COMP9020 Notices

Assignment, quiz, formatif marks available

Posted by Paul Hunter Thursday 14 December 2023, 01:59:24 AM.

Hi all,

Thanks to a gargantuan effort from the marking team, we have managed to mark all the assignments, formatif tasks, quizzes (though these were automarked), and the exam, so you will be receiving a grade for COMP9020 tomorrow morning.

It is against university policy to release the final exam mark until after the official release of results, however your grades for all the other assessment items can be found here . (NB quiz_overall is the calculated grade of your best 8 quizzes).

Please let me know if there are any major omissions - although these are the marks that were submitted for your final grade, it is still possible to make amendments for significant omissions even after your grades have been released. A reminder also about this comment concerning quiz grades.

I am always happy to answer any questions you have about any assessment grade.

Feel free to say hi if you see me around campus, and feel free to drop into any of my other lectures. I'm always on the lookout for former students to help with marking, or improving the tools we use, or just encouraging future cohorts - so if you're interested, drop me an email.

I too am approaching tomorrow with trepidation - I am anxiously awaiting your myExperience feedback...

All the best,

Paul

Formatif update

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 02 December 2023, 06:40:29 PM.

Hi all,

The marking team are currently clearing the formatif tasks. As feedback is not particularly helpful any more, please ignore any task change of status - we are using them to get a wider picture of how many tasks were undertaken.

I am still trying to find out about portfolio creation - at the end of the day, it may be that you don't create portfolios (we can still assess task completion without this step).

Paul

Final exam starting in 20 minutes

Posted by Paul Hunter Friday 01 December 2023, 01:26:50 PM.

Hi all,

This is just a reminder that the final exam for COMP9020 will be available on inspera in 20 minutes. You have 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete the exam from the time you start , so you don't have to access it immediately after it becomes available (however the exam closes at 6pm AEDST, so if you start too much later you will not have the full time).

If you have some time, please view my ed post here about exam misconduct.

A reminder that if there are any issues/questions/queries, then your first point of contact should be the exams team : exams@unsw.edu.au . Include me in any correspondence if you wish. If there are any announcements to be made, the exams team can broadcast it to the entire cohort.

I will shortly be closing ed for comments (it will be read only) for the duration of the exam. You can access any and all pages on the course website, including the symbol toolbar and the LaTeX-to-inspera-friendly-text converter.

Remember that this is your chance to demonstrate ability and understanding - always look for opportunities to do so! (Journey before destination).

All the best,

Paul

Assignment solutions and Lecture notes update

Posted by Paul Hunter Friday 01 December 2023, 10:16:17 AM.

Hi all,

Solutions for the assignments and in-lecture exercises have now been posted. You are welcome to use any of these results in your exam (ideally referenced as "Assignments" or "Lectures" accordingly).

Paul

Sample inspera exam now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Wednesday 29 November 2023, 06:35:20 PM.

Hi all,

A sample inspera exam (2022 T3) is now available on the course website. I think there are some solutions floating around somewhere, I will try to find them.

Paul

Sunday consultation

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 26 November 2023, 07:05:15 PM.

Hi all,

Apologies for the late notice. Tonight's consultation will be rescheduled to tomorrow (Monday) at 7:15pm .

Paul

Formatif submissions

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 25 November 2023, 07:06:09 PM, last modified Saturday 25 November 2023, 07:46:05 PM.

Hi all,

I have modified the deadline of the formatif tasks to Sunday November 26 ( anywhere on Earth ) - which equates to 10pm Monday November 27 (AEDST) .

You may request an extension to make resubmissions, and new submissions of overdue tasks up to this date - though you won't get feedback on new submissions. After this no new submissions will be accepted.

You may still change your target grade if you wish - but you must complete all tasks.

There are some issues with portfolio creation, which I am trying to work through. You can still be assessed if you don't create a portfolio - so don't worry if this doesn't get resolved.

Paul

No consultation tonight

Posted by Paul Hunter Thursday 23 November 2023, 06:50:50 PM.

Hi all,

Apologies for the late notice but there will be no consultation tonight. I will confirm availabilities for the remaining consultations.

