Computer Science and Information Technology, B.S. ~ Degree Requirements

Credits Required

Total credits: 126

Minimum Credits in residence at CSUMB: 30 (24 upper-division; 12 upper-division in the major)

Credits in the major: 76

Outcomes, Courses, and Assessment

You officially begin the major by enrolling in the CST 300 Major ProSeminar where you work with the Peer Advisor and a Faculty Advisor to create your Individual Learning Plan (ILP). That ILP maps out how you will achieve each of the Major Learning Outcomes designated below by successfully completing the listed courses or alternative assessment options. You conclude the major by completing your Capstone, a publicly presented project that displays your cumulative learning in the major. [Learn more at CSUMB.EDU/capstone].

The Major Learning Outcomes are divided into three levels: Core, Concentration and Final

Core MLOs

Every student in CSIT is required to demonstrate the following outcomes before graduation. The core outcomes are intended to provide students with foundational knowledge and skills and prepare them with the background for the in-depth study of the concentrations.

Core Outcome 1: Professional Communication and Development

Suggested pathway: CST 300 and CST 300L

Plan and assess personal career options and develop communication skills.

• Acquire, analyze and use information about the range of career possibilities, industry trends in computer science and information technology and its related fields to make career planning decisions.
• Use critical thinking skills to plan and assess personal career and further study goals and design educational experiences directed to those goals.
• Use written and oral communication to deliver persuasive viewpoint and technology content to multiple audiences.
• Acquire, analyze and use information about computer sciences and information technology to describe and speculate on the impact of digital communications technology on local and global communities.

Core Outcome 2: Knowledge of Computers and Networks

Suggested pathway: CST 337 and CST 334. This outcome can also be fulfilled by CST 237 and CST 234∗

Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals of computer architecture, operating systems and networks.

• Describe the history of computers and computing.
• Explain how a computer represents and transmits information, how a computer's parts and components are organized and interfaced, basic components of an operating system and basic components of local area networks and wide area networks.
• Analyze and design simple circuits using digital electronics and logic gates.
• Describe the structure and organization of a modern microprocessor, and the sequence of operations in a typical instruction execution.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of Assembly Language programming.

Core Outcome 3: Programming and Problem Solving

Suggested pathway: CST 231 and CST 238

Analyze and solve problems using a programming language.

• Demonstrate the ability to develop algorithms and computer programs to solve problems by systematically decomposing a complex programming problem into manageable, well-documented steps that results in a design for the problem solution.
• Demonstrate that the program compiles and executes correctly for a given set of data.
• Demonstrate programming competency in a variety of programming structures, include arithmetic operations, control structures and loops, input/output operations including file I/O, the use of function calls, and the use of arrays and other storage types.
• Debug a program using appropriate debugging strategies.
• Produce a complete set of documentation for the program.

Core Outcome 4: Mathematics for Computing

Suggested pathway: MATH 150, MATH 151 and MATH 170 

Use mathematical concepts and constructs to express ideas and solve problems in computer science, and to communicate quantitative information.

• Use mathematical ideas to solve problems in computer science and information technology.
• Use mathematical thinking and models, charts, graphs, tables, figures, equations, and appropriate technologies to express ideas and concepts.
• Demonstrate an understanding of discrete mathematical concepts used in computing: Articulate and apply the concepts of binary numbers, combinatorics, logic, truth tables, graph theory and algorithms to problems in computer science and information technology.
• Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and strategies of others.

Core Outcome 5: Interaction Design

Suggested pathway: CST 201/L

Demonstrate effective use of computer-based tools used in the design and creation of interactive applications and electronic media.

• Design, create, and edit electronic images, sounds, videos, text and motion.
• Use multimedia authoring tools to design, manage and execute an interactive multimedia project.

Concentration MLOs

Students need to complete at least 16 units appropriate to concentration outcomes in order to fulfill their concentration requirements. Some concentrations require more units. Students must receive advisor approval for their course selections. Students can design their own individualized concentration by selecting as least four outcomes from the following list with written justification and academic advisor approval.

Software Engineering Concentration

SE Outcome 1: Advanced Programming

Suggested Pathway: CST 338

Apply appropriate data structures and tools in the design of software.

• Articulate and apply object-oriented programming concepts, recursion, lists, queues, searching and sorting algorithms and asymptotic notations to provide solutions to practical computing problems.

SE Outcome 2: Specialized Programming

Suggested Pathway: CST 352 or CST 336 or CST 436

Apply programming skills to a specialized application.

