level 3 options on the bit/ec programmes 2005 - 2006 · w8: review of multimedia authoring tools...

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Faculty of Business, Computing & Information Management

Level 3 Options

On the

BIT/EC Programmes

2005 - 2006

NB: These are to be used as guides only. There may be some small changes from year to year.

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SEMESTER 1 OPTIONS

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UNIT TITLES: Multimedia IT Design UNIT REFERENCE: CSA-3-MMI COURSES: BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Abdullah Hashim VERSION: April 2003

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Multimedia is an area of intense current interest and future promise within computing, even though it is still evolving. However, its complex characteristics and multi-faceted elements bring new computing requirements and thus provide extraordinary challenges to the computing community. This unit provides fundamental multimedia knowledge and skills, such as basic concepts of video and audio, common multimedia hardware and software, and key multimedia editing and development techniques.

AIMS This unit aims to:

- Develop a working knowledge of the elements of multimedia information technology. - Provide an understanding of existing and emerging business exploitation of multimedia information

technology. - Introduce good practice for the design of multimedia information technology solutions in business.

LEARNING OUTCOMES On successful completion of this unit, the student will: - Be conversant with multimedia terminology, technologies, models, and standards. - Comprehend the potential of multimedia for business information technology, and the obstacles that

must be overcome for successful design, implementation and use. - Understand the range of existing business areas that multimedia may support. - Be able to evaluate effectively and critically the role and importance of the various elements of

multimedia information technology. - Be able to design effective multimedia information systems.

This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A1, A2, A5, B4, B5 and C3.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Multimedia is constantly evolving, and thus the content taught within the unit is subject to change. However, the following topics are currently fundamental to multimedia:

• Traditional media vs. multimedia • Fundamental video and audio concepts (e.g. pixels, colour, frames, clips) • Computing requirements for multimedia (e.g. processing power, storage) • Multimedia support in mainstream operating systems (e.g. Windows’ MCI)

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• Common hardware and software for multimedia capture, edit, and playback • Fundamental video and audio editing concepts and techniques • Hypermedia vs. multimedia • Common multimedia development environments (e.g. authoring systems, presentation graphics

software, 4GLs) • Fundamental scripting and authoring techniques • Aspects of presenting multimedia (e.g. passive vs. interactive presentation) • Multimedia and the user interface

Weekly schedule:

Lecture schedule Laboratory schedule

W1: Introduction to the Unit - W2: Introduction to Multimedia Start Work on Assignment I

W3: Business Apps. of Multimedia Work on Assignment I

W4: Hypertext Work on Assignment I

W5: Hypermedia Work on Assignment I W6: Fundamentals of Media Elements (i.e. Video, Audio, etc.)

Work on Assignment I

W7: Multimedia Computing Environments (Software & Hardware)

Work on Assignment I

W8: Review of Multimedia Authoring Tools

Assignment I Presentations and assessments

W9: Introduction to Multimedia Design Start Work on Assignment II W10: Multimedia & User Interface (Use of metaphors in MM design)

Work on Assignment II

W11: Introduction to Macromedia Authorware

Work on Assignment II

W12: Authorware Cont. Work on Assignment II W13: Exam Revisions Assignment II Presentations and

assessments W14: Exam Revisions Assignment II Presentations and

assessments NOTE: the student should understand that the guide, as shown above, is an indication of how the course ideally fits into the structure of the semester. Although every attempt will be made to try and follow this structure, there may be times when it is impossible to do so. Students may be re-assured though; that all the material listed will be covered.

TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% This unit is assessed entirely by two pieces of coursework and a written examination. For the second coursework, students will be expected to undertake the development of an interactive multimedia presentation/application of reasonable scope.

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Course Work 1:

This is a group project aimed at carrying out extensive research on Emergence of Markup languages. A report of approximately 5,000 words is expected, which will present as a Web site to the class. The report should cover areas such as:

• Background to Markup languages • SGML • HTML • XML • WML • SMIL • Other Markup languages (i.e. MathML, CML, etc.)

Course Work 2:

• Course work 2 is aimed at developing a Multimedia system using Multimedia Authorware. The details of the project will be provided in the class.

The four hours of direct contact time will normally be split between a 2-hour lecture, and a 2-hour lab session each week. Lectures will be used to introduce students to the fundamental aspects of multimedia, while lab sessions will undertake practical multimedia skills in editing, authoring/scripting, and presentation. Weeks 1-12 2-hour lecture 2 hour lab session Weeks 13-15 Revision and exams INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: Dastbaz, M. Designing Interactive Multimedia Systems, McGraw Hill 2002 (ISBN:0-07-709863-3) Supplementary: McGloughlin, S, Multimedia Concepts and Practice, Prentice Hall 2001 Elsom-Cook Mark, Principles of Interactive Multimedia McGraw Hill 2001 Tannenbaum, T. Theoretical Foundations of Multimedia, Computer Science Press, 2001 VAUGHN, TAY, Multimedia: Making it work (3rd edition) McGraw Hill 1996 Boyle, T, Design for Multimedia Learning, Prentice Hall 1997 FISHER, S, Multimedia Authoring: Building And Developing Documents, AP Professional

1994 NIELSON, J, Multimedia and Hypertext: the Internet and beyond, AP Professional 1995 STEINMETZ, R. & NAHRSTEDT, K. Multimedia: Computing Communications & Applications, Prentice

Hall, 1995 ANDLEIGH, P.K., and THAKRAR, K. Multimedia Systems Design, Prentice Hall, 1996 ENGLAND, E. & FINNEY, A, Managing Multimedia (2nd Edition) Addison-Wesley, 1999 BUFORD, J. (ed.), Multimedia Systems, ACM Press /Addison Wesley, 1994 WWW resources: HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA: A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY @

http://www.gwu.edu/~gelman/train/hyperbib.htm ACM: is the world’s first educational and scientific computing society @

http://www.acm.org

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UNIT TITLES: Dynamic Management and Failure UNIT REFERENCE: CSA-3-DMF COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Ddembe Williams VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION The subject of requirements engineering is often given far less attention in both software and systems engineering education than software design or other later development phases. Although its importance is widely recognised in terms of professional skills, development and research contribution. AIMS The unit aims to give the student: - with the skills and broad understanding of Business systems requirements engineering management issues with

ability to use methods, tools and techniques effectively. - a theoretical understanding of requirements engineering process models and their importance to other systems

development phases. - a proactive support through research and use of specialised requirements engineering case tools.

an understanding of the need for planning and control of requirements engineering process RATIONALE - Understanding requirements helps earlier detection of errors, which will be much more costly to correct if

discovered in later phases, - Understanding the requirements engineering process forces students to articulate and to review requirements and

supports agreement among developers and customers, - To record and refine requirements, helps understanding of design rationales and enhances communications

among stakeholders, - Serves as a standard against which to test design and implementation for correctness and completeness, - Supports project management, e.g. resource estimation (cost, personnel, skills equipment), - Boosts confidence among developers and customers, - Studying RE provides the student with the opportunity to contribute to requirements engineering research

agenda. LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of successful completion of this unit, a student will be able to: - Understand the role of requirements engineering, - Understand a theoretical framework for the effective requirements engineering process management, - Understand the environment in which systems will exist and the ability to take these into consideration in the

specification document, - Design prototypes and test them, - Participate in small teams on actual external requirements engineering projects.

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This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A3, A4, A8, B2, B5 and C1. TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Assessment details: Assessment will be by means of examination and coursework. The first coursework (individual) will be in the form of Multiple choice, a second assignment (group) will reviewing the state of the art and practice in the software project management and failure domain based on the lecture and seminar programme. There will be two courseworks. This is an individual assignment with weighting of 15% of the total unit marks This coursework is based on multiple choice test covering all topic taught. It is imperative that students should attend all seminars. This is a (3-member) group assignment with weighting of 15% of the total unit marks. The coursework is based on a literature review of real life cases on software project management and failure. The essay should be nor more that 2,000 words. Dynamic Management and Failure, being an area that promotes shared understanding and communication intensive activity among project teams, formal lectures will play a minor role to group discussions and research seminars. It is envisaged that students will make oral presentations to the rest of the class, their findings from such discussions and review of papers. Appropriate use will be made of software project management tools and other computer based materials. INDICATIVE CONTENT The unit will cover the following topics: 1.0 Introduction to Dynamic Management and Failure 1.1 What are systems as Projects? 1.2 what is software project success or failure?

Types of Failures Software project management terminology and Models

2.0 Systems and Systems Boundaries 3.0 Software project Life Cycle 4.0 Systems (Project) Failures 5.0 Project Planning and Control 6.0 Computer Aided Software Engineering 7.0 Project Cost and Schedule Risk Assessment 8.0 Software Project Stakeholders 9.0 Requirements Process Management 10.0 Quality management in Software Projects 11.0 Modelling and Simulation in Software Project management

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Weekly Schedule:

Date Week Lecture/Seminar Programme Presenter Ref. Notes 05 Oct 2001 1 Introduction to Dynamic Management and

Failure Formal Lecture Davis, 1993

12 Oct 2001 2 Systems and Systems Boundaries Formal Lecture Loucoupolos & Karakostas, 1995

19 Oct 2001 3 Software project Life Cycle 26 Oct 2001 4 Systems (Project) Failures Formal Lecture Linberg, 1999 02 Nov 2001 5 Project Planning and Control Guest Lecture 9 Nov 2001 6 Computer Aided Software Engineering Formal Lecture 16 Nov 2001 7 Project Cost and Schedule Risk Assessment Formal Lecture 23 Nov 2001 8 Software Project Stakeholders Guest lecture Phan et al, 1995 CW1

hand-in

30 Nov 2001 9 Quality management in Software Projects Formal lecture 07 Dec 2001 10 Modelling and Simulation in Software

Project management Coursework Presentations

; Williams, 2001

14 Dec 2001 11 Review Week CW2 hand-in

14 Dec 2001 Christmas Vacation Christmas Vacation Christmas Vacation 14 Jan 2002 12 Review Week 13 Exams 14 Exams

INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: Flowers S., (1996) Software Failure, Management Failure, John Wiley Pressman, R, (1997) Software Engineering: A practitioners approach, McGraw Hill Supplementary: Giles, A., and Smith (1994) Managing Software Engineering: Case Studies and Solutions, Chapman-Hall,

ISBN: 0412 56550 1 Morris, P.W., and Hough, G,. H (1987) The anatomy of major projects

John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 0471 915513 Grey, S., (1995) Practical Risk Assessment for Project Management,

John Willey ISBN: 0471 93979x Journals: Journal of Information and Management Journal of Information and Software Technology Journal of Systems and Software International Project Management Journal

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UNIT TITLES: Computing for Business Telematics

UNIT REFERENCE: CCA-3-CBT COURSES: BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Coursework only SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Simon Kestner VERSION: April 2003

SHORT DESCRIPTION The unit provides the basic knowledge and skills needed to produce GUI-driven Internet application software. The unit also provides basic knowledge of client-server architecture and Internet security. For software development, students use a simple programming environment based on a programmers’ editor and standard Sun Java tools. Students will be assessed on two complete applications that they will produce during the course plus some short essays on OO and Internet related topics. The course will be taught partly by lecture and partly by tutorial.

