Skip To Content

Courses

Computer Science (COMP) 495/496

Computer and Information Systems Projects (Revision 1)

COMP 495/496 Course website

Delivery Mode: Individualized study online.

Credits: 3 each

Area of Study: Science

Prerequisite: Permission from the course professor and completion of all required computing credits for the Bachelor of Arts in Information Systems in the topic area, or for the Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems.
Note: Students who are concerned about not meeting the prerequisite for this course are encouraged to contact the course coordinator before registering.

Precluded Course: COMP 495/496 cannot be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained or SCIE 314 and SCIE 315 or SCIE 495 and SCIE 496.

Students in this course are required to contact their tutor or supervisor using email.
Please see the Tutor and Coordinator Support page for more information.

Centre:School of Computing and Information Systems

SCIS Orientation

COMP 495 and COMP 496 is not available for challenge.

Course website

check availability

Overview

COMP 495 and COMP 496 are two three-credit courses designed to allow students to demonstrate the skills they have learned in an applications area of their own choosing. A student is allowed to take both COMP 495 and COMP 496 only when the proposed project for COMP495 is too big for a single course, in which case the big project must be clearly cut into two separate projects. All projects must include some research component, even if the focus is on developing an applied system. Students may apply to work in groups, as long as the individual roles and assessments are clearly defined. To oversee applied projects, the project supervisor must have a master's degree in computing science or a related field, or must be a certified ISP. On academic projects, the project supervisor must have a master's degree in computing science or a related field. Projects must result in a detailed system design or a fully implemented system.

Learning Outcomes

By successfully completing this course, students will

  1. Further consolidate the knowledge and skills they have acquired through the courses completed for the program;
  2. Further develop their skills in the analysis, design and implementation of applied computer and information systems in certain application areas;
  3. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired through the program;
  4. Prove that they are ready for the real jobs in the IT industry.

Evaluation

To receive credit for this course, you must obtain a grade of at least 50 percent. Students will be evaluated by the project supervisor on the basis of the project proposal and the project report. Students will also be evaluated by the project supervisor on the system design or system implementation, using the criteria developed in the project proposal by the student and the project supervisor and agreed to by the course coordinator. The evaluation made by the project supervisor will be reviewed and approved by the course coordinator. Only in exceptional circumstances would this grade not be approved. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Portion 1: Project Proposal Portion 2: Project Report Portion 3: Analysis and Design or Implementation* Total
15% 35% 50% 100%

* When the focus of the project is on the implementation of an applied information system, the third portion of project deliverables will be computer programs and data that implement the applied information system, as well as necessary documentations such as user guide; When a project has no or very little programming component involved, such as on the study of cases in the areas of IT/IS management, the third portion of project deliverables will be a well-written document in an acceptable format (.rtf, .doc, .docx or .pdf) that depicts the analysis of the cases, design of information/computer system or solution to solve the cases.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

The course materials include a project manual, communications capability, and computing facilities documentation.

Special Course Features

COMP 495/496 has a required computer component. Students are expected to obtain and pay for all materials used in the projects. Delivery of the course is dependent upon computer mediated communications. Further information and a project proposal form may be obtained from the course professor.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 1, 1994.

Last updated by SAS  09/10/2013 11:31:20