Table of Contents

11. Bachelor of Information Systems (BIS)
    11.1. Main themes
        11.1.1. Information systems
        11.1.2. Information technology
        11.1.3. Organisations
        11.1.4. Analytical skills
        11.1.5. Professional competencies
        11.1.6. Professional Skills Program (PSP)
    11.2. Objectives of the course
    11.3. Duration
    11.4. Course requirements
        11.4.1. Core studies
        11.4.2. Electives


11. Bachelor of Information Systems (BIS)

The degree in information systems focuses on the design, specification, and creation of information systems, and on the human and organisational arrangements needed to use information systems to achieve organisational goals. To cover these increasingly interrelated topics, the course offers study in five key areas: information systems, information technology, organisations, analytical skills, and professional competencies.

Bachelor of Information Systems graduates will find employment in a variety of professional roles, ranging from the very technical to the very business oriented, in public and private organisations in Australia and overseas.

11.1. Main themes

Specific capabilities will be developed through work in the five general themes of the course.

11.1.1. Information systems

This is the central theme of the course: information systems collect, process, store, and distribute information so that it can be used to make decisions, to keep track of resources, and to plan for the future. Particular focus is placed on imagining, specifying, designing, justifying, building, implementing, managing, and using information systems to add value in organisations.

11.1.2. Information technology

An understanding of the potential of information technology to add value is essential to the successful implementation and use of information systems. Students will become familiar with computer hardware and software, telecommunications, databases and data structures, information technology architectures, and information technology infrastructures. Practical experience in these areas will help students learn how to assess the current and future capability of information technology.

11.1.3. Organisations

To implement information systems efficiently and effectively in organisations requires the ability to analyse and understand organisational functions, processes, environments, characteristics, and cultures. This organisational perspective on information systems, and its relationship to the technical perspective developed in the information technology theme, is a distinguishing characteristic of the Bachelor of Information Systems course.

11.1.4. Analytical skills

Effective design, development, and implementation of information systems in organisations requires a broad range of analytical skills, including data classification and modelling, information mapping and representation, systems analysis and design, and statistics. These and other analytical skills are essential for understanding, and communicating about, complex organisational situations and the potential and performance of information systems.

11.1.5. Professional competencies

Graduates will, in the course of their jobs, work with people across a broad spectrum of technical and business interests and skills. Success in these interactions will require a well-developed set of personal competencies, including listening, collecting and synthesising information, writing, presenting, and working in teams.

11.1.6. Professional Skills Program (PSP)

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Systems will participate in a Professional Skills Program covering a range of communication, professional and analytical skills. Students will be expected to complete the sequence satisfactorily at first, second and third year levels, and will be awarded a certificate on successful completion of this element of the course. The PSP aims to prepare students for the information systems workplace by teaching skills in communication, teamwork, leadership, writing, presenting in public, problem solving and more. It is a 55-hour course taught over a three-year or five-semester period. The PSP is a non-credit subject but attendance is a requirement of the Bachelor of Information Systems course.

First year PSP comprises an introduction to a range of professional skills, and the rationale for bringing such professional skills to the workplace. In second year, students study thinking skills, people skills, and oral and written communication skills. Third year PSP covers advanced presentation skills, advanced people skills such as negotiation and conflict resolution, and advanced problem-solving.

Note: Students in combined Bachelor of Information Systems courses can complete PSP over the five years of their course.

11.2. Objectives of the course

The objective of the Bachelor of Information Systems course is to prepare students to be part of teams that imagine, specify, design, justify, build, implement, manage, and use information systems. To accomplish this objective, graduates must understand how to use information technology, including hardware, software, and telecommunications, as a conduit for the value-added information content of formal organisational systems. This understanding is based on a solid theoretical grounding in both technology and organisations, as well as on experience working both individually and in teams to apply the theory to practice.

Upon completion of the Bachelor of Information Systems course, students will:

11.3. Duration

The Bachelor of Information Systems course normally requires three years of full-time study, and may be taken part time.

11.4. Course requirements

Students must complete at least 300 points of approved studies, comprising:

11.4.1. Core studies

Note: This list may change from time to time.

100-level

325-101 Management

One of the following:

615-120 Information Systems in Organisations

615-145 Concepts in Software Development I

615-150 Organisational Processes

615-160 Tools of Analysis

200-level

615-230 Database Concepts

615-237 Telecommunications Concepts

615-240 Concepts in Software Development II

615-245 Systems Analysis and Design

615-251 Organisational Analysis and Change

615-252 Electronic Commerce

300-level

615-328 Managing the Impact of IS

615-347 Application Environments

615-350 Case Studies in Information Systems

615-355 Legal & Ethical Frameworks

615-372 Project Management

615-370 Information Systems Project

Table 23: BIS course plan

Year

 

Sem

 

Subjects

 

1

 

1

 

615-120 Information Systems in Organisations

(replace with an elective if 40+ in VCE Information Technology IP)

 

325-101 Management

 

Completion of business oriented subject chosen from the list below.

 

Elective

 

2

 

615-145 Concepts in Software Development I

(615-120)

 

615-150 Organisational Processes

 

615-160 Tools of Analysis

(Pre or Coreq 615-145 or 433-142, or equivalent)

 

Elective

 

2

 

1

 

615-240 Concepts in Software Development II

(615-145)

 

615-251 Organisational Analysis and Change

(615-150)

 

615-230 Database Concepts

(615-145)

 

Elective at 200-level or higher

 

2

 

615-245 Systems Analysis and Design

(615-150, 615-230)

 

615-252 Electronic Commerce

(615-150, corequisite 615-237)

 

615-237 Telecommunications Concepts

(615-145)

 

Elective at 200-level or greater

 

3

 

1

 

615-347 Application Environments

(615-230, 615-240)

 

615-355 Legal & Ethical Frameworks

(62.5 points of 200-level IS subjects)

 

615-372 Project Management

(62.5 points of 200-level IS subjects)

 

Elective at 200-level or greater

 

2

 

615-328 Managing the Impact of IS

(615-251)

 

615-350 Case Studies in Information Systems

(62.5 points of 200-level IS subjects)

 

615-370 Information Systems Project

(615-245, 615-372 and 62.5 points of 200-level IS)

 

Elective at 200-level or greater

 

Notes:

  • Prerequisites for subjects are noted in italics where appropriate.

  • This course plan is accurate at July 2001 and takes into account minor changes to the course that will occur from 2002.

  • This course plan is subject to timetable availability.

  • Students may apply to take 615-373 Industrial Project instead of 615-370 Information Systems Project

 

Business oriented subjects:

306-102 Accounting Concepts

306-104 Accounting 1B (prerequisite 306-103 Accounting 1A)

316-101 Introductory Macroeconomics (prerequisite 316-102 Introductory Microeconomics)

316-102 Introductory Microeconomics

325-102 Business in the Global Economy

325-103 The Asian Economies

732-103 Principles of Business Law

11.4.2. Electives

Students are encouraged to take electives that broaden their degree studies.

Subjects with content that may overlap information systems core subject content are not encouraged.

See Bachelor of Information Systems for a list of Information Systems electives..



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