Faculty of Arts NUI, Galway Introduces Information Technology (IT) to its Subject Menu

Given the emerging importance of Information Technology (IT) in all aspects of modern life, the Faculty of Arts has taken the innovative step of introducing the discipline as a full subject of the B.A. programme.

A recent report by the Department of Employment and Energy on the Information Society in Ireland has highlighted the fact that while Ireland has developed a significant computer industry to date, the social, economic and academic spin-off ranks in the lower end of the European scale. Combining IT with the traditional Arts subject areas therefore has a clear career potential.

Programme Objectives

The addition of IT to the Arts portfolio of subjects provides a new and valuable dimension to the existing 3 year BA programme. In the BA model, students take four subjects in First Arts, and two of these subjects in Second and Third Arts. Hence it is possible for a student to either take IT in Year One alone, or to specialise in IT with another subject to degree level.

If the student takes IT in First Arts, a general understanding of computer technology will be gained and a set of fundamental computing skills will be acquired. In this way, the student is provided with knowledge that has immediate and long term value in terms of familiarity with computer technology.

If the student chooses to specialise in IT as well as some other subject, a diverse range of options is available. Each route affords the student opportunities to explore a wide range of perspectives on computing. Whatever the choices here, the IT option is of considerable short and long term value to the student in terms of the knowledge that is gained on many aspects of computing.

Programme Structure

First Year

CT106 Computer Systems and PC Applications (5 ECTS)

This is a foundation course for further studies in IT, and covers most of the relevant topics at an introductory level. The course also provides a through understanding of packaged applications including Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases, Statistical and other modelling tools, and Grpahical applications.

CT107 Programing and Logical Foundations (10 ECTS)

This course equips the student for computer programming development with a high-level language. It covers basic programming concepts including: a logical approach to problem solving; structured programming; variables; selevtion; iteration; functions; arrays and other data structures.

Second Year

Only canidates obtaining a minimum of about 60% in CT107 will be admitted to Second Year Information Technology Courses.

CT234 Programming - Algorithms (5 ECTS)

Further programming Techniques - declarations, decisions and control. Introduction to event driven programming, object oriented programming and basic GUI elements. Visual input and output. String handling and type definitions.

CT235 Programming - Data Structures (5 ECTS)

Advanced GUI elements. Advanced event handling. Overview of file handling, sequential, random and binary. Linking to external packages, clipboard, databases, etc. Applications. Representing data structures, and implementing data types.

CT236 Information Ststems (5 ECTS)

Introduction to inormation systems. File systems; organistions, processing, indexing, tecniques. Database systems; architecture, overview of models, database design, distributed databases, other issues.

CT237 Information Systems II (5 ECTS)

Web based information; history of the internet, other issues, current trends. Modern information management techniques. Applications of information systems and otehr issues.

CT238 Technological Frameworks I (5 ECTS)

This course explores the essential building blocks for the information age. These range from early calculating machines and computers through to modern personal computing devices.

CT239 s (10 ECTS)

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All of these courses are complemented by practical laboratory classes and assignments.

For Further Information

Contact the course coordinator:

Sharon Flynn

Department of Information Technology

National University of Ireland, Galway

Telephone +353-91-524411 Ext. 3481

Telefax +353-91-750501

Email itc@nuigalway.ie