Slide 2 of 10

Computing Degreesat

Staffordshire UniversityDelivered by Dave Thomas

Senior Lecturer in Enterprise, Knowledge and Information Systems

d.t.thomas@staffs.ac.ukwww.fcet.staffs.ac.uk\dtt1

Slide 3 of 10

• I will talk about:• Academic groups in the School of Computing• Computing degrees and how to choose one• Structure of all undergraduate computing

degrees• Placement year and how it works• Previous FAQs we’ve been asked when we’ve

done similar talks• Your questions as we go please• Plenary session and a promise to find things out

Structure of the session

Slide 4 of 10

• All four academic groups teach, research and do ‘enterprise’ work

• Enterprise, Knowledge and Information Systems• undergraduate awards

• Games Programming, Software Engineering and Mobile Systems

• undergraduate awards• Networks, Cybercrime and Embedded Systems

• undergraduate awards• Web, Multimedia and Interactive Systems

• undergraduate awards

Academic Groups in the School of Computing

Slide 5 of 10

Computing Degrees at Staffs Uni• Enterprise, Knowledge and Information Systems Awards

– BSc(Hons) Applied Computing (Stoke)– BSc(Hons Business Information Technology (Stoke)– BSc(Hons) Information Systems (Stafford)

• Games Programming, Software Engineering and Mobile Systems Awards– BSc(Hons) Computer Games Programming (Stafford)– BSc(Hons) Software Engineering (Stafford)

• Networks, Cybercrime and Embedded Systems Awards– BSc (Hons) Forensic Computing (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Network Computing (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Cyber Security (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Computer Networks and Security (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Digital Forensics and Cyber Security (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Computer Science (Stafford)– BSc(Hons) Cloud Computing (Stafford)– BSc(Hons) The Internet of Things (from 2016)

• Web, Multimedia and Interactive Systems Awards– BSc(Hons) Web Development (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Web Design (Stafford)– BSc (Hons) Computing Science

Slide 6 of 10

Structure of all computing BScs

• First year:– four core computing modules

• Second year:– two core modules and two option modules

• Placement year in a real job• Third year:

– massive project, half a core module and two option modules

Slide 7 of 10

• What do you want?

• 3 years’ study or 4 years, with a placement?• A degree where you learn about:• creating the technology? or• using the technology? • A general, focused or specialist degree?

How to decide?

Slide 8 of 10

FAQs we have been asked• Can I transfer to another degree if I’ve started the

wrong one for me?

• What sort of qualifications/grades do I need to gain a place? (A level Maths/IT)

• What if I don’t get the results I need?

• How is the course assessed?

• How many contact (teaching) hours are there?

• Are there opportunities abroad?

• How many hours am I expected to work?

• What are my employment prospects?

Slide 9 of 10

Follow us on:

Contact us:e: enquiries@staffs.ac.uk t: 01782 294400

Visit: www.staffs.ac.uk/socialmedia

Slide 10 of 10

We have covered

• Academic groups in the School of Computing• Computing degrees and how to choose one• Structure of all undergraduate computing

degrees• Placement year and how it works• Previous FAQs we’ve been asked

• Thank you and are there any more questions?

Slide 11 of 10

General, Focused or Specialised?

• Computing Science is the usual general, broad-based title

• Focused degrees include Software Engineering and Computer Science

• Specialist degrees include Forensic Computing, Network Computing, Computer Games Programming, Cloud Computing . . . .

• Consider other titles, eg Multimedia Computing, Applied Computing, . . . . .

• back

Slide 12 of 10

Previous FYPs I have known

• Motorcycle racing community• RFID fridge• Storm tracking GIS• GPS enabled distribution tracking system• GPS enabled school pupil tracker• Generation of 3 dimensional images from

several 2 dimensional security camera images• Automated generation of data retrieval objects• back

Slide 13 of 10

Placement year

• 12 (or even 14 months) in a real job• Almost invariably paid (£14,000 and often more)• We have our own internal placement team who

manage the recruitment process• A dry run for the real thing• Sets you apart from other graduates and is a big

factor in our 93% employment rate• back

Slide 14 of 10

Placement opportunities

• Are many and varied, local, national, European and worldwide with organisations such as:– Oracle UK– HP, Britvic (which wouldn’t fit on a separate line)– Cisco UK and Cisco's European HQ in Brussels– Thomson Reuters.– Intergral (in Böbligen near Stuttgart)– Eurocopter in Augsburg– Hartshill School in Nuneaton– Synectic Solutions up the road

• back