Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer (Weeks 7 - 12) Michael Lay michael.lay@mq.edu.au Contact via Email Please see iLearn Lecturer (Weeks 1 - 6) Carl Svensson carl.svensson@mq.edu.au Contact via Email
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit provides a study of algorithms, data structures and programming techniques. The topics covered include: trees; graphs and heaps; advanced sorting techniques; elements of storage management; and complexity. The presentation emphasises the role of data abstraction and correctness proofs. This unit provides a foundation-level study of programming. The topics covered include programming environment and the process of program execution, variables, operators, boolean logic, control structures including conditions and loops, functions, storage of collection of items and performing operations on the same, and file management.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Apply enhanced problem solving skills to develop algorithms
ULO2: Implement programs from algorithms, showing an understanding of control flow.
ULO3: Adhere to standard software development skills such as test-driven development and debugging
ULO4: Understand and apply important foundation-level programming concepts such as variables, operators, boolean logic, control structures, functions and collections

General Assessment Information

Requirements to Pass the Unit

To pass this unit, you must:

Attempt all assessments, and
Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, and
Participate in, make a serious attempt at the hurdle assessment (Practical Exam 2), and achieve a minimum of 50/100 marks in the assessment.

Assignments

The programming assignments requires students to solve a real-life problem based on the contents covered during the semester. Submission of assignments will be done using the iLearn submission box.

Quizzes

4 quizzes over the course of 13 weeks. These quizzes will be taken during your registered practical class. Exact weeks can be found in the assessment tasks table.

Practical Exam 1

In-class practical exam assessing contents covered during first half of semester. This will be taken during your registered practical class.

Practical Exam 2

In-class practical exam assessing contents during the entire semester. This will be taken during your registered practical class. Practical Exam 2 is a hurdle assessment, more information about the hurdle requirement for Practical Exam 2 is provided in the next section.

HURDLE

Practical Exam 2 is a hurdle task. You must make a serious attempt at this assessment. A serious attempt is considered an attempt where you have either completed all questions, or tried to complete as much of the exam as possible. This assessment is a hurdle assessment as it is the only assessment where we assess all topics during the session.. There are two attempts at the hurdle assessment and the best mark of two attempts will be used. The first attempt is uncapped (eligible for full marks), while the second attempt is capped at 50% of the possible marks. The second attempt can only be attempted if you have scored under 50% in the first attempt. The first attempt will be in the week 12 practical class and second in the week 13 practical class. You must get at least 50% in practical exam 2 to clear this hurdle. If your total mark in the unit is 50 or more but you do not pass practical exam 2, your final unit mark will be capped at 49, and your grade will be FH.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows:

In Class (Practical) Quizzes/Exams: NO
Assignment 1 and 2: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies

Speical Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Quizzes	20%	No	Week 4, 7, 9 and 11 (Practical Class)
Assignment 1	10%	No	Week 4 (iLearn Submission)
Assignment 2	20%	No	Week 13 (iLearn Submission)
Practical Exam 1	15%	No	Week 8 (Practical Class)
Practical Exam 2	35%	Yes	Week 12 + 13 (Practical Class)

Quizzes

Assessment Type ¹: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task ²: 20 hours
Due: Week 4, 7, 9 and 11 (Practical Class)
Weighting: 20%

Quizzes over the course of 13 weeks in practical classes (exact weeks to be determined based on timetabling and published in the unit guide).