To provide the students with a wide-ranging understanding of the discipline of computing, and to introduce students to concepts of professional ethics as well as social and legal aspects of computing.
To equip the students with the communication, time and project management, and employability skills required for a computing professional.
To allow the students to gain an understanding of the importance of appropriate and efficient system design strategies, at the conceptual and logical levels, and how to communicate them effectively to stakeholders.

(LO1) Identify and appraise professional, ethical, legal and social issues related to the work of a professional within the IT industry with particular regard to the BCS Codes of Conduct and Practice.

(LO2) Recognise employability and entrepreneurship skills that prepare students to undertake paid work experience during the course of their degree or independently

(LO3) Identify, describe and discuss economic, historical, organisational, research, ethical, and social aspects of computing as a discipline and computing in practice;

(LO4) Understand the importance of requirement analysis, and demonstrate the ability to extract, analyse and organise end-user requirements;

(LO5) Identity and apply principles of system design, including database conceptual design, using ER and UML design methodologies;

(LO6) Recognise database logical design principles, and issues related to database physical design;

(S1) Effectively communicate in writing and orally in a variety of styles, including the presentation of coherent and persuasive intellectual accounts/arguments

(S2) Develop the ability to work effectively in group to design a project from conception to deployment

(S3) Develop the ability to manage time effectively and to organise own skills

(S4) Reflect on their own learning and professional development by producing a professional portfolio recording the skills developed in the course, which they can enhance in subsequent modules

Building a professional identity: appreciating Computer Science as a discipline and computing in practice; economic, historical, organisational, research, and social aspects of Computer Science; understanding the skills that define a Computer Science graduate, and articulating them through CV and social media profiles/presence.

Cyber-ethics principles and their role in the system analysis and design (SAD) cycle: understanding the contexts in which systems will operate; appreciating, evaluating and articulating Legal, Ethical, Social and Professional issues related to digital solutions, including data protection; code of conducts.

Conceptual modelling as a core activity in computational thinking, and its use in designing applications to user's requirements. Requirement acquisition and analysis. Information gathering, interactive and unobtrusive methods. Designing inclusive systems: capturing the needs of different users by modelling user views; appreciating and preventing potential biases. The importance of formal specifications and standards in conceptual modelling: Enhanced Entity Relationships models, UML.

Designing ethical and usable systems and communicating effectively with stakeholders: a case study in Database Modelling. Phase 1 - writing and appraising a system proposal: literature search, evaluation of sources. Phase 2 - technical writing of conceptual models and system design: project management, time management and teamwork, the use of techniques from the agile philosophy as a way to produce user centred designs, mapping conceptual to logical design for relational databases, evaluating robustness, quality and scalability of the designed database model, benefits and drawbacks of normalization. Phase 3 – delivering a proof of concept, evaluating a pitch, ethical assessment of a system.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Face to face lectures presenting the main topics.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial
Description: small class tutorials presenting case studies on system analysis and design techniques.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 3 - Seminar
Description: Career oriented sessions to build employability skills.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Due to Covid-19, in 2021/22, one or more of the following delivery methods will be implemented based on the current local conditions.
(a) Hybrid delivery
Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Mix of on-campus/on-line synchronous/asynchronous sessions
Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial / Seminar
Description: Mix of on-campus/on-line synchronous/asynchronous sessions

(b) Fully online delivery and assessment
Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: On-line synchronous/asynchronous lectures
Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial / Seminar
Description: On-line synchronous/asynchronous sessions

(c) Standard on-campus delivery
Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Mix of on-campus/on-line synchronous/asynchronous sessions
Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial / Seminar
Description: On-campus synchronous sessions