INFS 640 - Introduction to
Electronic Commerce [Credits: 3], Fall 2015
GMU Catalog
Description: Studies electronic
commerce from both managerial and technical
perspectives. Topics include e-commerce models and concepts;
Internet and web protocols and infrastructure; e-commerce
marketing and branding; security protocols and standards;
e-commerce payment systems; and case studies of
business-to-consumer, business-to-business,
consumer-to-consumer, and e-government.
Prerequisites:
INFS 501, 515, and 519; and SWE 510 or equivalent.
Topics covered:
The topics covered correspond to selected chapters in the textbook,
Electronic
Commerce, 11th Edition, by Gary P. Schneider.
There will be additional readings made available through GMU's
Digital Library, including articles from the ACM and IEEE Digital
Libraries, and supplemental material presented during class
sessions.
E-Commerce Concepts
E-Commerce Business Models
E-Commerce Infrastructure
E-Commerce Web Technology
E-Commerce Security, Encryption and Payment
Systems
E-Commerce Marketing & Advertising
E-Commerce Social and Mobility Characteristics
E-Commerce Ethics & Political Issues
Required Textbook: Electronic
Commerce, 11th Edition, by Gary P. Schneider.
There will be assignments from the textbook; digital copies are
available.
Student resources from textbook are here.
Course dates: Thursday,
September 3 through Thursday December 17 (No class on
Thanksgiving Day, Nov 26) Location:West Building, Room 1007 Meeting day & time:
Thursdays, 7:20pm to 10:00pm. Please arrive at class on time.
We will start on time, have a short break in the middle of each
class session, and will finish not later than 10:00pm.
Blackboard:mymason.gmu.edu All assignments,
class announcements, schedules, files and presentations will use
Blackboard
Professor's Email: hfoxwell@gmu.edu
In the Subject line of your email, use the prefix INFS640:
For example: Subject: INFS640: Question about Assignment #1
CS Office location:
Engineering Building, Room 4300 (see administrator)
Office hours: Call or
email for appointments.
Phone: 703-364-1047
(Okay to call at any time and leave message on voicemail)
Teaching Assistant (TA): TBA
Grading Policy
Student grades will be determined based on class participation,
assignments, research paper review, research paper, and final exam:
Grade Component
Weight
Class Participation (in
class, online discussions)
10%
Assignments
30%
eCommerce Project
30%
Final Exam
30%
Grading Guidelines: Some
assignment components are evaluated subjectively
A: means consistentlyabove and beyond the
course/assignment requirements
B: means meets and occasionally exceeds the
course/assignment requirements
C: meansminimally meets
the course/assignment requirements
F: means fails to meet the
course/assignment requirements
Some assignment components are evaluated objectively:
A :
95-100% A- :
90-95% B+ :
85-90% B :
80-85% C :
70-80%
Honor Code
All work performed in this course will be subject to GMU's
Honor Code. Students are expected to do their own work in the
course unless a group project is approved by the instructor. In
papers and project reports, students are expected to write in their
own words, rather than cutting-and-pasting from sources found
on the Internet. When you do cite material from books, articles, and
the Web, enclose the material in quotes and provide a reference. If a
paragraph is used then it should be indented in the text (both left
and right margins).
Assignments
Format: PDF
preferred; plain text, HTML, StarOffice/OpenOffice,
Open Document Format, MS format documents also accepted, but the
instructor will have to convert them....it's best to do
the PDF conversion yourself and check the result before
submitting.Upload all assignments to Blackboard.
Student programming projects must adhere to the CS
Honor Code.
There a several Computer Labs available for general use by IT&E
students, which are located on the Fairfax campus. For more
information go to the web site at http://labs.vse.gmu.edu/ .
Class Participation:
Contribute to the in-class discussions, participate in online
discussion topics posted on Blackboard. Some online discussion topics might
be selected for grading.
Other Notes:
There will be reading assignments along with the assumption that you have actually
read them!
Lectures will augment reading material; lecture material will
be asked about on assignments, project, and on final exam.
Lecture slides (from textbook authors and from instructor's
additional material) will be posted on Blackboard.
Course content:
Some material you may already know (good! that's
review!)
Some material you may have learned earlier and have
forgotten (good! you'll be reminded)
Some material you may know more than the instructor
(good! share it!).
Turn cell phones to
silent mode; if you need to make an urgent call,
leave the classroom.
If you need to text,
check emails, or other activity, do not disturb other students.
Call or email the instructor if you anticipate being late or
absent.
Personal Safety and Security: The Mason Alert system
provides emergency information of various sorts. Students
can sign up for it by visiting the website https://alert.gmu.edu.
Students are also reminded that an emergency poster exists in
each classroom explaining what to do in the event of crises and
that further information about emergency procedures exists on http://www.gmu.edu/service/cert.
Computer and IT Security: Visit GMU's IT http://itu.gmu.edu/ computer
security web site regularly. Norton AntiVirus Software is
free to download for all GMU students/faculty/staff.