Undergraduate study

Overview

The purpose of this Single Honours degree course in Information Technology Management for Business (ITMB) is to ensure that students gain both the technical knowledge and necessary business and interpersonal skills that are needed to jump-start a career in IT management: to meet tomorrow’s business needs and to prepare students effectively for successful careers. IT is an exciting and dynamic industry but more and more employers are looking for graduates with broader skills such as business understanding, leadership, project management and communication skills. A nationwide survey of over 74,000 employers shows that gaps in the technical and professional skills of IT graduates are adversely affecting the productivity and competitiveness of British companies. UK graduates on average require a further two years of in-house training to reach the level of ability expected by their employers.

The ITMB Single Honours degree course aims to significantly reduce this burden by incorporating the training into the degree. It is endorsed by e-Skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT & Telecoms, and was conceived, designed in partnership with, and is supported by the e-Skills Employer Strategy Forum, a group of leading employers of IT managers such as British Airways, BT, Computer Associates, Ford UK, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard and IBM. From the outset students will be exposed to these employers in the form of fortnightly Guru Lectures, where senior professionals from leading employers take time out from their day jobs to broadcast live lectures via the internet.

Keele’s ITMB programme is based in the School of Computing and Mathematics, with contributions from Keele Management School. All Dual and Single Honours Computing courses, including ITMB, have a common first semester and common entrance requirements. This retains flexibility of choice during the first semester of your first year. There are no specific subject requirements for entry to our computing courses, and no previous experience of computing or computer programming is assumed.  The courses do not involve an advanced level of mathematics, and any mathematical knowledge needed beyond that taught at GCSE is taught as part of the modules included in the courses.

Course Content

First year

In the first year you will study the technical foundations of computing and information systems plus progressive instruction and practice in the art of programming. Computing module at this level will include:

Fundamentals of Computing introduces the core concepts of the discipline, and acts as a foundation for other modules covering these topics in more detail. It enables students to understand the links between individual modules on their course, and to understand them properly in context.

Programming I introduces the fundamental concepts underlying computer programming together with techniques for applying these using a contemporary programming language. The module has a strong practical element.

Programming II teaches students about the use of data structures and algorithms as a means of incorporating and processing data and knowledge within programs. Students have ample opportunity to develop and practice their general purpose computer programming skills so that in the future they are able to develop their own software solutions to problems.

Information Systems and Interaction provides students with an introduction to Information Systems and an opportunity for them to apply the knowledge and understanding they gain to a practical task. It also explores the human-computer interface and introduces concepts, techniques and tools that support the analysis of needs for, and design of, system interfaces. The main focus will be on web interfaces.

Business and People Skills provides students with both a theoretical perspective and a pragmatic viewpoint for developing their business and interpersonal skills that are needed for working individually or in teams, in a real-world corporate environment.

You will also be offered modules from the field of management, including Management in Context, Marketing Principles and Accounting Principles.

Second year

During your second year you will deepen your technical knowledge and skills through various computing and management modules. These will include:

Requirements, Evaluation and Professionalism develops skills in the design and execution of empirical studies to gather evidence about software systems, methods and processes. It also covers requirements engineering and enables students to recognize the professional, economic, social, environmental and ethical issues involved in the development and use of computer technologies.

Web Technologies provides an understanding of Internet communication architectures (such as client-server) with reference to standard protocols, and enables students to develop multi-tier web applications and configure the servers on which these rely.

Computational Intelligence I provides students with an introduction to the core computational intelligence topics of evolutionary algorithms and neural networks, their use in vision systems and robotics, and the similarities and differences between natural and synthetic intelligent systems.

System Lifecycles and Design provides students with knowledge of the techniques and processes to undertake the design of a system once requirements and analysis activities have been completed.

Database Systems introduces students to databases and database management systems by providing theoretical knowledge and practical experience in data modelling, database design, implementation and administration.

Management Skills in IT seeks to strengthen your knowledge of management and management techniques. It draws together insights gained from organisational theory, management practice and approaches to human behaviour studied at previous levels to focus on particular areas or aspects of organisational behaviour and experience.

Work Placement currently takes the form of an (double) module in year 2. Students are prepared during the year in order to embark on a 6-week placement with a local employer at the end of the spring semester. This placement is arranged by the school. However, please note that we are working towards replacing this arrangement with a year-long placement for the ITMB course. The work placement year will be optional and will take place after the completion of the second year of studies. This will effectively make the ITMB a four-year course should a student choose to take this option. Alternatively a student can choose not to do any work placement, in which case they will complete the ITMB course  in three years.

