Bachelor of Information Systems

Course 615-AA (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Year and Campus:	2009
Fees Information:	Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Level:	Undergraduate

Contact

Science Student Centre

Old Geology building

University of Melbourne

Victoria 3010

AUSTRALIA

Telephone +61 3 8344 6404

Facsimile +61 3 8344 5803

Web: http://www.science.unimelb.edu.au

Course Overview:	There is no first year intake into this course after 2008. 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.
Objectives:	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.
Subject Options:	The final first year intake into the Bachelor of Information Systems course was at the start of 2008. In addition to the information below, current BIS students should refer to other resources regarding course requirements and appropriate subject selection: Previous years’ handbooks (for each of the years that a student has been enrolled in the course). The course planning website of the Science Student Centre: http://www.science.unimelb.edu.au/current/planning/index.php The description of the BIS course has changed over recent years. Students may complete this course as defined by the current structure or a structure detailed in a previous year's handbook, applicable to any year the student was enrolled in the course. Course Requirements Students must complete a minimum (and maximum) of 300 points of approved studies, comprising: 187.5 points of core subjects in information systems at first, second and third year level (or approved alternatives); 25 points of information systems elective subjects at third year level; a 12.5 point subject in a business-oriented discipline (see below for list of options) 75 points of elective subjects including at least 37.5 points at second or third year level; Students may not undertake more than 112.5 points at first year level towards this course. First year level Core information systems subjects and approved alternatives offered in 2009 615-110 Foundations of Information Systems (enrolment by invitation of Head of Department) 615-150 Organisational Processes (enrolment by invitation of Head of Department) 600-151 Informatics 1: Practical Computing (replaces 615-145) 600-152 Informatics 2: People, Data and the Web (replaces 615-240) 800-101 Critical Thinking With Data (replaces 615-160) 316-130 Quantitative Methods 1 (alternative replacement for 615-160) Second year level Core information systems subjects and approved alternatives offered in 2009 600-206 Informatics 3: Content Management (replaces 615-230) 615-237 Telecommunications Concepts 615-240 Concepts in Software Development II (enrolment by invitation of Head of Department) 615-245 Systems Analysis and Design 615-251 Organisational Analysis and Change Please note: the core subject 615-252 Electronic Commerce will not be offered in 2009. It will be replaced by a new third year level subject ICT Based Inter-organisational Processes to be offered for the first time in 2010 (subject to approval). Third year level Core information systems subjects offered in 2009 615-346 Information Systems Architecture 615-355 Professional Issues in Info Systems 615-372 Project Management 615-373 Industrial Project Second year level Elective information systems subjects offered in 2009 615-201 Information Visualisation 615-202 Reasoning with Informatics 615-281 Emerging Technologies for Transformation 615-282 Shaping the Organisation with ICT Third year level Elective information systems subjects offered in 2009 615-330 Advanced Concepts in Database 615-348 Human Computer Interaction 615-351 Strategic IS Management 615-360 Organisational Information Security 615-363 Mobile Computing Business-oriented subjects offered in 2009 Select one business-oriented subject from this list. 306-108 Accounting Transactions and Analysis 316-101 Introductory Macroeconomics 316-102 Introductory Microeconomics 333-101 Finance 1 325-101 Managing People and Organisations 732-103 Principles of Business Law
Entry Requirements:	There is no first year intake into this course after 2008.
Core Participation Requirements:	It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study and reasonable steps will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the University’s programs. Students who feel their disability may impact upon their active and safe participation in a subject are encouraged to discuss this with the relevant subject coordinator and the Disability Liaison Unit.
Further Study:	Honours and Masters level studies are available as indicated at http://www.science.unimelb.edu.au
Graduate Attributes:	Upon completion of the Bachelor of Information Systems course, students should: understand how people use information and information systems; understand the business value of information and information systems in organisations; understand the organisational settings in which information systems are used, including major business functions and processes; have familiarity with, and some experience in, studying large, complex information systems; understand, and be able to specify, the technical aspects of an information system; be able to build small information systems; be familiar with a range of techniques, standards, and tools for building and using large information systems in an organisational setting; be able to participate in imagining, designing, justifying, implementing, and managing large information systems; have professional competencies for effective work in organisations, including listening, writing, researching, analysing, presenting, and working in teams; and know how to operate ethically within society's legal framework.
Generic Skills:	Specific capabilities will be developed through work in the five key areas of the course. 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. 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. 3. Organizations 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. 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. 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.

Download PDF version.