Bachelor's Programme in IT and Information Systems

Study programme code BACIT

ECTS credits 180

Admission requirements Completion of general upper-secondary education.

Recommended previous knowledge Students must be prepared for some courses being taught in English.

General description and profile of the programme The study programme educates candidates who are able to work actively in system development projects, including both analysis, design and construction of information systems. Further, candidates will have learnt to work with the utilisation of Information Systems; they will be able to take part in operation, support, training as well as to accomodate for realization of benefits.

Specific arrangements for recognition of prior learning (formal, non-formal and informal) Arrangements for the recognition of prior learning are described in the information on the institution under "General arrangements for the recognition of prior learning (formal, informal and non-formal)".

Examination regulations and grading For a description of the examination regulations, see the Examination Regulations of the University of Agder.

For information about the Norwegian grading system, see ECTS credits and grades. Specific information on grading for each course is found in the individual course descriptions.

Graduation requirements The Examination Regulations of the University of Agder regulate the graduation requirements for each programme of study.

Additional information:

Specialisation in the fourth and fifth semesters

Each specialisation awards 30 credits, i.e. constitutes one semester. It is a requirement that one of the specialisations is within the IT/IS discipline. The remaining 30 credits may be chosen from other disciplines, such as language studies, social or political science, economics or law. Contact the department student advisor for details.

For students who plan for further studies in the Master Programme, a minimum of 7,5 credits of Methods in Social Science Studies is required for admission to the Master programme. This is met by ME-100 Research Methods in Social Sciences, 10 credits.

Please also note that the courses on offer may be subject to change as electives rely on sufficient student numbers and teaching resources available.Conflicts with regard to schedules/timetables and/or examination dates may also arise, so please check this prior to registering for courses/exams.

Elective courses Autumn 2010:

• IS-106 Hands-on e-business for entrepreneurs*, 10 credits
• IS-204 Resource Management, 10 credits
• IS-209 System Administration with Open Source*, 5 credits
• IS-210 System Development with Open Source*, 5 credits
• IS-302 Internship Project, 10 credits
• ME-100 Research Methods in SocialSciences, 10 credits. Note: Admission requirement for the Master Programme.

Elective courses Spring 2011 (may be subject to change):

• IS-203 Advanced Database Systems, 10 credits
• IS-207 Algorithms and Data Structures, 10 credits
• IS-303 Distributed Systems, 10 credits
• TFL102 IT and Society, 10 credits

Net-based elective courses:

• Through cooperation with the University of Nebraska, Omaha, net-based courses within system administration and security will be offered.

Learning outcomes

Having completed this programme, students will be able to:

• analyze user needs, model Information Systems, develop database solutions and general programming
• maintain and operate Information Systems, in addition to resource management
• understand the role of technology in organizational development and in society as a whole
• participate in scientific and development work.

Moreover, candidates will have

• developed awareness of both the positive and negative implications of Technology, in addition to knowledge of law, regulations and agreements
• developed their cooperating and communication skills as well as critical sense.

Teaching methods

A variety of different teaching methods are used: group lectures, seminars, group work, group and individual lab work. There will also be assignments (individually or in groups), case studies and participation in current development projects.

In the majority of courses, students must receive a passing grade on compulsory assignments and/or project work before being allowed to take an examination.

Student exchange Students may study for the fourth and/or fifth semester at one of the universitites with which the department has an exchange agreement. (Please see the International Department's web-pages for detailed information. Exchange coordinator: Carl E. Moe).

Occupational profiles of graduates and access to further studies

There is a great demand for expertise within development, implementation and operations of IT systems both in private industry and public sector. Simultaneously there is a demand for graduates with different profiles, both graduates who are skilled within narrower niches such as systems development, and those who possess an "all-round" proficiency. There is also a demand for graduates with a certain background in economics and organisational studies in order to understand the interaction between technology and organisation.

The programme gives students a future-based and practical professional proficiency in the development and operation of information systems.

The programme qualifies graduates for positions in programme and system development, operations and installation as well as user support and instruction. The programme also qualifies graduates to study further within this academic field, e.g. in the two-year Master's Degree Programme in Information Systems at University of Agder, Kristiansand.

Qualification awarded Successful completion of the programme awards the graduate with the degree Bachelor of IT and Information Systems.

Contact person Carl E. Moe