Why study computer science? | with the University of Liverpool Online  

This week I chat to Dr Floriana Grasso from the University of Liverpool Online about the range of computer science programmes available. From AI and big data to cyber security, we discuss entry routes into these growing professions, the qualifications required, and the career prospects

Participants

• Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Prospects
• Floriana Grasso - senior lecturer and director of online learning for computer science, University of Liverpool

Transcript

Emily Slade: Hello and welcome back to Future You. The podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts, Prospects. I'm your host, Emily Slade. And in this episode I chat to Floriana Grasso from the University of Liverpool Online about the computer science programmes available. 

Floriana Grasso: Hello I'm Floriana Grasso. I'm an academic in the School of Computer Science and. Dramatics at the University of Liverpool and I am the Director of studies for the online MSc programmes in computer science.

Emily Slade: Perfect. So we are here to talk about all of the computer science courses available at Liverpool Online. So are you able to run us through them? 

Floriana Grasso: All. Yeah, sure. So we have six computer science programmes. We have two which are the classic conversion programmes, so dedicated to students with no computer science background. These are computer science and data science and artificial. Then we have to advance programmes, the artificial intelligence programme and the big Data analytics programme, and then we have two specialist programmes which are basically designed for students that want to say, dive deeper in a particular topic and these are the cyber security programme and the information. Systems management programme. 

Emily Slade: Perfect. So do all the courses follow the same structure or are they all a bit different? 

Floriana Grasso: They the structure is similar, so they all start, they they all have a set of modules which are taught modules or eight modules. There are 15 credits and then they all end up with the Capstone project which is I think a a signature in a way for the computer. Science degree in the Liverpool online so we are very passionate about the fact that they all follow the same structure and as the on campus based programmes. So they have eight modules they. Are back-to-back. They will start with a an introductory module, so all of them start with the same module which is called global trends in computer science, which is really meant to kind of put students in the position to understand that the cutting edge trends in computer science, maybe they they haven't been in the in the industry for a long time. Maybe just starting so it's a it's it's a good opportunity to. Have a good look at all the cutting edge topics and then depends on the on the. Of course on the on the programmes, there's a series of six modules, top modules. They all finish with the research methods in computer science module and which is the preparation for the Capstone project. As I mentioned. 

Emily Slade: Perfect. And these are all done entirely online. 

Floriana Grasso: They're all in Italian line. There's no exam, they're all coursework based and they are designed to be taken back-to-back. So you dive deeper into one module, then you have a break of one or two weeks and then you start with the with the next module and so on. 

Emily Slade: And so forth. Amazing. So who would suit these courses? What kind of person would they work for? 

Floriana Grasso: Well, it really depends on the type of module, so the, the, the the two conversion modules, the two commercial programmes, computer science and the science and AI are really meant to give students a good introduction if they want, say for instance, to switch career into computer science or data science and AI. So they give a good foundation. On topics like programming databases for data science and AI, there's also a mathematics modules that helps understand the the the mathematics behind it, the science. So these are really if you want to go have a good introduction to the topics and maybe getting further the two advanced programmes, so artificial intelligence and big data analytics are really for students with a background in computer science or related discipline and they go really deeper. Into topics like machine learning, data analytics, big data, cloud computing, etc. And then the Cyber Security Information system management programmes, they are interesting because they are open to all students, both students with a computer science background and students with no computer science background or even though of course they they they need to be prepared to to. Dive deeper into more technical subjects, however, they are really meant to focus on these two topics, so cyber security of course bells around all the. Issues around security and risk management etc. And information system management. We we like to call it the the MBA for IT. So it it is really for students that they want to kind of take a leadership position perhaps in their company moved into this type of. A career, but also from a IT perspective. So looking at how information system systems are merged. 

Emily Slade: Yeah. Excellent. So what are the entry requirements to get onto the courses? 

Floriana Grasso: We have a number of rules because I mean there we are really passionate about why then participation in many ways. So for the two specialist programmes, students need to have a either a first degree in computer science or related discipline or they have to have been in the industry. For long enough to perform it, if you want at a graduate level. So for these two, we are really looking for students or applicant with a good background for the others really vary. So you can have a first degree in a subject. Or you may have had a a work experience of some sort. They can help you through. And also we have recently opened a performance based admission route so students can enrol onto the first module. This is only for computer science and science and I at the moment. To enrol in the first model. And if their performance is satisfactory, they successfully complete the modules, then they can move on to the degree itself. So it's very new. We are we are starting to get students to this route. But again, I mean we we we realise that life happens and they they they don't necessarily have. Completed their first degree of any sort, but they are only passionate about learning and we are really open to that. 

