[conwayp3]

Hi all,

Ive been accepted for a masters in E-Commerce in DCU and also E-Business in UCC and after sifting through a lot of info I'm finding it hard to decide between the two. I did my undergrad in Business in DCU but wouldn't mind relocating to Cork if that is the better course so that is not a factor.From reading up, it seems there are less modules on the UCC course and more of an emphasis on practical subjects and management modules in DCU. The DCU course is an MSc while UCC is an MBs...is this a big deal?Any information to sway me either way is much appreciated..

[TheCoolWay]

M.Sc suggests it is a little more technical than M.BS which probably helps in today's job market. Do what your heart tells you though is my best advice

[ramblingcelt]

Be careful of the final project. Had heard people concerned that the final project in DCU was group work as the college had to increase numbers on the postgrad courses to increase revenue.

Don't get me wrong, the education is good in DCU, been there twice! But would be wary of a group project carrying so many marks. Too much can go wrong over which you have little control.

[Dani404]

im trying to decide myself what to do !!! i seen a group on fb that were the class of ucc 2011 some of the posts they havr about the course nearly put me off.. sounds hard, i think masters is the only way to go these days tho

[DRose1]

Originally Posted by ramblingcelt

Be careful of the final project. Had heard people concerned that the final project in DCU was group work as the college had to increase numbers on the postgrad courses to increase revenue.

Don't get me wrong, the education is good in DCU, been there twice! But would be wary of a group project carrying so many marks. Too much can go wrong over which you have little control.

Good post. You could get very unlucky and get it with a bad group making it close to impossible to get a high grade if that is what you are after.

[Postit]

Originally Posted by ramblingcelt

Be careful of the final project. Had heard people concerned that the final project in DCU was group work as the college had to increase numbers on the postgrad courses to increase revenue.

Don't get me wrong, the education is good in DCU, been there twice! But would be wary of a group project carrying so many marks. Too much can go wrong over which you have little control.

Thats a 20 credit module by the looks of things which will have a significant bearing on your final grade.

I might be incorrect but I had a look at DCU's website and it looks like there are also two seperate 5 credit modules that are entirely CA (no exam) which are group projects as well.

In addition there are also about 4 other modules in which group work is part of the CA.

In my opinion, if this is correct there is way too group work involved, which as the quoted poster has said, means a lot could go wrong!

I wonder can someone who has done the course verify the above?

[Bluetonic]

Originally Posted by ramblingcelt

Be careful of the final project. Had heard people concerned that the final project in DCU was group work as the college had to increase numbers on the postgrad courses to increase revenue.

Don't get me wrong, the education is good in DCU, been there twice! But would be wary of a group project carrying so many marks. Too much can go wrong over which you have little control.

In the real world the vast majority of work you carry out will be group work with dependencies on others. In a work environment too much can go wrong over which you have little control. How would you deal with that? (speaking in general, not specifically about you)

In today's tough job market achieving high grades in group related modules is something which can be used to your benefit.

[Postit]

Originally Posted by Bluetonic

In the real world the vast majority of work you carry out will be group work with dependencies on others. In a work environment too much can go wrong over which you have little control. How would you deal with that? (speaking in general, not specifically about you)

In today's tough job market achieving high grades in group related modules is something which can be used to your benefit.

This is the absolute rubbish that universities/lecturers spew out as a reason why they use so much group work, when in fact it is probably due to cut-backs that they don't have time to mark every student’s assignment.

The fact of the matter is that in "the real world" there is a boss/supervisor/person in authority who can pull a lazy individual aside and use a preverbal stick to encourage a more work orientated approach (which is fancy speak for giving them a bolloc*ing and telling them to get their finger out). That doesn't exist in university, and getting a bad grade is not a deterrent to some.

You can have individuals in a group who are happy with putting in a scrape-over-the-line 40% effort, whereas others are looking for 2:1 or above. So what do you say to the two or three who bust their balls with 2:1 work and end-up with a pass? That is not "the real world".

A masters is an expensive piece of education and I personally would not allow some lazy as*hole to waste my time and money on. The DCU Msc look likes somewhere between 33% and 50% of your entire final grade relies on group work.......no thanks!

[Bluetonic]

What experiences of group work in University do you have?

[ramblingcelt]

Originally Posted by Bluetonic

What experiences of group work in University do you have?

My last group project, for which we got a distinction by the way, was where two non native speakers were assigned to our group. We had to sit and rewrite line by line every piece of their work! They tried hard but we had to carry them adding literally 3 days of group work on top of our own contributions.

I do not regret the extra effort but was very lucky that the group members had the time and willingness to pull together.

In a real world situation, or even on the other master course I completed, this would have been an unreasonable expectation. I understand the lack of university resources make it a necessity but let's just be open about the challenges it can place on students.

[Jegger]

You should look at the iBusiness course in Smurfit. It is less about e-commerce more about how organisations use information systems. There is also a large amount of group work in it.

[Postit]

Originally Posted by Jegger

You should look at the iBusiness course in Smurfit. It is less about e-commerce more about how organisations use information systems. There is also a large amount of group work in it.

Have you completed this course? What was it like?

[Jegger]

I really enjoyed it. If you have a business degree youll find that it sort of applies a lot of concepts you cover in your undergrad (strategy, organisation theory, change, international business etc) to ICT in organisations. You don't actually learn any programming but you do cover a lot on managing software development. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in technology. Its great for getting into technology consulting or a tech mgmt role in MNCs.

[Postit]

Originally Posted by Jegger

I really enjoyed it. If you have a business degree youll find that it sort of applies a lot of concepts you cover in your undergrad (strategy, organisation theory, change, international business etc) to ICT in organisations. You don't actually learn any programming but you do cover a lot on managing software development. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in technology. Its great for getting into technology consulting or a tech mgmt role in MNCs.

Is more a project management with an IT slant course, than an e-business/e-commerce course?

[Jegger]

Originally Posted by Postit

Is more a project management with an IT slant course, than an e-business/e-commerce course?

I can't really say because I don't know what project management students cover but iBusiness has only a small bit of e-commerce in it and it does cover a lot of managing ICT development/implementation.
I guess if you are really interested you should read the module descriptions online or talk to the staff in Smurfit.