6 ECTS credits
153 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1021460ANR for all students in the 1st semester
at
a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
- Semester
- 1st semester
- Enrollment based on exam contract
- Impossible
- Grading method
- Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
- Can retake in second session
- Yes
- Taught in
- English
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Business Technology and Operations
- Educational team
- Alexandre Thys
(course titular)
Alessandro Marchese
- Activities and contact hours
- 24 contact hours Lecture
21 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
21 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
108 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
In the lectures, various aspects of computer science and business information systems are studied and discussed. The operation and general management of information systems, including the challenges and difficulties involved, are discussed from the perspective of the various parties involved.
The following is an indicative description of what is being taught in the lectures:
- Introduction: origins of the computer, basic concepts, major issues in the field
- Data storage: from bits to movies, types of memory and compression
- Hardware: computer architecture and its internal working
- Algorithms: pseudo code, algorithmic thinking, iteration and recursion, efficiency
- Programming languages: historical evolution, paradigms, programming concepts
- Networks and internet: architecture and its internal working, cloud computing
- Artificial intelligence: intelligent agents, research domains, impact
- Foundations business information systems: What are they, components and applications
- Strategic IT: competition strategies, business process re-engineering, knowledge management
- Ethics, privacy and social challenges of IT
- Guest lecture from a leading IT company
In the practical sessions, the basis of algorithmic thinking and programming is learned step by step, making use of the Python programming language.
An indicative list of the main components in the sessions:
- Introduction to programming concepts through the visual programming language Blockly
- Programming concepts:
- Sequences: Performing subsequent instructions in Python.
- Variables: Saving information in data types (integers, floats, strings, boolean)
- Control structures: Checking single and multiple conditions via the if statement.
- Iteration and recursion: The use of repetitions to perform calculations.
- Algorithmic thinking: completing practical exercises through learned programming concepts, setting up of functions to solve several problem scenarios.
- Data processing: reading of files and processing of its content.
- Basics of data analysis: Using functions to analyze data by calculating descriptive statistics
- Course material
- Digital course material (Required) : Additional course material (articles, webpages, etc.) will be made available, Canvas
- Additional info
Additional course material (articles, webpages, etc.) will be made available through Canvas.
Presence during guest lectures is mandatory, presentations by guest lecturers are an integral part of the course material.
- Learning Outcomes
-
General competences
- Recognize business information systems and analyze their impact
- Understanding the collaboration between hardware, software and network
- Being able to name common abbreviations and terminology
- Being able to distinguish the historical context and trends in IT
- Creating simpel data analysis algorithms
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Written Exam
with a relative weight of 100
which comprises 100% of the final mark.
- Additional info regarding evaluation
The written exam covers the material discussed during the lectures, the exercise sessions and in self-study. The exam may consist of multiple choice questions, open questions, exercises, etc. Marks on multiple choice questions may be corrected for guessing (higher pass mark).
During the semester, intermediate tests and/or an assignment can be organized on the practical part. Both are intended to ensure that the students sufficiently master the basic concepts of programming with python. A good result on this test can result in a bonus (max. 2 points) for the final practical exam. A good result on the assignment also can result in a bonus (max. 2 points) for the final practical exam.
Both the theoretical and practical part of the exam make up 50% of the total mark, but only if the student obtains at least 35% on every part. If not, the lowest partial grade denotes 100% of the total.
Partial results can be transferred to a subsequent exam period only within the same academic year.
(!) For both sessions, students must register/unregister to confirm their participation in the exam. An online registration list is provided one month before the exam. The latter closes 4 days before the exam.
- Allowed unsatisfactory mark
- The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.
Academic context
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Business Economics: Year 1 and 2
Bachelor of Business Economics: Year 3: Orientation Business and Technology
Bachelor of Business Economics: Year 3: Orientation International Business