Processing Design Using Hierarchy Charts and Flowcharts

Learning Objectives: To demonstrate the student's level of competence in processing design including:
• Developing the Essential Model
• Developing the Implementation Model

Assignment:
For the problem described in Homework 1:

1. Include a copy of your I/O Design (you may modify/improve what you turned in for homework 1).
2. Create a data dictionary for your project (see below)
3. Develop the Essential Model- a hierarchy model.
4. Develop an Implementation Model using a Flowchart
   For this assignment you will need to use some software such as Visio, Powerpoint or Word to draw your models.
   Here is a link to a tutorial about creating flowcharts in Word:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VR7iBImDB4
   Notes:
   The problem you are addressing for Homework 2 is the same as it was for Homework 1. Make sure you have the variables and logic nailed down (the human-level and program-level walk-throughs) before you start on homework 2! If you have questions- get in touch and schedule some one-on-one time. Be sure to review feedback from Homework 1 in Blackboard.

FYI- The most common errors in homework 2 usually include:

• Using the wrong symbols.
• Not including logic to “stop and report” when the user inputs -1
• Not counting the number of students.
• Not calculating the average GPA.
• Not calculating the max GPA.
• Not keeping track of the student_ID of the student with the highest GPA.

Submission Instructions:
• Your essential model and implementation model can be in the same file, but they must be in different slides, sheets, etc. Eg: if you use Powerpoint, your essential model should be on one slide and the implementation model should be on another slide.
• If you need to use more than one slide for your model, that is fine- just be sure to make notes/labels that make it easy to follow your logic. (There is a protocol for this noted in the book- use it!)
• Submit your assignment via Blackboard.
For this project, you also need to create a data dictionary in Excel and submit it through Blackboard.
Quick and dirty: A data dictionary is a list of variables of interest, and it tells us various things about each variable such as (at a minimum):

• a description of what a variable measures
• how the variable is measured (units)
• the origin of the data (eg: user entered, a database (including table and field), URL, etc.)
  Data dictionaries also often include:
• data type (integer, float, date, String, etc.)
• allowable values (A, B, C, D, and F; positive integers, 0 to 100 Million, text, etc.)
• date of collection
• default values
  For more information, here is a quick and solid resource:
  http://library.ucmerced.edu/node/10249
  Data dictionaries can be very formal and technical (eg: data dictionaries at the CDC or VA), or they can be quick and dirty. For our project, please follow these guidelines…
  The data should be in a table format in Excel, with the column names at the top of the table. By “table format”, I just mean “columns and rows”. Your columns should be the following:
  Variable_name – variable name should be all lower-case, start with text (a-z), and should include only letters, numbers, or underscores. No special characters and NO SPACES.
  Variable_description – Brief description (layman’s terms) of the variable
  Data_source_org – What is the source organization of the data? Does your data come from user input? Is the data an aggregate of other data (eg: Is the data an average, sum, or count of another data field.) Is is your data from an outside source? Eg: Wikipedia, US CDC, World Health Org, etc. In this class, your data sources will be “user input” or “derived from variables x, y, z, etc.” You do NOT need a source organization or source URL- the tables below are for illustration purposes only. Later in your career, the source may be an exact address, database, and table.
  variable_type – text or number? Integer, String, etc.
  Measurement_unit – If data is a number, in what unit is the data measured and stored? (eg: state_name, units per 100k, percent, dollars, gallons, meters, etc.)

2 excellent examples from student projects in other classes are shown below

Sample Solution