Course content
Year 1 / Level C
IT Professional
This unit willl provide an understanding of organisational contexts of structure, design, change problems and law/ethics/professionalism, and personal contexts involving inter-personal, transferable and team skills.
Computers & Networks
You will gain a sound foundation that will enhance your ability to cope with the demands of the programme, encourage self-awareness, planning and reflection whilst identifying and improving the pre-requisite skills set required for successful employability in the global environment.
Database Systems 1
The aim of this unit is to understand the issues involved in the use and development of relational databases, and to develop practical expertise in Structured Query Language and the application of the database design techniques Entity-Relationship Modeling and normalization. The unit provides the underpinning for the Level I unit Data Management.
Computer Programming 1
The aim of this unit is to provide the fundamental skills and understanding of algorithm construction in a modern programming language, and to develop your skills in this area, so that you will be able to write well designed, well structured, and adequately tested programs that meet given specifications, using a single programming language to industry standards.
Systems Analysis & Design 1
You will develop an understanding of the operations of business systems including the communication, storage and processing of data and information and to develop the capability to devise solutions to simple business information problems.
Web Development
You will develop a critical view of information presented on the World Wide Web. You will be introduced and become confident in the use of commercial web design programs and evaluate the use of graphics and multimedia and evolving web technologies.
Year 2 / Level I
Business Planning
During this unit you will analyse marketing/financial issues involved in and affecting the operation and management of a business unit within a business. You will develop an understanding of project management goals and be able to break a project into its constituent activities and determine relevant resources and costs.You will explore how to apply various project management tools and techniques for the successful completion of IT projects within an organisation.
Online Business Applications
The internet has changed the way that many firms do business, and has made new business models possible. The aim of this module is to examine some of these trends in resource management and changing workflows, and to look at the technologies and protocols upon which new systems can be built – Service Oriented Architectures, web services, XML and associated security standards.
Database Systems 2
An essential characteristic of success is the ability to handle people effectively. An integral aspect is the ability to motivate self and other people to work effectively, and this requires highly developed personal and inter-personal skills. This unit draws on social psychology and the theory to examine aspects of human behavior relevant to this process.
Work Based Project
At the end of this unit you will be able to develop and apply an understanding of the issues involved in project management and team working. This unit is the final integrative unit and will provide you with the opportunity to draw upon and combine the skills and knowledge developed in the course, in order to provide a solution to a systems development problem undertaken for an external client.
Systems Analysis & Design 2
This unit will provide a framework and enable you to apply techniques for the Object-Oriented Analysis & Design of systems for business process improvement. Additionally, you will explore the problems associated with traditional systems development and examine other approaches and frameworks. This involves a) examining different development environments including CASE tools and prototyping, and b) the development of different computer system architectures, which provide business improvements for operational and management information.
Computer Programming 2
The aim of this unit is to build on the Computer Programming 1 unit and examine advanced Object Oriented concepts covering design, programming and testing. More complex applications will be developed exploring database connectivity, GUI and web interfaces. The unit will also consider a number of programming languages and assess their benefits in differing contexts.