AIMS To develop the student’s skills: * In using the requirements for a system to develop test-data, users’ documents and designs for object-oriented software applications. * In using basic object-oriented concepts and Java syntax. * In using the basic parts of the Java class library and a selection of other packages. * In designing classes using inheritance, composition and interfaces * In using some standard architectures for OO GUI-driven applications * In designing and producing GUIs with Java classes. * In designing classes that model the real-world, selecting appropriate data structures from the Java class library where necessary. To provide practice in using: * The Java language and the Sun jdk in a simple environment to construct GUI-driven applications * The Java API specification (Sun’s documentation for the Java class library) * OO analysis and design techniques. * Classes from the Java class library To develop the student’s knowledge of factors relevant in electronic commerce, including: * Application architecture * Security

LEARNING OUTCOMES Successful completion of the course will enable the student to design, produce and test complete object-oriented applications from the requirement, i.e.

• To analyse the requirements to determine what functions must be provided for the user and to use this analysis as the basis for designing the GUI, the Model and the interface between them.

• To design and construct GUIs using standard Java components. • To design and construct classes that model the real-world, using suitable data-structures selected the from the

Java class-library where appropriate.

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• To independently test the main architectural components of the system. • Use a Sun jdk to compile, run and test an application. • Use reference books and the Sun API specification to obtain information about Interfaces, Classes and Methods

in the Java Class Library. • Explain and evaluate application architectures and security.

Transferable skills: OO analysis, design, programming and testing skills. This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A1, A5, A6, B3 and C4.

TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT

Coursework 100% Assessment and Marking schemes: Coursework 1 40% Coursework 2 30% Essays 30% Students are required to keep all their work for this course in a clearly labeled A4 ring binder with hard covers, that can be handed in for marking as required (every week from week 2 to week 8, on request thereafter). These folders are non-returnable but will be available to students in tutorials. Hand written work is not acceptable. Work handed in late will not be marked without the course director’s agreement. The following considerations will carry greatest weight in marking student’s work. For English text including Users manuals:

• Clearly set out, complete and relevant. • Sources acknowledged. • Succinct and fluent. • Grammatical and correctly spelt.

For test cases:

• Organized by required functions. • Complete. • Minimal.

For designs:

• Use of standard OO techniques (NOT tools). • Proper use of standard components. • Consideration of advantages and disadvantages of alternatives. • Trade-offs considered and made.

For Java code:

• Easy to read (apt names, good use of white space, good consistent layout, useful and clear comments). • Correct syntax. • Runs and correctly implements the requirement.

Teaching and learning patterns: Lectures in the first half of the course build up the knowledge and skills that the students require for producing their first coursework. This coursework will be produced in weekly stages that will be monitored to assess progress. Also, students will be required to write a short essay on basic topics in OO programming during the first half of the course. The second half of the course deals with additional parts of the Class library and web-related topics. The second coursework will be assessed at the end of the course. Also, students will be required to write two short essays on other topics in electronic commerce.

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All the essays will be on topics covered in the course but will require some additional reading. Most of the information required to complete this course (except for the extra reading required for essays) will be on-line at David Mole’s web site: http://www.sbu.ac.uk/~molepd/

INDICATIVE CONTENT Software system production from informal requirements to installation, using OO methods of analysis and design with the Java class library. The following timetable may be varied.

Introduction Setting up a Java compiler How to organize your Java files Chan How to compile and run Java Jackson Programs Introduction to the Java class library Requirements analysis – system functions Users’ test cases

The class called ’Object’ Gosling Test cases Objects and primitive variables Elements of a class declaration Inheritance of methods The organisation of the Java Class Library Some commonly used packages Users’ manuals

GUI design Faulkner, Users’ Manual Constructing GUIs from Java Culwin components Chan Processing the events generated by a GUI Gosling Java’s Interfaces

Stages in developing a complete Coad GUI design and system implementation Separating the GUI from the processing Designing interfaces

Java utility classes Chan Interface design Strings, Arrays, Wrappers Implementation Math class

IO Streams in Java Chan Essay 1 Streams of primitives, Characters, Objects Open/save dialogs Filters

Java’s data structures, Sets, Chan Lists, Maps Interfaces for data structures

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Databases in Java Processing design Connecting to a database Using SQL implementation

Application architectures and Coad interfaces MVC and variations State-machines and architecture

Applets, Internet classes, Hunter Essay 2 architecture

Servers, architecture

Clients, security Jardin Essay 3

Review Project2

INDICATIVE REFERENCES Students are advised NOT to buy a Java programming book until about week 4. There are no books on the market that cover this course completely but the following book covers most of the topics in the course and provides some useful revision of elementary concepts. Cay Horstmann, "Big Java"

ISBN 0-471-40248-6. Wiley 2001. Supplementary: Patrick Chan, Java Developers Almanac

Addison Wesley, 2001 Peter Coad, Mark Mayfield, Java Design, 2nd. Edition

Prentice-Hall Michael Jackson, Software Requirements and Specifications

Addison Wesley, 1995 Fintan Culwin, JFC Primer

Macmillan Core Java, Vols I and II C S Horstman and G Cornell

Prentice-Hall

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UNIT TITLES: Heterogeneous Databases UNIT REFERENCE: CCA-3-HD3 COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Aziz Ait-Braham VERSION: April 2003

SHORT DESCRIPTION The relational paradigm has been the basis of commercial DBMS systems for a number of years despite some well founded reservations on the part of both the academic and business communities. Over recent years the monolithic relational systems have begun to give way to distributed variants of the relational model and also to those based on alternative paradigms, e.g. the object oriented DBMS.

The continuing fragmentation of the commercial database applications environment has made it essential for many BIT graduates to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the complex issues involved in the interconnection of disparate database management paradigms. The same fragmentation within the applications environment means that the graduate also needs a sound knowledge of the latest methods for assessing and improving interoperability within heterogeneous database environments. This unit will allow the student to develop skills for the design and development of heterogeneous database systems; skills that will become increasingly sought after by employers as they realise the need to integrate their existing information systems.

AIMS

• to give the student an in-depth knowledge of current and possible future database paradigms including object

oriented, heterogeneous and distributed DBMS. • to provide the student with an understanding of the relative merits and demerits of the various paradigms and

hence enable him/her to make a reasoned choice of paradigm for a variety of business applications. LEARNING OUTCOMES On completion of this unit the student should:

� Understand the principles & associated problems of information storage & retrieval within a distributed and heterogeneous database environment

� Understand the principles & associated problems of information storage & retrieval within an object-oriented database environment

� Understand how modern design methodologies interface with the creation and use of distributed and heterogeneous database systems.

� Be knowledgeable of the types of heterogeneous DDBMS currently in use and future developments � Be able to select an appropriate paradigm for a business applications and be able to judge theexpected performance of

such systems for a variety of applications This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A1, A6, A7, B3 and C4.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT

Overview of Database Concepts • Review of traditional models • Object-Oriented Model Distributed & Heterogeneous Databases •A taxonomy of distributed database systems • General architecture for homogeneous database systems • General architecture for heterogeneous database systems • Features of distributed DBMS vs. Centralised DBMS • Distribution transparency Problems with Heterogeneous Database Environments • Selection of a common data model • Translation of existing models to the common data model • Integration of different schema Protection & Performance • Security & privacy. • Recovery. • Concurrency controls


Examination 70%

Coursework 30% Emphasis will be placed on learning through active student participation in lectures and through (one-to-one or one-to-group) tutorial sessions. The evaluation of effectiveness of all these aspects will be an important, recurring theme throughout the unit.

The coursework may take the form of a group (or individual) exercise in case study analysis and systems design involving appropriate distributed/heterogeneous and object-oriented and object-relational database systems. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of sound software engineering, distributed and object-oriented database architecture/access/management principles, and also the use of data modelling and presentation skills. In this way the coursework can be used to assess the students’ common skills.

Students taking this unit will already have undertaken a first course in databases such as that found in level 2 (Information Extraction and Databases). Students will be expected to carry out comprehensive reading on the subjects and become users in different database environments.

Theoretical material will be covered in formal lectures, and will not exceed 50% of the unit time. The remaining 50% will be taken up with a major case study in which the student will be expected to analyse and design a sophisticated database using different paradigms. Learning Style: The unit has been developed for level 3 students. A high level of maturity, both in attitude and comprehension, is assumed of the students, who should be able to work independently. Students are required to contribute to their own learning and the learning of others by participating in class discussions.

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Weekly Schedule:

TOPIC(S)

1 Introduction to the Unit

2 Distributed Databases: An Overview

3 Distributed Database Design: Part 1

4 Distributed Database Design: Part 2

5 Object-Oriented Databases: An overview

6 Object Model (ODMG 2.0)

7 ODL and OQL (ODMG 2.0)

8 Open Session

9 Heterogeneous Databases Design

10 Query Processing, Transaction and Concurrency Control in DBMSs

11 Query Processing, Transaction and Concurrency Control in DDBMSs

12 Revision / Assessment

13 Revision / Assessment

INDICATIVE REFERENCES

The first textbook on the list includes material that no other book has. Therefore, that one is essential for the unit. As for the others, you pick and choose.

Core: Ozsu, M.T. & Valduriez, P. Principles of Distributed Database Systems, 2e Prentice-Hall, 1999. Supplementary: Elmasri, R. & Navathe, S.B. Fundamentals of Database Systems, 3e Addison-Wesley, 1999. Connolly, T. & Begg, C. Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation and Management, 3e Addison-Wesley, 2002. Eaglestone, B. & Ridley, M. Object Databases: An Introduction McGraw-Hill, 1998. Harrington, J.L. Object-Oriented Database Design: Clearly Explained Morgan Kaufmann, 2000. Cattell, R.G.G. et al. Object Database Standard: ODMG 3.0 Morgan Kaufmann, 2000. Ceri, S. & Pelagatti G. Distributed Databases - Principles & Systems McGraw-Hill, 1984. Unit Material: www.sbu.ac.uk/~aitbraa/HetDbs/HetDbs.html

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UNIT TITLES: Human Factors UNIT REFERENCE: CHC-3-HF3 COURSES: BSc.(Hons) BIT MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Xristine Faulkner VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION The unit is orientated towards Human Factors applicable to BSc level 3 courses. The syllabus concentrates on the underlying theoretical and practical concepts that form a basis to Human Factors. The user of a system dictates the overall performance and effectiveness of the system. User Centred Design (UCD) will ensure that the completed product is more closely associated with the user and is therefore more effective, efficient and satisfying in use. This unit aims to provide a firm underpinning in human factors so that systems can be properly specified and evaluated with due regard to the human component of the Human Computer System. A major aspect of the unit will be to provide a sound grounding in evaluation techniques so that an ability to choose effective systems will be developed.

