70-451 Midterm Exam Study Hints Format of the exam Definitions
You will be given a set of terms and asked to give one or two sentence definitions for 5 of them. Each of these definitions will worth 5 points.
Short answer questions:
You will be given a set of questions and be asked to give a one or two paragraph answer to 5 of them. Each of these questions will be worth 15 points and partial credit will be given.
The exam will be graded based on 100 points (5 * 5 Definitions = 25; 15 * Short answer questions =75). Content of the exam
The exam will cover the topics that were covered in lecture up to and including Thursday, July 14.
For the definitions section of the exam the best way to study is to look over the lecture notes and make sure that you know the terms that are mentioned there. For chapters 1,2,3,4,7 & 9 the vocabulary list at the back of each chapter is also a good resource.
Here are a set of question for each of the chapters that will be covered on the exam. These are not actual exam questions. However, they are similar to the type of short answer question that will be given on the exam. Chapter 1 What are the 4 different types of information systems and how do they differ? Can you give an example of each one? Chapter 2 In what ways do centralized organizations differ from decentralized organizations? How is the degree of centralization or decentralization likely to affect MIS design, development and management? Chapter 3 What are the important elements in an organizations operating environment? What are some examples of how information technology can impact the relationship between the organization and these elements? Why is strategic planning important for MIS management? Chapter 4 What are some of the roles of manager in organizations? What are some examples of information systems that support managers in these different roles? Chapter 5 What are the important hardware elements of a computer system and how are they related? Chapter 6 What are the important categories of software and how are they related? For each category identify the community of people who is likely to use the software. Chapter 7 What are the two primary approaches to data management? Mention two advantages and two disadvantages for each of the alternatives. Chapter 8 What are the three high level structures that are used to create large-scale computer systems? What is a LAN? What is a WAN? How do these two types of systems differ? Chapter 9 What is a transaction processing system? What are some of the functions in businesses that are supported by transaction processing system? What is a legacy system? What kind of problems do legacy systems create for system developers and MIS managers? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Butler / bb26@andrew.cmu.edu