Goals and Objectives of the Revised Course

Before beginning the course revision plans and implementing the pilot course in the Fall '01 semester, we solidified some general goals and some measurable objectives. Our main goal was to produce "software solution architects" who could take a problem at the operational business level, design an organized solution process, solve the problem, and implement it within a short turnaround time. The tool - Office 2000 - used for problem solution, was the same tool many in the business world use today.

Course Objectives

Following are the objectives of the CMS 3270 course known as Micro-Based Software:

• To provide our computer information systems (CMS) majors and minors and those students obtaining a specialized CMS certificate, with business problem solving skills using Microsoft Office software.

• To give our students the opportunity to use word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation graphics programs at an advanced level.

• To assure a level of learning in accordance to Blooms' taxonomy (Bloom, 1956), reflecting the content of a 3,000 level IS course - specifically to apply theory in a problem-solving situation.

• To provide valuable team experience and project management for students in a simulated office environment.

• To emphasize theory and provide for testing concepts gained as a result of skill mastery in current office software applications at the operational level, namely Microsoft Office.

Course Revision Specifications

Because this course is also taught online as a Web-delivered course, all of the revisions had to be configured to work in an online environment. Material previously printed, such as class notes, had to be transformed into Web pages and loaded on the Class Website. Problem solving excercises had to be modularized to be delivered at specific intervals on a Forum or Bulletin Board. Solutions to the problems had to be in a form that could be uploaded to a public viewing area, such as a Workspace or Forum, for all the class members to see. Oral presentations at specific class meetings worked fine for traditional classroom sections, but were not appropriate for the online class. Preparing solutions using the PowerPoint application allowed for conversion to HTML and subsequent uploading to a public viewing area for all class members to review.

To meet the above objectives, we constructed a series of general business problems at an operational level that could be solved within a short turn-around cycle, either individually or within dyads, emulating operational business environments. We continue to write new problems with each semester's beginning. Not only does this keep "ideal solutions" from miraculously recurring from semester to semester, it keeps the course fresh and the content reflective of the small business world in our locale. Problem assignments often mimic situations that are current in our economy. We design open-ended problems so there are multiple possible solutions. No one solution is the "correct" answer, but students soon decide some solutions are easier and more appropriate for the stated problem. Part of the learning process is to learn to choose the simplest and most appropriate tool for the task at hand. Operational problems typically have very tight turn-around. Refer to the Appendix for samples of typical problem assignments.