AIMS

This unit aims to provide students with the skills necessary to: ♦ Understand the basic concepts and principles of human factors ♦ Be able to explain the role of human factors in the development of systems ♦ Be able to understand the significance of organisational needs on the development of systems ♦ Be able to specify organisational requirements with regard to human factors ♦ Understand the needs of the individual in the design and specification of systems ♦ Be able to evaluate systems and chose appropriately for a given organisation or user group

LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of the course the students will have the necessary skills to demonstrate the following: • Understanding the importance of human factors • Applying appropriate design and specification standards • Understanding and applying knowledge of user needs • To effectively evaluate various systems and make appropriate choices • To be aware of current practices in the development of systems for people Key and cognitive skills: The desirable undergraduate skills covered in this unit include, communication skills, presentation skills, professionalism, investigative skills, information skills, team working and evaluation. Students will develop and enhance their understanding of human factors in the development of systems.

This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A3, A5, B4, B5 and C6.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT

The unit will cover the following topics:

♦ User requirements. ♦ Task analysis. ♦ An introduction to human information processing and how this can be applied. ♦ An introduction to human performance and how this can be applied. ♦ The purpose and importance of usability engineering. ♦ Usability specification, metrics and evaluation techniques. ♦ Survey methods ♦ User classification

Weekly schedule: Week Lecture Reference Week 1

Introduction to Human Factors Dix chap 1 Faulkner chap 1

Week 2 Evaluation Methods for Usability Engineering Dix chap 11 Faulkner chap 6,7 Shneiderman chap 4

Week 3 Memory Dix chap 1 Faulkner chap 3 Shneiderman chap 1 Baddeley

Week 4 Senses Dix chap 1 Faulkner chap 2 Shneiderman chap 1

Week 5 Learning and levels of expertise Dix chap 1 Preece chap 8 Shneiderman chap 1, 10

Week 6 User centred design – involving the user Dix Chap 4, 5, 8 Preece chap 18 Shneiderman Chap 3

Week 7 Presentation methods Dix chap 3, 8 Faulkner chap 4 Shneiderman chap 11, 13

Week 8 Design – methods of supporting design. Dix chap 5, 8 Preece chap 23, 24, 25, 26

Week 9 Models and the user Dix chap 6 Preece chap 6, 7 Shneiderman chap 2

Week 10 Usability Engineering Dix chap 5 Faulkner chap 6,7 Preece chap 25

Week 11 class exercise Dix chap 11 Faulkner chap 6,7 Shneiderman chap 4

Week 12 Revision class Week 13 Sum up, hand in of coursework, vivas etc,

examination questions review.

Weeks 14,15 Examinations NOTE: Students studying this unit should understand that the guide, as shown above, is an indication of how the course ideally fits into the structure of the semester. Although every attempt will be made to try to follow this structure, there may be times when it is impossible to do so.

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TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Assessment details: The coursework will be set in week 2/3 and handed in during week 12/13. It may involve working in small and large groups and will include an evaluation of an existing system or a system that is developed during the unit. The examination is 2 hours long. A sample paper with model answers will be provided on Bb as part of the resources for this unit. Examination papers from previous years are archived at: www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk

The teaching method will vary with the subject content. The three hours of direct class contact time will involve lectures, tutorials, group based seminars and individual assignments. The students will also be expected to undertake follow-up private study as directed. Time spent each week/ in total: 1 hour in lectures, 2 tutorial/workshop; and 6 hours in private study

INDICATIVE REFERENCES All supporting material for this unit is hosted on Blackboard. Passwords for the Bb resource will be given at the start of the unit. The Bb resource includes lecture slides, lecture notes and other resources for students on this unit. There is a web version of this unit guide at: http://www.scism.sbu.ac.uk/~xristine/erug.html But no other resources for this unit are held on the website. Material is only available on Bb. Core: Faulkner C Essence of HCI

Prentice Hall, 1998 Faulkner X Usability Engineering

Palgrave, 2000 Background: Baddeley Alan - Your Memory: A user’s guide Penguin books, 1982. Baecker, Buxton and Grudin - Readings in HCI: Towards the Year 2000 Kaufmann 1994 Dix Alan et al - Human-Computer Interaction Prentice Hall 1998 Monk et al - Improving Your Human Computer Interface, Prentice Hall. Nielsen J – Designing Web Usability, New Riders 2000 Norman, Don -The Psychology of Everyday Things, Basic Books Things That Make Us Smart, Turn Signals Are The Facial Expressions of Automobiles Preece et al – Interaction Design, beyond human computer interaction, Wiley, 2002. Sanders and McCormick Human Factors in Engineering and Design McGraw Hill 1992 Shneiderman Ben, Designing the User Interface, Addison Wesley 1998 WWW information: www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk www.useit.com http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ http://www.asktog.com/tog.html http://www.jnd.org/ http://www.usabilitynews.com/ http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/

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UNIT TITLES: Information Technology Education and Training UNIT REFERENCE: CHC-3-ITT COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) Computing/Internet Computing MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Coursework only SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Fintan Culwin VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION Computing and Information Technology (C&IT) forms a large and growing proportion of the national and global GDP. This requires a significant proportion of the population to be educated, trained and retrained in the broad area of computing. All professionals working in the field will benefit from an improved understanding of the nature of learning and teaching and an increasing number of professionals will be working directly in these areas and also in support activities such as help desks which also require an understanding of human learning.

AIMS This unit aims to prepare students who want to work in the areas of IT Training, User Support, Help Desks, Educational Computing, Administrative Support or who want to become teachers. It will provide an overview of the issues posed by the use of computers in education and how to teach about computers, paying particular attention to software engineering education. Students studying this unit will have be expected to assist in lab tutorials in first year software development units. The unit will also focus on the use of software in education and training and a major component of the coursework will consist of the development and evaluation of a CAL software system.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• understand the place of CAL/CBT in the IT learning process. • evaluate the educational potential of a software system. • assist teachers using computers in education. • identify the needs of a help desk and user support system. • develop a software system for use in education or training. • use the Web to support collaborative learning. • understand the role of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) and agents. • model the educational and training requirements of users. • construct an IT curriculum. • identify and practise methods of teaching Computing subjects.

Specifically by the end of this course you should be able to:

• Evaluate educational software. • Describe, compare and criticise prevalent learning theories. • Practising research methods in IT education. • Forecast the effects of C&IT on the nature of educational activity. • Describe the roles and organisation of Help Desk and User Support Departments.

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Examination 30% Coursework 70% Exam format and instructions: The 2 hour examination will consist of 6 questions taken from core topics presented in the course. Students will be required to answer 4 of them for 25 marks each.

Coursework specifications: The coursework specification is attached to this document.

Unit organisation and structure: Time spent each week/ in total: 4 hours in lectures/seminars; and 6 hours in private study including practice. ITET Coursework specification: Part 1 Reflective commentary on practice During weeks 2 to 6 (or 3 to 7) of the semester you will be required to assist with a first year lab-based class. Whilst participating in the instruction of level 1 students you should reflect upon what this is telling you about your own learning processes. A commentary of this experience, not exceeding 4 pages, should be submitted by week 11 of the semester. (You are reminded of the ethical and legal constraints on the identification of individuals in this report.) This part will be worth 25% of the coursework marks. Part 2 Construction and evaluation of a BlackBoard learning environment During class weeks 1 to 6 you will be introduced to the features and facilities provided by an on-line Web hosted learning environment known as BlackBoard. During weeks 7 to 11 you will be assigned to a tutor in some other part of the University to assist them in either setting up a BB site or adding to an existing site. During this time you will be supported in the 2 hour lab session, but you should also plan to spend at least an additional 4 hours in consultation with and working for the tutor you have loaned to. The total time for this project is between 30 and 40 hours. During weeks 12 and 13 you will be required to demonstrate the site you have developed to the group and describe the construction rationale and its implementation. This description should take no more than 2 A4 pages. You will be assessed on the site you have developed, your presentation of it and on the written description. You will not be assessed by the tutor you have been loaned to. This part will be worth 50% of the coursework marks, 15% of these will be allocated by a confidential evaluation of the site and your presentation by the class. Part 3 Assessed seminar: During weeks 7 to 11 you will be invited to attend at least one assessed seminar. The number of seminars you attend and the number of participants will depend upon the number of people selecting the option. However it is hoped that at least two seminars containing six students will be possible. Two weeks before each seminar you will be given at least two published papers from the literature on computing education and be expected to critically discuss them during the seminar. At the end of the seminar you will be asked a question based upon the contributions you have made. The assessment criteria will include the factual and critical contributions you make, the extent to which you facilitate participation by others in the seminar and the quality of your answer to directed questions. This part will be worth 25% of the coursework marks.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT The topics presented in this draft schedule are mainly for illustration, a more detailed list of topics will be issued on the unit Web site when the dates for some external speakers have been confirmed. Weekly schedule:

Week Topic Activity Deadline 1 Introduction to learning theory. BB training 2 Introduction to learning theory ctd. BB training

Class tutor

3 What’s the use of lectures? BB training Class tutor

4 Assessment and automated assessment BB training Class tutor

5 Why can’t students learn how to program?

BB training Class tutor

6 Data Protection and Ethical Issues BB training Class tutor

7 Learning theory revisited BB work assessed seminar

8 Graduateness BB work assessed seminar

9 Cheating and plagiarism BB work assessed seminar

10 Web worlds BB work assessed seminar

11 BB work assessed seminar

Reflective commentary

12 BB assessment BB assessment 13 BB assessment BB assessment 14 Assessment 15 Assessment

INDICATIVE REFERENCES

There is no set book for this unit. A list of recommended resources will be maintained on the unit web site and directed readings will be required for the assessed seminars.

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SEMESTER 2 OPTIONS

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UNIT TITLES: Office Systems UNIT REFERENCE: CSA-3-OS3 COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Mike Scott VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION The course provides both a theoretical and a practical background to office functionality, and examines methodologies and methods appropriate to office automation AIMS This unit aims to provide students with both the theoretical and prescriptive knowledge required to address the design, planning, and evaluation issues involved in the use of office-based information systems in today’s volatile economic environment. It aims to:

• Develop an understanding of offices, office activities, and office information systems • Examine the aims and techniques of office systems design • Explore strategies for matching office system use to the demands of a given office situation • Demonstrate how a wide variety of software, hardware and network components can be combined to form an

office system LEARNING OUTCOMES On successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Assess the needs of an organisation in relation to office systems • Evaluate the functionality and usability of existing systems • Specify a new/amended system to meet strategic, functional and human needs • Operate within organisational, human and technical constraints

Key and cognitive skills:

Analytic skills Evaluation skills Planning skills

Documentation skills

This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A3, A6, A8 and B3. TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Coursework details: A group, research and application based assessment (4 members per group). The assessed coursework will be to research around a stated Office Systems function and [as part of a team] analyse and design an appropriate solution.

