Information Science Program: Learning Outcomes

Information (Category I):

  1. Students must understand the nature of information and in particular must know how to collect and organize information, evaluate information and its sources, and use information in problem solving and decision making, as well as understand the need to validate information.
  2. Students should know and embrace the ethical standards of the profession as articulated by such organizations as ASIS&T and the ACM; they should understand the ramifications of their work, including the social impact and consequent responsibilities they imply.
Technology and Formal Systems (Category T):

  1. Students must attain a foundation in the following areas: telecommunications, database management systems, knowledge-based systems, computer graphics, and hypermedia. Students will, furthermore, be expected to attain the skills necessary to remain current in and conversant with these fields.
  2. Students must attain a foundation in the following areas of formal foundations: computer programming in both object-oriented and scripted languages, data structures, systems design, statistics, theoretical/mathematical foundations of information science, and theories of document representation in traditional media and hypermedia.
Human Considerations (Category H):

  1. Students must attain a foundation in the following human aspects related to information systems: human information processing, information-seeking behavior and human factors in system design.
Policy (Category P):

  1. Students must recognize the social impacts of information and information technology; they must be able to identify and understand relevant policy issues, targets, processes, and instruments within and across jurisdictional boundaries.
  2. Students must be able to identify stakeholder groups (i.e., those people affected by particular uses of information and information technology) and to articulate their respective stakes (what the stakeholders have to lose or gain).
General Skills (Category G):

  1. Students should be able to work effectively in groups and individually.
  2. Students should demonstrate both written and oral communication skills.
  3. Students should demonstrate the ability to engage in logical thinking and to read critically in the field of information science.