INFO123-16S1 (C) Semester One 2016

Information Systems and Technology

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 22 February 2016
End Date: Sunday, 26 June 2016
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 6 March 2016
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 22 May 2016

Description

Information technology plays an important role in business and society. This course examines how businesses use information systems and technologies to deliver business value and support business strategy, to improve connections with stakeholders, create better business processes, and enhance decision-making. Students develop problem-solving skills applicable to any area in business, and practical skills in Excel and Access to store, organise and use data to address business problems and support decision-making.

Who should take INFO123?  This course is open to all students, and there are no required pre-requisite courses, or NCEA requirements.

INFO123 is part of the core of the Bachelor of Commerce degree as IT is now important to most organisations and most functional areas. Thus the course is relevant to all majors within the BCom degree. The course complements various other courses offered by Accounting, Computer Science, Economics, Finance, Management, and Marketing.

The course explores a variety of IT topics to provide a broad introduction to information systems. The course is a mix of technology and business.  Thus, while some technologies are examined, eg, how the internet works, the course also examines how organisations use the internet and various other technologies.

The course also helps students develop useful transferable skills for workplace and career opportunities. In particular, the course has practical components aimed at developing hands-on skills with Powerpoint, Excel and Access. These are very important tools used in other courses across the University, not just subsequent courses in Information Systems. They are also sought after by many employers. As you build your own knowledge and understanding of the important world of IT, you will also develop your hands-on computer skills and increase your employability.
INFO123 serves as a foundation course for all BCom students. The concepts introduced are relevant to all aspects of managing an organisation including: accounting, human resource management, organisational planning and design, strategic management, operations management, and marketing. The concepts are important at all types of organisation, eg, profit and not-for-profit, as well as all levels within an organisation, from computer user through to the Board of Directors.

Career opportunities
There are many challenging careers in IT, both here in New Zealand and around the world. The ideal person will have a mix of skills and knowledge encompassing IT and business-related areas. Jobs include business analyst, information technology (IT) consultant, project leader, network manager, database administrator, PC support, IS planner, IS manager, IT sales, and webmaster.
For further information about careers in IT, please go to www.canterbury.ac.nz/careers

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, a student should be able to:

1.  Demonstrate an understanding of what are business information systems (IS), the role of IS on business including how IS can be used to deliver business value, support business strategy, and enhance decision-making.
2.  Demonstrate an understanding of key business processes and the systems that support these processes (e.g. Collaboration Systems, ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence) and of the IS development process.
3.  Recognise various aspects, technologies and trends associated with ecommerce and the Internet (e.g. Web 2.0, social networking).
4.  Discuss key issues associated with managing IS in organisations (e.g. outsourcing, IS security, ethical issues).
5.  Describe key concepts, components, technologies and selection criteria associated with the use of IS (e.g. hardware, software, networks and data communication).
6.  Describe and apply key database concepts to organising, managing and using data in a database.
7.  Gain competence with presentation, spread-sheet and database software (i.e. MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Access).
8.  Use good presentation skills to create and deliver a professional presentation to an audience.

Restrictions

ACIS123, AFIS123, AFIS124

Timetable Note

In most weeks, the class will meet for four hours in total, i.e., two hours of ‘lectures’, one hour of computer tutorials, and one hour for a discussion tutorial.  The computer lab tutorials are used to help students develop skills in the following applications:  MS Excel, MS Access, and MS Powerpoint. The discussion tutorials provide an opportunity to address your questions in a small group, to make a presentation using Powerpoint, and to provide feedback on presentations made by other students.

Course Coordinator

Nelly Todorova

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Group Presentation 7%
Mid-semester test 35%
MS Excel computer lab test 7%
MS Access Test 7%
Final Exam 44%


To pass INFO123 you have to:
a)  gain a mark for the semester as a whole of 50% or more (but the department reserves the right to move this 50% threshold slightly up or down to ensure fairness).
b)  satisfy the '45% rule' of the ACIS Department. This means that in order to pass the course as a whole you must average not less than 45% over the invigilated components of your assessments. For the semester as a whole you could get more than 50% yet still be awarded a D grade (a fail). In INFO123 the invigilated components include 2 computer lab tests, the mid-semester test and the final exam.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Kroenke, David M.,1948-; Using MIS ; Seventh edition, global edition;

Course links

Course outline 2016 outline
Learn

Notes

Contact
The student advisors in the School of Business and Economics can assist you in a variety of ways from planning your degree to helping with special applications regarding your course of study.  http://www.bsec.canterbury.ac.nz/course_advice/

Telephone: +64 3 364 2613
Email: acis@canterbury.ac.nz

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $786.00

International fee $3,450.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Department of Accounting and Information Systems .

All INFO123 Occurrences