportunities and business impacts of information systems. The unit also provides an overview of the tools, techniques and frameworks used to build information systems; the range of information technologies used to support information systems; and the ethical responsibilities of both the information system professional and the private user of information. Every business has an information system. These systems are a fundamental component of the business and provide the business with the information its people need to operate and manage the business. This unit lays a foundation for students to use information systems in the context of accounting, marketing, and finance, or develop business information systems that organisations want and need.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • ULO2: Describe how information systems can be used to improve business performance
  • ULO3: Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software
  • ULO4: Demonstrate an understanding of how such applications work, to a level where you can learn new material without requiring formal training
  • ULO5: Use a 4th-generation programming environment to script IT applications.

General Assessment Information

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit, you must:

  • Pass the hurdle requirements:
    • Undertake ALL (8) weekly activities (hurdle), and
    • Pass (50% or above) a minimum of 5 of the 8 weekly activities available, and
  • Achieve an overall unit total mark equal to or greater than 50%

Hurdle Assessment

Weekly Activities: Practical-based tasks (10%) 

Continual participation and engagement in practical class-related tasks are critical to building your understanding and skills. If you miss a practical class, you are required to complete the practical class on your own (no special consideration is required for any missed class) and then complete the weekly activity for the week to test your understanding. These activities are available via iLearn quizzes that you can undertake anytime during the week. This is a hurdle assessment, meaning that failure to meet this requirement may result in a Fail (F) grade for the unit.

One reattempt chance of failed weekly activities will be automatically available in the following week. Note that the reattempts will be capped at 50% of the total possible mark. Detailed info and sample scenarios will be provided on iLearn.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern. For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as the scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

  • Weekly Activities - No, unless Special Consideration is Granted
  • Diagnostic Quiz - No, unless Special Consideration is Granted
  • Assignment One - Yes, Standard Late Penalty applies
  • Assignment Two - Yes, Standard Late Penalty applies
  • Module Exams - No, unless Special Consideration is Granted

Special Considerations

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment.

Weekly activities: To pass the unit, you need to demonstrate ongoing development of skills and application of knowledge by attempting ALL (8 out of 8) weekly activities and passing 5 out of 8 of the weekly activities. These activities are available until week 13, including the reattempt chances. Note that Special Consideration should only be applied if you are affected by long-term disruptions beyond week 13 and only if you have not passed five (5) of the weekly activities.

Diagnostic Quiz, Assignments, and Module Exams: If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor by emailing comp1750@mq.edu.au and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Weekly Activities 10% Yes Weekly
Diagnostic Quiz 10% No Week 3
Assignment One 15% No Week 7
Assignment Two 15% No Week 12
Module Exams 50% No Weeks 6 and 13

Weekly Activities

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

 

Practical-related online mini-quizzes. You will have to actively participate in the practical activities in class and be able to demonstrate your understanding by applying gained knowledge and skills in these mini-quizzes.

You will be required to pass five (5) of these mini-quizzes to be eligible to pass the unit, regardless of your overall performance.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • Describe how information systems can be used to improve business performance
  • Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software

Diagnostic Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 3
Weighting: 10%

 

You will be attempting an online quiz that will be conducted in the practical class. This closed-book quiz aims to determine students' individual strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills to develop a baseline of what students know about the topics.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • Describe how information systems can be used to improve business performance
  • Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software

Assignment One

Assessment Type 1: Design Implementation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 15%

 

Advanced Excel (spreadsheets). Apply spreadsheet functions to present data according to the business requirements by using various formulas, charts, filtering, sorting, data grouping, pivot table/chart, etc.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how such applications work, to a level where you can learn new material without requiring formal training

Assignment Two

Assessment Type 1: Design Implementation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 14 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 15%

 

Advanced Access (Databases) - Create and modify relational database according to the business requirements. Manipulate data for analysis and reporting purposes.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how such applications work, to a level where you can learn new material without requiring formal training
  • Use a 4th-generation programming environment to script IT applications.

Module Exams

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Weeks 6 and 13
Weighting: 50%

 

There will be two (2) closed-book module exams conducted during your registered practical class. These module exams will cover important parts of the unit material and, as well as assess your current level of mastery. The exams will also include questions based on the practical components.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate foundational learning skills including active engagement in your learning process
  • Describe how information systems can be used to improve business performance
  • Use basic information technology applications, including basic computer management, e-mail, web browsers, web-page creators and productivity software
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how such applications work, to a level where you can learn new material without requiring formal training

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Teaching and Learning Strategy

COMP1750 is taught via lectures and practical classes. The feedback that you receive plays a crucial role in your learning.

Lectures are used to introduce new material, give examples of the advances in business information systems and technologies and put them in a wider context.

Practical classes are small group classes that give you the opportunity to interact with your peers and with a teaching staff who has a sound knowledge of the subject. This also gives you a chance to practice your technical skills.

You have many opportunities to seek and receive feedback. During lectures, you are encouraged to ask the lecturer questions to clarify anything you are unsure of. Assignments have been specially designed to deliver continuous feedback on your work.

Each week, you should:

  • Engage in lectures by taking notes and asking questions
  • Actively participate in your practical class and seek feedback on your work from the teaching staff in your class
  • Read assigned reading material, add to your notes and prepare questions for your lecturer and/or the teaching staff in your practical class
  • Complete the weekly activities
  • Start working on any assignments immediately after they have been released.

Lecture notes are made available each week, but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture and are not a substitute for your own notes or reading additional material.

Classes

You should be registered for a two-hour lecture and one-hour practical classes. 

Note that all classes (both lecture and practical) in this unit commence in week 1.

Please note that you are required to make a genuine attempt on all assessments. Failure to do so may result in you failing the unit.

Textbook

  • Compulsory textbook:
  • Alternative textbook:
    • Experiencing MIS, Global Edition (7th edition) by Kroenke and Boyle (without MyLab) (ISBN: 9781292163574 for hardcopy or ISBN: 9781292163581 for eBook)

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email or through announcements on iLearn. Queries to the convenor and other teaching staff can be sent to comp1750@mq.edu.au from your university email address. Please use an appropriate email subject (e.g. Assignment 1 Task 2, Week 3 lecture, etc.) and academic language.

Technology used and required

iLecture/echo

Digital recordings of lectures are available.

Software

Microsoft Excel and Access (required for assignment completion). Available in the lab. Alternative access to software via AppStream.

Any video recording and editing software for the video presentation.

Website

The web page for this unit can be found at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au.

Student Support Services

Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these services can be accessed at https://students.mq.edu.au/.

Assumed knowledge

Basic computer skills.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during the semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Outline of Topics

  1. The Importance of MIS
  2. Business Processes, Information Systems, and Information
  3. Organizational Strategy, Information Systems, and Competitive Advantage
  4. Hardware and Software
  5. Database Processing
  6. The Cloud
  7. Processes, Organizations, and Information Systems
  8. Social Media Information Systems
  9. Business Intelligence Systems
  10. Information Systems Security
  11. Information Systems Management
  12. Information Systems Development

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

Based on the student feedback from the previous offering of this unit:

  • flexible submission dates of the weekly activities (hurdle requirements), including the reattempt chances.

We value student feedback to be able to continually improve the way we offer our units. As such, we encourage students to provide constructive feedback via student surveys, to the teaching staff directly, or via the FSE Student Experience & Feedback link in the iLearn page. We will continue to strive to improve the level of support and the level of student engagement.

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook