MM3101 Information Systems and Digital Business
Spring Term 2023
Coursework assignment specification
1. Introduction
This module is assessed 100% through this coursework assignment.
You must submit an individual report that proposes a design of an information systems
solution that creates value for business. You should make use of the literature to review
relevant topics and issues to inform the analysis of problem situation. This should lead to the
value proposition, requirements analysis and specification, and a high-level design of the
system. This should be used to demonstrate how various processes are expected to work, and
assess the feasibility. You should also consider any ethical and legal issues and how to address
them. Your report should provide an objective, critical evaluation of your proposed design and
identify any limitations. Throughout these, you may make any reasonable assumptions but you
should explicitly state them.
In approaching this, you should make effective use of tools, models, frameworks, and theories
as appropriate, justifying the choice.
The report is expected to be based on the team activity that is carried out throughout the
term. The team size must be between one (minimum) and five (maximum). While the
solution development is carried out through the team activity, the report must be written
individually, and it should not exhibit any evidence of collusion in writing.
The report must be submitted through Turnitin via Blackboard by the specified deadline.
2. Topics
Each team should choose one topic, either from one of the topics below, or of your own idea.
Make necessary, appropriate, and justifiable assumptions where the scenario is
underspecified.
You must submit the Project Topic Proposal Form (the link to the form will be provided) by
Friday 10 February at the latest.
a. Designing an information system for monitoring and improving student engagement
Your task is to design an information system for a university that supports the monitoring of
student engagement with their studies so as to improve it.
Monitoring student engagement has many benefits: the university might be able to detect
early signs of student disengagement by monitoring their class attendance and engagement
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with assignments, which can be used to take actions by the programme admin team as well as
academic tutors; this can also be used by students themselves as a self-assessment tool to set
targets and monitor their own engagement; analytics on the data collected over time may be
able to find useful insights into the relationship between the level of engagement and
academic performance; it can also be used by the university to monitor the use of facilities to
optimise the operation. However, it may also have issues related to the collection and use of
personal data, as well as other operational issues.
b. Designing an information system for managing and planning the dial-a-bus service
Your task is to design an information system for a dial-a-bus service operator in managing and
delivering their service.
Unlike scheduled routed bus services, dial-a-bus service is usually offered to those who have
difficulty using standard bus services such as those with disabilities or health issues. These
services are typically offered on demand, but unlike taxis, they typically carry more than one
passenger who might be sharing the same destination (such as hospitals and supermarkets).
Examples of such services can be found in Reading (ReadiBus https://readibus.co.uk/), London
(Dial-a-Ride, TfL https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dial-a-ride/), and many other local councils around
UK with different levels of offerings of services. Due to its on-demand nature, it often requires
planning for the most optimal route that enables the pick-up/drop-off of passengers, which
can be costly if the resources are not utilised efficiently. Also, there should be a consideration
about the various needs of the users who are mostly disabled.
c. Designing an information system to support the digitalisation of museums
Your task is to design an information system for a museum that is digitising its assets to create
further value through the use of data to improve existing services and generate new services.
Many museums have embarked on digitalisation – digitising their assets and creating
additional value through the use of data and information. For example, the Natural History
Museum in London has around 80m specimens, 30k of which are on public display, and 30k-
150k new specimens are added annually. It serves around 8000 scientific visitors and 5m public
visitors per year. The volume of assets makes physical growth difficult, which requires digital
solutions. Transitioning to a digital collection brings challenges not only in digitisation but also
in data management and access. However, there is a potential for unlocking new opportunities
with digital data (source: Dr Vincent S. Smith, Head of Digital, Data & Informatics,
Natural History Museum, London).
d. Designing an information system to create value in … (own option)
This is a “free option” based on your own idea and problem domain. Your task is to design an
information system for a particular problem situation in a well-defined domain that creates
value for the business/organisation.
3. Report format and structure
Your report must follow the structure below and should not exceed 15 pages excluding the
cover page, references, and appendices (where applicable), with a minimum font size of 10, a
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minimum line spacing of 1.0 (single space), and at least 2.5cm margin on all sides. There is no
word limit, only the page limit.
The report should be structured as follows with appropriate section numbers and headings.
Each section may have subsections as appropriate to clarify the structure and flow of the
report.
1. Introduction – This section should include the purpose of the report, how the problem was
approached, and how the rest of the report is structured.
2. Problem background – This section should analyse the problem situation, using relevant
literature and sources, to provide the following two aspects:
o Background and context to the problem situation, such as internal and external
environments using appropriate models and/or frameworks. This should also
identify relevant stakeholders and their expected interest and influence towards
the development of the system.
o Technological developments that are relevant in addressing the problem situation.
3. Value proposition – Based on the problem background, a clear set of value proposition(s)
should be provided
4. Requirements – Based on the problem background, this section should list the
requirements for the system, both functional and non-functional (non-functional
requirements might have different categories). State any assumptions that you made in
specifying the requirements.
5. Technical design – This section should provide a high-level design of the system, by
identifying the technical components needed to satisfy the requirements identified in the
previous section. You should use a diagram to illustrate how these components should
relate to each other. You should consider how the data is collected, stored, and analysed
when designing the system.
6. Example processes – In this section you should describe up to two processes supported by
the use of the proposed system that demonstrate its value. These should refer to the
components identified and relevant stakeholders involved in the process.
7. Ethical and legal issues – In this section, you should identify any ethical and legal issues
and how they should be addressed.
8. Critical evaluation – This section should objectively and critically reflect on the proposed
design of the system and identify its limitations.
9. Conclusion – A brief conclusion section should be provided to close the report, by
revisiting the purpose of the report and highlighting key features of the proposed system,
and any recommendations in implementing the system.
References – Provide a list of references cited in the report; the citation style should be
“author-year” (e.g., Harvard); references are not included in the word limit.
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Appendices (optional) – The report may have appendices which is outside the word count, but
these may not be read and will not be part of the assessment. As such you must make sure
that the report is complete and self-contained without relying on the appendices.
There is no need for an additional abstract or table of contents.
4. Assessment
The work will be assessed using the following criteria:
Evidence of Knowledge
1. Detail and depth of subject knowledge
2. Relevance of the knowledge to the topic
3. Level of understanding of the knowledge
Evidence of Scholarship
1. Critical scrutiny of the evidence/literature
2. Ability to integrate theory and practice
3. Ability to make logical and coherent arguments
4. Ability to use examples to illustrate arguments
5. Reasoning and balance in reaching judgement
Originality & Independence
1. Evidence of original, creative approach and independence
2. Ability to challenge and question existing approaches
Evidence of Presentation, Structure and Style
1. Clarity of organisation & structure
2. Fluency, grammar and spelling
3. References – Must follow the author-year style
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