Department of Computing & Information Technology

CREDITS: 3

1. History of Computing: History of computer hardware, software, networking; Regional computing history; Pioneers of computing. Contributions of region and of other developing countries.

2. An Overview of Computing: How hardware, software, and networks work at a conceptual level; use and high-level construction of computing artefacts, e.g. simple webpages, animations, robotics programs; Sub-disciplines within Computing: Computer Science, IT, IS, etc.; he global computing industry and itsimpact on industry and society; The use of computing in enterprise, entrepreneurship, various disciplines and careers.

3. Social Context of Computing: Social implications of computing and networked communication in general and on youth, e.g. cultural, self-image, possible effects of videogames; Understanding the social and cultural context of design; Understanding the potential of computing to transform society positively, globally or regionally, or to exacerbate inequalities or mask underdevelopment; Analysis of the government and business policies of developing and developed countries with successful computing industries; Accessibility issues in computing professions (e.g. class, culture, ethnicity, gender, disabled); Public policy issues (e.g. cyber-crime, privacy, electronic voting); Growth and control of and access to the Internet; Environmental Issues and Computing, e.g. ewaste, green computing.

4. Professional Ethics in Computing: Making and evaluating ethical choices and arguments, identifying assumptions and values; The nature of professionalism (including care, attention and discipline, fiduciary responsibility, and mentoring); Keeping up-to-date as a professional (in terms of knowledge, tools, skills, legal and professional framework as well as the ability to self-assess and computer fluency); Various forms of professional credentialing and the advantages and disadvantages; The role of the professional in public policy; Maintaining awareness of consequences of decisions; Introduction to ethics, ethical dissent and whistle-blowing; Codes of ethics, conduct, and practice (IEEE, ACM, SE, and so forth); Harassment and discrimination, “Acceptable use” policies for computing in the workplace; Healthy computing environment (ergonomics).

5. Risks of Computing Products: Historical examples of software risks (such as the Therac-25 case); Implications of software complexity on risk. The limits of computing. 

 

ASSESSMENT

Coursework	50%
Final Examination  (2 Hours)	50%