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Students will be required to write a report and make a presentation in class of the group’s findings. Additional credit will be given against the application of a real life scenario. Examination details: Based on a Case Study Examination: 2 hours' duration, plus 10 minutes reading time Students will be required to answer three questions out of five. Class contact time: 4 hours class contact. The 4 hours of class time will include a mix of lectures, group work and individual exercises. The pattern will vary with the subject matter, but will typically be: Lectures: 1-2 hours; Discussion: 1 hour; Tutorial Exercise 1-2 hours. Importance of student self-managed learning time: In order to gain the full value from the course students must be obtained thorough grasp of the relevant theory. This requires extensive reading. The lecture notes will provide an introduction to the course but it is emphasised that these are insufficient in themselves. They are designed to provide an overview and entrée to the main topics.

INDICATIVE CONTENT This plan is indicative and subject to alteration. Students should understand that the guide, as shown above, is an indication of how the course ideally fits into the structure of the semester. Lecture Schedule:

Week

W/C Date

Lecture Topic

1 Introduction and Rationale

2 Office Systems Analysis and Design 1

3 Office Systems Analysis and Design 2

Group Coursework Hand Out

4 The Strategic Environment of Office and Administration Systems

5 Cross Functional Office Solutions

6 Groupware Technology

7 Tele and Remote Working

8 Office and Administration Networks

9 Systems Security - Firewalls

Easter Recess

Easter Recess

Easter Recess 10 Group Presentations 11 Bank Holiday 12 Course Review

Exam Case Study Hand Out 13 Revision

Recess Week

14 Exam Week 1

15 Exam Week 2

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INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: O’Brien J. A. Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology in the E-

Business Enterprise, 5th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2002, ISBN 0-07-112350-4 Supplementary: Laudon, K. C. & Laudon J. P. Management Information Systems – Organisation and Technology In The

Networked Enterprise, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2000, ISBN 0-13-011732-3 Connolly T. & Begg C. Database Systems – A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation and

Management, 3rd Edition, 2002, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-201-70857-4 Holt J. UML for Systems Engineering – Watching the Wheels, 1st Edition, The

Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2001, ISBN 0-85296-105-7 Vidgen D., Avison D., Developing Web Information Systems - From Strategy to Wood R. & Wood-Harper Implementation, 1st Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002.

ISBN 0-750-65763-4 Turban E., McLean E. Information Technology for Management: Making Connections for and Wetherbe J. Strategic Advantage, 2nd Edition, Wiley, 2001, ISBN 0-471-38919-6 Web sites: An Extensive Reading List can be found at http://www.sbu.ac.uk/~scottm/reading_lists.htm A Library Of Web Links can be found at http://www.sbu.ac.uk/~scottm/links.htm

Journals: Harvard Business Review Information Week Long Range Planning Management Decision European Journal of Management Journal of Information Systems

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UNIT TITLES: Object Oriented Business Systems UNIT REFERENCE: CSA-3-OOB COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 1 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Mike Childs VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION This unit is a final year option that aims to combine an awareness of the practical aspects of Object Oriented Design and Development with an understanding of the role of Object Oriented Technology in in the business environment. In units the students will have gained a basic knowledge of design and implementation that will be enhanced in this unit and applied to some real world problems in using an Object Oriented approach to software development. AIMS The aims of this unit are to familiarize the students with Object Oriented Development issues and to develop the C++ programming skills that will enable them to develop such software.

• Formulate Object Oriented Solutions to Business Systems • Appreciate the role that Object Technology plays in the business environment • Be able to identify and specify appropriate business objects • Be able to manage the migration of existing systems towards Object-based systems • Be aware of the emerging industrial standards for the interoperability of business components • Be aware of the integrational issues surrounding interoperable business components • Appreciate the role that Object technology plays in the production of compound documents. • Be aware of the emerging industrial standards for the production of compound documents.

LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon completion of this unit the student should be able to: • Formulate object oriented solutions to problems • Represent object oriented systems using appropriate notations. • Implement systems using object oriented techniques. • Appreciate the implications of object oriented techniques with respect to the software life cycle.

• Produce technical documentation for an object oriented program. • Apply suitable methods for the design of object oriented oriented software. • Analyze user requirements using object oriented methods. This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A2, A5 and B4.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT The following topics will be covered by the unit : Introduction to Object Oriented Programming: C++ - syntax and semantics Object Oriented Programming Concepts:

classes, instances, attributes and methods, data abstraction, information hiding, public and private information, function overloading, polymorphism and late binding, single and multiple inheritance.

Identification of Business Objects: what are business objects, how are they identified and how are they graphically represented. Object Solutions to Business Problems: analysis, design and implementation issues surrounding the formulation of object solutions to business

problems. High Level Object Oriented Design:

Methodologies for analysis and design. Notations for specification of object oriented software. Booch diagrams : class hierarchy graphs : container class diagrams.

Object Oriented Environments: Tools for object oriented development – in particular use of

the Borland C++ Builder Compound Documents: what are compound documents and how can objects be embedded/linked together to

form such documents with a study of the emerging industrial standards for their production. Interoperable Business Components: What are interoperable components, what advantages do they offer the

business organization and what role does Object Orientation play in such components. A study of the emerging industrial standards for their production.

Weekly schedule:

Week number

Topic(s) to be covered

1 - 5 Unit intro ; Software crisis and object oriented solution. Information hiding and data abstraction. Objects in C++ Constuctors and destructors. Function and operator overloading

6 - 7 Methodologies for object recognition and representation.

8-9 Inheritance and class derivation. Class hierarchy graphs, general - specific distinction. Abstact base class, virtual and pure virtual functions Polymorphism and late binding

10-11

Presentations and discussion

12-13 Revision

14 Assessment 15 Assessment

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TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Coursework details: This will be based upon a group research task and presentation and the submission of a software development logbook at the end of the semester. Diagnostic tests will also be held at regular intervals to ensure that students can identify and remedy any difficulties with their progress through the unit. (i) Research Topic - Report and Presentation– weighting 50% The research assignment will be given out during week 3 to be worked on in groups of 2 students. (ii) Log-book - weighting 50% Week 1 – Week 14 Each student must maintain a log-book and keep a regular note of work that is undertaken. Entries should be dated and indicate things like: subject matter, skills introduced/achieved/practised, problems encountered, solutions, personal discoveries, review of progress, planning and prioritising of work. Examination details: Exam length 2 hours The exam will be in 2 sections: Section A – a choice of 2 questions from 3 requiring detailed answers - 30 marks each total 60 marks Section B – 1 question relating to the coursework research topic total - 40 marks Organisation of weekly time slots: Theoretical and practical elements of the unit are deliberately interwoven in an environment where lecturing and tutorial activities can be flexibly interchanged. Teaching Method: Weeks 1-13 2 hour lecture/tutorial + 2 hour supervised workshop Weeks 14-15 Assessment In addition the student is expected to spend at least a further 6 hours a week in private study and self-managed laboratory work, bringing the total study time to 150 hours over the 15 week semester. Students will progress through the unit by undertaking a number of smaller modules each of which will involve the completion of a particular task that will be recorded in the student’s workbook. These tasks will be organised so that the students can cover the topics at their own pace but must be completed by the end of week 13. There will also be a group focussed task which will be of an exploratory nature and occupy the latter weeks of the course. It is intended that this task will encourage students to adopt a questioning approach to Object Oriented development. Support for the students will be provided in the form of tutorials, supervised workshops, lecture sessions and documentation (notes, guides and WWW services). Logbook note: • The diary entries should start at the beginning of the log-book. • Hard copy of source code and output from the lab. exercises should be pasted in neatly and accompanied by appropriate written comments. • At the back of the log-book should be kept key information and commands that you have learnt or discovered and which may be useful for personal reference.

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• During weeks 11 - 13, just before handin, the student should make a final appraisal of their learning process as evidenced in their logbook. The criteria for assessment of the log-book are: regularity, tidyness (though it does not need to be immaculate), clarity (enough detail but not verbose), evidence of problem solving. INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: Deitel & Deitel C++ How to Program (3rd ed) Prentice-Hall - (2000) Savitch W Problem Solving - The Object of Programming Addison Wesley - (2003) Background: Pressman, R. Software Engineering – a Practitioner’s Approach (European Edition) McGraw Hill (1994) Jacobson I., Ericsson M., The Object Advantage : Business Process Jacobson D., Reengineering with Object Technology, Addison and Wesley (1995) Eliens A. Principles of Object-Oriented Software Development 2nd Ed, Addison Wesley (2000) Booch G., Object Solutions: Managing the Object-Oriented Project, Addison-Wesley(1995) Graham I. Object Oriented Methods, 2nd Ed, Addison and Wesley(1993) Martin J., Principles of Object Oriented Analysis and Design, Prentice Hall (1993) Booch, G. Object Oriented Design with Applications Benjamin Cummings (1991) Taylor D. Business Engineering with Object Technology John Wiley (1995) Taylor D., Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide, 2nd Ed.Addison and Wesley (1998) Internet: http://iamwww.unibe.ch:80/~scg/OOinfo/ http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/johnson/bus-obj.html http://www.acl.lanl.gov/sunrise/DistComp/Objecst/corba.html" http://cgi.omg.org/corba/beginners.html ftp://claude.ifi.unizh.ch/pub/standards/corba/" http://www-dse.doc.ic.ac.uk/dse-papers/standards/odp/"

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UNIT TITLES: Advanced Application of Design Methodology UNIT REFERENCE: CSA-3-AAD COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) Computing/Internet Computing MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Peter Linecar VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION This unit is intended to provide interested students with the opportunity to develop their knowledge, and practical application skills, in a range of contemporary design methodologies, approaches and techniques. In practice analysts are often faced with the task of selecting and/or tailoring appropriate methodology. The unit therefore takes a pragmatic approach to the adaptation of methodology to suit the problem context, while maintaining engineering rigour. AIMS This unit aims to provide • an appreciation, understanding and practical experience of relevant methods, principles and technologies, which

are currently of significance to systems analysis and design. • practical experience of the systems development life-cycle in these methods • an understanding and of the use and application of methodology evaluation techniques. • the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding the selection and tailoring of systems

development methods to suit a particular situation

LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this unit the student should be able to: • Use a range of techniques associated with the principal methods covered in the unit. • Apply evaluation techniques, both informally, and from a more formal framework perspective. • Make informed decisions concerning the relevance of a particular method, or component of a method, to a

particular design exercise. • Adapt the methodology to suit the situation, and justify such adaptation. • Carry out a detailed analysis and design in relation to a small system, using appropriate aspects of the methods

covered in the unit. • Implement a simple prototype based on the design above. • Understand a wider range of methods, to an extent necessary for the type of decisions described in the learning

outcomes above. INDICATIVE CONTENT

• Contemporary systems analysis, design and development approaches, in particular those involving the rapid

application development principles. • The classical approach to systems development illustrated mainly by SSADM. Evolution and adaptation of

SSADM for RAD environments • Object oriented approaches to analysis and design, in particular the Unified Modelling Language. • The human oriented approach to systems analysis; soft systems principles and techniques; socio-technical design • CASE technology • Quality assurance in software engineering; ISO9001 and the TickIT initiative

