TRI-COUNTY TECHNICAL COLLEGE

 

COURSE SYLLABUS

 

 

Course Number:        CPT 267

 

Course Title:              Technical Support Concepts

 

 

Class  Hours

Per week:       3

Lab Hours

Per Week:      0

Credits

Awarded:     3

 

Catalog  Description:     

This course is a study of technical support / help desk concepts and techniques for supporting computers and computer services.

 

Entry Level Skills:

The student should have a basic understanding of computer hardware, including the component parts of a PC.  There should also be a basic understanding of computer software including operating systems and applications software.

 

Pre-requisites:

CPT 176, CPT 285

Co-requisites:

None

Text(s)/Required Materials:

·        Text(s): A Guide to Computer User Support for Help Desk & Support Specialists, Third Edition, Fred Beisse, Thomson Course Technology © 2004

·        Storage media: USB flash drive

 

Course Competencies and

Objectives:

 

Upon satisfactory completion of the course, the student should be able to:

·        Understand what trends have led to the current field of Computer User Support.

·        Classify end users and determine the resources they need.

·        Understand the common problems encountered by end users and how to solve them.

·        Understand the customer service skills required for good communication.

·        Understand the thinking skills and tools required for the troubleshooting process.

·        Troubleshoot user problems.

·        Understand the Help Desk function and the incident management process.

·        Implement standards and evaluate products.

·        Install and configure computer systems.

·        Complete a user needs analysis and assessment.

·        Use project planning software to schedule a project.

·        Understand the steps in the training process.

·        Plan, prepare and present a training module.

·        Understand the types of end user documentation.

·        Plan, organize and write technical documentation.

 

Major Course Topics:

 

Historical changes in computer use.

End user classifications and problems.

Organizational structure for user support.

User support services.

Customer service skills for user support.

Troubleshooting and the problem solving process.

Common user problems and their causes.

Troubleshooting hardware problems.

Troubleshooting software problems.

Incident management process.

The needs analysis process.

Project planning.

Project scheduling.

Product evaluation and setting standards.

The training process.

Preparing a training module.

Types of end user documentation.

Developing user documentation.

 

Grade Calculation Method:

There will be a Mid Term Exam at the end of the seventh week of the semester and a Final Exam at the end of the course.  Throughout the course short quizzes will be given and a series of projects will be completed. The final grade is calculated as follows:

 

Final Grade Percentage

MidTerm Exam

20%

Final Exam

25%

Quizzes

15%

Projects

40%

Total

100%

Additional Information Pertaining to Grades:

 

Students must earn a minimum grade of ‘C’ in all CPT/IST courses used to fulfill graduation requirements of a Computer and Information Technology program.

 

 

Prepared by    S. Moser

Date written or revised:   6/28/2006