School of Computer Science

Module 06-18519 (2011)

Communication Skills & Professional Issues

Level 2/I

Russell Beale Semester 1 10 credits
Co-ordinator: Russell Beale
Reviewer: Nicholas Hawes
The Module Description is a strict subset of this Syllabus Page.

Aims

The aims of this module are to:

  • encourage consideration of ethical, social, legal and professional issues in computing
  • improve students' report writing skills

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

  • identify and describe ethical, social, legal and professional issues in computing
  • discuss these issues in a balanced and lucid way
  • make good presentations of views in a formal report format

Teaching methods

Formal lecture-format presentations by module staff and visiting lecturers, group work.

Assessment

  • Sessional: Continuous assessment (100%).
  • Supplementary: Repeat only.

Detailed Syllabus

  1. Communication Skills
    • Presentation skills
    • Written skills, including reports, documentation, manuals; press release, CV, web; code and commenting, lab notebooks
    • Interaction skills, including requirements elicitation, iterative development, teamwork
  2. Professional Issues
    • Social aspects/impacts
    • Legal framework
    • Ethical aspects
    • Professional behaviour, duties & responsibilities

Programmes containing this module