Plan of Study
- Introduction of Academic Program
Information technology is a kind of science that is used to manage and cope with information. It crosses many different fields which includes but not limited in website design, database and artificial intelligent. My undergraduate degree is electronic information engineering. Once, my instructor asked me and my classmates to do a group project. And I was lucky to lead this group. From the initial ignorance and inexperienced to the final methodical, I was immersed in it. I like either communicate with others or using the advanced technology to solve problem. Therefore, I choose to study at George Mason University. Different with my undergraduate courses which focus on some specific information technologies, at George Mason University, my department offer me various and comprehensive course. Additionally, George Mason provide me more opportunities to participate mega project. I believe that studying in George Mason University can help me learn more about Information technology.
- Academic Goals
My first academic goal is that I can get a grade which higher than B- in all my major courses. I know it’s not easy but still could be possible. I want to do my best in all of my courses. Firstly, I need to solve my language problem. For solving this problem, I attended an additional English course. I believe after this semester; My language skill will have significant improved. Secondly, I should prepare for lessons before class. Different with courses in China, professors only deeper illustrate the knowledge and idea that we learned in books. Therefore, doing good preparation is very important. Thirdly, I should do my best to finish my assignment. Assignment is a good way to check my knowledge that I learned. Fourthly, I need to keep in contact with my professor. Graduate courses will be more challenging and difficult than undergraduate courses. It is inevitable to face some problem in the process of study. Therefore, professors’ advice is very important. I believe my goal is achievable. Because I already achieve some knowledge in my pathway program; It will benefit my future study.
The second academic goal is participating some mega project and accumulating experience in project development. My ideal career is project manager. For achieving my goal, I need to accumulate the experience of mega project development. During my undergraduate study, I have been fortunate to participate in some small software project under the guidance of professors. I have learned a lot from that process. I believe that practice is the best study. Therefore, I want to try my best to participate in mega project development.
- Disciplinary Resources List
The following list is the most frequently used sources of my current academic study.
- Sedgewick, R., & Wayne, K. (2012). Algorithms (4. ed., 3. printing). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. This book is about algorithms. It’s very famous book in the programming world. Algorithms is a foundation of programming. It points out some solutions to common problems. This book combined with Java programming to illustrate common algorithms. Different with other books, this book doesn’t only provide a concept of algorithms but also offers the implement methods.
- Elmasri. (2015). Fundamentals of database systems (7th ed..). This book introduces the fundamental concepts about how to design, control and implement database systems and database applicants. It’s a good option for novices. However, this book doesn’t introduce one specific database. Instead of it, this book introduces relative knowledge in logic level.
- McConnell, S. (1996). Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press. This book isn’t about just coding faster but refining the process, so you achieve faster results. It discusses how to control the development of project and make reasonable timeline. Whatever for engineers or project managers, it’s practical.
- Ferraro, J. (2012). Project management for non-project managers. This book explains the project management terms and technologies. This book is for freshman and experiences project managers who didn’t accept formal training before. This book is strongly being recommended by my friends who specialize in IT project management work.
- Stack Overflow – Where Developers Learn, Share, & Build Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://stackoverflow.com/. This is a forum which be provided to IT engineers. Information technologies covers many different fields. This forum offers a platform to IT engineers to share their knowledge. Different with other technologies, the outcome of program is easy to verity. Therefore, it’s unnecessary to worry about the credit of authors.
- (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://www.codecademy.com/learn. This is a source offers free programming courses such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Graduate program wouldn’t provide programming courses to students. But, it’s important to learn and improve programming skills for AIT students. It would benefit our future career.
- (n.d.). Marketing and Sales Education | HubSpot Academy. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://academy.hubspot.com. This is a free website which provides free business courses with certification. IT management is one concentration of applied information technology program. It involved technology of business. Therefore, this is good resource to lay a foundation for someone who didn’t learn business before.
- Course Plan
| 2018 Spring | 2018 Fall | 2019 Spring | 2019 Fall |
|---|---|---|---|
| INYO 504 | AIT 542 | AIT 664 | AIT 678 |
| EAP 508 | AIT 580 | AIT 665 | AIT 677 |
| AIT 512 | AIT 614 | AIT 697 | |
| AIT 524 | |||
| 13 credits | 9 credits | 9 credits | 6 credits |
| Prefix | Number | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIT | 512 | Algorithms and Data Structures Essentials | 3 |
| AIT | 524 | Database Management Systems | 3 |
| AIT | 542 | Fundamentals of Computing Platforms | 3 |
| AIT | 508 | Analytics: Big Data to Information | 3 |
| AIT | 614 | Big Data Essentials | 3 |
| AIT | 664 | Information: Representation, Processing and Visualization | 3 |
| AIT | 665 | Managing Information Technology Programs in the Federal Sector | 3 |
| AIT | 697 | Leading Organizations Through Change | 3 |
| AIT | 678 | National Security Challenges | 3 |
| AIT | 677 | Intelligence Analysis Methods | 3 |
| AIT | Total 30 Credits |