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• Methodology evaluation and the issues of tailoring methodology to suit the environment. Overview of Types of classes: This unit consists of a lecture series covering essential aspects of the methodologies used, but supporting tutorial based workshops are seen as the central part of the unit. In these workshops students will, with appropriate guidance, debate the relevance of the methodology and techniques presented, and make appropriate decisions concerning adaptation. Following this they will follow through the complete design process, using their ’tailored’ methodology, and culminating in the production of a prototype application. In general the 4 hour block will be divided into two one hour lecture based presentations, as far as possible on separate topics, and two hours of student led tutorial time. The usual format (subject to variation announced the previous week) will be:

First & second hour Third hour Fourth hour Lecture/presentation Tutorial or workshop

activities Individual counselling, group assignment work etc

Weekly schedule: WEEK NO. LECTURE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT NOTES 1 Introduction to the unit

Overview of systems development methodology Assignment issue and discussion

2 Rapid applications development and prototyping: issues and principles

Completion of assignment contract

3 The classical approach: Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM)

4 SSADM and rapid applications development. Using Routeplans

Submission and presentation of review of chosen method

5 Methodology tailoring. Evaluation of methodology 6 Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) Submission and presentation of

routeplan 7 Object orientation and UML: principles 8 Object orientation and UML: issues for systems

analysis and design

9 The human-centred approach: using soft systems techniques.

Demonstration of first prototype

EASTER RECESS

10 Web IS Development and the WISDM methodology

Formal submission of main document including system design documentation

11 CASE technology: issues and evaluation 12 Quality assurance: ISO9001 and TickIT Evaluation essay 13 REVISION SESSION RECESS WEEK

14 EXAMS

15 EXAMS

TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30%

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There will be one coursework in this unit, which will involve the research and adaptation of a methodology suitable for a RAD environment and its application to a case study. The assessment will be staged through the unit with only one formal submission that will be in week 10. Some aspects of the coursework will be group based. However, it is a clear objective of the assessment of the assignment that marks should be distributed to fairly represent the efforts made by the individual team members. While teams will be expected to overcome the difficulties presented by a weak member, the mark distribution will clearly reflect such weakness in an individual. The exam will comprise 10 minutes reading time + 2 hours. Questions will be evaluative in their nature, involving more than just a knowledge of the facts. Students will be expected to adapt their knowledge to a situation, and to compare, select and evaluate methodologies and approaches as appropriate to the context. The paper will require answers to just three questions in two hours, allowing time for in-depth answers. The Blackboard site will always be the most up to date source of information. INDICATIVE REFERENCES CORE: Avison D & Fitzgerald G

Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools, 3E, McGraw-Hill 2003.

A good general text on information systems with a soft systems bias

SUPPLEMENTARY: Hargrave D SSADM 4+ for Rapid Systems

Development, McGraw-Hill , 1996 An excellent text on adapting the SSADM philosophy to RAD. Much to say on tailoring methods

Britton C & Doake J

Object-Oriented Systems Development, McGraw Hill 2000, 0 07709544 8

A good general text on OO design

Stapleton J Dynamic Systems Development Method, Addison-Wesley, 1997

A good practitioner’s text on DSDM but not aimed at students

Tudor D J & Tudor I J

The DSDM Student Handbook, Galatea 2002, 0 9543071 0 0

A useful brief description of DSDM. Buy via the DSDM website http://www.dsdm.org

DSDM Consortium

Framework for Business Centred Development: Handbook for DSDM Version 4.1, details at http://www.dsdm.org/en/products/v4.1_handbook.asp

Only available to DSDM members! You will be able to find some information though on the DSDM website

Vudgen R et al Developing Web Information Systems, Butterworth-Heinemann 2002, 0 7506 57634

One of the only texts available specifically on design method for the Web. The WISDM method is interesting

Jayaratna N Understanding & Evaluating Methodologies: NIMSAD a System Framework, McGraw-Hill

A quite old text but some good theoretical material on evaluation of methodologies

Avison D & Wood-Harper T

Multiview: An Exploration in Information Systems Development 2E, Blackwell 1997

Some good background reading, with a lean towards soft systems

Waring A Practical Systems Thinking, Thomson 1996, 0 412 71750 6

Soft systems with a practical bent

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UNIT TITLES: Information Economics UNIT REFERENCE: CIT-3-IEC COURSES: BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Geoffrey Elliott VERSION: April 2003

SHORT DESCRIPTION The unit is aimed at third level students who wish to acquire specialist knowledge in an innovative area concerned with the inherent valuation of information and information systems to an organisation. Information Economics consists of costs and values, tools and measurements underpinned by sound micro-economic principles. They are coupled with information systems evaluation issues in a corporate systems environment. At the heart of Information Economics is change, which can occur within the business domain and the technology domain. The two are interwoven. AIMS

• To provide students with an understanding of the critical link between business performance and (a) information systems development costs, and (b) information systems maintenance costs within business.

• To develop students’ ability to analyse information technology resources from a micro-economic perspective • To development an awareness in students of the economic concepts that underlie the use of information systems

and technology in organisations. • To provide the student with an understanding and knowledge of information systems decision making tools and

concepts that can assess the economic impact on corporate performance of IT systems. To look at economic models of performance.

• To expand upon traditional cost benefit analysis tools to embrace ideas of competitive advantage, technology infrastructure and rapid systems development methodologies, such as DSDM.

• To provide students with decision-making skills which consider business value, such as, strategic match; competitive advantage; and strategic information systems architectures. Skills that empower a student to assess the effectiveness of IT investment given an organisation's information needs.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. To understand the role and scope of Information Technology (IT) costs within fourth generation information systems environments.

2. To understand the economic implications of end-user computing and IT systems integration. 3. To understand and integrate IT costing within the strategic information systems domain. 4. To develop an understanding of information auditing in complex information systems environments. 5. Develop skills of information systems analysis, design and implementation within DSDM development

environments. 6. Develop an understanding of business systems development costing within dynamic business systems

environments. 7. To understand and be able to apply basic economic concepts in the use of information and technologies within

the business systems environment. This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A3, A5, A7, B2 and B5.

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RATIONALE Educational study will be built around specific problem formulation and solving, underpinned by theoretical work into alternative systems development environments such as Rapid Applications Development (RAD) and Dynamic Systems Development Methods (DSDM). Students are encouraged to develop an approach to dealing with the subject matter that encourages economic thought and quantification. Students will be expected to actively participate in studying, analysing and evaluating the ideas of Information Economics through lectures, seminars, tutorials and individual work. This will be focused with an Information Economics research assignment in week 9, which will require students to develop knowledge in a specific area of information economics. This assignment work should ideally be based on factors that govern the deployment of information technologies within the business systems environment. TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Assessment Criteria: Assessment will be in the form of two individual academic research essays. Coursework assignment 1: Handed out in week 4 (due in week 9) Coursework assignment 2: Handed out in week 7 (due in week 11) Time spent each week: There will be 4 hours of direct class contact per week. Contact teaching hours will be a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practical work. The students will also be expected to undertake appropriate follow-up private study of equal duration. INDICATIVE CONTENT

Introduction to Information Economics Lecture Topic: Overview of the business information systems environment The business organisational hierarchy The roots of Information Economics

Information Economics and Information Systems Development Costs

Lecture: Review of Systems Development Life-Cycle Costs and Values Review and critique the inter-class supplementary work (two articles)/Green Booklet Evaluate the nature and categorisation of information systems costs and values Basic Equilibrium Economics and Information Lecture: Introduction to the concepts of supply and demand Discussion and application of concepts of supply, demand, and externalities to the firms information resource. The Costs of Information Systems Development Lecture: Traditional versus modern systems development methods Evaluate the DSDM and RAD methodologies/Costs of Outsourcing Evans and Wurster/Green Booklet Marginal Utility and the Concept of Diminishing Returns

Lecture: The elaboration of ways in which firms’ decisions on the use of information can be dictated by the issues of marginal utility and diminishing returns.

Traditional versus Modern Information Economics Lecture: Information Economics Theory and Practice Discuss and explain the "scale economies of IS and IT" outlined in the West paper

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Evans and Wurster/Green Booklet

Information Economics and Competitive Advantage Lecture: Information economics and the link to ideas of competitive advantage Systems Development Models and Costs Evans and Wurster/Green Booklet The C-shape curve, utility, and the point of diminishing returns Lecture: Evaluation of the C-shape diffusion curve as an economic model for explaining utility and understanding the concept of diminishing returns. The concept and analysis of network externalities Lecture: The analysis and discussion of the economic concept of network externalities, and their impact on information infrastructure. Information technology change and economics Lecture: Introduction to and use of the ‘adoptions of innovation’ model as a tool for evaluating and implementing information technological change. The Economics of the Electronic Economy ("E-conomy") & Self-directed Revision Lecture: Self-directed revision “Survey of the New Economy” (The Economist, September 23rd 2000) Evans and Wurster/Green Booklet INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: Philip Evans and Thomas Wurster Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms

Strategy. Harvard Business School Press, 2000. ISBN: 087584877X

Begg D, Fischer S, Dornbusch R, Economics (7th edition)

McGraw-Hill 2003. ISBN 0077099478

Seminal Texts: Parker, Benson & Trainor Information Economics - Linking Business Performance to Information

Technology. Prentice-Hall, 1989. Parker, Benson & Trainor Information Strategy and Economics

Prentice-Hall, 1990. Coursework Booklet: Geoffrey Elliott Lecture/Tutorial Material (& Unit Reader).

