615-120 Introduction to Information Systems

• This subject is regarded by the Faculty of Science as a non-science subject for students enrolled in the BSc, BASc and combined BSc courses.

• Students may not gain credit for 615-120 and any of 306-105 Business Computing, 306-205 Business Computing, 103-001 Computer Applications or 103-002 Internet Applications.

• Student who have received a BOS mark of at least 40 in VCE Information Technology: Information Processing and Management may be exempt from doing this subject.

• Commerce degree students are not permitted to enrol in this subject, except BCom/BIS students, where this subject is a core requirement.

Nil.

The subject aims to present the central information systems principles and demonstrate how they form an integral part of modern organisations. Topics include systems concepts; organisational processes; technological aspects of information systems; the internet and its various modern applications; legal, security and ethical issues; database design and management; and systems development life cycle.

At the completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• understand the different types of information systems used in organisations, and the roles of these systems;

• understand the interaction of organisational and technical issues in the use of information systems;

• have hands-on experience in developing and using small personal information systems and creating a well-formed and valid web page;

• appreciate the opportunities offered by information systems to create value in organisations, and the challenges in achieving that value; and

• have a technical foundation for understanding the hardware and software components of information systems.

In addition to these subject-related skills, students should acquire or extend other valuable, generic skills. These include:

• developing problem-solving skills; and

• working in teams to allocate duties and achieve specified goals.

One end-of-semester written examination of no more than three hours in length (50%); assignments involving written reports, group presentations and practical work (50%)