IST Undergraduate Programs



Undergraduate Course List

The following is a list of the available courses in the undergraduate program in the College of Information Science and Technology:


Course Descriptions

(Numbers following course names (0-0-0) indicate class hours, laboratory hours, and credits, respectively. For example, 3-2-4 means there are 3 hours of classroom instruction per week, 2 hours of laboratory per week, and 4 credits.)

INSYS 100 - UNIVERSITY SEMINAR (2-0-2)

Introduces students to academic and co-curricular aspects of University life. Academic functions include practice of writing, reading, and studying skills. Co-curricular functions include campus resources, activities, and social prgrams. The course aids in the transition to student life and is designed to help each student achieve academic and personal success.

INSYS 101 - INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS I (3-0-3)

A survey course in types of information systems and their impact. Provides a broad-based introduction to computer hardware and information system development.

INSYS 102 - INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS II (3-2-4)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 101)
An introduction to microcomputers and packaged computer programs, with emphasis on hands-on use. Teaches the student how to use existing software packages for information-processing applications such as word-processing and database searching.

INSYS 105 - INFORMATION RESOURCES AND THEIR USE (3-0-3)

Introduction to the evolving role of information in our daily lives. Emphasizes information in society and contemporary information resources that fulfill society's information needs. Considers the nature of electronic (computer databases, communication networks, and videotex, for example) as well as manual information resources.

INSYS 110 - HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION (3-2-4)

Familiarizes the student with principles and use of systems for human-computer interfaces. Techniques covered are menus, icons, commands, pointing devices, graphics, speech, video, and hypermedia.

INSYS 200 - SYSTEMS ANALYSIS I (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 110 or permission of instructor)
Study of the principles and tools of information systems analysis and logical design. Various analysis methods are presented, tried on sample problems, and compared. Provides background in systems theory and cybernetics.

INSYS 205 - INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (3-0-3)

(Prerequisites: INSYS 101 and sophomore standing)
Examines various organizational structures, and the influence of the structure on the information processing patterns of organizations. Views information as an organizational resource, and emphasizes the ways in which information systems support the organization's information needs.

INSYS 210 - DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 200)
Focuses on how to design databases for given problems, and how to use database systems effectively. Topics include database design techniques using the entity-relationship approach, techniques of translating the entity-relationship diagram into a relational schema, relational algebra, commercial query languages, and normalization techniques.

INSYS 215 - SOCIAL ASPECTS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

Introduces social issues involved in information systems design and use, e.g., personal computing, telecommuting, computers in education, the privacy and security of stored and transmitted information, and information ownership. Explores the interaction of high technology, employment, and class structure.

INSYS 300 - INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

(Prerequisites: INSYS 105, INSYS 110, and MCS 172)
The theoretical underpinnings of information retrieval are covered to give the student a solid base for further work with retrieval systems. Special emphasis is given to systems which involve user-computer interaction. Aspects of information retrieval covered include document selection, document description, query formulation, matching, and evaluation.

INSYS 350 - DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING AND NETWORKING (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 200)
The course provides the fundamentals of computer network technologies from a systems engineering viewpoint. Presents an introduction to distributed computing and networking planning and design principles. Major topics include local-area and wide-area networks, network protocols, internetworking, client-server systems, and distributed computing applications.

INSYS 355 - SYSTEMS ANALYSIS II (3-2-4)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 210)
A project-oriented course that provides students with an application around which they experience requirements modeling, prototyping and software requirements specification. The course builds upon Systems Analysis I (INSYS 200), requiring students to apply their knowledge of systems analysis and tools.

INSYS 360 - LANGUAGE PROCESSING (3-0-3)

(Prerequisites: INSYS 210 and INSYS 370)
Study of the problems and techniques of processing natural language. Introduces theory of spoken language and how it differs from theories of computer-generated natural language. Includes language pattern recognition and syntactic inference, and semantic networks.

INSYS 365 - DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (3-0-3)

(Prerequisites: INSYS 210)
Database Administration is a continuation of Database Management Systems, and includes the following: strategic data planning and enterprise modeling using CASE tools; advanced logical and physical database design; the database administration function in the modern organization, database recovery, security and distributed databases.

INSYS 370 - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

(Prerequisites: PHIL 111 and MCS 260)
Introduction to the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Basic concepts, principles, and techniques used to achieve the goals of AI are studied. Examples and applications are specific to information studies.

INSYS 399 - INDEPENDENT STUDY (2 to 12 credits per term)

(Prerequisites: approval of instructor and college)
Independent study on a topic selected by the student and approved by a supervising faculty member and the Dean.

INSYS 405 - COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 200)
Human and technical issues and concepts of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Topics include the ways that groups work in the networked organization, intelligent work flow, various types of CSCW technology, CSCW software design and implementation issues, and future directions of this technology.

INSYS 425 - DESIGN PROBLEM (4-0-4)

(Prerequisite: senior standing)
An independent project in which a student designs and implements an information system, working under faculty guidance. Possible applications include, but are not limited to: health care information systems, reservation systems, point-of-sale transaction systems, and inventory systems.

INSYS 435 - INFORMATION SERVICES (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 205)
Examines in-house services that deliver published information to an organization from external sources. Relates these services to functions such as planning, marketing, and research. Shows ways of monitoring the organization's larger environments, such as the economy, government, competitors, and new technologies.

INSYS 450 - EXPERT CONSULTANT SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

(Prerequisite: INSYS 370)
Introduces the basic concepts, techniques, and tools involved in the development of information systems based on human expertise. The course discusses the identification of expert system projects, knowledge acquisition, architectures of expert systems, inference, database and procedural considerations, verification and validation of expert systems.

INSYS 480 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS (3-0-3)

Selected topics of interest to students in information systems. May be repeated for credit if topic varies.




For more information about the undergraduate information systems major at Drexel University, contact:

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Last modified on March 13, 1997.