Computer Science 210: Introduction to Information Systems and Computer Applications

Study Guide

Unit 0 – Course Orientation

Introduction

Welcome to Computer Science 210: Introduction to Information Systems and Computer Applications. COMP 210 is a three-credit course that covers the fundamentals of information systems: concepts and development, basic hardware, computer architecture, and the software hierarchy.

The Course Orientation document you are now reading provides essential information specific to the course and the procedures you should follow to complete the course successfully. Please read it through carefully before beginning your studies.

Course Materials

eText

Morley, Deborah. (2015). Understanding Computers in a Changing Society, (6th ed.). Toronto: Nelson Education.

Athabasca University Materials

Computer Studies 210: Introduction to Information Systems and Computer Applications. Course Orientation. (2019). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University.

Computer Studies 210: Introduction to Information Systems and Computer Applications. Study Guide. (2019). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, you should be able to more effectively use computers as tools for business, entertainment, or study and should have a more complete and detailed understanding of the role computers play in your daily lives. You should also be better able to use the Internet and World Wide Web as a research and information-sharing resource.

More specifically, after successfully completing this course, you will be able to

• describe the evolution, history, and development of electronic computers, microprocessors, and microcomputers
• identify and describe the roles of computers in manufacturing processes, business-information systems, and information systems
• describe the transition from an industrial society toward a more information-based society
• describe the types of careers available in information technology
• describe and explain information processing
• describe and explain basic computer components and functions, operating systems, database management systems and traditional applications, networks, and the Internet
• list and discuss societal trends and new developments resulting from computing innovation
• identify and describe legal, social, educational, and communication issues related to increased Internet use in the home, workplace, and society
• describe e-commerce, mass customization, and the effect of online business communications in today’s business world
• perform basic operations with and use key functions and features of Microsoft Office
• create a web page

Course Outline

The Study Guide for COMP 210 consists of eight units:

Unit 1 – Overview and Introduction to Computers

Unit 2 – Hardware and Software

Unit 3 – The Internet and World Wide Web

Unit 4 – Network and Internet Security

Unit 5 – Computer Security and Privacy

Unit 6 – Intellectual Property and Computer Ethics

Unit 7 – Health, Access, and Environmental Issues

Unit 8 – Emerging Technologies

Assessment

To receive credit for COMP 210, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent) on the course Portfolio which combines Projects 1–8 and the Learning Resources Conference activity. The course has no examinations.

The weightings for each component are as follows:

Learning Resources Conference Participation

A total of 20% of your course grade in COMP 210 is assigned to your contributions to the Learning Resources Conference and Supplemental Learning Resources – COMP 210 PowerPoint.

To understand the role this feature plays in the course, we must first briefly examine some aspects of the education philosophy underlying the course design.

In today’s environment of highly networked and ubiquitous computing devices, the notion of traditional textbooks as the authoritative work of the subject matter is obsolete, especially in a field where change is as rapid and broad in scope as computing. Knowledge is fluid, dynamic, and time and context sensitive, and the specific needs and interests of information consumers, as well as their individual learning styles, mean that different people may learn general concepts better with a certain topic focus, or through the use of a certain type of media.

With the massive proliferation of material in various formats (text, images, video and audio, interactive activities and games, just to mention the broad categories), it would be shortsighted and limiting to overlook the opportunities for enhancing learning through the use of online supplementary resources.

However, it is all too common for such resources, when provided as adjuncts to online courses, to be ignored as “optional” and underutilized by students. In addition, online supplementary resources may be ephemeral, or they might become dated. Some could have a bias in terms of style, content, or format imposed by the person who chooses them.

To incorporate diverse supplemental online resources into our learning experience in COMP 210, to ensure that they are a vibrant and active part of the experience, and that they go as far as possible towards meeting the needs of diverse interests and learning styles, we have designed the Learning Resources Conference activity as follows.

For each of the eight units in the course, you are required to choose TWO topics from the eText reading and then research those topics online with the specific goal of locating alternative learning materials that cover the chosen topics. The topics may be very specific or rather general, but they must relate directly to the content of that chapter of the eText.

The learning resources may be videos, websites, published PowerPoint presentations, articles, games or other interactive activities, podcasts of lectures or discussions, simulations, or dynamic models.

Every effort should be made to locate resources not already published in the Conference. Posts older than six months will be automatically removed to ensure currency and prevent the available material from becoming “mined out.”

Post the links to your supplemental learning resources in the Learning Resources Conference under a title that identifies the course unit they relate to and the topic they cover. A brief description of the contents and an explanation of the reasons they were chosen should accompany each posted link.

At the end of the course, you will collect all the posts you have made to the Learning Resources Conference and present them in a PowerPoint presentation, along with brief descriptions and reviews of resources posted by other students (one per unit).

The final product for the Learning Resources Conference should include 17 slides, as indicated below.

• Title slide: Student name and “Supplemental Learning Resources – COMP 210”
• Slides 2–9: Two links per unit, plus brief descriptions and rationale for inclusion
• Slides 10–17: One link per slide from posts of other students, with brief description and review

Introduction to the Portfolio Projects

This course aims to help students develop skills and abilities that will encourage and enable them to use the technology more effectively and to achieve a level of comfort and understanding that will allow for ongoing learning and development. Towards this end, the approach of the course is based on models of computational thinking (CT). Although basic information and context in the form of readings are provided, the main learning focus of the course is practical activities involving research, problem solving, critical thinking, and effective organization and communication of information.

**Each unit’s portfolio project contributes 10% to your final grade.**

Computational thinking is simply defined as “a problem solving method that uses computer science techniques.”^[1] A more detailed definition or description, such as that developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), includes the following specific processes:

• Formulating problems in a way that enables us to use a computer and other tools to help solve them
• Logically organizing and analyzing data
• Representing data through abstractions such as models and simulations
• Automating solutions through algorithmic thinking (a series of ordered steps)
• Identifying, analyzing, and implementing possible solutions with the goal of achieving the most efficient and effective combination of steps and resources
• Generalizing and transferring this problem-solving process to a wide variety of problems^[2]

Computational thinking is further associated with the following set of attitudes or skills:

• Confidence in dealing with complexity
• Persistence in working with difficult problems
• Tolerance for ambiguity
• The ability to deal with open-ended problems
• The ability to communicate and work with others to achieve a common goal or solution

Applied as a basis for curriculum design in a course relating specifically to the functions, uses, and implications (social, legal, economic) of computers, CT imposes an approach based on the following basic techniques:

• Decomposition: Break a task or problem into steps or parts.
• Pattern Recognition: Make predictions and models to test.
• Pattern Generalization and Abstraction: Discover the laws, or principles, that cause these patterns.
• Algorithm Design: Develop the instructions to solve similar problems and repeat the process.

In keeping with the goals and principles outlined above, students should expect the project requirements to involve a degree of independent thought and problem solving, and to be somewhat open-ended in nature. The idea is to encourage learning by exploration, experimentation, and research.

Suggested Study Schedule

The schedule below is intended as a guide to the sequence and timing of your course activities. Sixteen weeks is usually the required completion time for students receiving financial aid. Other students are not expected to follow this schedule exactly and may complete the course in less, or more, time than suggested.

Study Schedule to download

Footnotes

^[1] Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_thinking

^[2] https://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/CurrFiles/CompThinkingFlyer.pdf