Pre-requisite: Advancement to candidacy in the MIS program and successful completion of the graduate MIS comprehensive examination

TEXTBOOK: Articles from current journals and periodicals; other materials as appropriate

HANDOUTS: Will be distributed from time-to-time; you will be responsible for this material

A capstone course designed to expose the student to the various areas of information systems in the organization where concepts from other core courses can be utilized.  The focus is on information science research, policy formation and issues.  Students produce an analytical/scientific paper within their chosen area of organizational interest.

Research Paper--Students will complete a research study and write an accompanying paper.  The paper will be 30 - 40 pages in length and will follow the recognized scientific research format as provided in the Guide distributed by the lecturer.   All papers will follow the APA format and will be single spaced to provide easy publication to the UMUC web site.  Papers will be submitted to the Lecturer in hard copy AND on disk in final format.  Students are requested to access the UMUC library site, www.umuc.edu/library, for information on research tools and writing styles.  Additionally, a brief summary of APA style may be found at www.ldl.net/~bill/aparev.htm and at owl.english.purdue.edu/Files/30A.html.  For your paper, due to the html formatting, the title and table of contents pages should be kept in a separate file from the remainder of the paper. 

Presentation of Research -- Students will present their research finding and conclusions to the class using appropriate audio-visual and handout materials.  The in-class presentation should run approximately 40 minutes with another 10-15 minutes allowed for questions and discussion.  Members of the class as well as the instructor will contribute in evaluating and providing feedback on the quality of the subject matter, the research, and the presentation.  Evaluation and feedback are considered part of class participation. 

Examination -- An take-home exam will be given on the third weekend.  It will encompass questions concerning methods of research, research analysis, and topics covered through classroom discussions.

Class Participation -- The essence of a seminar is the exchange of information.  Seminar members are expected to come to class prepared, to accept responsibility for one or more parts of the seminar process, to ask through-provoking questions, and to participate fully and carry their weight in the class discussions.