Paul

Assignment 2 - 24 hour deadline extension

Posted by Paul Hunter Tuesday 21 November 2023, 07:30:22 PM.

As I didn't get the assignment out until late today, I will push the deadline further 24 hours. Please complete your submission by 5pm Thursday November 23rd (AEDST).

Paul

Assignment 2 inspera link and (partial) guide

Posted by Paul Hunter Tuesday 21 November 2023, 05:31:26 PM.

Hi all,

The inspera link for the second assignment is now active and available in inspera and the course website. I have pushed the deadline back to 5pm so that you have a bit more time to complete the task in inspera. There is also an option to upload a pdf if you find you don't have time to complete the assignment in inspera before 5pm.

I have put up a partial guide - covering Q1 & Q2. I may not get a chance to add to it further, but will try to do so tonight.

Paul

Week 11 Review Lecture and Q&A

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 19 November 2023, 06:47:03 PM.

Hi all,

There will be a review lecture Tomorrow (Monday) from 12 - 2 in OShane 104 .

I will review the course and the exam details again (a bit slower this time), address some practice questions, and answer any other questions you might have.

I have requested that it be recorded, but I haven't received confirmation of that yet - so the best way to ensure that you see the material is to come in person.

Paul

Quiz 10 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 18 November 2023, 12:42:53 PM.

Hi all,

The tenth and final quiz is now available in inspera and on the Course webpage. It is due at 12 noon, Monday 20 November (AEDST) .

The guide and inspera set for Assignment 2 will be available later today.

Paul

Week 11 recap lecture

Posted by Paul Hunter Wednesday 15 November 2023, 07:54:06 PM.

Hi all,

I didn't feel I gave the Course Summary / Exam details enough time in today's lecture and there certainly wasn't enough time in case anyone had any questions. Rather than (re)doing this content offline, I am chasing up the possibility of an additional lecture next week to cover this material. I will let you know when and where it will be happening (hopefully Monday in our usual timeslot).

Paul

Reminder: Pizzas before today's lecture

Posted by Paul Hunter Wednesday 15 November 2023, 10:45:19 AM.

Hi all,

Just a quick reminder that there will be pizzas outside the lecture theatre from about 11:30 prior to today's lecture.

Paul

Assignment 2 deadline extension

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 12 November 2023, 01:04:09 PM.

Hi all,

Because of delays getting inspera set up, and to give you the best opportunity to make a good submission, I will be extending the deadline for Assignment 2 by 48 hours to 12 noon Wednesday 22 November (AEDST) . This should still give adequate time before the final exam for you to receive feedback and review the solutions.

Paul

Lecture 15 additional material

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 12 November 2023, 11:05:34 AM.

Hi all,

There were one or two slides that I didn't cover at the end of Wednesday's lecture that may help a little with some questions in this week's quiz. While it is possible to answer the quiz questions without these slides, the alternative viewpoint that they present (i.e. "Balls in boxes") should help simplify some questions. So I have covered the content in a recording which has been posted to the "Lecture recordings" under "Lecture 15 additional material".

I will cover this material again on Monday, but the additional recording means that I can move through this content quickly.

Paul

Quiz 9 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 11 November 2023, 01:19:40 PM.

Hi all,

The ninth quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday November 13 (AEDST) .

Assignment 2 questions now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Thursday 09 November 2023, 07:35:17 PM.

Hi all,

Assignment 2 questions are now available for you to view on the course webpage (under Course work → Assignments ). I will post the Assignment 2 guide and activate the inspera platform for Assignment 2 soon.

Paul

Quiz 8 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 04 November 2023, 06:17:44 PM.

Hi all,

The eighth quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday November 6 (AEDST) .

The second assignment will be released later tonight.

End of Wednesday lecture

Posted by Paul Hunter Wednesday 01 November 2023, 01:56:44 PM.

Today's lecture did not go beyond the final example I was covering when the recording ended. I will start from this point next Monday.

Quiz 7 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 28 October 2023, 04:39:43 PM.

Hi all,

The seventh quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday October 30 (AEDST) .

End of lecture 11 content

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 22 October 2023, 05:51:13 PM.

