Faculty of Business, Government and Law
Business Intelligence Systems 7156 and 6680
Assignment 2: Final Project Requirements for DSS/BIS Project
Due Week 12, Wednesday 3rd May 2017 by 11pm
Value 20%, Individual work.
The requirement of this assignment is to build on earlier stages of the project (proposal and presentation) to develop a computer-based DSS/BIS prototype for analysing data from a Department of Social Services (DSS) dataset at https://data.gov.au/dataset?groups=community called “DSS Payments by Commonwealth Electoral Division” and other related datasets to find evidence or otherwise of biased spending by government parties in marginal electorates.
The prototype must be functioning and of realistic size, not too trivial, but not large and complex, with a user-friendly interface suitable for data visualisation. It will be your responsibility to ensure that your tutor has the appropriate software and hardware to run the prototype for marking purposes. You will find plenty of articles giving advice on data analytics for decision making. For a couple of articles, click on these links –
http://www.bigskyassociates.com/blog/bid/372186/The-Data-Analysis-Process-5-Steps-To-Better-Decision-Making and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_analysis .
Tim’s week 9 lecture on Statistics for Business Analytics is most useful. Note: you can view it now using the Echo360.
Your prototype will be accompanied by a business report with a research component. This means that you have substantial scholarly work to do and are expected to investigate beyond just the lectures and reading material provided. The research component in this assessment builds on your project proposal research. You should demonstrate an ability to analyse critically, think reflectively, argue persuasively, and to synthesise the argument with source material.
The business report is expected to contain the development process and user guide.
The research component is expected to contain a brief discussion of relevant issues related to the search for alleged disproportionate spending for political advantage –
a. for UGs 7156 – around 3-6 relevant articles particularly from industry sources
b. for PGs 6680 – around 5-8 relevant articles from industry and academic sources.
Criteria for DSS/BI S Project Prototype: 10% and due week 12
Section Criteria
Development of DSS/BIS prototype.
Marks will be awarded for
- functionality
- ease of use and usability
- professional appearance
- appropriateness to the defined problem
- impact on stated problem
- innovativeness of solution
Criteria for Business Report: 5% and due week 12
Section Number of Words (approx. limits)
Executive Summary
50 words
Introduction
50 words
Development and Implementation
Restate the problem briefly and the need for decision support. Explain the approach you used to build the prototype.
100 words
User Manual
Provide documentation and screen images on how to run the DSS/BIS prototype.
100 words
Concluding Remarks
Provide a high-level summary. What are your findings and/or recommendations ? Explain how the prototype supports decision making. What are your suggestions for possible improvements of the prototype at a later date ?
100 words
Total 400 words
Criteria for Research Component: 5% and due week 12
Research Component
(written in a scholarly style with citations and reference list)
300-500 words
Guidance on Scholarly Writing
Guidance on scholarly writing is available from the University of Canberra Study Skills resource http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills and referencing from the Library site http://canberra.libguides.com/referencing .
By submitting an assignment you are certifying that the assignment is the product of only your work, based on your personal study and/or research. Collaboration or collusion is not permitted in the production of this assessment item. All material and sources used must be acknowledged. The university takes a very dim view of attempted deception - passing off others' work as your own. Read the Academic Integrity Policy! If you have any doubts about how to handle intellectual property, follow the link on our Moodle site to the Academic Integrity Module.
It is not acceptable to simply copy and paste from sources. Exact or direct copying is a last resort and should be done only to emphasise a point that is best explained in the words of the original author. Exact copying should be in italics or between apostrophes (depending on the reference style) and must always be referenced with author, year and page number, if known. It would be expected that exact copying is no more than 5% of the report. Even when paraphrasing, by re-writing the ideas of other authors in your own words, you will need to reference.
The University of Canberra has available, through LearnOnline (Moodle), text-matching software that helps students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understandings of academic integrity. Known as URKUND, the software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.
Submission Instructions
The assignment should be organised using the following guidelines:
• The assignment report must use 12 point font size minimum and at least single line spacing with appropriate section headings.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report/essay, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list. Harvard referencing style must be used.
• Marks will be lost for poor writing, inadequate structure, careless presentation, and if the word limit is exceeded by more or less than 10% (word count excludes executive summary, references and appendices).
The prototype and report should be submitted to the Moodle Dropbox. However arrangements may need to be made with your tutor for marking.
Extensions
Requests for an extension must be received by the convenor on the authorised extension form, accompanied by supporting documentation, before the due date. Refer to Assessment Policy and Procedures for details.
Rubric for Project Prototype, Report and Research: worth 20%
Awesome Amazing Admirable Attempted Unacceptable
Grade
Mark HD
18-20 DI
16-17 CR
14-15 P
10-13 Fail
<10
DSS/BIS Prototype
Worth 10% DSS/BIS is exceptional -functionality, ease of use, professional appearance,
impact on stated problem,
relevance to stated problem,
innovativeness of solution DSS/BIS prototype is excellent with attention to detail DSS/BIS generally well conceived and functioning as intended DSS/BIS works but no obvious extra effort DSS/BIS fails to function and does not fulfill the objectives of the prototype. For example, the concept may be too trivial and/or the project poorly designed
Report Structure, Content and Writing Style
Worth 5% The report is outstanding. All elements are present and very well integrated. The proposal is the exact length. Excellent English expression and spelling All elements of the report are present with good cohesion and clear writing style Report components are present and mostly well integrated. Generally clear writing style Most report components are present. Sometimes clear writing style Report is unstructured, is excessively long or short. Demonstrates lack of understanding. Lacks clarity with many grammatical and spelling errors
Research Component and Referencing
Worth 5% Excellent use of creditable and diverse sources. Clear critical writing skills. Extremely good effort in research and writing skills Good effort made but not outstanding Made some effort. Mainly Web and Wikipedia searches Very little attempt to reference. Lazy effort with inaccuracies
Student Name:
Student Id:
Date Submitted: ………………/………………/ 2017 Mark Achieved: Grade Achieved: