QUESTIONS -

As a reminder, answers must demonstrate not just factual knowledge as presented in readings and class meetings, but also comprehension and critical thinking. These are not questions that can be answered with substance in one or two paragraphs. Some may require two pages or more of well-organized thoughts and wording.

Question 1: Every CIT graduate student has an area of focus (e.g., cyber forensics, project management, data analytics, robotics, cyber learning, etc). Explain how general systems thinking and problem solving will be relevant to your area of focus in the CIT graduate program, and how it would have been useful in your prior IT work experience -or-intended future IT work experience.

Question 2: Gerald Weinberg, an early advocate of systems thinking for CS and IT students and computing practitioners, was once quoted as stating, "If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker [a bird species] that came along would have destroyed civilization." Later, James Martin, a prolific IT author, challenged IT's use of "engineering" in CS and IT job titles because he felt IT professionals (especially programmers) lack the scientific body of knowledge and rigors of professional design that were routinely practiced by "real" engineers. Much time has passed since those two authors made those claims. Where do we stand today? What would it take for IT professionals to defend that they practice real engineering? Take a position and defend your case.

Question 3: Throughout our course, we have often cited a parable of three ostriches and its relationship to tools, techniques and methods. Explain why the parable is applicable to diagramming tools, and the practice of general systems thinking. Select a specific tool (either a course tool, or one we did not cover) and explain how the three ostrich's parable applies to that tool. How can you positively apply the lessons taught by the parable when encountering a peer or superior presents a new tool for systems modeling?

Question 4: Explain how general systems concepts and theory can help a systems professional better deal with the ever-increasing complexities of design new information technology solutions. What is the relationship between systems concepts, systems thinking, and the practice of systems analysis and design?

Question 5: Model-driven development and agile development are considered by many to be the extremes of thought in how system modeling/diagramming should be used during development of IT systems and solutions. Engineers often favor model-driven development. Many (but not all) information technologists favor agile development. There is no absolutely correct opinion. Take a position (anywhere on the continuum, including some degree of a blended approach) and defend your position with facts.

Question 6: Develop, present, and defend a standardized process for collecting the necessary factual information to analyze and design an information technology system/solution. Your process should serve as a starting point for all teams to use on systems development projects.

Question 7: Scope is one of the most important aspects of any system project to document and manage. How do context diagrams (Whitten UML-based or otherwise) describe scope? Are there any aspects of scope that such diagrams, as presented in the course, do NOT describe? One reality of scope is that it can change throughout a project. How could context diagrams specifically address such changes in scope?