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CIS 2010

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION SYSTEMS



HOW TO STUDY FOR THE CIS 2010 MIDTERM EXAM


Approximately eighty percent of the CIS 2010 mid term exam contents will be based on
the topics discussed in the textbook. The remainder will be drawn from major topics
discussed during the lecture sessions.

Your have four primary resources at hand:
1. Key topics guide (posted in the study guide folder of the course page)
2. Textbook (note on the syllabus the pages that are assigned from each chapter)
3. Lecture notes and slides
4. Study guide

The best way to prepare for the exam is to organize your studying around these
resources in the following way.

First, use the key topics guide as your roadmap to studying. This concise guide highlights
the principal areas of focus for the course to date. Note that this guide also emphasizes
topics and major concepts, not terminology. It is not a key term list!

Second, use the study guide roadmap to organize the discussions from the textbook. Be
sure to pay attention to the ranges of textbook pages outlined on the syllabus. Stay
focused on these pages. You are not responsible for details in unassigned pages.

Third, draw on your notes from lecture sessions, plus the slides and handouts, to
address items on the key topics list that are not in the textbook. In this way, you will
recognize where lecture discussions augment assigned reading, such as:

Example: The dual roles of information systems and information technology in
the enterprise: an operational role and a strategic role.
Example: The value of utilizing IS/IT to improve an organizations productivity
Example: the basic business barriers that can be overcome when an enterprise
utilizes information systems effectively. That is, the barriers of geographic
distance and elapsed time, as illustrated repeatedly in lecture sessions,
beginning with the discussion of Getty Images.

Fourth, the study guide provides a summary overview of each topic and is a tool for
helping you become more comfortable with the language and practices associated with
information systems and technology use in organizations. For convenience, the study
guide is grouped into the four topical areas that were identified in the initial course
meeting as comprising the first half of the course.

CIS 2010

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION SYSTEMS




The study guide is intended as a working tool, not a replacement for the textbook and
not as simply something to read. Quite frankly, reading through Part II in each segment
of the study guide once or twice is not likely to be very beneficial. Instead, use it to test
your understanding and to highlight areas where you need to return to the text, your
notes, and the other course material to strengthen your knowledge of a specific
principle or practice. For instance, if you have difficulty with the questions on
productivity, this is a signal that you need to go back through your notes to sharpen
your understanding of productivity and what enterprises can do to raise their levels of
productivity.

Emphasis throughout the exam is on practice and applicationrecognizing when and
how to apply a principle, not reciting definitions or theory:
Example: Understanding when and how to apply the value chain tool, not
drawing the tool or restating its component parts
Example: Understanding the benefits that accrue from having internet protocol-
related capabilities built into mobile devices, not defining the layers in the
internet-protocol architecture

You will not be asked specific questions about the details of company operations, such
as Amazon, Getty Images, Harrahs, Walmart, or Microsoft. The value of the cases is the
demonstration of IS/IT and business principles in action. The principles and practices are
the take-aways from these readings and class discussions.


Finally, lecture quizzes, with answers, are posted in the exam information folder.

A top score is within reach of everyone. Remember, you are competing only with
yourself! No other persons score (or ultimate grade) will affect your score or grade.

__ Jim Senn

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