DIPLOMA IN COMPUTING

THE ATHE LEVEL 4 DIPLOMA IN COMPUTING IS A 120-CREDIT OFQUAL REGULATED QUALIFICATION. IT PROVIDES THE CORE KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING AND SKILLS TO SUPPORT LEARNERS PLANNING TO FURTHER THEIR STUDIES IN COMPUTING. IT IS EQUIVALENT IN SIZE AND LEVEL TO THE FIRST YEAR OF A DEGREE PROGRAMME IN COMPUTING.

COURSE SPECIFICATION

QUALIFICATION STRUCTURE

• 1,200 LEARNING HOURS, USUALLY STUDIED OVER AN ACADEMIC YEAR
• ADVANCED LEARNER LOANS AVAILABLE IN THE UK – SEE THE QUALIFICATIONS CATALOGUE
• GRADED ‘ACHIEVED’ OR ‘NOT ACHIEVED’
• DESIGNED WITH SUPPORT FROM UNIVERSITIES
• CAN BE DELIVERED IN THE CLASSROOM BY DISTANCE OR BY BLENDED LEARNING.

MANDATORY UNITS

LEARNERS MUST COMPLETE ALL 10 MANDATORY UNITS.

• HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

LEARNERS WILL DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING OF PRINCIPLES AND MODELS OF HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION (HCI). THEY WILL EVALUATE EXISTING HCI DESIGN AND PRINCIPLES AND USE THIS TO HELP THEM PLAN THEIR OWN PROTOTYPE USER INTERFACE. THEY WILL FORMULATE DESIGN DOCUMENTATION TO PLAN AN INTERFACE FOR A PRODUCT. LEARNERS WILL IMPLEMENT THE PLAN TO CREATE A PROTOTYPE. LEARNERS WILL REVIEW AND AMEND THE PROTOTYPE BASED ON USER FEEDBACK.

• MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

LEARNERS WILL INVESTIGATE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND EVALUATE THE COMMON FEATURES. THEY WILL ANALYSE AN EXISTING INFORMATION SYSTEM IN USE BY AN ORGANISATION. THEY WILL REVIEW RECORDS, OBSERVE PERFORMANCE AND UNDERSTAND THE LEGAL AND ORGANISATIONAL REQUIREMENTS THAT APPLY TO AN INFORMATION SYSTEM. THEY WILL USE THEIR FINDINGS TO RECOMMEND IMPROVEMENTS TO A MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM AND THEY WILL PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS TO A CLIENT.

• IT AND SOCIETY

LEARNERS WILL UNDERSTAND ETHICAL, LEGAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES RELATING TO IT. THEY WILL ALSO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF IT ON SOCIETY.

• COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

LEARNERS WILL USE DIFFERENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT AND TEST PROGRAMS, FOLLOWING THE SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE. THEY WILL USE AN APPROPRIATE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE AND LEARN ABOUT THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PROGRAMMING TO ENABLE THEM TO CREATE COMPUTER PROGRAMS.

• COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE

THIS UNIT WILL DEVELOP LEARNERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTEGRATION OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE COMPONENTS. LEARNERS WILL EXPLORE HOW HARDWARE SERVES SPECIFIC COMPUTER PROCESSING FUNCTIONS AND INVESTIGATE THE USE OF VARIOUS SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS.

• RELATIONAL DATABASE SYSTEMS

THIS UNIT WILL DEVELOP LEARNERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF DATABASE SYSTEMS AND DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELLING. THEY WILL UNDERSTAND HOW NORMALIZATION AND FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCY THEORY IS USED TO DESIGN A RELATIONAL DATABASE AND HOW THE CLIENT-SERVER MODEL IS USED.

• INFORMATION SYSTEMS THEORY AND PRACTICE

LEARNERS WILL UNDERSTAND THE BENEFITS OF USING INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO PLAN A PROJECT. THEY WILL USE AN INFORMATION SYSTEM TO PLAN AND IMPLEMENT AN INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT.

• SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

LEARNERS WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE AND THE ROLE OF SYSTEMS METHODOLOGIES WITHIN THE LIFE CYCLE. LEARNERS WILL BE INTRODUCED TO DIFFERENT FACT FINDING AND PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES AND THEY WILL USE THESE TO ANALYSES AN EXISTING SYSTEM. THEY WILL RECOMMEND IMPROVEMENTS AND PLAN TO IMPLEMENT THESE IMPROVEMENTS FOR A CLIENT.

• ECOMMERCE APPLICATIONS

LEARNERS WILL LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT ECOMMERCE MODELS AND APPLICATIONS AND HOW THEY CAN BE USED TO DEVELOP ECOMMERCE IN A SMALL BUSINESS. THEY WILL RESEARCH THE STAGES INVOLVED IN SETTING UP ECOMMERCE AND THEY WILL USE ECOMMERCE APPLICATIONS TO MEET A CLIENT BRIEF.

• SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

LEARNERS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEED FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND THE DIFFERENT METHODS AND TECHNIQUES.