Hi all,

As the recording for Wednesday's lecture cut out just before I finished, I've posted a recording (in lecture recordings) of the last 3 slides (primarily covering the linear form of the Master Theorem).

Paul

Quiz 6 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 21 October 2023, 12:11:23 PM.

Hi all,

The sixth quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday October 23 (AEDST) .

Quiz 5 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 14 October 2023, 11:32:11 AM.

Hi all,

The fifth quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday October 16 (AEDST) .

Tonight's consultation change of time

Posted by Paul Hunter Thursday 12 October 2023, 04:39:28 PM.

Hi all,

Tonight's consultation will run an hour later from 8pm - 9pm. Apologies for the late notice.

Paul

Assignment 1 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Sunday 08 October 2023, 11:18:30 PM.

Hi all,

The first assignment is now available in inspera . You can also access the assignment questions and a guide to how to complete the assignment directly from the course website (under Course Work → Assignments ).

I strongly advise reading the Assignment 1 guide .

The assignment is due at 12 noon, Friday 27th October (AEDST) . It must be completed in inspera. Discussion with others is encouraged, but the submitted work must be in your own words .

A couple of answers to commonly asked questions:

1. Your work will be saved periodically throughout the assignment availability and will be automatically submitted at the deadline provided you are connected to the internet.
2. If you do manually submit your assignment, you may revisit your submission and make unlimited resubmissions up to the deadline.
3. Late penalty is 5% of total grade (i.e. 5 marks) off the raw mark per 24 hour period for a maximum of 5 days. Please notify me if you will be making a late submission including:
   1. Your zID; and
   2. How much of an extension you will require (multiples of 24 hours up to 5 days) as I need to enable it in inspera.
4. If you require an extension due to illness or misadventure, please apply for Special Consideration.

Paul

Quiz 4 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 07 October 2023, 11:00:58 AM.

Hi all,

The fourth quiz is now available on the course website (under Course Work → Quizzes ) and in inspera . It is due at 12 noon on Monday October 9 (AEDST) .

Paul

Quiz 3 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Monday 02 October 2023, 12:01:16 PM, last modified Saturday 07 October 2023, 11:01:46 AM.

Hi all,

The third quiz is now available in inspera , alternatively through the course website (Course work → Quizzes → Quiz 3). The quiz is due at 12 noon (AEDST) on Wednesday 4 October. Please note that Daylight Savings is now effective in Sydney, so double-check your local timezone.

Paul

End of lecture 6 content

Posted by Paul Hunter Friday 29 September 2023, 04:32:25 AM.

Hi all,

I have posted a recording (available under Lecture Recordings → Additional Lecture 6 content) covering the remaining few slides of Wednesday's lecture. Please be sure to view this recording, as I cover material that may appear in the quiz.

A reminder that there is no lecture on Monday, and consequently the quiz will be due on Wednesday. The quiz will be released on or before 12 noon on Monday.

Paul

Quiz 2 M3 errata

Posted by Paul Hunter Monday 25 September 2023, 08:43:41 AM, last modified Monday 25 September 2023, 08:46:56 AM.

Hi all,

There are a couple of typos in the quiz, question M3. The four options should be:

• {n%6 : n∈ℤ}
• {6%n : n∈ℕ and n>0}
• {n∈ℤ : n|6}
• {n∈ℤ : 6|n}

Because this error was discovered so late, this question will be ignored in the final calculation (i.e. you will be marked out of 9 and the result will be scaled). An answer will be provided based on this set of options - so if you have an opportunity to answer the question (or change your answer) based on this set of options, you can still attempt the question so that you can assess your own understanding.

Paul

End of lecture 4 content (Proof Assistant) video available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 23 September 2023, 02:42:35 PM.

Hi all,

A video covering the walkthrough of the proof assistant and closing remarks for Lecture 4 is now available under "Lecture Recordings → Lecture 4 additional content" (it appears in the list following the last lecture).

Paul

Quiz 2 now available

Posted by Paul Hunter Saturday 23 September 2023, 12:00:04 PM.

Hi all,

The second quiz is now available in inspera , alternatively through the course website (Course work → Quizzes → Quiz 2). The quiz is due at 12 noon (AEST) on Monday 25 September .

Paul

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)