Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems
Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences - Information Technology and Computer Sciences
Purpose and Rationale
Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems
Purpose:
The purpose of Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems is to advance the competencies of learners, following an academic route, and or employ individuals in a variety of business settings, who use and rely on computerised technologies and information systems to accomplish business goals. The qualification aims to provide the learner with hands-on technical, predictive and analytical skills, as well as research and decision-making skills anchored on organisational principles and the technology of systems. It prepares learners who will contribute to the continuing and changing business and technology needs, by planning for and implementing information systems at workplaces, dealing with people, business procedures towards meaningful participation in the management of information systems. Upon completion of this qualification, the learner will be able to:
- Apply a range of research skills based on quantitative and qualitative methodology as well as data analysis.
- Analyse the interdependencies between business and information systems.
- Critically judge new technologies and the benefit to the organization.
- Implement and maintain an information systems project environment that is conducive to organisational success.
- Develop and utilise information systems architectural paradigms that support organisational processes.
Rationale:
The emphasis of the Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems is to develop a deeper concentration of offerings in information systems that are fundamental to the discipline, as well as offering a specialisation of emerging fields in analytics and data learning. This qualification is designed to develop and deepen a specialisation in the emerging fields of analytics and data learning and will contribute to the economy of South Africa, which is currently experiencing a severe shortage of intermediate, high and scarce skills in this field. The qualification intends to transform learners by equipping them with the high order skills required to make a significant impact in their environments. It further develops the intellectual and professional skills of the learners to gain abstract knowledge. The learners could be either full-time or following an academic route, or employed individuals in a variety of business settings, who use and rely on computerised technologies and information systems to accomplish business goals. Full-time learners will have an appropriate qualification in information technology, information systems or informatics. The same applies to the part-time learners, but these learners will be employed by organisations and they will function within the IT department of the organisation. Learners who complete this qualification will typically be employed within the IT department of any organisation within the following positions to name but a few: Business Analyst, Project Manager, Data Analyst, Developer, Infrastructure Architect, Scrum Master and Release Train Engineer.
Outcomes
- Apply a range of research skills based on quantitative and qualitative methodology as well as data analysis.
- Analyse the interdependencies between business and information systems.
- Critically judge new technologies and the benefit to the organisation.
- Implement and maintain an information systems project environment that is conducive to organisational success.
- Develop and utilise information systems architectural paradigms that support organisational processes.
- Critique the role of cyber-security in ensuring the continuous operations of a business.
- Implement machine learning as a means to strategic decision-making.
Assessment Criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
- Design, perform, and write up research using appropriate methods/techniques.
- Care and accuracy in recording and summarising data.
- Draw conclusions about the significance and value of the research problem.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
- Analyse the importance of information technology governance.
- Evaluate and use the best approach for risk analysis and management.
- Report information security management concepts using various models and frameworks.
- Develop a policy framework on information technology asset security and management.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
- Analyse and report future trends in the information systems discipline.
- Demonstrate ethical and professional awareness in approaching information systems tasks.
- Apply knowledge and skills to determine trends with likely impacts on an organisation.
- Examine the role of trends within an organisation using formal models and frameworks.
- Motivate decision-making models to select trends suitable for an organisation.
- Explain the impact of new technologies on the IT governance framework.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
- Explain the process of implementing a project management methodology.
- Describe key elements of a project management office and their relationships.
- Compare and evaluate project management offices for fitting into existing organisational structures.
- Explain the need for different roles and their relationships.
- Explain and compare leadership and management concepts.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5:
- Differentiate between various architectural styles.
- Choose an architectural style within an organisation and justify the choice.
- Explain the impact and consequences of designing information systems in isolation from the business.
- Leverage service-orientation principles and strategic goals into concrete links.
- Align business and technology through service-oriented design.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6:
- Discuss the importance of critical infrastructure attacks in the current economic and political context.
- Formulate a network policy including design, implementation, maintenance, upgrade, security, and customer service.
- Implement advanced security techniques like digital signatures and biometric identification.
- Formulate and implement a network risk management strategy.
- Develop an effective disaster recovery plan for the organization's network infrastructure.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7:
- Analyse learning problems and pattern recognition using machine learning.
- Understand data types and coding.
- Apply feature selection strategies like step-wise, forward selection, and backward elimination.
- Identify missing data using missing at random (MAR) and systematic reasoning.
- Utilise prediction and classification tools such as Bayesian learning and d-separation.
Qualification Details
- Type
- Honours Degree
- NQF Level
- 08
- Min. Credits
- 120
- SAQA Source
- More Information
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This page includes information from the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) . Builtneat Pty Ltd trading as Study Start, has modified all or some of this information. SAQA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.