Visible Systems Blog

Below is an interesting research paper I found on the web on systems analysis and design by Ranida Harris of Indiana University Southeast that I think is worth reading. 

From the Abstract: Educators know the value of having a real world project for their Systems Analysis and Design courses. The author concludes that based on both the quality of work and student comments, that groups felt pressure to work harder, enjoyed the competition, and ultimately produced higher quality projects.  Teaching a systems analysis and design class can be challenging,  and many instructors have shown the efficacy in using a real world semester project.  This paper looks at delivering a systems analysis and design class differently. Rather than rely on student creating an individual project, they are teamed and compete, similar to an organization soliciting bids. Based on both the quality of work and student comments, revealed that groups felt pressure to work harder, enjoyed the competition, and ultimately produced higher quality projects. 

A Systems Analysis and Design Semester Project, click here to download

I thought I would share the link to this paper with you as it might add value to your course.

The Visible Analyst University Edition is a fully multi-user software tool compatible with any systems analysis and design course. With this tool project groups work together on an integrated projects. Even better, with this tool you can create a course that defines all of the lessons of phases of your semester project. If you are interested in learning more about the multi-user Visible Analyst University Edition, click here.

If you'd like to claim your FREE license to Visible Analyst, click here.

Entity Relationship Modeling (ERD)

Click here to see this video

This lesson covers the basics of creating an entity relationship diagram and was created by Prof. Rhonda Richards.

In Visible Analyst’s terminology, a diagram containing a picture of all or a subset of your data is called a view. Each view can show an arbitrarily large or small part of your data model. You can show multiple views of your data model by including different combinations of entities and relationships on various diagrams. However, the entire data model, including the data elements composing each entity, is retained in the repository and can be accessed by creating a global view of the data model. This feature is explained in Lesson 7.

For more details on this lesson, please see pages 93-106 of the Visible Analyst Tutorial.

Let us know if you found this video useful!

This lesson was developed by Prof. Rhonda Richards can be found on pages 63-78.

Click here for Lesson 5

Lesson 5 covers Diagramming and Repository basics.

The following topics are covered in this video:

1. CREATING A NEW PROJECT, page 63

2. CREATING A NEW DIAGRAM, page 66

3. EDITING A DIAGRAM, page 67

4. STYLIZING A SYMBOL, page 69

5. MOVING, CUTTING, AND PASTING A SYMBOL, page 70

6. ADDING LINES TO A DIAGRAM, page 71

7. SELECTING AND ADJUSTING LINES, page 72

8. ADDING CAPTION TEXT TO A DIAGRAM, page 73

9. OTHER DIAGRAMMING FUNCTIONS, page 75

10. DISPLAYING AND HIDING SYMBOL LABELS, page 78

11. CLOSING A DIAGRAM, page 77

 Let us know what you think!