Green Booklet – SBU Publication

Supplementary:

C. Chalcraft Financial Times management Briefings: The justification and Costing of

Information Systems. Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, 1997. ISBN: 0273632167

A. Tarduguo Information Technology Service Costs, Metrics, Benchmarking and

Marketing. Prentice-Hall, 2000. ISBN: 0130191957 P.A. Strassman Information Productivity: Assessing Information management Costs of US

Corporations. Information Economics Press, 1999. ISBN: 0962041386

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S. Nokes Taking Control of IT Costs. Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, 1999. ISBN:

0273649434 H. Snyder and E. Davenport Costing and Pricing in the Digital Age. Neal-Schuman Publishers (US Edition),

1997. ISBN: 1555703119 S-Y Choi, D.O. Stale, The Economics of Electronic Commerce. McMillan and A.B. Whinston Technical Publishing, 1997. ISBN: 1578700140 I. Macho-Stadler, J.D. Perez-Castillo An Introduction to the Economics of Information: Incentives and and R. Watt (translator) Contracts. Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN: 0198774664 G. Elliott and S. Starkings Business Information Technology: Systems, Theory and Practice. Pearson

Education. Addison-Wesley-Longman. London and New York, 1998. ISBN: 0582298024

Journals:

Journal of Information Technology Routledge Publishing

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UNIT TITLES: Managing Information Technology Services UNIT REFERENCE: CIT-3-MIT COURSES: BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Amare Desta VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION The unit introduces the concepts involved in managing the information technology services provision in organisation. Its aim is to enable the students to develop the skills required to comprehend the professional aspects of IT services and to understand the significant role IT services play in a contemporary organisations. AIMS This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the key management issues in the area of information services provision, and to enable students to develop appropriate skills in the management of information technology services in contemporary organisations. LEARNING OUTCOMES • To develop a deep understanding of service management and to apply service management concepts to the

delivery of IT within an organisation • To promote an understanding of the methods and skills required to develop an efficient Information Services

delivery • To identify the role and purpose of IT and IS departments, Information Services and Business Systems

departments etc….. • To establish a framework for the realistic control of Information Services delivery and to understand the issues

involved in systems acquisitions, outsourcing ASPs etc… • To develop the skill and knowledge to manage all the elements of the IT Services in organisation • To appreciate the requirement to integrate information technology services with the strategic organisational

objectives • To be able to specify the managerial and technical requirements for establishing appropriate IT service delivery

and setting up the help desk, user support etc… • To acknowledge the issues and problems in implementing appropriate information services delivery for various

organisations This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A3, A4, A8, B5 and C1.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT IT Services Management: What is IT Services Management? Why IT should be viewed as a service industry? What are the core competencies of the IT Services Departments? Furthermore to Identify and answer:

• What are the roles of computer service industries? • How the IT department’s role changes when services are outsourced? • How the role of the IT department changed with the advent of the Internet, Intranets and extranet

technologies… Systems Acquisition: How contemporary org. manage their meagre resources for Information Services delivery? What is involved in computer capacity management? What are the management and performance issues related to service delivery? How to handle asset registers? IT Service Development and Innovation concepts: What is service idea generation? What are the front office, back office and customer roles in IT? How do we define the level of customer involvement? Human Resource Issues in IT: What are the roles and routes of the stakeholders and how to motivate working force? What are the high need for growth and challenge in addressing the social need? How do we control staff turnover and human resource issues in outsourcing? IT Governance: What is the centralised versus the decentralised issues and federal patterns? Why are they important? What are the determinant factors for IT governance arrangements and controlling of IT infrastructure? Evaluation: What is/are the operational requirements document(s)? What are the criteria’s to avoid bias? Hot to select quality management systems? Such as: TickIT What is/are the steps to getting TickIT certification? What is/are management responsibilities? What is/are the benefits of a quality management system? Etc… Weekly schedule: • Introducing the role of IT/IS in Organisation • IT Service Development and Innovation + Service idea generation, Service Quality • Managing Information Flows + End User Computing –IT Governance • Application Service Providers (ASPs) + Managing help desk services • Making or Buying systems + IT and Human resources issues • Quality Management Systems + Technical and managerial security • Service Level Management + Information Infrastructure Library (ITIL) • Marketing the IS function + The Business/IT culture Gap • Intranet control and management + Human Centered Information Management • The future of IT Services + Revision and review. TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30%

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There will be ONE assignments focusing on ‘real life’ situations drawn from either the public or private sector which will provide students with the opportunity to put into practice many of the ideas introduced in the course. The student should include a suitable report plan for this course-work, which outlines the structure and content of their main report. The aim of producing a report plan is to encourage students develop good practice. The plan does not need to be very detailed but should match the finished report. The tutorial sessions are the most important sessions of the course, providing a forum to debate the relevance of the arguments and views presented at the lecture, and to argue about the validity and significance of the theoretical and practical perspectives based on the given various case studies. We expect all students to have read, analyzed and answered all the questions and document all their answers to the set questions in a logbook, which have to be signed by the tutor on a weekly basis. Tutorial sessions, run in small groups, to expand on the same themes with the help of lecture notes and additional case studies. Students are encouraged to revisit the lecture material in depth at the tutorials. Furthermore the tutorial sessions will be used to guide students write a good report. There will be (15-20miuntes) help session at the end of the lectures. The help sessions are time allocated to extend lectures if students need more explanation and for students’ general questions, that is, the kind of questions students go and ask teachers at the end of lectures. Students are expected to read around the subject area. Time spent each week in total: 2 hours in lectures, 2 in tutorials; and 6 hours in private study.

Organisation of weekly time slots: The 2 hours of lectures and 2 tutorials will take the form of formal lectures followed by tutorial sessions. In line with the nature of the subject, the teaching approach will be focused on insight and not on mere memorization of facts (rote learning). This implies that more will be expected from student and teacher alike. The unit follows the `student centred’ approach to learning. This implies that the student must take the initiative and responsibility for his or her own learning whilst the lecturer will facilitate this process by creating diverse learning opportunities. The aim of this approach is to create independent and hopefully lifelong learners. Studying at University level is a partnership and not a one-way street. INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: There is no one book that covers more than about one fourth of the course. If you wish to purchase a book, have a good look through several of the titles listed below before deciding which one to purchase. Background: Avgerou,C. & Cornford, T (1998) Developing Information Systems, Macmillan Press Ltd, 1998 Checkland, P. (1981) Systems thinking, systems practice. Wiley, Chichester. Currie, W; Management Strategy for IT: An international perspective, Pitman publishing, London 1995 Delgado, J & Stamoulis, G.D. (2000) Telecommunications and It Convergence Towards Service E-Volution: 7th

International Conference on Intelligence in service; Springer Verlag; ISBN: 3540671528

Edvardsson,B; Gustafsson, A;, Johnson, M.D. and Sanden,B (2000) New Service Eskelin, A. (2001) Technology Acquisition: Buying the Future of Your Business, Addison-

Wesley Feeby, D & Willcocks, L. (1998) Core IS Capabilities for Exploiting Information Technology. Sloan Management

Review Spring 1998.

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Klepper, R & Wendell, J. Outsourcing Information Technology Systems and Services; Prentice Hall 1997

Loader, B., (1997), The Governance of Cyberspace: Politics, Technology and Global Restructuring, Routledge; ISBN: 0415147247

Mumford, E (1996) Systems Design: Ethical Tools for Ethical Change. London: Macmillan. Reynoso,J and Moores,B (1994) Towards the measurement of internal service quality. International Journal

of Service Industry Management Tardugno,A.F, Matthews, E.R. DiPasquale, T.R., (2000) IT Services Costs, Metrics, Benchmarking and

Marketing, Prentice Hall 2000 Verma, R. (2000) An empirical analysis of management challenges in service factories,

service shops, mass services and professional services. International Journal of Service Industry Management 11 (1) 8-25

Journals: European Journal of Management Harvard Business Review International Journal of Service Industry Management Information Week

Journal of Information Technology Journal of Information Systems Journal of Management Studies

WWW Information IT Service Management Forum http://www.itsmf.com/ Software Technology Outreach http://www.st-outreach.org.uk/ IT Governance Portal http://www.itgovernance.org/ Managing Service Quality http://www.emeraldinsight.com/msq.htm IT Services Management http://www.stratech.com/services/it_services_mgt.html

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UNIT TITLES: Internet Cryptography UNIT REFERENCE: CMS-3-IC3 COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) Computing/Internet Computing HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Examination 70%/Coursework 30% SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Sylvia Jennings VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION The use of computer to transport and store information in a secure way grows almost daily. The security which we have to safeguard includes not just secrecy, but protection against impersonation of a user, alteration of messages, injection of false messages, repudiation by a sender and so on. As the use of the Internet for conducting commerce and banking continues to increase, these latter security aspects are becoming more important. Cryptography is seen as a tool for implementing some of these defences. Anyone who works in the computer industry today will become familiar with the threats posed by hackers and eavesdroppers. This unit aims to provide a basic understanding of the principles of cryptography without going into the mathematical depth needed to design cryptosystems. The most current popular cryptosystems (the Data Encryption Standard and RSA) will be introduced. The use of cryptographic principles to provide message integrity and identity verification will be covered. Thereafter, case studies (EFTPOS, PGP or intelligent tokens) will illustrate the previous material. AIMS The aim of this unit is to introduce the student to the diverse subject of cryptography and its application to data and network security. Some early cipher systems will be discussed and their vulnerability to attack by mathematical and/or statistical means will be exposed. Current cipher systems will be studied but the emphasis will be on their practical applications to data security, message authentication, digital signatures and identity verification. The student will gain some appreciation of the mathematical problems on which the security of these systems is based. Tuition in elementary number theory will be provided as necessary. LEARNING OUTCOMES On completion of this unit the student should be able to: Differentiate between secret key and public key cryptosystems Understand the statistical weakness inherent in classical ciphers Understand the RSA public key cryptosystem Understand how digital signatures work Understand how message authentication works Understand the problems of key management Appreciate the vulnerability of any computer message to a variety of attacks This unit covers the E-commerce Programme Learning Outcomes: A1, A5, A7, A8, B1, B3, B5 and C5.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT Overview of the main content: Classical ciphers Some early cipher systems - substitution ciphers (monoalphabetic, polyalphabetic), transposition ciphers, product ciphers, statistical analysis and methods of attack. Block ciphers. Data Encryption Standard - modes of use and operation. Public-key Cryptosystems Discussion of key management. Diffie-Hellman key exchange. One-way functions and trapdoors. RSA system. Key management Key distribution centre, key-enciphering keys, session keys, for symmetric ciphers. The IBM key management scheme. Certificates for Asymmetric ciphers. X509 and SSL. Personal identity verification passwords, challenge and response scheme, intelligent tokens. Authentication and Signatures - message authentication codes, sender authentication, digital signatures based on asymmetric cryptosystems. EFTPOS electronic funds transfer point of sale), security requirements, case studies of the transaction key with symmetric encipherment and the public-key approach. Stream ciphers - the one time pad, linear shift register sequences and their insecurity. Weekly schedule: Week number

Topic(s) to be covered References Exercise/ associated work

1 Classical Ciphers Van der Lubbe chap 2 Davies & Price chap 2 Beker & Piper chap 1 Seberry & Pieprzyk sect3.1

As given in class

2 " " " 3 Data Encryption

Standard Van der Lubbe chap 4 Davies & Price chaps 3, 4 Beker & Piper chap 7 Seberry & Pieprzyk sect3.2

"

4 " " " 5, 6 Public-Key

Cryptography Van der Lubbe chap 6 Davies & Price chap 8 Beker & Piper chap 10 Seberry & Pieprzyk 3.3

"

7 Message Authenticators Digital Signatures

Van der Lubbe chap 7 Seberry & Pieprzyk 4.1, 4.4.3 Davies & Price chap 5 Seberry & Pieprzyk 4.3 Davies & Price chap 9

"

8 Personal Identity Verification

Davies & Price 7.1, 7.2 Denning 3.6 Seberry & Pieprzyk 4.4.2, 4.4.4, 7.2

"

9 Key Management Van de Lubbe chap 8 Davies & Price chap 6 Denning 3.7 Seberry & Pieprzyk 5.1,5.2

"

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10 EFTPOS Davies & Price chap 10 Seberry & Pieprzyk 5.3

"

11 Bank Holiday

"

12 Case Study: PGP or SSL

"

