Admission and Unit Information - Graduate Certificate in Information Communications Technology
Admission
Eligibility for admission to the Graduate Certificate in Information and Communications Technology is based on the following requirements:
* An undergraduate degree in any discipline
Applications from Australian and New Zealand citizens and holders of permanent resident visas must be made via the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC).
Applicants who have undertaken studies overseas may have to provide proof of proficiency in English. Local and International applicants who are applying through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) will find details of minimum English proficiency requirements and acceptable proof on the UAC website. Local applicants applying directly to UWS should also use the information provided on the UAC website.
International applicants must apply directly to the University of Western Sydney via UWS International.
International students applying to UWS through UWS International can find details of minimum English proficiency requirements and acceptable proof on the UWS International website.
http://pubsites.uws.edu.au/international/
Overseas qualifications must be deemed by the Australian Education International - National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR) to be equivalent to Australian qualifications in order to be considered by UAC and UWS
Course Structure
Qualification for this award requires the successful completion of a total of four units taken from the units within the Graduate Diploma in Information and Communications Technology - see list below.
Autumn session
As a first unit in computer programming, Programming Fundamentals covers the basics of developing software with an emphasis on procedural programming. Students will learn about basic data structures, the concept of algorithms, fundamental programming constructs, common programming language features and functions, program design and good programming style. A high level programming language is combined with a highly visual framework to teach problem solving using software.
This unit introduces the concepts of System Analysis and Design. The study of methodologies and techniques for problem recognition, requirement analysis, process modelling and/or data modelling are essential elements of this unit. The Systems Development Life Cycle model is employed as the prime approach to teach the unit, providing students with the basic skills required for analysis and design of logical solutions to information systems problems. The use of Computer Aided System Engineering tools will be discussed in practical sessions.
Technologies for Web Applications
Building on material covered in Programming Fundamentals this unit introduces students to some of the key technologies for developing interactive and dynamic web applications from both the client and server perspective. The unit covers web site design, web site development, web page accessibility and usability, HTML, CSS, client side and server side scripting, database interaction, web site promotion (Search Engine Optimisation) and web security.
This is a final year unit that builds on foundation and intermediate computing units to prepare students for professional experience. The unit covers the content in three modules as 1) Ethics and Professional Code of Conduct, 2) Project Management, and 3) Legal, Social, Environmental issues, Quality Assurance and IT Compliance. The content covered in these three modules are carefully designed to fill in the gaps in knowledge that is not so far covered previous units in preparing students for the challenging projects units and professional working life ahead. This unit is a pre-requisite to the capstone project, covered in Professional Experience Project unit.
Spring session
Computer Networking is an introductory unit in computer systems networking. It covers basic networking technologies, Ethernet fundamentals, ISO OSI model, routing, switching and subnetting, the Internet architecture, networking protocols including TCP/IP, important networking devices such as repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, routers and gateways, basic management and security issues. This unit is also the first of three units, which will prepare students for industry based networking certification (CCNA).
Analyzing and modeling requirements using the object-oriented (OO) approach is the core strength of this unit. The system analysis is taken to greater depths within the context of Object Orientation. The Unified Modeling Language version 2.0 (notably use cases, activity diagrams, class diagrams and sequence diagrams) is used as a modeling standard for creating OO models in the problem space. This unit also covers methodologies for OO analysis work through practical case studies.
Database Design and Development
The main purpose of this unit is to provide students with an opportunity to gain a basic knowledge of database design and development including data modeling methods, techniques for database design using a set of business rules that are derived from a case study and finally implementation of the database using a commercial relational database management system. The unit also examines a number of important database concepts such as database administration, concurrency, backup and recovery and security. At the same time student learning and intercommunication skills are enhanced by running tutorial presentations and group assignments.
A key component to the discipline of Information Systems is the understanding and the advocacy of the user in the development of IT applications and systems. IT graduates must develop a mind-set that recognizes the importance of users and organizational contexts. They must employ user-centered methodologies in the development, evaluation, and deployment of IT applications and systems. This unit examines human-computer interaction in order to develop and evaluate software, websites and information systems that not only look professional but are usable, functional and accessible.
