BCA First Semester Syllabus: Professional Communication and Ethics (BCA105)
Course Code: BCA105 | Credit Hours: 3 | Teaching Hours: 48 | Semester: I, Year I | Course Type: Theoretical
Overview
Professional Communication and Ethics is one of the first courses BCA students at Tribhuvan University encounter, and it’s arguably one of the most practical. While most first-semester subjects focus on technical foundations, BCA105 is designed to build the soft skills that determine how far a computer science graduate goes in the workplace — how you write an email that gets a response, how you present an idea in a meeting, and how you handle an ethical grey area when a client, employer, or algorithm pushes you into one.
For students entering the IT industry in Nepal and abroad, this course bridges two worlds: the language and etiquette of professional communication, and the ethical frameworks needed to navigate a career built around technology, data, and computing systems.
What You’ll Learn
The course is structured around six units that take you from the fundamentals of language through to advanced ethical decision-making in IT:
Unit 1: Foundation of Professional Communication (8 hours)
Covers the basics of how professional language differs from casual conversation — the communication process itself, nonverbal cues in workplace settings, common communication barriers, and grammar areas that trip up most learners (confusing word pairs, correct tense usage). Readings include Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Dhumketu’s “The Letter,” both of which explore how language shapes identity and connection.
Unit 2: Oral Communication (8 hours)
Focused on speaking skills you’ll use constantly in a professional IT career: handling phone calls professionally, delivering presentations, running effective meetings (agendas and minutes), pitching ideas quickly (elevator pitches), and interview conversation. Grammar topics include professional idioms and reported speech. Readings: “Death by PowerPoint” by Angela R. Garber and “Our World on Fire Needs You” by Maria Ressa.
Unit 3: Writing Professionally (8 hours)
The unit most directly useful for job-hunting — covers the rules of professional writing, emails, memos, notices, formal and informal letters, and how to write a résumé and cover letter that actually gets read. Grammar: business vocabulary, active and passive voice. Readings: R. K. Narayan’s “Gateman’s Gift” and Rabindranath Tagore’s “My School.”
Unit 4: Interpersonal and Group Communication (8 hours)
Deals with how communication works inside teams — listening environments, intercultural communication, leadership communication, and adapting your style for different audiences. Grammar: polite requests and offers, conditional sentences. Readings: David Gelernter’s “Computer and the Pursuit of Happiness” and Yuval Noah Harari’s “The Collapse of the Family and the Community.”
Unit 5: Digital Communication (8 hours)
Directly relevant to anyone building a career in tech — netiquette, online professionalism, communicating through social media and collaborative tools, plagiarism (including the online kind), and how to use visuals like charts, infographics, and diagrams effectively. Grammar: social media vocabulary, prepositions of time, place, and direction. Readings: Naomi Kritzer’s “Cat Pictures Please” and Andrew R. Chow’s “ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills” — a fitting choice given the era BCA students are graduating into.
Unit 6: Professional Ethics (8 hours)
The ethics half of the course: an introduction to professional ethics in computing, professional codes of ethics, the responsibilities of IT professionals, ethical decision-making frameworks, whistle-blowing, and workplace ethical challenges specific to IT. Grammar: subject-verb agreement. Readings: Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and Luigi Ceccarini’s “The Digital Citizen.”
Assessment Breakdown
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Class Participation and Attendance | 5% |
| Assignments and Written Tasks | 10% |
| Mid-term Exam | 15% |
| Group Presentation/Project | 10% |
| Final Examination | 60% |
Note the weighting: 60% rests on the final exam, but 25% comes from continuous work (participation, assignments, and the group project), so consistent effort through the semester matters more than it might first appear.
Teaching Methods
Expect interactive lectures, role plays and simulations (especially useful for the oral communication unit), group presentations with peer review, and reflective journaling assignments — this isn’t a course you can pass by memorization alone.
Recommended Reference Books
- Adler & Elmhorst, Communicating at Work: Principles and Practices for Business and the Professions (11th ed.)
- Bovee & Thill, Business Communication Today (15th ed.)
- Guffey, Loewy & Almonte, Essentials of Business Communication (11th ed.)
- Ghillyer, Business Ethics: Now (5th ed.)
- Quinn, Ethics for the Information Age (6th ed.)
- Spinello, CyberEthics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace
Study Tips for BCA105
- Treat the writing unit like job prep, not homework. The résumé/cover letter section (Unit 3) is one you’ll actually reuse when applying for internships.
- Practice the readings’ themes, not just the plot. Exam questions on the literary pieces usually test how well you connect the reading to communication or ethics concepts, not memorized summaries.
- The ethics unit rewards real-world examples. When answering questions on IT ethics or whistle-blowing, referencing a real case (even briefly) tends to score better than pure theory.
- Don’t skip the grammar sub-topics. They’re small in the syllabus but appear reliably in both the mid-term and final exams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BCA105 hard to pass? Most students find it more approachable than the technical subjects in the same semester, since it draws on language skills already familiar from school. The challenge is usually the volume of content across six units rather than difficulty.
How many credit hours is Professional Communication and Ethics? 3 credit hours, with 48 teaching hours across the semester.
What is the final exam weight for BCA105? The final examination carries 60% of the total grade, with the remaining 40% from internal assessment (attendance, assignments, mid-term, and group project).
This page summarizes the official TU BCA First Semester syllabus for BCA105. For the complete, authoritative syllabus document, refer to your college’s official curriculum handbook.