Outline

Overview

This unit is an essential starting point for software developers, IT consultants, and computer scientists to build their understanding of principle computer operation. Students will obtain knowledge and skills with procedural programming. Crucial concepts include defining data types, control flow, iteration, functions, recursion, the model of addressable memory. Students will be able to reinterpret a general problem into a computer problem, and use their understanding of the computer model to develop source code. This unit trains students with software development process, including skills of testing and debugging. It is a prerequisite for more advanced programming languages, systems programming, computer security and high performance computing.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	COMP9001
Academic unit	Computer Science
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	INFO1110 OR INFO1910 OR INFO1103 OR INFO1903 OR INFO1105 OR INFO1905 OR ENGG1810
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	John Stavrakakis, john.stavrakakis@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Nazanin Borhan, nazanin.borhan@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Andrew Xu, andrew.xu@sydney.edu.au
	Hamish Croser, hamish.croser@sydney.edu.au
	Xinwei Luo, xinwei.luo@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam (Take-home short release)	Final Examination 3 hours computer exam	30%	Formal exam period	3 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Skills-based evaluation	Quiz Knowledge and skills based test	5%	Week 05 Due date: 29 Aug 2022 at 18:00	30 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Assignment 1 Solve and explain your programming solution to the instructor	5%	Week 06 Due date: 07 Sep 2022 at 23:59	20 days
Outcomes assessed:
Skills-based evaluation	A1 Viva Oral examination for assignment 1 submission before due date	25%	Week 07	20 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Assignment 2 Solve and explain your programming solution to the instructor	5%	Week 11 Due date: 19 Oct 2022 at 23:59	20 days
Outcomes assessed:
Skills-based evaluation	A2 Viva Oral examination for assignment 2 submission before due date	30%	Week 12	15 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ? = Type D final exam ?

Assessment summary

Quiz:

A knowledge and skills based test to be completed online. The contents will focus on the first few weeks of programming basics where understanding as well as reading and interpreting code is examined.

Assignments:

To be completed individually throughout the semester. Assignments may require submission of code, flowcharts, tests, or reports. These will be assessed with test cases, manual grading and an oral examination. Format and submission details of assignments to be provided on release.

An oral examination is only possible with a non-trivial attempt of the assignment.

Oral Examinations (Viva):

This is an interview between the student and the teacher. The student will be asked questions about their own assignment submission as well as other questions related to course contents. The grade is based on the students responses in understanding of their own code and the course contents being assessed.

The student must be present at their required timetabled time (see timetable) for this online assessment and have the necessary ID and camera/microphone in operation.

Students who do not attend the oral examination are not awarded any marks for their assignment or the oral examination.

Final examination:
The final exam can cover any aspect of the course. Demonstrate knowledge in procedural programming. Reading and tracing through short programs. Writing short programs. Writing test cases and debugging with existing test cases. The final exam is a computer examination held during the examination period.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on the course website: edstem.org

Special consideration
Approved special consideration will be granted an extension to complete the assignment and may additionally be examined in an oral assessment, based on the assignment contents, that will contribute to the grade of the assignment.

Conditions for the pass in this course:
- At least 50% total

Use of language translation tools for all online assessments is forbidden. All answers must be provided in the English language, including code comments.

Additionally, for this course, students may be asked for further development of their assessments if they fail to attend at least 80% of their tutorials.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

The tutor will provide feedback for the weekly tutorial and will provide further feedback to students about correctness, style and testing of their assignments.

Automatic testing provides further feedback.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Late submissions are not accepted for any assessments unless an approved special consideration is granted.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction to Programming. First program.	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 01	Getting started with programming basics	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 02	Variables and Data types	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Variables and Data types	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 03	Flow of Execution. Functions	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	Flow of Execution. Functions	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 04	Conditionals	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 04	Conditionals	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 05	Iteration	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Iteration	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 06	Arrays	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Arrays	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 07	More Flow Control	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	More Flow Control	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 08	Testing	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Testing	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 09	File I/O	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	File I/O	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 10	Classes and Objects	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 10	Classes and Objects	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 11	Recursion	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	Recursion	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 12	Iterators and Multidimensional arrays	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Iterators and Multidimensional arrays	Computer laboratory (2 hr)
Week 13	Revision	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 13	Revision	Computer laboratory (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Course websites:

Canvas and Ed are both used in this course for separate purposes. Students are encouraged to engage with the discussions and support on Ed for their learning.

Students are expected to regularly visit these websites to learn of announcements and information concerning format and schedule of assessment. Canvas is a website that will be used to disseminate the lecture recordings and for publishing of results.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All readings for this unit can be accessed through the Library eReserve, available on Canvas.

Robert Sedgewick, Kevin Wayne, Robert Dondero – Introduction to Programming in Python: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Pearson Higher Ed USA, 2015. 9780134076430

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. employ programming style conventions for writing consistently readable code
LO2. design and construct new functionality to existing procedural program or function
LO3. compose a structured algorithmic design to solve the descriptive problem specification
LO4. compose an entire procedural program from descriptive problem specification
LO5. demonstrate knowledge of programming principles, data types, variables and operators, control-flow: simple statement sequence, if-then-else, while functions, stack, input/output, reference memory model
LO6. compose, analyse and trace procedural code. Scoping/variable lifetime, memory of the stack, references and global's, data types, operations on data types
LO7. construct code cliches for input and manipulating arrays, including maximum, minimum, search or traverse, with actions on each element for counting or summation
LO8. construct and assess code for recursively-defined numerical functions, and for recursively described array manipulations
LO9. apply testing methods and assess programs through debugging and write a set of tests for a small program or function
LO10. explain compilation process and debugging mechanism
LO11. use standard library functions.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

There is a slower uptake of functions section where students felt the course ramp up quickly.

Additional information

Every week students should:

Read the required sections of literature
Attend and take notes for the Live lecture (Mondays)
Watch and take notes for the Online lecture (via Canvas website)
Complete the weekly Lesson for Lecture
Prepare for the Tutorial by reviewing reading, lecture and tutorial questions
Complete the weekly Tutorial before it commences (starting week 2)
Attend and participate in weekly Tutorial with tutor (as timetabled)

Additionally:

Students should ask questions on Ed
Students should engage with their teacher for feedback in their tutorial

Access to course contents: Lecture, Tutorial Access to discussion and support forum.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

COMP9001: Introduction to Programming

Semester 2, 2022 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect