The final mark for the unit will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.

Special consideration: If you experience substantial disruption to your studies at exam time or when an assessment task is due, you could consider applying for Special Consideration (https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration). Please note that on-line application for Special Consideration is a centralised process, and resolution could take some time. With respect to assignments, you should therefore also notify the lecturer responsible for the assignment prior to the deadline, and submit your provisional solution to the assignment via iLearn by the deadline.  Failure to do that could cause difficulty for you in the event your request for extension is not granted.

If you apply for and are granted Special Consideration with respect to your final examination, you must make yourself available for the week of December 17 – 21,  2018.  By making such application you are declaring yourself available for a resit during that week. You will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

CLASSES

Each week you should attend three hours of lectures and a two hour mixed workshop class (that is, a tutorial and a practical combined in a single session). For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.

Please note that mixed workshop classes commence in Week 2. You are strongly advised to attend the mixed workshop classes, and you are expected to submit the requested homework by the end of each week (that is, by 11 pm on the Sunday after your class). Please note that the mid-term test and the final exam will draw upon the weekly homework exercises. You are therefore expected and strongly advised to complete these homework exercises, and to seek clarification when you are unable to complete a question. The assignments may involve a presentation which will be marked in the relevant workshop class; so you will be required to attend those workshops to receive credit for the presentation part.

We recommend that during Week 1 you make sure that you can successfully login into your account, and also access unit's materials via iLearn .

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND/OR MATERIALS

Textbooks

The following textbooks are recommended but not required  for COMP333:

• [1] S. S. Skiena, The Algorithm Design Manual, Springer, 2nd  edition, 2008, ISBN: 978-1-84800-069-8. Electronic version may be available from the library.
• [2] T. H. Cormen, C. E. Leiserson, R. L. Rivest, & C. Stein, Introduction to Algorithms (MIT Press) 3rd edition. ISBN 0-262-53305-7.

They should be available from the University Co-op Bookshop and/or library.

UNIT WEBPAGE AND TECHNOLOGY USED AND REQUIRED

Echo360

http://mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/lecture_recordings.htm

Digital recordings of lectures are available. Please follow these instructions to access the recordings.

Technology

Object-oriented technology, language and development environment: Eclipse IDE for Java development

Version control: git/mercurial

Websites

This unit will use iLearn to distribute materials and for submission of work.

Discussion Boards

The unit makes use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn. Please post questions there, they are monitored by the staff on the unit.

Late submissions

No late submissions are allowed, except in case of approved properly submitted Special Consideration requests.

Teaching and Learning Strategy

COMP333 is taught via lectures in the lecture theatre and mixed workshop classes in the laboratory. Lectures are used to introduce new theoretical material, to give examples of the use of such material, and to put the core principles and methods into a wider context. Mixed workshop classes give you the opportunity to interact with your peers. You will be given problems to solve each week. Preparing solutions is important because it will allow you to discuss the problems with your tutor and peers thereby making the most of this activity. The aim of the mixed workshop classes is to help you to develop problem-solving skills and teamwork, and you will be expected to work on problems in class. Mixed workshop classes give you an opportunity to practise your programming skills, and to implement many of the ideas discussed in lectures. It is important that you keep up with the problems in your mixed workshop classes as doing so will help you understand the material in the unit and prepare you for your assignments, mid-term test and final exam.  Additional questions will be provided for extension and general practice.

Lecture notes will be made available each week but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the textbook.

Following is the provisional schedule of topics, which is subject to adjustment.

For this offering weekly homework will be submitted individually. (In the previous offering weekly homework was completed and submitted by a team of two students.)

There are some changes to the topic list for this offering, compared with the previous one.

This offering includes only one mid-term test (in week 7), whereas the previous one included two in-class tests (one in week 7 and the other in week 13).

In this offering the final exam is weighted 40%, compared with 30% in the previous offering.

At the end of the session, you will receive a mark that reflects your achievement in the unit. The final mark for the unit will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.