13 Revision " TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Examination 70% Coursework 30% Assessment details: Assessment weightings will be 70 % for exam and 30 % for coursework. The coursework will have two distinct parts: (i) To break a given piece of ciphertext enciphered with a classical cipher. The student will not be told which cipher has been used. Marks are awarded for appropriate use of tests as well as obtaining the correct answer. The aim of this is to convince the student that a modern cipher system must be extremely complex in order to withstand the attacks of a determined cryptanalyst with vast computing power. (ii) To consider ways in which classical ciphers can be combined in order to make the combination resistant to the attacks to which its constituents are vulnerable. This is more open-ended. Unit Organisation and Structure: Length of unit: 1 semester (or 150 study hours) Date unit starts: w/b 3rd February 2003. Date unit ends: w/e 23rd May 2003. Time spent each week in full class lecture and tutorial: 4 hours Time spent each week in private study: 6 hours at least Currently the lecture is scheduled for Monday 2 – 6pm in E327, though this is subject to change. Teaching Method: The unit will be taught mostly in lecture format, although this will be as informal as possible. That is, students will be encouraged to interact with the lecturer when discussing threats and vulnerabilities. There will be tutorial exercises based on classical ciphers and on the RSA. Almost all material will be produced as handouts. Several of the more recent television programmes on cryptography will be shown on videos. Private Study: We expect all students to spend 6 hours every week in private study. During this time the student is expected to read thoroughly the material presented in the handouts and read around the subject from the literature. Assessment INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: J. van der Lubbe Basic Methods of Cryptography

Cambridge University Press, 1998 Piper & Murphy Cryptography, A Very Short Introduction

OUP Supplementary: Richard E. Smith Internet Cryptography

Addison Wesley, 1997 Jon C. Graff Cryptography and E-Commerce

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Wiley, 2001 Mel & Baker Cryptography Decrypted

Addison Wesley Davies D. & Price W. Security for Computer Networks Wiley, 1989. Pfleeger C. Security in Computing Prentice Hall, 1996 Schneier B. Applied Cryptography Wiley, 1995 W. Stallings Cryptography and Network Security, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, 2002

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UNIT TITLES: Designing for Usability UNIT REFERENCE: CHC-3-DU3 COURSES: HNC/HND/BSc.(Hons) BIT/E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Coursework only SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Kemi Adeboye VERSION: April 2003

SHORT DESCRIPTION The unit introduces the concepts involved in Usability Design. Its aim is to enable the student to develop the skills required to comprehend the issues and techniques connected with designing for usability, whether they are terminology, programming, systems design, or modelling.

AIMS This unit aims to provide the student with both an understanding of the importance of the end-user’s role in system design, and the knowledge and skills required to identify users’ needs and to specify and evaluate systems / system interfaces that meet such requirements. LEARNING OUTCOMES On completing the unit, the student should be able to:

• Communicate effectively with users, eliciting and assessing their requirements • Analyse the tasks users wish to complete • Use appropriate tools and techniques for assessing a system’s usability in the light of users’ requirements • Develop system prototypes that enable users to define and describe their needs more accurately

Key cognitive skills: Key and cognitive skills which the student may be able to develop during the unit are associated with the following areas: interpersonal communication; software design and development using hyper/multimedia tools; test design; and data analysis. This unit covers the BIT Programme Learning Outcomes: A2, A3, A5, B4 and C6. TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Coursework 100%

Details of assessment: The assessment for the unit consists of the following three components: 1. A prototype of an interactive information system, built with appropriate tools and presented in class Total mark allocation: 10%

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2. A report outlining the designer’s goals, the design rationale, the evaluation measures undertaken, their outcome, and the conclusions drawn, and accompanied by: 1) All evidence of testing 2) A duplicate prototype Total mark allocation: 70%

3. A coursework log, with details of work planned/completed, ideas gained from the work, and conclusions drawn

Total mark allocation: 20% The lecture schedule presents the core theoretical material that students need in order to successfully complete their coursework. As far as is possible, the sequencing of the material reflects the coursework’s developing demands.

Laboratory schedule The accompanying laboratory schedule provides students with the opportunity to develop skills in prototype development, to apply these to their coursework, to test the software produced, and to analyse the test results.

Coursework schedule The prototype component of the coursework will be presented in class during contact hours in Weeks11 and 13. The written components and a duplicate of the software will be submitted in Week 13. Importance of student self-managed learning time: Students on this unit are expected to master topics from a number of disciplines, to put them into practice as and when appropriate, to develop sufficient software expertise to demonstrate this design competence and, finally, to test their work and analyse the results. Achievement in these areas is cumulative, and students should be prepared to show all diligence from the start of the unit, particularly with regard to the logbook. They should note that the unit demands six hours’ work a week, in addition to class contact time with academic staff. They should therefore take steps to ensure that they have sufficient access to the relevant resources.

Unit organisation and structure: Time spent each week in total: 2 hours in lectures, 2 hours lab/tutorials, 6 hours private study. The 2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of lab/tutorials will take the form of formal lectures accompanied by tutorial laboratory sessions. If class numbers are high, more than one lab session may be held each week. Self-managed learning: Students are advised to use the following guidelines in respect of self-managed learning time: 1 Re-read lecture notes after each lecture, and attempt to amplify the material by referring to the recommended

reading or other texts 2 At the start of the course, plan coursework development time carefully (e.g. use critical path analysis, Gantt

charts etc) 3 Investigate methods and times for accessing the relevant software (note that considerable student discounts are

often available) 4 Monitor development progress continually, particularly when working in a group 5 Plan test schedules well in advance

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INDICATIVE CONTENT The unit is project-led, in that teaching and learning are closely linked throughout to the unit coursework (see ’Assessment programme’, below). This coursework consists of a prototype information system, accompanied by a report on its design, implementation, and testing, and a development logbook.

The unit will cover the following topics: Principles of user-centred design (UCD) User psychology Matching systems to requirements: knowledge elicitation Matching systems to requirements: task analysis UCD: evaluation methods Test documentation and questionnaire design Introduction to statistical analysis

Experiment design Data analysis

Plan of topics in classes/lectures 1. Introduction to unit Structure

Overview of context (HCI/Usability) Interactivity design: underlying principles

2. Principles of User Centred Design (UCD) The design process UCD methodologies Characteristics of users Characteristics of tasks The user environment Organisational demands and constraints 3. User psychology Cognitive v. organisational psychology Visual perception Attention spans Information processing Memory Learning Mental models 4. Matching systems to requirements (1): knowledge elicitation Inputs to the design process Requirements analysis v. task analysis Soft Systems Methodology ’Rich picture’ and subsequent stages Examples 5. Matching systems to requirements (2): task analysis The task-based approach Task analysis development Hierarchical task analysis Examples 6. Evaluation methods Usability criteria Evaluation issues Analytic evaluation Expert evaluation Observational evaluation Survey evaluation

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7. Test documentation and questionnaire design Data collection methods Questionnaires Interviews 8. Introduction to statistical analysis Statistical terms Sampling Control groups 9. Experiment design Designing usability questionnairs

Analysing results 10. Data analysis Workshop NOTE: the student should understand that the guide, as shown above, is an indication of how the course ideally fits into the structure of the semester. Although every attempt will be made to try and follow this structure, there may be times when it is impossible to do so. Students may be re-assured though, that all the material listed will be covered. Weekly schedule:

Week No. / Date Lecture Tutorial / Lab 1. Introduction to unit Introduction to usability

(workshop) 2. Principles of User Centred Design Introduction to course work 3. User psychology Coursework design 4. Matching systems to requirements 1:

Knowledge elicitation Coursework design

5. Matching systems to requirements 2:

Task analysis Evaluation methods (workshop)

6. Evaluation methods Coursework build 7. Questionnaire design Coursework build 8. Statistical analysis Statistical analysis (workshop) 9. Experiment design Experiment design VACATION VACATION VACATION 10. Data analysis Data analysis 11. Presentations Presentations 12. No lecture * No tutorial * 13a. Coursework submission 13b Presentations Presentations

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INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: Preece, J. et.al. Human-Computer Interaction

Addison-Wesley, 1994 or Shneiderman, B. Designing the User Interface (3rd ed.)

Addison-Wesley, 1998 Supplementary: Booth, P. An Introduction to Human Computer Interaction

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989 Dix, A. et al: Human-Computer Interaction

Prentice-Hall, 1993 Laurel, B (ed): The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design (selections)

Addison-Wesley 1990 Neter, J et al: Applied Statistics (fourth edition)

Allyn & Bacon, 1993

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UNIT TITLES: Intelligent Agents for Business UNIT REFERENCE: CHC-3-IAB COURSES: BSc.(Hons) E-commerce MODES: Full-time/Part-time STUDY HOURS: 150 (52 contact and 98 private study) METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Coursework only SEMESTER: 2 CREDIT VALUE: 15 LEVEL: 3 UNIT COORDINATOR: Phil Burell VERSION: April 2003 SHORT DESCRIPTION Students will be introduced to intelligent agent methodologies. The course sets out to introduce the students to the components that make up a basic agent. It also provides the technical terminology associated with intelligent agents. The students will be embowered to develop the necessary skills to specify and develop simple intelligent agents. During the course the students will be encouraged to utilise agent methodologies to solve Business problems.

AIMS • To develop an understanding of the different types of search methods utilised by Intelligent Agents. • To develop a broad knowledge of the technical issues affecting Intelligent Agents for Business. • To discuss the problems related to Intelligent Agents when utilised in Business. • To encourage a critical assessment of the issues affecting Intelligent Agents for Business. • To develop practical skills using Intelligent Agents for Business applications. • Enhance problem-solving skills in business by using Intelligent Agents. RATIONALE In recent years industry has started to utilise artificial intelligent methodologies to improve the efficiency of their business. These methodologies encapsulate methods that automate some of the laborious tasks that employees may perform in a job. One of the major contributors to globalisation of industry is the use of the World Wide Web. The Web utilises search engines that are normally implemented using intelligent agents. An intelligent agent is a technique that can be used to automate tasks in business. The course will serve to introduce artificial intelligence techniques with particular reference to intelligent agents to students. LEARNING OUTCOMES After successful completion of this unit, the student will: • Be empowered to differentiate the different search methods. • Have the ability to illustrate the different types of Intelligent Agents. • Be able to design and develop Intelligent Agents for Business applications. • Be able to determine Agents ability utilising critical judgement. • Be empowered to differentiate appropriate Intelligent Agents to solve Business problems. This unit covers the E-commerce Programme Learning Outcomes: A1, A3, A6, A7, B1, B2, B3 and C2.

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INDICATIVE CONTENT • Problem solving methods. • Knowledge and reasoning. • Structure of Intelligent Agents. • Agent design considerations. • Developing Intelligent Agents for Business. • Applications of Intelligent Agents in Business TEACHING METHOD AND ASSESSMENT Coursework: 30% Examination: 70% This unit is assessed by an unseen written examination (70%, of 2 hours duration) and coursework (30%). The coursework will demonstrate the student’s insight into the underlying concepts in Intelligent Agents for Business. The coursework submission should be a professional standard document, which is submitted at the end of the unit.