Emily Slade: Yeah. Fantastic. So what are the sort of career prospects for anyone taking these courses? 

Floriana Grasso: It really depends on the topic and in we have had a number of students who have moving on to the conversion, for instance programmes who have really have come in from a different background and they want to add computer science or IT related skills onto their background. So we are talking about biologists. Chemists or management, etc. So this is one type of students that we have and most of our students in fact the 99% of our students are in work already. So they are really adding on to their work this this type of. Skills or of course, you can become a data analyst depending on the subject. Of course, becoming moving into leadership position for computer science, you really will have a good foundation programming, so anything related to programming experience or maybe. Designer of of systems etcetera. So it really depends on the programmes, as you will appreciate, but there is a number of of career prospects that are available to them. 

Emily Slade: Fantastic. What would you say are the standout features? 

Floriana Grasso: We are passionate about pedagogy really. So we the the quality control of these programmes is very, very strict and by pedagogy we mean that we need, we want students to learn not just by, you know, kind of reading and and the budgeting information but participating. So active learning and constructivism, etc. So that's to say that we have most of the modules, all of the modules have a. Group component so they students are asked to either discuss the topic in a classroom. Of course, it is all synchronously done or they participate in a group project with other fellow students, etc. So it's not just, you know, this is the material you study and then come back and take the exam type of situation. So this is part of kind of the the the ethos of our programme since the start we started 25 years ago now it's quite a number of years now and and also as I was mentioned at the beginning, the Capstone project. So we really want students to delve deeper into a topic they're interested in, for instance. Or they want to explore. Or maybe there's, you know, the the company that sponsors them is interested in that particular topic. So the Capstone project is a nearly nine months project that they take in with the supervision of an academic, of course, which is assigned to them. So it's one-to-one. That. Situation and it is a kind of research oriented type of of of projects, so they they will be able to produce a report to create a demo and of course create an IT artefact of some sort etcetera. So it is I think really what distinguish us from. Many other programmes, which only relies on credits, basically. 

Emily Slade: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Fantastic. What sort of support is available to student? 

Floriana Grasso: Oh student support is really. I mean has received a number of accolades. I have to say and I perhaps want to mention at this point that there was a recently done exercise by the Times Higher Education for the first time they had a. Banking of online providers, which hasn't been done before. And I'm proud that Liverpool University was among the only 11 global universities with a gold standard. So and this, of course, is not only about the quality and quantity of of material, but especially on on student support. So we have a dedicated team of student Support Advisors. And they they they take you from from the very start from the application. Really all the way through, through dissertation and of course in terms of material or reading, they all students are. Are, of course, as university Liverpool students, they have access to the University of Liverpool Library Online and there is plenty of material there so they can exploit the the all the facilities of of the students of Liverpool University. 

Emily Slade: Brilliant. Is there anything else that you'd like to add? 

Floriana Grasso: I suppose that, yeah, I mean we as you may have gathered, we are passionate about the, the, the programme and. Themselves and we've been working on them for quite a long time. So there's we were one of the first provider with a fully online degrees in computer science, computer science in fact was the kind of trailblazer at the time. So we started 25 years ago with the IT degrees. And then other schools in the university followed that that thing. And because we wanted to have programmes which were in all ways and purposes. Comparable student campus degrees we strike from the start to have a full accreditation for this programme, so all the you know, so Liverpool's computer science programmes are accredited by the British Computer Society, which is basically the body which accredits the computers or it related degrees. In the UK. So they're all they all have full accreditation and just us the the equivalent on campus degrees and that's something that as I said, we were very passionate about from the start. And we we were very happy to make it happen. 

Emily Slade: Yeah, brilliant. If any prospective students have any questions or anything, can they reach out to you or is there? Somewhere that they can go?

Floriana Grasso: They can reach out to me. Definitely. There is also a web page in the University of Liverpool website which is dedicated to online programmes and they will will be able to contact. The admission advisor from there and then maybe have a chat with. Them and and work through the different options, because of course the the many entry routes and they they may want to to check if they qualify for what programme on. 

Emily Slade: Another. Yeah. Perfect. Brilliant. Well, thank you so much for your time today. 

Floriana Grasso: Thank you. 

Emily Slade: Thanks again to Floriana for their time For more information on the courses you can check out the show notes below, if you enjoyed the episode, do feel free to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. Thank you as always, for listening and good luck on your journey to future you. 

Notes on transcript

This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.

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