Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

Students must submit their proposal to the lnformation
Systems Honours Convenor for approval prior to the
commencement of their honours program. Approval for a
student's discipline-specific course of study and research
project proposal shall be subject to the availability of any
necessary resources and the availability of appropriate staff
supervision.
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 andlor 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 Honoun Rnsearch 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
wriien 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
Subject aims
The aim of this unit 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 utilize in other areas of the course.
Subject description
Throughout the unit, extensiw 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.
References
Software documentation, user manuals and current journal articles
will provide the major reference material for the unit
BT402
Introduction to lnformation Technology
Prerequisites: prior to beginning this unit
students are not expected to have any previous
experience with computers or information
technology
Subject aims and description
At the end of this unit 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 practical
examples and apply this knowledge in analysing a
practical situation.
BT403 Business Computing
Subject aims and description
This unit gives students an introdudion 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 unit concludes with a
discussion of the social implications of introducing new
information technology.
At the end of this unit, 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
describe how computers are used in large organisations,
including centralised processors, distributed systems and
networked PCs
understand basic communications terminology and
describe some currently used communication services
and products
describe alternative methods of systems development
and means of obtaining information for analysis of
requirements
understand the social implications of computerisation.
Textbooks
To be advised
Reference
Behan, K. and Holmes, D. Understanding lnformation Technology
2nd ed. Sydney: Prentice-Hall, 1990