Foundations of Computer Science COMP9020 23T3

Lectures being livestreamed

Posted by Paul Hunter Monday 18 September 2023, 09:41:43 AM.

Hi all,

I have managed to arrange for the remaining lectures in the course to be live-streamed - you can access the stream by following the links to the lecture recordings (the lectures will still be recorded). This means that remote students can now participate in any live polls I run during the lecture!

You may post questions/comments to the stream in echo360 - I will try to monitor them (or arrange for someone to monitor them and asked in the lecture), but I cannot guarantee they will be addressed in the lecture. If I miss your question, please post a follow-up question to the ed forum.

Paul

First quiz available

Posted by Paul Hunter Friday 15 September 2023, 05:53:05 PM.

Hi all,

The first quiz is now available on inspera (this is the platform we will be using for all summative assessments). It is due at 12 noon, Monday 18th September (AEST) . I have released it ahead of schedule in case there are any issues accessing it.

To access the quiz, either:

• From the course website: Course work → Quizzes → Quiz 1
• Log into inspera directly: unsw.inspera.com

You should see the quiz when you log in.

Some comments about the quiz:

• Quizzes are an opportunity for you to get quick, low stakes, feedback on how well you have understood the previous week's topics (at a surface level). Quiz questions are split into two categories: "Threshold" and "Mastery". Everyone should be able to make a reasonable attempt at the Threshold questions in the timeframe. Mastery questions are intended to provide a little bit more of a challenge. All questions are equally weighted.
• The quiz will be automatically submitted at 12 noon on Monday 18th September. You do not need to submit it yourselves (though you are welcome to do so). There is no other time limit on the quiz (i.e. you can start it as soon as you like, and spend as much time as you like answering the questions).
• You can update your submission as often as you wish at any point up the deadline (even if you have manually submitted it).
• There are no extensions . However, only your best 8 quizzes contribute to your final grade - so it is ok to miss two quizzes.
• My marking scheme is slightly different to what inspera does (I will make an ed post about it presently), so your actual mark will (likely) be slightly higher than the mark you receive from inspera.
• Questions are always welcome in all forums (ed / consultation). Please refrain from posting any potential answers publicly so that other students can have a reasonable attempt without bias.

Paul

PS A reminder to complete your formatif tasks for this week - these are also expected to be completed by Monday.

Welcome to COMP9020

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 10 September 2023, 10:29:47 PM, last modified Sunday 10 September 2023, 10:31:50 PM.

Hi all,

Welcome to COMP9020 Foundations of Computer Science. This is just a brief announcement to introduce you to various aspects of the course: the website, the learning interfaces, and the staff (me!).

I encourage you to familiarise yourself with the course website:

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs9020

as it provides the starting point for all aspects of the course.

Lectures begin on Monday (Sept 11) [i.e. tomorrow] at 12:00 in the Science Theatre [K-F13-G09].

Lectures will be recorded, and the recording will be available shortly after the lecture finishes. No assurance is made about the quality/completeness of the recording - so the only way to ensure you have best lecture experience is to attend the lectures!

There are no tutorials or classes for this course.

The course will be using the ed platform for course discussion. You should shortly be receiving an email inviting you to join the ed forum for this course. Alternatively, you can register for the forum here .

In lieu of office hours, I have set up online consultation hours twice a week (days and times TBC). These are intended to be student-driven and generally group-based. The course forums also provide a platform to ask questions and discuss the course material.

There is currently a pre-course, one-question poll available here . It is meant to be light-hearted, and is by no means compulsory. There is no right/wrong answer - I am primarily interested to see how (if at all) your perspective changes after taking this course.

There is also a short questionnaire available here - a little more serious than the poll, but again it is not compulsory. Its purpose is to help me best tailor the course to the current cohort, and to identify/address some of the main concerns that often arise at the start of the course.

If you want/need an entertaining introduction to some of the course content, I suggest having a look at some of these puzzle-based games .

Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow,

Paul Hunter
(Lecturer in Charge)