Business Computing and Data Analytics BSc

The first year will provide you with a strong foundation for understanding business problems and determining suitable IT solutions. You will gain experience in fundamental methods, principles and practices used in the design and development of information systems, in areas such as Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management. You will also learn how to manage information in organisational settings, design database management systems and select suitable design methods and standards. The first year focuses on understanding and gaining knowledge, while developing your soft skills with multiple opportunities to present your work, collaborate in groups and self-management using our graded observations of assessment and learning.

In any modern business environment, data is used to store, preserve, search, retrieve and display information to improve important business processes. It is essential that you have the skills and knowledge to develop information systems. This module provides a comprehensive introduction to database technology, a core IT skill required in many IT disciplines and an extremely good transferable skill.

The module introduces you to database design, implementation and manipulation knowledge and skills. Once mastered, these skills will provide a firm foundation for higher-level academic study or a rewarding career in many IT related areas such as data analytics.

The module covers fundamental topics of information systems, from requirements elicitation and feasibility study to soft systems method, SSADM and data visualisation. The module’s scope is to provide students with a solid understanding of all phases of the software lifecycle. 

This module aims to provide students with the ability to have a sensible discussion about all topics in the context of real-world information systems and demonstrate some foundational skills in these. The module provides students with an opportunity to cover a range of topics from the way information is processed and information systems applications to the key information system theories and practices in systems development. The module provides an ideal balance between theoretical aspects of information systems and practical skills in the design and development of systems.

This module aims to provide students with the ability to have a realisation of all topics concerning the use of IT applications in real world business and organisations and demonstrate some foundational skills in these. The module provides students with an opportunity to evaluate IT applications to discover the efficacy of their use for professional and personal purposes. The module covers a range of work-related IT applications, including Presentation software, Spreadsheet software and Word processor. The module also covers Business application software that helps solve particular organisational problems, such as: Project Management software, Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Resource Planning. The module provides an ideal balance between theoretical aspects of IT applications and practical skills in their use. 

In the second year, you will be challenged to model business operations and find out how to develop decision support systems with state-of-the-art programming languages. You will study database design for online systems, using modern techniques. You will also work on machine learning and statistics for business environments, as well as gain experience in system design using UML standards. In the second year your work will include a significant proportion of applying what you have learnt in the previous year on practical problems.

This module aims to provide a firm grounding in business systems analysis and design using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) to model information systems, and the Unified Process (a disciplined approach to assigning and managing tasks and responsibilities in a development environment).

The module covers a range of topics including (i) Information Systems modelling and associated development lifecycle issues, (ii) application of Information Systems modelling techniques to real-life scenarios and (iii) Ethical, Professional and Legal issues concerning the design of Information Systems.

This module focuses on deepening students’ understanding of database design and implementation, and the efficient use of facilities provided by a modern Database Management System.

The module emphasises the design of business systems using aspects of conceptual data modelling (Entity Relationship Models), relational database modelling and normalisation.

Both theoretical and practical topics relating to database modelling and implementation are covered, including SQLPlus to implement and query data in a relational database system along with technologies and tools for rendering databases for backend and frontend data processing purposes.

This will enable you to construct dynamic web-based data queries, which access back-end databases. The module will also develop the practical skills, knowledge and experience of key techniques within the Database design industry.

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the process of analysing data and making business decisions based on this analysis. The module covers a range of technologies for retrieving, organising, visualising and analysing data, as well as running statistical simulations, with the purpose of making a business decision. Special consideration will be given to the analysis of data in the wide context of entire organisations.

Students will learn how to use different data analysis techniques to investigate business and related data. Students will learn deployable statistical and machine learning methods for data analytics. Students will apply these techniques using specialist software packages. They will be expected to present the results of their analysis in reports.  

The Machine Learning component of the module introduces students to learning from exemplar data. Students learn the process of representing data within appropriate spaces for the purposes of classification. The major classifier types are taught before introducing students to specific instances of classifiers along with appropriate training protocols. Where classifiers have a relationship to statistical theory this is fully explored. Notions of structural risk with respect to model fitting are developed such that students are equipped with techniques for managing this in practical contexts.

The module aims to develop your employability skills by achieving the set of agreed learning outcomes using a Three Way Negotiated Learning Agreement. The module develops a range of skills specific to the individual workplace.

