Dear Students,
Welcome to the course COMP9311. This week is O-Week, and I hope you are looking forward to learning about database systems. In this opening notice, I outline how the course is run in 2024 T3 and provide some important information that you may find helpful.
In this term, we will run multi-modal courses. Specifically, lectures will be delivered in hybrid mode with live streams and recordings available. Lab sessions will be face-to-face in classrooms on your own laptops. We will also run an online forum and offer both online and face-to-face help sessions (i.e., consultations) where you can get assistance from our tutors and staff.
Course Webpages. The main course materials reside on WebCMS3 ( https://webcms3.cse.unsw.edu.au/COMP9311/24T3/ ). All announcements, lecture notes, lab notes, assignment specifications, etc., will be posted here. If you're reading this notice, congratulations, you've found us.
Moodle ( https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/course/view.php?id=86735 ) provides access to online lectures, recordings, consultations, and assessment submissions.
Lectures start in Week 1. The face-to-face lectures are scheduled for:
- 14:00 - 16:00 on Tuesday at E19 Patricia O'Shane 104 (K-E19-104)
- 11:00 - 13:00 on Wednesday at Science Theatre (K-F13-G09)
The online lectures are scheduled at the same time as the face-to-face lectures. The links to them will be posted on WebCMS3, or you can also find them on Moodle.
All lectures will be recorded and can be found on Moodle after the first lecture. All lectures will be both live streamed via Blackboard Collaborate and recorded via Echo360 on Moodle. There are two ways to access the lecture:
1) We will provide links to access the lecture (live and recording) in the Online Lecture Links tab.
2) You may log into Moodle ( https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au ) first, find our course, and click "Blackboard Collaborate" to join a live lecture. You may click "Lecture Recordings" to access the recorded lectures.
Labs start in Week 2. Due to the limited space in school labs, this term we run bring-your-own-device (BYOD) labs face-to-face in classrooms So you need to bring your own laptop and make sure it is fully charged. CSE has a laptop-lending machine, so if you forget your laptop or it is not working properly, you can borrow a laptop for the class: https://taggi.cse.unsw.edu.au/FAQ/Borrow_A_Laptop/ . During the lab, a tutor will be present to assist you and answer your questions.
Consultations start in Week 1. We run both face-to-face and online consultations this term. Face-to-face consultations will be held each Friday from 2PM to 4PM in Room203 in Building K17. Online consultations will be held on Friday from 6PM to 8PM. You can find the link to online consultations via Blackboard Collaborate on Moodle or on WebCMS3 (under the "Consultation" tab). You may join the consultation if you have any questions regarding the course. Consultations will not be recorded.
Ed Forums. You can use the Ed forums (linked on the WebCMS menu ) to ask questions and engage with other students. Tutors will visit the forum regularly to answer questions. Please join the forum using the registration link on the WebCMS page and let us know if you encounter any difficulty accessing it.
I hope you enjoy the course and wish you all the best for the term.
Best regards,
The COMP9311 Team