COMP1205 Professional Development

Module Overview

The aim of this module is to help students develop an understanding of the fundamental professional, ethical, and legal issues and how they are being developed and applied. The lectures and associated courseworks will involve an active approach to the module content which is designed to develop a sound and personally relevant understanding of these issues. A further aim is to provide the opportunity for students to experience a realistic approach to individual learning close to that adopted by researchers and professionals in the computing and IT domains.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

The threshold concepts underpinning the range of key, ethical, managerial and legal issues typically encountered by an IT professional
The deeper issues associate with one or more selected topics identified from within the identified themes
The specific topic areas which are associated with the main legal issues typically encountered by an IT professional

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Identify, access and critically review appropriate and relevant literature drawn from academic, technical, legal, professional business sources
Assess and respond to the needs of different audiences
Audit, evaluate and critically reflect upon strengths and weaknesses in knowledge, skills and abilities
Evaluate and critically reflect upon self-presentation, particularly those aspects that relate to career development

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Communicate ideas in written and oral forms in appropriate styles for different audiences
In written communications, make appropriate and effective use of layout and referencing conventions
Work with others
Develop an understanding of individual approaches to independent learning, incorporating personal preferences, strengths and weaknesses

Syllabus

Personal development - Independent learning - Time management - Digital literacy and information skills - Presentation skills, including CVs, public talks, online personal brands - Academic integrity - Writing technical reports - Groupwork - Diversity Management issues in IT - Project management - Entrepreneurship - Contractual restraints - Compromises in systems planning -Constraints of a legal nature Professional issues in IT - Professional societies - Career structures - Ethics - Codes of conduct and practice - Licensing and open source Legal issues in IT - Copyright and patent - Trade secrets and registered design - Computer generated evidence - Obscene publications

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

The module consists of - Lectures, including invited talks by senior ECS academics and relevant University services (e.g. Career Destinations, ECS Business Development) - Written CV and technical report - Group presentations accompanied by a slide deck and an abstract - Academic integrity test. The module will be assessed via coursework as primary form of feedback. Coursework will be marked by the lecturers. Students will receive summative feedback, in writing (for two courseworks: CV and technical report) or orally (one coursework). A draft of the latter will also be assessed formatively. The marking schemes for the courseworks will be made public at the start of the semester.

Type	Hours
Preparation for scheduled sessions	10.5
Lecture	21
Completion of assessment task	70
Wider reading or practice	38
Follow-up work	10.5
Total study time	150

Assessment

Summative

Method	Percentage contribution
CV	15%
Group presentation	35%
Technical report	50%

Repeat

Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework assignment(s)	100%

Referral

Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework assignment(s)	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External