Third year

In the third year, you will study more advanced and specialist modules. You will also undertake an individual project which continues throughout the year under the supervision of an academic member of staff, culminating in a written project report.  ITMB students will be offered the following modules:

Advanced Information Systems provides an advanced understanding of the use of information systems for decision support, and of the issues involved in the planning and management of information systems.

New Business Plan - ISP gives the students a first hand experience of initiating, setting up and managing a new business venture. The module is ultimately designed to improve student employability and to widen their career choice.

Communications and Networks extends students’ knowledge of principles and practice in communications and computer network technologies and their deployment.

Double Weighted Project enables students to undertake a project equivalent to two standard (15-credit) modules rather than one. This option can be used to tackle a larger or more complex problem.

Electronic Commerce provides a theoretical and practical understanding of the problems involved in the development of web-based electronic commerce applications.

IT Architectures delivers the concepts, methods and tools involved in the IT architecture discipline, and examines the role of IT architects and software architecture within development projects. The module also outlines current architectural developments, such as service-oriented architectures. Students gain practical experience by undertaking a case study.

Software Engineering Project Management provides an understanding of the scope of, and problems and techniques associated with, software engineering project management.

Codes and Combinations

All students who study a science subject are candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science (with Honours) (BSc Hons).

Single Honours and Foundation courses available:

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching and learning take place in a range of settings, from small group tutorials to large lectures. Students can expect up to five-hour long tutorials per week in the first year, covering a range of computing, management and people skills. Students will also receive three hours of scheduled laboratory time and around eight hour-long lectures.

In subsequent years the contact time decreases as students take responsibility for their own learning. Students will still have scheduled lectures, tutorials and practicals totalling around ten hours per week, together with the ITMB work placement in the second year and the supervised final year project in the third year.

Assessment methods vary from module to module, but you can expect a mixture of formal examinations (two-hour papers) and coursework in the form of programming tasks, essays, technical reports, posters and presentations. Some assessments involve group work, team building and conflict resolution skills. Many of the core ITMB modules are assessed purely by coursework and oral contributions to the tutorial sessions.

Computing facilities

The practical work for the course will be based mainly in the school’s own networked PC laboratories, with some modules using the Microsoft Windows operating system and some using Linux. The software supported includes the Java object-oriented programming language, internet and multimedia packages, and database management systems. Web authoring software and languages, including Python, Perl, PHP and XML, are also supported.

Access to undergraduate computer equipment and network services is available both physically and by remote terminal access, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, throughout most of the year. This gives students every opportunity to develop their computing skills outside the normal practical times and to work on more complex projects at any time. Additional laboratory facilities are provided for final year projects with specialised hardware and software.

Employer involvement

A consortium of major graduate employers including British Airways, BT, Computer Associates, Ford, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard and IBM has designed the ITMB programme. From the outset, students will be exposed to these employers in the form of fortnightly Guru Lectures, where influential and senior figures broadcast live lectures to students via the internet. At least one lecture per year will be delivered from Keele, giving students an opportunity to meet the guru in person.

There will also be an invitation to attend the ITMB conference each year, bringing together students from all universities offering the ITMB programme, staff delivering the course, and employers. The conference takes the form of workshops and discussions that help to place the academic content of the course within a real world context.

Programme specifications (new window)

Skills and Careers

Graduates of the ITMB programme will be better placed to lead the implementation of new technology that can improve the business competitiveness of their employers. Members of the ITMB Employers’ Forum are so confident of this that they guarantee a job interview for every ITMB student during the summer after graduation.

The ITMB course will give students the technical skills necessary to pursue a career in programming, system analysis and design, software engineering or IT consultancy; together with the management and communication skills necessary for a role as a team leader or project manager in the telecoms and IT sectors. Exposure to real-world problems and inspirational gurus throughout the course will give you an edge over other candidates at job interviews.

Professional recognition

The ITMB programme is endorsed by e-skills UK: the employer-led organisation that advises and is licensed by the UK Government, as the Sector Skills Council for IT & Telecoms.

Visit our Careers pages (new window)

ITMB students get the rare opportunity to meet and show off their skills to high profile employer during a number of day-long events organised by e-skills.