• Utilize professional level platforms and tools to produce software systems that meet specified user needs and constraints.
• Evaluate the software system produced for usability, efficiency and accuracy.
• Articulate industry trends in the particular domains.

SE Outcome 3: Theory of Computing

Suggested Pathway: CST 370

Analyze and apply appropriate algorithms to computing problems.

• Articulate algorithm development criteria.
• Analyze algorithms for their spatial and temporal efficiency.
• Develop new algorithms or improve existing ones to address specific computing problems.

SE Outcome 4: Planning, Analysis and Production of Software Application

Suggested Pathway: CST 438

Demonstrate the ability to analyze, plan, and produce a complete software application.

• Articulate the software system development life cycle and its characteristics.
• Apply best practices regarding project management.
• Analyze needs and constraints of complex software system design.
• Write a project proposal, a project report, and an operating manual.
• Collaborate with team members to implement a large software system.
• Understand and apply modern software production practice and tools such as component based programming, integrated development environment, version control and testing.

Network and Security Concentration

NS Outcome 1: Network Fundamentals

Suggested Pathway: CST 311  and CST 312. This outcome can be also fulfilled by CST 281 and CST 282*.

Understand and apply network fundamentals.

• Describe networking standards, concepts, topology, and media including LANs, WANs, the OSI model, cabling, IP addressing, sub-netting, network hardware and various protocols.
• Explain networking theory and protocols on common network systems.
• Apply IP routing concepts and router administration, distance vector and link state based IP routing algorithms, router interfaces, routing tables, and routing protocol configuration and network security concepts.

NS Outcome 2: Network Management

Suggested Pathway: CST 313

Apply processes and methods used to create an enterprise network plan.

• Examine inputs, business drivers, and deliverables of the planning process.
• Understand practical issues such as information security, business requirements, IT architecture, cost justification, implementation, migration planning and vendor selection.
• Manage data, voice and video communications.
• Apply industry standard products to manage and control digital networks.

NS Outcome 3: Advance Networking

Suggested Pathway: CST 384. This outcome can be also fulfilled by CST 284*.

Use professional level programming tools to produce network designs.

• Apply routing and raw sockets, RPC, shared memory.
• Produce software that focuses on network programming in the context of network protocol development and implementation (e.g., SNMP, ICMP, routing, multicasting, ARP, etc.), and distributed services and ‘system-level’ applications such as client-server and peer-to-peer applications, distributed file systems, name services.

NS Outcome 4: System Administration

Suggested Pathway: CST 313 or CST 434

Analyze and practice system administration processes for enterprise-level information systems.

• Demonstrate setup, configuration and maintenance of Linux/UNIX servers
• Apply system security, shell scripts and server backups.
• Describe best practice in system administration including security policies and communication strategies with users.

Final MLOs

Every student in CSIT is required to demonstrate the following final outcomes before graduation.

Final Outcome 1: Service to the Community

Suggested Pathway: CST 361S

Demonstrate the ability to combine knowledge in the discipline and community experiences to finish a community-based project.

• Demonstrate an understanding of a community problem and a need for sevice and/or support.
• Make a meaningful contribution to the solution of the problem.

Final Outcome 2: Professional Communications

Suggested Pathway: CST 400, CST 401 and CST 496

Demonstrate professional communication skills in written and oral form.

• Compose a capstone proposal with background research, methods, details description of implementation steps, budget, schedule, risks and evaluation plan.
• Present the background, methods, requirements, process and conclusion of the capstone project clearly in written and oral formats.

Final Outcome 3: Capstone Project: Culminating Experience

Suggested Pathway: CST 400, CST 401 and CST 496

Create a comprehensive project according to an approved set of specifications, that represents the culmination of CSUMB experiences in the major and showcases an achievement of professional level work.

• Finish the capstone project according to the proposal.
• Apply basic project management skills.
• Evaluate the solution according to a specified set of criteria

Final Outcome 4: Breath of Knowledge

Suggested Pathway: CSIT elective class, with advisor approval

Demonstrate breath of knowledge outside of selected concentration of CSIT

Final Outcome 5: Ethics and Current Issues in the Major

Suggested Pathway: CST 373
Through an ethical perspective, students examine the impact of current and future information technologies on economics and culture in society

• Demonstrate an understanding of the issues regarding the impact of current and future information technologies on social formworks such as economics, education, governance, globalization and social justice.
• Articulate code of conduct and reflect professional ethics in the technology fields.
• Analyze case studies in current issues and professional ethics.

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NOTE:

∗ CST 234, 237, 281, 282 and 284 offered in collaboration with community colleges.