About the SIMS Corpus Project

The Team
Problem Statement
Project Objectives
Timeline
Evaluation Criteria

The Team

Initially, the SIMS Corpus team set out to create a data model of the SIMS domain that could be used to annotate SIMS content and ultimately make information at SIMS more accessible. Currently, much of the information about SIMS is posted to a single website; all of the information is available internally to SIMS, while a scaled down subset of the information is made available to external users. Although the site contains a wealth of information, much of its power is lost because individuals cannot select or customize content to meet their needs. In the absence of these capabilities, people create their own methods for tracking relevant academic interests and information such as course websites, events, and important dates.

However, upon researching student information needs and the information resources available to meet them, we began to recognize that more fundamental questions about the nature of SIMS and the SIMS experience had to be answered before a definitive model could be crafted. For example, the student survey and faculty interviews revealed a great deal of variation in people’s opinions of SIMS’ mission and competencies. Consequently, our project was forced to shift its focus. Instead of developing a data model which supported a transient view of SIMS, we focused our energy on identifying the points of convergence and divergence amongst SIMS stakeholders, which is critical to SIMS’ future and therefore could not be neglected. We hope our findings will spur the development of a shared vision for SIMS and serve as a foundation for future projects--including the development of a SIMS data model.

Project Objectives
The following information provides an overview of our project as well as identifies the beneficiaries and rationale for choosing this project as the capstone of our SIMS education.

Overview
Our final project is an opportunity to utilize the methods we have learned to develop a model of the SIMS’ approach to information management. By analyzing existing course content in conjunction with stakeholders’ needs we will endeavor to make the constitution of Information Management more conscious and apparent. In support, the objective of our project is to develop a data model of the SIMS Corpus that will have both practical and strategic importance by combining qualitative methods and objective analysis. Strategic in that it provides a roadmap of the evolution in content used in SIMS courses and produced by SIMS projects. It will also offer tactical value by providing an extensible model that can be implemented to navigate and manage content.

Process
We will achieve these objectives by thoroughly analyzing the SIMS corpus of information. Specifically, we plan to inventory three critical components: courses (enrollment, syllabus topics, readings), projects (student selected research), and people (students and alumni). Once this task is completed, a flexible information architecture will be crafted to organize the data components and facilitate the identification of overlaps, gaps and opportunities in the SIMS’ corpus. Wherever possible, we will incorporate existing data models developed by the Center for Document Engineering (e.g. course model, event model). We will use Topic Maps in conjunction with XML to minimize the time and resources required to present relationships between data entities. In addition to the data model, we will develop a user interface to provide a graphical context for our model and the supporting content.

Why Now?
Numerous factors have converged to make this a particularly suitable time to undertake this self-examination and initiate change. This academic year brought the appointment of the school’s second dean, AnnaLee Saxenian, and the retirement of a long-term faculty member, Michael Buckland. Because people are one of SIMS’ most important resources, these changes prompted a re-evaluation of the skills lost and gained to ensure the overall quality of the SIMS experience remained strong. During this same period, there was a growing awareness that student perceptions and expectations about the curriculum were not aligned with its offerings. Students expressed varied levels of satisfaction with and commitment to the SIMS experience. The changes initiated by faculty and requested by students are propelling the school to reflect on its mission, and to how it develops and promotes itself as a professional school.

1. Project Definition [Jan 1 to Jan 31, 2004]

• Identify project scope and objectives
• Hold initial discussions with specific project stakeholders
• Evaluate available data and access
• DELIVERABLE: Project Scope and Detailed Project Plan

2. Data Analysis [Jan 31, 2004 to Feb 28, 2004]

• Begin preliminary needs assessment
• Collect and analyze data from target audience
• Analyze content to identify common themes
• DELIVERABLE: Reports (Interview, Survey, Enrollment)

3. Findings [Mar 1, 2004 to Mar 20, 2004]

• Identify and categorize findings
• Determine if commonality exists and assign priority
• Design outline which reflects key points
• DELIVERABLE: Outline of top findings and supporting data

4. Recommendations [Mar 21, 2004 to Apr 30, 2004]

• Evaluate findings and brainstorm supporting recommendations
• Determine if commonality exists and assign priority
• Design summary report with highlights and supporting methodology
• DELIVERABLE: Outline of top recommendations and supporting data

5. Final Report and Presentation [May 1, 2004 to May 15, 2004]

• Prepare and present project report
• Prepare and present project presentation
• DELIVERABLE: Outline of final report with highlights and supporting data, Final Report, Project Presentation

Evaluation Criteria

We will be evaluated based on the quality, breath, and timeliness of the deliverables outlined above. In particular our Analysis, Data Model, Prototype, and Final Recommendations will be scrutinized.

Analysis
To support the timeline of our Final Project, we will not be able to incorporate every aspect of the three critical components identified in the Overview section. Instead we will focus on the topics identified in lectures and readings for courses offered at SIMS during the Fall ’01 to Spring ’05 timeframe. Most likely we will choose a subset of the courses to focus on. We will apply the same timeframe when considering which subset of projects to include. Along the same lines, we will focus on student feedback and enrollment data for Masters classes ’03, ’04, and ’05.

Findings
Critical to the success of our project will be how well our findings reflects our data. For example, when depicting core competencies information, the findings should clearly build off of the quantitative and quantitative analysis we performed. To ensure the accuracy of our findings, an initial outline will be produced. The outline will be iterated until a clear understanding is realized and recommendations become apparent.

Recommendations
Each of our findings will be evaluated and commonalities highlighted. We will then revisit our analysis to identify supporting recommendations. They will be reviewed for validity and practicality. An iterative cycle will be followed to ensure our recommendations are continually refined based on feedback from individuals they will impact.

Deliverables
Our final paper and presentation will identify specific actions for SIMS. We will show how our analysis clearly pointed to specific findings and led us to certain recommendations. We will make suggestions for methods, which enacted, could enhance the SIMS experience.