The unit will comprise of a two-hour lecture followed by a two-hour tutorial. The lecture material will aid the students comprehend the subject area. Students will be referred to selected materials in the area of Intelligent Agents. The tutorial sessions will augment the lectures by introducing the students to Intelligent Agent methodologies.

INDICATIVE REFERENCES Core: M. Knapik and J. Johnson Developing Intelligent Agents for Distributed systems:

Exploring Architecture, Technology & Applications, McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-035011-6.

Background: S. Russel and P. Norvig Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Prentice-Hall, 1995. ISBN: 0-13-360124-2

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Unit Title: Forensic Computing Unit Level: 3 Unit Reference Number: CCA-3-FRC Credit Value: 1 Student Study Hours: 150 Contact Hours: 60 Private Study Hours: 90 Course(s): Computing, Internet Computing

and E-Commerce Year and Semester 2004-5 Semester 2

Unit Coordinator: Dr D Protheroe Teaching Team & Contact Details : Dr Dave Protheroe ([email protected])

Dr Ebad Bannisi ([email protected]) Mr Nigel Phillips ([email protected])

Summary of Assessment Method: CW 30%, Examination 70%

SHORT DESCRIPTION

This unit looks at a range of technical and legal problems associated with the use of IT in forensic investigations, including both informal investigation of typical business-related problems and the formal investigation of computer-related crime.

This unit is offered as a level three option and will provide knowledge and skills relating to the IT-based investigative techniques which are not covered elsewhere in the undergraduate programme. Such knowledge and skills are increasingly required by private and public-sector organisations. The applications of forensic techniques may range from the investigation of unauthorised or criminal activities to the routine recovery of accidentally deleted email messages within a company network. In the latter case you would typically not follow the detailed procedures which would allow the results of your work to be used as evidence in court, but the knowledge and techniques used could be exactly the same. This unit will also examine the use of digital techniques in the analysis of photographic and video images. In all cases, all relevant legal and ethical obligations and restrictions must be observed to ensure that such work is carried out in a legal and professional manner.

You will be interested in this unit if you would like to know more about security-related applications of computer technology and the relationship between IT and the law, perhaps with a view to a career in computer network security or criminal investigation and forensics.

AIMS OF THE UNIT

This unit has three major aims:

• To appreciate the legal aspects of the use and abuse of computer systems, and the use of computer based legal evidence

• To understand the technology of computer systems in respect of their investigation and analysis in relation to computer crime

• To be able to use and apply computer graphics technology to the capture and analysis of images in relation to security related video analysis

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LEARNING OUTCOMES

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

This unit will both introduce new concepts and insights into an emerging subject and will consolidate previous study into topics including computer systems, operating systems, networking, computer graphics and professional issues. After studying this unit the student should be able to:

• Describe, and apply in a given context, legislation such as that relating to the use and misuse of information technology, the rights, duties, and protection of users, employers and others.

• Describe, and apply in a given context, rules of evidence in relation to information technology. • Describe, and apply in a given context, rules and guidelines for professional conduct and ethics. • Describe and investigate computer and network technology with a view to operations such as systems

monitoring, investigation of storage media, security and backup systems. • Describe common file formats and simple encryption techniques with a view to practical data recovery. • Describe and apply in practice a range of digital imaging techniques, image capturing techniques, image analysis

and enhancement techniques in relation to criminal investigation.

INTELLECTUAL SKILLS

• An understanding of legal and professional issues relating to information technology and its users. • An understanding of the rules of evidence relating to information technology and its users. • An ability to analyse a computer system and its use, and to understand its security features and their implications. • An understanding of the structure and transformation of graphical data.

PRACTICAL SKILLS

• The ability to interpret and ensure compliance with relevant legislation and codes of practice. • The ability to apply techniques and tools relevant to forensic IT tasks. • The ability to choose and apply hardware devices and software tools relevant to the collection and analysis of

graphical images.

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

This unit will support the critical analysis of a range of situations typically found in any IT environment. Other relevant transferable skills such as problem solving, planning and management of leaning, communication and presentation are extended primarily by the weekly interactive tutorials and assessed by both assignments and examination.

These outcomes and skills will be appropriate to the level 3 generic level descriptors as described in LSBU published guidelines. The breadth and detail of the work will include an awareness of emerging techniques as evidenced by the required research-oriented assignments. The situation analysis, choice of techniques and solution synthesis are inherent in the subject area and assessed in both assignments and examination. Critical evaluation of evidence and techniques will be primarily assessed by examination. The requirements of ethical understanding are a major component of the unit, underpinning all of the technical content and comprising one third of the assessment.

INTRODUCTION TO STUDYING THE UNIT

OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN CONTENT

• The law relating to computer and information systems use and abuse. • The duties of information systems professionals with respect to knowing and keeping up to date with all relevant

laws. • The importance of proactive policy to ensure compliance with the law - particularly with respect to preventing,

identifying and proving misuse and abuse. • The processes and standards that must be adhered to in order meet the requirements of the rules of evidence in

legal prosecutions.

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• How data is transferred between computer systems, emphasising the identification of the users and computers involved.

• The operation of data storage systems, including the physical operation of the storage devices and the file management functions of the operating system.

• The recovery of data relating to the access and use of a computer system, including identification of users and monitoring or logging of their attempted and actual activities.

• The recovery of data accessed by or stored on a computer system, including data which has been encrypted or deleted.

• Forensic Digital Imaging and Photography covering each facet of digital imaging • How to select equipment, when to use it • How to produce a good image, and how to present that image in court. • The difference between what can be done digitally and what should be done in a forensic setting.

OVERVIEW OF TYPES OF CLASSES

In general the contact time will be divided into a two hour lecture based presentation during which you will cover all required main subject topics and a two hour session which will be either a classroom based tutorial or a practical lab session during which you will both discuss the lecture topics and develop the practical skills required to implement these topics.

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THE PROGRAMME OF TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

While every attempt will be made to keep to this schedule alterations may be unavoidable if circumstances are beyond the control of the Faculty.

WEEK LECTURES TUTORIALS & LABS

1 Information Systems and the Law 1 Monitoring use and Abuse: Will look at the types of offences that relate specifically to the use of computers e.g. Computer Misuse act, the legal requirements on monitoring e.g. Regulatory and Investigative Powers act.

Exploration of different use and abuse scenarios and identification of what aspects of legislation applies.

2 Information systems and the Law 2 Rights, Duties and protections: - The implications of the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection act.

More scenarios highlighting dilemmas and conflicts between different legislation.

3 Rules of Evidence: Admissibility of evidence. The importance and methods of avoiding any irregularities in the acquisition of evidence. The importance and methods of a transparent policy in the monitoring and handling of data.

Classification of examples in terms of admissibility and development of protocols to avoid errors

4 Professional Conduct and ethics: BCS Code of conduct - duty to keep up to date. Importance of proactive approach. Proper records and procedure.

Development of a set of protocols or guidelines for ensuring adherence to the law and professional conduct that minimises the possibilities of abuse and misuse and maximises the probability of successful detection and prosecution when abuse or misuse occurs.

5 Networking. MAC and IP addresses, DNS names. Monitoring and logging of network usage. Unique identification of computers.

Identification of network and host IP addresses. Use of ARP. Simple network monitoring.

6 Data storage. File systems and the structure of files in Windows and Unix systems. Storage devices – fixed and removable disks. Virtual memory. File operations – creation, access, deletion.

Investigation of FAT/NTFS file systems – directory entries, data blocks, free space. User and system access rights

7 System management. Identification of users and auditing of system usage in Windows and Unix systems. Password policies. Backup procedures. Access rights and permissions. Explicit user monitoring.

Examples of system management relating to user accounts and associated data. Remote monitoring and identification of user ids, program, file and network access.

EASTER RECESS

8 Data recovery. Common file formats for text, email, graphics and video. Methods for recovering the content of accidentally or deliberately deleted files. Forensic tools. Encryption/decryption overview – key length

Examination of server-based (eg. hotmail.com) and client-based (POP3) email storage. Investigation of file recovery in FAT/NTFS systems. Secure file deletion.

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and key recovery

9 The basics of digital imaging

Digital images as evidence: What is an image? Examples of imaging technologies. Current law on the use of images as evidence. Image authentication. Implications for handling digital images. Image recognition.

Image enhancement

10 Image Capture Overview of Devices for Image Capture, Image Output, Storing and Archiving images. Digital Imaging Workstations.

Sharpening images. Case study - Connecticut Police Department Forensic Science Lab

11 Image Analysis and enhancement (1) How to analyse and enhance image to extract further details from an image. What is image processing? Software overview. Basic image enhancement tools

Align Weapon with Bruise. Case study - Visual Data System

12 Image Analysis and enhancement (2) Pattern Recognition in Forensic Digital Imaging.

Bullet and Wound.

13 Review

Importance of student self-managed learning time

Students are reminded that they should spend on average 6-8 hours per week in self-study, including further reading based on the lecture material and the completion of tutorial and practical exercises.

ASSESMENT OF THE UNIT

Assessment weighting

Coursework 0.3 Examination 0.7.

The assessment will cover both knowledge, understanding and application of the unit topics as assessed by examination, and research and evaluative skills assessed by assignments.

You must achieve a minimum of 30% on both coursework and examination components. However, the aggregate mark derived from both coursework and examination must be at least 40%.

The coursework component will consist of three short reports (typically 12-1500 words or equivalent) on selected topics. These may emphasise either a technical or legal point, but will include coverage of both. The examination will consist of a conventional two hour closed-book written examination.

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LEARNING RESOURCES This is a new field and in view of its rapidly changing nature much of the required unit information will be derived from the web sites of manufacturers and security organisations. While the texts below will enable you to refer most conveniently to the background and details of the unit topics, there is no single text book which covers all of the required topics. In particular, material published in the US regarding legal requirements and processes will not apply to the UK.

Reading list:

Computer Forensics Essentials. Kruise WG, Heiser J. Addison Wesley. 2002. ISBN: 0 20170 719 5

Forensic Computing: A Practitioners Guide. Sammes T, Jenkinson B. Springer. 2000. ISBN: 1 85233 299 9

Incident Response & Computer Forensics. Mandia K, Prosise C, Pepe M. Osborne McGraw-Hill. 2003. ISBN: 0 07 222696 X

Essential Law for Information Professionals. Pedley, P. Facet Publishing. 2003. ISBN 1 85604 440 8 Cross & Tapper on Evidence, Tapper, C. Butterworths Law. 1999. ISBN: 0 40690 413 8

Forensic Digital Imaging and Photography. Blitzer HL, Jacobia J. Academic Press. ISBN: 0 12 106411 5

Forensic Handwriting Identification. Morris RN. Academic Press. 2000. ISBN 0 12 507640 1

Digital Image processing - Filter Notes: http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/HIPR2/filtops.htm

All unit documentation and information may be found on the LSBU Blackboard site for ‘Forensic Computing’.