Information, People and Technology presents the high points of an education in the College of Information Sciences and Technology. It opens an intellectual journey through the ideas and challenges that IT professionals face in the world. It will address major questions such as:
- How can we use technology to organize and integrate human enterprises?
- How can technology help people and organizations adapt rapidly and creatively?
- What can we do about information overload?
Three perspectives (or facets) address the core issues:
- information or the basic science of data encoding, transmission and storage
- people or the interactions among technologies, institutions, regulations and users
- technology or the design and operation of basic information technology devices
Students completing the course will be confident users and consumers of information technology. They will develop research and analytical skills to evaluate specific devices and understand how those devices function in larger socio-technical systems. They will be able to predict and anticipate the impact of new technologies on human institutions as well as understand the potential impact of institutions on the use and design of information technologies.
The course employs an action-oriented approach. Students learn by doing-formulating and solving problems drawn from professional contexts, detecting and recovering from errors related to technology use, and locating, reading and studying materials that support their analysis and problem-solving. Students will accomplish this by participating in team-based learning. The course provides students with the opportunity to use, modify, and evaluate software to search for, frame, and express ideas with fluency. A variety of mechanisms are used to assess student performance. These evaluation methods typically include exams, quizzes, homework assignments, group projects, and peer and self-assessments.
- Semester: Fall 2025
- Instructor: Marc Friedenberg
- When: MWF 11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
- Where: 117 HUB
- Credits: 3.0
- General Education: Social and Behavioral Sciences (GS)
- LionPATH Class Number: 15010
IST 110 is not an introduction in the usual sense of a survey course, but rather presents the high points of an education in IST. Technically, it is prolegomena—a summation and opening of an intellectual journey. It will introduce students to the ideas and problems that make information technology professionals the drivers in the 21st century. Students who successfully complete the course will understand:
- how digital data is stored, transmitted, and received.
- how information is transformed into knowledge.
- how to use information technologies to organize, coordinate, and inform human enterprises.
- how application designs can meet human needs, facilitate rapid adaptation, and encourage creativity.
- how information technologies can improve the quality of human life.
A variety of mechanisms are used to assess student performance. These evaluation methods include exams, quizzes, homework assignments, group projects, and peer and self-assessments. Students will also reflect on their own learning with respect to course learning objectives using pre- and post-course instruments.
- Quizzes (10%)
- Exams (two; each 20% for total 40%)
- Homework assignments (20%)
- Group project (25%)
- Peer and self-assessment (5%)