Course Title: Investigations and Intelligence

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Investigations and Intelligence

Credit Points: 12

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
BUSM2390	City Campus	Undergraduate	620H Business IT and Logistics	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2007, Sem 2 2008, Sem 2 2009
ISYS3289	City Campus	Undergraduate	620H Business IT and Logistics	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2010, Sem 2 2011

Course Coordinator: Bonna Jones

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5791

Course Coordinator Email:bonna.jones@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

ISYS2438 - Information and Knowledge Environments 1

Course Description

In Investigation and Intelligence ISYS2389 you will examine the process of information need, access, identification and the development of an investigative methodology. Information is central to business development and developing capabilities that can assist organizations to identify information need and address this need is becoming increasingly important for strategic positioning and business growth. The course enables students to undertake basic information needs analysis and develop a methodology or product to meet this need.

This course sets the foundation for professional principles associated with the provision of information to identified clients or customers. It builds upon the introductory information provided in ISYS2438 Information and Knowledge Environments by developing further expertise in identifying information needs and gaps and developing the strategies required to meet this need/gap. The capabilities developed in this course are further developed in the course ISYS2440 The Intelligent Organisation, which extends the capabilities to an organisational wide environment.

If you are undertaking this course in Melbourne from semester 2, 2012 onward your class will be held in a device-equipped teaching space. Each student group will have access to a laptop. It is however recommended that you have access to a mobile computing device to allow greater flexibility in terms of where you can work on campus both in and outside class times.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

At the conclusion of this course, you will develop the following capabilities:
- Ability to research various information sources as a means to support information and knowledge need
- Ability to develop a detailed investigative methodology that can be applied to a practical business or professional issue
 

At the conclusion of this course you will have developed your awareness of and ability to:
• Identify information needs analysis
• Identify and investigate people’s informational needs
• Select appropriate information from a wide variety of relevant sources and evaluate this information against the identified information needs
• Evaluate the quality and appropriateness of information and determine ways to develop content expertise
• Develop an investigative methodology that can identify existing information and plan for the development of new information and knowledge
• Add value to information through analytical and synthetic practice
• Understand how different groups communicate information and knowledge and appreciate patterns of communication, especially the process of interview for information needs
• Start to understand processes for assisting in information and knowledge sharing

Overview of Learning Activities

In order to develop the stated course capabilities, you are expected to actively participate in the following learning activities:
- Regular attendance and active participation in scheduled lectures and workshops.
- Reading of course notes and other assigned reading materials and active participation in group discussions.
- Satisfactory completion of all assessment tasks

Students are required to attend at least 80% of all classes.
Most students will find that regular class attendance is needed to achieve the necessary standard to pass this course.

 

Overview of Learning Resources

Course material is available through the ISYS2389 course website on the Learning Hub

It is expected that students read the material available from this site, so that they can enter into discussion during the course workshops.

Overview of Assessment

The assessment for this course is on the basis of the satisfactory completion of a set of assignments that include practical projects, an research literature review, development of an investigative methodology and a mid semester class test. Some of these assessment tasks are completed in groups. All tasks must be successfully passed in order to meet the requirements of this course. Penalties will be applied for late submission of assessment components.
Should the course coordinator deem that variation to the assessment tasks is needed, then this will be discussed with the class and will only proceed with documented consent of 75 percent of the class.