This practical experience module provides the means for you to link academic work with the 'real world', facilitating the embedding of transferable and graduate skills necessary for future career paths and employment.

You will reflect upon areas of knowledge relevant to the placement learning experience and develop personal knowledge through a review of your learning, with the opportunity to enhance your self-expression, communication, self-reliance and co-operation.

This module provides you with the opportunity of choosing and working on a project that reflects your interests and aims and outcomes of your programme. It should constitute a practical problem-solving project relevant to your programme of study. The primary aim of the module is to consolidate and deepen your understanding of material taught on your programme, to exercise professional judgement, to undertake individual research and to conduct an investigation and/or develop a product, process or application relevant to the focus of your programme. It provides you with the opportunity of engaging in significant system development, the typical output of which represents the solution of a problem akin to those that you as a fledgling professional practitioner are likely to encounter in future employment. The module intends that your choice of individual project will provide you with a significant opportunity to reflect on your learning progress and to develop your learning for life-long and career development.

This module aims to provide you with the ability to apply key skills in information systems to the business management domain. The module also aims to enable you to obtain important aptitudes towards using information technology solutions such as business intelligence (e.g. data analytics), digital technology solutions (e.g. smart environments) and modern forms of communication (e.g. social networks) to improve business processes. You will  acquire knowledge in a number of topics aligned to the following key areas: (i) information systems and business intelligence (in particular the development, management, application and implementation of information systems and their impact upon organisations, (ii) communications (in particular the comprehension and use of relevant communications for application in business and management, including the use of digital tools) and (iii) digital business (in particular the development of strategic priorities to deliver business at speed in an environment where digital technology has reshaped traditional revenue and business models).

This module aims to develop your understanding of the techniques and approaches used to capture, store and analyse data generated by organisations for purposes of business intelligence. In a digital age it is important for businesses to make use of data captured about its entities.  You will learn about information retrieval, data presentation, pattern recognition techniques and data models that can be used in business intelligence applications. Descriptive data models can be used to gain a better understanding of overall organisation and predictive data models inform the decision making in all aspects of the business.

This module aims to enable you to further understand the underpinning concepts and practical techniques relevant when considering humans, both in the organisation of design and design processes, and as a way of incorporating a user perspective in the design of products and services. The module also includes analysis of user experience, the characteristics of users and their tasks, and the technical, organisational and physical environment in which products or systems may operate.

You will learn the competencies and skills for generating technology innovations and creating business opportunities by utilising available resources.

You will gain knowledge and understanding through

• Supervised practical, laboratory work
• Supervised seminars and tutorials
• Guided individual and group research
• Coursework assignments
• Open-ended practical assignments
• Project work
• Online discussion boards
• Directed reading
• Supervised laboratories and practical exercises
• Critical thinking and problem-solving activities
• Directed reading and seminar discussions
• Concept Discussion Workshops illustrating theories, concepts and principles through case studies, examples and scenarios
• Experimentation and modelling 
• Individual and group coursework assignments
• Student presentations
• Essays
• Brief video recordings covering key concepts

Within many modules you may customise, and at times personalise your learning to align with your career requirements and professional areas of choice, in consultation with your tutors. 

During your first year, your weekly timetable will typically consist of:

• 4 hours of lectures
• 8 hours of seminars

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework, presentations and exams.

Here is an indication of how you will split your time.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

We have abolished written examinations from our course, and instead we are using assessment methods that are in line with industry expectations, following extensive review of international assessment practices and the feedback received from our industrial board members.

Your learning will be assessed regularly through a variety of means, including a range of coursework, such as essays, reports, portfolios, mini projects, practical sessions including demonstrations, presentations, and in-class reviews. Your final year project is assessed with a series of reports, demonstrations and a presentation.

In certain modules you will be using our GOAL system, which stands for Graded Observations of Assessment & Learning, an online platform for your tutors to review your performance and observe your achievements.

The system is used for both formative and summative assessment, meaning that you have the chance to improve your results by reworking certain parts of your work and strengthening your submissions based on the feedback provided by your tutors. Our innovative GOAL system has been commended internationally, as we demonstrated its effectiveness to academics from several institutions in more than twenty countries.