Module exams

There are three module exams, each worth 10% of the unit total. 

Students have two attempts for each of the module exams, and the best attempt counts towards their final mark. 

Exams are open in a certain window (typically 2 to 4 weeks) and students can self-enroll in sessions where they can sit these exams. Details (time, location) of the sessions will be announced via iLearn. Enrolment is on a first-come-first-serve basis. We will have sufficient sessions for all students. Enroll early to get a session that is convenient for you. Once a particular session is fully booked, we cannot manually add students to it. If you leave enrolling in these sessions until it's too late, you will not be granted a supplementary exam. Therefore, again, enroll as early as possible.

Students are required to select at least one slot that is not in the last week. For example, the Fundamentals exam is open from week 2 to week 4. Students have one attempt in the first two weeks (weeks 2, 3) and one more attempt in week 4.

Universal design for learning (UDL) - Module exams have been designed with universal design strategies in mind, which may remove the need for individual reasonable adjustments. All students will have up to 40 minutes to complete these exams which have been designed to be completed in 25 minutes. This extra time has been applied to all students. Students with IEAP arragements do not need further overrides, and if they have more questions about UDL, they should contact the accessibility team at accessibility@mq.edu.au.

PRACTICAL EXAM HURDLE

The practical exam is designed as a 70-minute (all students get 105 minutes under UDL) closed-book iLearn quiz with CodeRunner questions that will assess students on topics discussed over the entire session. All students will get a chance to attempt the practical exam a second time, and the best of two attempts counts towards the final mark.  Students with IEAP arragements do not need further overrides, and if they have more questions about UDL, they should contact the accessibility team at accessibility@mq.edu.au.

The practical exam is open from Monday week 13 to Saturday week 16 and students can self-enroll in sessions where they can sit this exam. Details (time, location) of the sessions will be announced via iLearn. Enrolment is on a first-come-first-serve basis. We will have sufficient sessions for all students. Enroll early to get a session that is convenient for you. Once a particular session is fully booked, we cannot manually add students to it. If you leave enrolling in these sessions until it's too late, you will not be granted a supplementary exam. Therefore, again, enroll as early as possible.

IMPORTANT: This is a hurdle exam because it is the only assessment where we assess all topics taught during the session. You must get at least 40 out of 100 to clear this hurdle. If you fail this hurdle exam, you will not pass the unit (even if your raw mark in the unit is 50 or more).

ASSIGNMENTS

The assignments will assess students on various topics discussed during the session. Assignment 1 is an individual assessment worth 10%.

Assignment 2 is  a group assignment composed of two parts,

- Part A (group component) will require you to submit your assignment files online using the relevant submission box on iLearn. Only one group member should submit.

- Part B (individual component) will be a live coding session designed as a 25-minute (all students get 40 minutes under UDL) closed-book iLearn quiz with CodeRunner questions, assessed during your registered workshop (or a time organized with the student wellbeing team, if applicable). Live coding for assignment 2 is open from Monday week 13 to Saturday week 16 and students can self-enroll in sessions where they can sit this exam. Details (time, location) of the sessions will be announced via iLearn. Enrolment is on a first-come-first-serve basis. We will have sufficient sessions for all students. Enroll early to get a session that is convenient for you. Once a particular session is fully booked, we cannot manually add students to it. If you leave enrolling in these sessions until it's too late, you will not be granted a supplementary exam. Therefore, again, enroll as early as possible.

Part A will allow for late submission following the standard late submission policy as detailed below. Due to the assessment nature of Part B, late submissions will not be accepted for Part B.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be 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, please apply for Special Consideration.

For example, if an assessment is worth 100 marks, and you submit it 15 hours late, getting an original mark of 76, the mark after penalty will be (76 - 5) = 71. If you submit it 26 hours late, the mark would be 66, and so on.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

• Assignment 1: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 
• Assignment 2 - Part A: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
• Assignment 2 - Part B: NO
• Module exams: NO
• Practical Exam: NO

Requirements to Pass this Unit

1. Achieve 50 or more marks overall.
2. Achieve 40 or more marks in the practical exam (you have 2 attempts).

Special 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.

RESOURCES

We have developed several resources that can help you get a headstart as well as assist you over the session to stay on top of the game. These include,

• Practice questions
  • Codingbat: https://codingbat.com/home/gaurav.gupta@mq.edu.au
  • CodeRunner practice questions (on iLearn)
• YouTube videos
  • https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA7fpUXGfHnEtL13WVPmz6eYO8QjgT-H1
• Computing Drop-in Centre - The support centre is located in 4RPD G02 across Esc Cafe, and is open every weekday from 10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00, 16:00-18:00. Although almost all support assistants are proficient in COMP1010, please use the live roster (to be announced on iLearn) to check which sessions have a support person skilled to help with COMP1010.

CLASSES

Each week you should attend

• a two-hour lecture, and,
• a two-hour practical class

For details of days, times, and rooms, consult your personalized timetables page.

WEEK 1 CLASSES

Note that Lectures and Practical classes commence in week 1.

You should have selected a practical class during enrolment. You should attend the practical class in which you are enrolled. You won't always get the class of your choice. Check availabilities via eStudent regularly. If ALL practical classes are full, only then, contact the convenor.

TEXTS AND/OR MATERIALS

Lecture notes are available online at https://softwaretechnologymq.github.io/

Practical classes and Video teaching materials: details to be announced via iLearn

Recommended Textbooks: 

1. T. Gaddis, Starting out with Java: From control structures through objects (Pearson), Global edition (6th). ISBN 9781292110653
   • Online edition of this book is available through MQ Library. There can be up to 5 simultaneous accesses.
2. Kathy Siera, Bert Bates, Head First Java, 2nd edition. ISBN 9780596009205

TECHNOLOGY USED AND REQUIRED

Audio and Video Lecture

Digital recordings of lectures are available from within iLearn via Active Learning Platform.

Technology

• Java SE - download the latest Java SE to be compatible with the labs.
• Visual Studio Code (preferred, troubleshooting provided) or Eclipse (if you are proficient, independent) - the IDEs we shall be using during the session.
• Learning Management System iLearn.
• https://code2flow.com/ for a better understanding of control flow.
• http://codingbat.com/ for programming exercises.

Discussion Boards

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

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn.

IMPORTANT -

1. