Course Descriptions

BBA Research Lab
1 credit Level 2
How many times have you said “I’d like to try that?” Do want to introduce yourself to or extend your skills in animation, digital art, programming, or web publishing but not dedicate a full semester to it? What if you had the opportunity to propose your own topic and bring that interest to fruition either working in a group or as an individual? What if you could study robotics, mag-lev propulsion, alternative energy, or technology in “green” buildings? Curious about some of the other operating systems like Red Hat, Solaris, Unix? Students in the Research Lab can experiment with up to three different subjects in one semester, devote an entire semester or year to a project, take multiple sections of this course simultaneously, or extend topic tracks into successive years by repeating sections of this flexible course. How about the exposure of twenty different projects going on in the same room? If these opportunities and this learning environment sound appealing or spark your curiosity, then the new BBA Research Lab is for you. Along the way, we discuss new innovations in technology across the world, look at the role of technology in the future and polish up research, methods of learning new software, project management, presentation and collaboration skills.

BBA Research Lab: Teaching/Internship Practicum
1 credit Level 2
Do you have advanced skills in technology and are curious about teaching or mentoring ? Students in the Teaching Practicum/Tech Internship program will have the opportunity to tutor students in other department courses related to technology. This may include acting as a teaching assistant in a PC Hardware class or e-Design, tutoring sessions in BBA labs or classes, assisting with professional development, and, in advanced cases, even running professional development sessions and summer courses. Students will also look to extend their own knowledge in a particular area as well. This course may be taken only during the blocks that classes are offered associated with the student’s interest.

e-Design: Digital Suites and Web Publishing
1 credit Level 2
In the first half of this course students will explore and develop skills in digital design by experimenting with art, animation, and layout programs in the Adobe and Macromedia suites, and various open-source programs like GIMP. In the second half of the course, students will learn basic and modern techniques of web publishing using a variety of tools including Notepad, FrontPage, and NVU, ultimately working into using feature-rich applications like GoLive and Dreamweaver. Students will explore the technology and services behind blogs, wikis and many free publishing and document sharing sites available on the web. Students will explore the technologies of RSS and ATOM feeds and learn how to move their information toward desktop aggregators and mobile devices. Students will work on developmental projects in various venues and combine their knowledge and skills to tackle projects on the Research Lab Project Board. Students explore communication practices between the customer and the team, and merge those developing skills into real project work.