Foundations of Computing Science 2

1. Welcome to the 2011-2012 edition of CS1515!!

Please visit the Web site regularly for updates.

Overview	Course Team	Class Reps	Lecture Arrangements
Course Aims	Learning Outcomes	Attendance	Assessment
Information

This is a a follow up course to CS1016 (Foundations of Computing Science 1). It aims to introduce you to more advanced concepts of programming, and relevant statistical concepts.

The course is suitable both for people intending to continue with Computing Science, and for non-specialists who want a basic understanding of what computing is about, or who merely went some experience of computer programming. It assumes a knowledge of, and practical familiarity with, the material presented in CS1016.

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Course Organiser/Lecturer:

• Wamberto Vasconcelos

Support team: (please check their individual links for email addresses and Web pages)

• Demonstrator (Mon 11-1 practicals): Dr. Murat Sensoy
• Demonstrator (Mon 3-5 practicals): Dr. Murat Sensoy and Dr. Wei Pang
• Demonstrator (Fri 12-2 practicals): Dr. Wei Pang and Dr. Alan Eckhardt
• Tutor (Thu 10-11 tutorials): Dr. David Emele
• Tutor (Thu 11-12 tutorials): Dr. Kapila Ponnamperuma
• Tutor (Fri 3-4 tutorials): Dr. Saad Mahamood

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Soon after the start of term, you will be asked to elect two "class reps" for this course.

The role of the class reps is to act as a communication channel between students and staff, representing the "official voice" of the students on the course. The main duties of the class reps are to attend the staff/student liaison committee (SSLC) meetings each term in order to provide formal feedback to the Discipline/Department on concerns or issues about their course.

Students are always encouraged to raise problems or concerns about courses immediately with the Course Organiser in the first instance. After all, there is only one SSLC meeting each term! However, there may be circumstances in which it is difficult or inappropriate to approach the Course Organiser directly, and the class reps also provide a way of raising issues anonymously.

The class reps for this course are:

• Svilen Gotsev: s.gotsev.11-AT-aberdeen.ac.uk
• Lee Molyneux: lee.molyneux.11-AT-aberdeen.ac.uk

Please note: The e-mail addresses are printed in the slightly unusual way above to try to prevent spam robots finding e-mail addresses from the text of web pages. To send an e-mail, type in the e-mail address in your mail tool, but change "-AT-" to "@".

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The lecture timetable for this course is given below. There will be 2 lectures each week for a total of 12 weeks (corresponding to University week numbers 30-37 and 41-44); for simplicity I will refer to weeks 1-12.

Day	Time	Place
Tue	11 am	New King's 1
Fri	10 am	St. Mary's G3

There are no practicals or tutorials in the first week.

Please also note that any announcements about changes to future lecture times will be made in lectures and posted in the Course News Area, so check regularly for updates!

You are expected to attend all lectures, practicals, and tutorials, and attendance records will be kept. If you do not attend regularly, you risk having your Class Certificate withheld.

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This course's aims are:

• To further develop a student's ability to write computer programs to solve problems and carry out tasks;
• To prepare students for further study in Computing Science, by giving an appreciation of relevant mathematical principles.

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On successful completion of this course you should have gained the following (taken from the course database entry, available here).

Knowledge and understanding of:

• concepts of computer programming;
• the Java language and class libraries;
• concepts of object-oriented software development;
• basic mathematics relevant to computing;

Intellectual skills – ability to:

• analyse specifications of problems;
• design solutions to problems;
• apply reasoning to logical and mathematical problems.

Practical skills – ability to:

• write Java programs;
• document Java programs.

Transferable skills – ability to:

• think creatively in problem solving;
• express ideas logically.

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Although a Class Certificate is not a physical document, Class Certificates are very important because they allow you to attend the exam(s) for the corresponding courses, and hence allow you to be awarded credits if you obtain the necessary pass mark.

You get a Class Certificate by attending and satisfactorily completing the various components of the course. The Class Certificate also allows you to take resit exams, if necessary, for up to one year after the year in which you took the course.

The University has a system of attendance monitoring in order to encourage students to attend and pass their courses, and to help identify students who may be experiencing difficulties. If you fail to attend a sufficient number of lectures, practicals, or tutorials, or if you fail to submit requested course-work for a course, then the University Registry will start contacting you about this.

In the first instance, you will be asked to go to see your Advisor of Studies to discuss your attendance problems. If you do not respond to the Registry's e-mails or letters, and if you do not go and see your Advisor, then you risk having your Class Certificate for the course withheald.

Put simply, if you do not attend your courses, then you risk not being allowed to take the exams, and therefore not being able to progress to Level 2. If this happens, you risk having to repeat the whole year again.

Obviously, the University wants all student to do well on their courses. Hence the sanction of withdrawing Class Certificate is not intended to be punitive. Rather, it aims to help identify students who may be experiencing difficulties, or who may be at risk of failing a course.

If you find that you are experiencing difficulty with your courses, or with attendance on your courses, you are encouraged to contact your Adviser of Studies as soon as possible.

Your Advisor is there to help, and may often be able to suggest solutions that you hadn't thought of, or didn't know were available!

Self-Certification If you have missed lectures, practicals or tutorials for a good reason, then you should let us know about it. Please use the on-line Medical Self-Certification Form to inform us about any absences. This form must be submitted within one week of your return to classes. If you have a medical certificate from your GP or any other medical practitioner, please hand it in to the Teaching Office (Meston Building G01) as soon as possible.

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