A major part of all software engineering projects is being able to report accurately and on time.  For all your assignments, and for your professional life in the future, you are encouraged to:

• set your personal deadline earlier than the actual one;
• keep backups of all your important files; and
• make sure that no-one else picks up your printouts or has access to your files.

Late work will not be accepted. Develop good working habits and manage your time well. If your contributions are seriously affected by illness or misadventure do your utmost to contact the lecturer before the due date.  If the severity of the disruption warrants it, you should consider applying for special consideration.

What is new?

Many many things.  Comp255 is changing significantly this semester.  While the goals of the unit are largely the same as in the past, the techniques that we will use to teach the unit, and the expectations that we have for student work, have changed significantly.

Textbook

There is no textbook for COMP255.  The unit content will be presented in lectures and practical classes.  There will also be some assigned readings, and there are many books that can be consulted for reference material.

Lecture Recordings

Digital recordings of parts of lectures are expected to be available. Note that some of the lecture activities are interactive, and because there is no video recording it is unlikely that you will be able to understand what is happening if you were not present for the original lecture.  In addition, some confidential case-studies will be presented in lectures but will not be recorded.

If you miss a lecture you should obtain a copy of the lecture notes from another student, find out whatever else you can about the lecture to catch up, think carefully about the material, and then talk to the lecturer at the next lecture to discuss anything that is still unclear.

Website

Extra course materials, some online discussions, and the submission of assessable work, will be carried out via iLearn.

The unit will make use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn.  Feel free to post questions there -- the discussion boards will be monitored by the staff teaching the unit. Everyone is encouraged to engage with the discussion and provide questions and/or answers.  Such discussions will generally be about the material treated in comp255, but other aspects of Software Engineering may be discussed too.  We are a "community of interest" and we are here to learn about software engineering (including the software engineering taught in comp255, but not only the software engineering taught in comp255!). 

If you have a personal question it may be more appropriate to email the lecturer teaching during that week.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

COMP255 is taught via lectures in C5C T1 and mixed classes in the E6A laboratories.

The feedback that you receive plays a crucial role in your learning. You have many opportunities to seek and receive feedback. During lectures, you are encouraged to ask the lecturer questions to clarify anything you might not be sure of. To ensure you don't miss feedback make sure that you 1) review your marked assignments, 2) read unit emails and information at the unit website and 3) attend lectures which are sometimes used to point out what was expected in assessable work and to provide examples of good solutions and/or examples of common errors.

Lectures are used to motivate engagement with and reinforcement of the unit's subject matter. While lectures will be recorded via iLecture, some activities such as role plays and dramas conducted in the lecture theatre will not be captured properly in the iLecture recording. Volunteers to participate in role plays will be requested in the lecture, please consider whether you can contribute in this way.  Lectures will of course include a significant amount of learning material, but even more importantly they include contextual material and learning activities that "make meaning" of the subject matter.

Mixed classes are smaller group classes in the laboratories which give you the opportunity to interact with your peers and with a tutor who has sound knowledge of the subject. Mixed classes will require working in small groups and sometimes involve reporting back to the class. The classes will focus on reinforcing understanding of the concepts and practical application to problems set. It is important that you participate in the activities and make some notes from them to assist you with revision of the material.

Assignments will play a key role in providing formative evaluation so that students and the teachers can gauge levels of understanding. Assignments will be related to the lecture, practical and tutorial material and require students to bring together what they have been learning.

Exams will be designed to test your understanding of the course content and your application of the concepts to a number of scenarios or problems statements.

Each week you should:

• Attend lectures, take notes, ask questions
• Attend your mixed classes and seek feedback from your tutor on your work
• Read assigned reading material, add to your notes and prepare questions for your lecturer or tutor
• Start working on any assignments immediately after they have been released.

Assumed knowledge

This unit requires an understanding of fundamental programming concepts and knowledge of simple data structures (obtained in COMP115).  Additional programming experience will be an advantage.

Grading

Comp255 is a graded unit.  You will be awarded a grade (Pass, Credit, etc) as defined in the University's Grading Policy.

As well as depending upon your overall work in the unit, your final grade will depend on your performance in each part separately. In particular, in order to pass this unit

• You must perform at a satisfactory level in the examination.
• You must properly engage with the practical material in the unit as demonstrated by the submission of satisfactory attempts at assignment and practical work and the submission of weekly problem solutions.