BTEC National Diploma/Certificate/Award for ICT Practitioners
Scheme of Work for Information Systems – Unit 3
Overview
Block Content related to learning outcomes
1. Know the source and characteristics of business information - characteristics
2. Know the source and characteristics of business information – Sources of information
3. Assessment
4. Understand how organisations use business information - purposes
5. Understand how organisations use business information – functional areas
6. Understand how organisations use business information – information flows
7. Assessment
8. Understand the issues and constraints in relation to the use of information in organisations – legal issues
9. Understand the issues and constraints in relation to the use of information in organisations – ethical issues
10. Understand the issues and constraints in relation to the use of information in organisations – operational issues
11. Assessment
12. Know the features and functions of information systems – tools
13. Know the features and functions of information systems – information systems examples
14. Know the features and functions of information systems – Management Information Systems (MIS)
15. Know the features and functions of information systems – Key elements of information systems
16. Know the features and functions of information systems – Information system functions
17. Assessment 1-1 tutorials and time to complete any assessment of unit required
18. Review portfolio building
DStainton/BTEC/InfoSys/Unit3/SOW
Num of
hours
(total
hours)
2 hours
2 hr
(4hrs)
6hrs
(10)
2hrs
(12)
2hrs
(14)
2hrs
(16)
6hrs
(22)
Teaching topic
Know the source
and
characteristics of
business
information
characteristics
Know the source
and
characteristics of
business
information
–
Sources
of
information
Assessment
Understand how
organisations use
business
information
Understand how
organisations use
business
information
Understand how
organisations use
business
information
Assessment
Delivery methods
Guidance
Whole-class teaching
Group work
Characteristics: distinction between data and information; type of information
(qualitative, quantitative); primary; secondary; characteristics of good
information eg valid, reliable, timely, fit-for-purpose, accessible, cost-effective,
sufficiently accurate, relevant, having the right level of detail, from a source in which
the user has confidence, understandable by the user; transformation of data into
information (collection, storage, processing and manipulation, retrieval, presentation)
Sources of information: internal eg financial, personnel, marketing, purchasing,
sales, manufacturing, administration; external eg government, trade groupings,
commercially provided, databases, research; reliability of data sources
Group Teaching
Individual research
Practical
Assessment
Group Teaching
Individual research
Purposes: operational support eg monitoring and controlling activity; analysis
eg to identify patterns or trends; decision making (operational, tactical,
strategic); gaining commercial advantage
Group Teaching
Individual research
Functional areas: eg sales, purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, finance,
personnel, administration
Whole-class teaching
Individual or small
group research
Information flows: internal information flows; information flows to external
bodies; information flow diagrams
Individual work
Assessment
DStainton/BTEC/InfoSys/Unit3/SOW
2hrs
(24)
2hrs
(26)
2hrs
(28)
6 hrs
(34)
2hrs
(36)
2hrs
(38)
Understand the
issues and
constraints in
relation to the
use of
information in
organisations
Understand the
issues and
constraints in
relation to the
use of
information in
organisations
Understand the
issues and
constraints in
relation to the
use of
information in
organisations
Assessment
Individual work
Legal issues: relevant data protection legislation eg Data Protection Act 1998,
Freedom of Information Act 2000; other relevant legislation eg Computer Misuse
Act 1990
Whole-class teaching
Group work
Ethical issues: codes of practice eg on use of email, internet, ‘whistle blowing’;
organisational policies; information ownership
Practical Whole-class
teaching
Group work
Operational issues: security of information; backups; health and safety;
organisational policies; business continuance plans; costs eg additional resources
required, cost of development; impact of increasing sophistication of systems
eg more trained personnel, more complex software
Individual Work
Assessment
Know the
features and
functions of
information
systems
Know the
features and
functions of
information
systems
Practical Whole-class
teaching
Group work
Tools: databases; artificial intelligence and expert systems; internet; others
eg data mining systems, predictive modelling
Practical Whole-class
teaching
Group work
Information system examples: eg marketing (sales performance, competitors
etc), financial (financial costs, investment returns etc), human resources (HR)
(staffing, professional development etc)
DStainton/BTEC/InfoSys/Unit3/SOW
2hrs
(40)
Know the
features and
functions of
information
systems
Practical Whole-class
teaching
Group work
Management information systems (MIS): features; benefits; effectiveness
criteria
eg accuracy, sustainability, response times, confidence
2hrs
(42)
Know the
features and
functions of
information
systems
Whole-class teaching
Individual or small
group research
Practical work
Key elements of information systems: data; people; hardware; software;
telecommunications
2hrs
(44)
Know the
features and
functions of
information
systems
Whole-class teaching
Individual or small
group research
Practical work
Information systems functions: input; storage; processing; output; control and
feedback loops; closed and open systems
6 hrs (50
hrs)
6 hours
(56hrs)
1 hours (
57hours)
Assessment
Practical
Assessment – Exhibition
Assessment
Practical Group work
1-1 tutorials and time to complete any assessment of unit required
Review
Practical
Portfolio check
DStainton/BTEC/InfoSys/Unit3/SOW