The outcomes of the Smudie project are to be presented at the ALT-C conference in Nottingham in September. The slides for the presentation are shown below:
Thursday 22 August 2013
Monday 13 May 2013
University Approves Smudie Project Outcomes
At a meeting chaired by Dr Nick Potter, Swansea Metropolitan approved and signed off the outcomes of the JISC Smudie project. Prof Tony Toole presented a final briefing paper that took the meeting through the integrated modelling process and the meeting discussed how it could be used early in a systems design process to systematically arrive at a fully evaluated design brief.
The meeting agreed that the modelling process could be a very valuable resource for the university as it completes the meger process that began during the project period. It was noted that all formal project requirements and deliverables had been completed and that a final online project cluster meeting was to follow immediately after the university sign-off meeting that would effectively bring the project to a close.
The meeting agreed that the modelling process could be a very valuable resource for the university as it completes the meger process that began during the project period. It was noted that all formal project requirements and deliverables had been completed and that a final online project cluster meeting was to follow immediately after the university sign-off meeting that would effectively bring the project to a close.
Thursday 14 March 2013
Updated Case Study
The synthesis report presented in the previous blog posting, which used the student attendance monitoring process as an example of how modelling techniques can be applied in information systems design, is a key output of the Smudie project. Because of the institutional merger that took place during the project period, specific recommendations for improvements in the student information management system for the previous regime did not make sense. The outcomes of the project were therefore used to create a more generic set of recommendations that may well be more useful to the community of practice generally.
The Smudie project case study, which is also a key output, has been updated to reflect this change in emphasis and the potential benefits it offers. The case study is included with those of the other JISC Transformations projects on the programme website which can be viewed at https://jiscsupport-transformations.pbworks.com/w/page/50608449/Overview.
The updated case study is shown below:
The Smudie project case study, which is also a key output, has been updated to reflect this change in emphasis and the potential benefits it offers. The case study is included with those of the other JISC Transformations projects on the programme website which can be viewed at https://jiscsupport-transformations.pbworks.com/w/page/50608449/Overview.
The updated case study is shown below:
Wednesday 27 February 2013
A Synthesis of Modelling Techniques
As reported in this project blog, a number of modelling methods have been explored with a view to planning improvements in institutional student information management systems. The paper below is an attempt to bring together the key benefits of Soft Systems modelling, Viable Systems modelling and Enterprise Architecture modelling. It uses a case study to illustrate how the combination provides a much richer and informed picture for systems designers than each modelling method would provide individually.
Monday 18 February 2013
Video Summary
One of the outputs for the Jisc projects in this programme is a brief video summary of the project for dissemination purposes. The video for the Smudie project is shown below. It describes how three different modelling approaches were used to analyse and develop the student information managment system at Swansea Met with a view to assisting the design of a new system following the merger with University of Wales Trinty Saint David.
Monday 7 January 2013
Soft Systems Modelling
Previous posts have outlined the view that, when formally modeling organisational systems,the choice of modelling method or methodology brings important benefits, but each also brings its own constraints and limitations.
The JISC Smudie project has been exploring the use of Enterprise Architecture as a modelling tool and has shown that it is excellent as a way of visually representing the management systems and processes in an institution. The representations produced in the evaluation phase of the project showed how it readily identified anomalies and inadequacies in management structures and facilitated conversations about potential improvements.
This was followed by an examination of the affordances of Viable Systems Modelling which showed how it contributed the added dimension of management communications and control capacity as well as emphasising the recursive nature of management systems and sub-systems.
In the third analysis, outlined below, the principles and practices of Soft Systems Modelling were explored as a means of ensuing that the particular characteristics of human activity systems were taken into account when discussing systems improvements.
The JISC Smudie project has been exploring the use of Enterprise Architecture as a modelling tool and has shown that it is excellent as a way of visually representing the management systems and processes in an institution. The representations produced in the evaluation phase of the project showed how it readily identified anomalies and inadequacies in management structures and facilitated conversations about potential improvements.
This was followed by an examination of the affordances of Viable Systems Modelling which showed how it contributed the added dimension of management communications and control capacity as well as emphasising the recursive nature of management systems and sub-systems.
In the third analysis, outlined below, the principles and practices of Soft Systems Modelling were explored as a means of ensuing that the particular characteristics of human activity systems were taken into account when discussing systems improvements.
Monday 31 December 2012
Viable Systems Modelling II
An updated version of the VSM report is presented below. The main changes are that, firstly, it is now in Word format and thus easier to access for people without a PDF reader, and it also expands on the benefits of VSM modelling in the conclusions section.
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