1996 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

Advanced Studies in Information Systems
Students will be required to undertake an individual
program of advanced study in one or more areas of
contemporary information systems theory and practice.
Student's individual study programs will be based on a
combination of attendance at a series of lectures and/or
seminars based on the research interests of staff and
postgraduate students in the information systems
department and a supervised reading program. Students will
be expected to prepare a written report on the results of
their particular course of study and will also be required to
present their findings in a seminar.
Information Systems Honours Research Project
Students will be required to undertake a substantial research
project, investigating an aspect of information systems
theory or practice, which may be selected to suit the
student's preferred area of specialisation. Students will be
expected to report their research activity in the form of a
written dissertation of approximately 15 000 words in length
and will be required to progressively present their findings
as part of a research seminar program.
Students intending to complete their degree with honours
must apply for entry into the honours year by the end of
their three year degree.
Note that entry into the honours year is competitive and the
number of places is subject to a quota.
BT401 Business Software for PCs
li hours per week Hawthorn Prequisite: nil
Assessment: to be advised
A subject in the Graduate Certificate in Business
Administration
0 bjectives
The aim of this subject is to:
introduce students to PC-based information technology
concepts with particular emphasis on decision support
systems;
enable students to appreciate, and gain practice in the
application of a range of PC-based analysis methods as a
means of providing information for management
decision making;
provide students with skills in the use of PCs that they
can utilise in other areas of the course.
Content
Throughout the subject, extensive use will be made of
computer packages and particular emphasis will be given to
current developments in computing that relate to financial
management.
Topic coverage includes: software and hardware
components of decision support systems, spreadsheets,
graphics, data bases and evaluation and selection of software.
Recommended reading
Software documentation, user manuals and current journal
articles will provide the major reference material for the subject.
BT402 Introduction to Information
Technology
3 hours per week ~awtrhom Prerequisite: prior to
beginning this subject students are not expected to have any
previous experience with computers or information
technology. Assessment: to be advised
A subject in the Graduate Certificate in Business
Information Technology
Objectives and Content
At the end of this subject students will be expected to be
able to:
state in general terms what constitutes information
technology and an information system and its
applications;
..
state the major components of a computer system, how
they operate and interact together;
state the purpose of an operating system and
demonstrate a knowledge of the elementary functions of
the DOS operating system;
use a word processing package to prepare documents of
a specified standard which can be handed in for
assessment:
state the functions that computers perform in the
business world and illustrate these functions with
practical examples;
state the problems associated with manual filing systems
and traditional computer systems, illustrate these
problems with practical examples and apply this
knowledge to a practical situation;
state the main functions of data base management
systems, illustrate these functions using
examples and apply this knowledge in analysing a
practical situation.
BT403 Business Computing
li hours per week Hawthorn Prerequisite: nil
Assessment: to be advised
A subject in the Graduate Certificate in Business
Administration
Objectives and Content
This subject gives students an introduction to the use of
computers in business. Students will study many different
types of applications ranging from those used by small
businesses through to those used by large corporations.
Computer systems discussed will range from
microcomputers through to mainframe computers. During
the course, students will solve simple business problems
with the aid of a spreadsheet package on a microcomputer.
Students will also be exposed to a number of analysis skills
used in building information systems. The subject concludes
with a discussion of the social implications of introducing
new information technology.
At the end of this subject, students will be able to:
describe a variety of applications used by business;
identify the type of problems to which spreadsheets
should be applied and use such a package to solve simple
business problems;