Purdue University Calumet
School of Technology
Course Syllabus
ITS 10000 - Information Technology Fundamentals
Credits and Contact Hours:
3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab
3 credit hours
Instructor’s or Course Coordinator’s Name:
Professor Charles Winer
Text Book, Title, Author and Year:
Deborah Morley & Charles R. Parker “Understanding Computers Today and Tomorrows” (12th
Edition). Publisher: Course Technology. ISBN-13: 978-0-324-83013-2. ISBN-10: 0-324-83013-0. The
corresponding Web site is located at www.course.com/uc12.
Introduction to the Course:
 Brief description of the content of the course (Catalog Description) - This is the freshman
experience course that also covers pervasive themes in IT, organization issues and history of IT,
IT and its related informing disciplines, application domains, computer math and other IT topics.
 Rational for studying the subject matter - To provide a foundation of information technology and
computer systems and how they affect everyday life.
 Prerequisites or co-requisites - None
 This is a required course.
Specific Goals to the Course:
 Upon graduation, students will be able to:
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Explain how the components of an IT system interrelate.
Explain how and why complexity occurs in IT.
Describe the role of the IT professional as the user advocate.
Explain why life-long learning and continued professional development is critical for an IT
professional.
Explain why adaptability and interpersonal skills are important to an IT professional.
Explain the difference between a concept and the possible representations of that concept: for
example, the relationship between information and data.
Illustrate the use of information and communication technologies to solve problems as an IT
professional.
Outline the history of computing technology, the Internet, and the World-Wide Web.
Explain how computing and society impact one another.
Explain the relationship between IT and related and informing disciplines.
Explain how and to what extent IT has changed various application domains.
Explain how IT has impacted the globalization of world economy, culture, political systems, health,
security, warfare, etc.
List several of the emerging alternative I/O devices.
Describe the difference between mobile computing and wearable computing.
Describe and give examples of pervasive computing.
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ITS 10000 - Information Technology Fundamentals
Specific Goals to the Course:
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Describe the characteristics of each of the following data encoding schemes, and recommend
under what conditions each should be used: ASCII, EBCDIC, and Unicode.
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Discuss Web standards and standards bodies including the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C)
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Identify the purpose of a web site or genre (ecommerce, self-service, educational,
governmental service, etc.).
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Describe media acquisition tools and techniques to create and record media.
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Describe media acquisition tools and techniques to capture, digitize, and sample media
contents.
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Specific outcomes of instruction (e.g. the student will be able to explain the significance of
current research about a particular topic) ) - Explain and identify IT organization issues and the
history of IT, IT and its related informing disciplines, and application usage. –(ABET criteria
e,g)
Course Delivery Methods (check all that apply):
x Lecture x Online x Discussion groups x Projects
Factors Used to Determine the Course Grade (check all that apply):
x Exams x Homework x Papers x Class participation x Term paper
x How final grade is determined - By including all of the above assessment tools.
Brief List of Topics to be Covered:
Computer and information technology organization issues and history, IT and its related informing
disciplines, application domains.
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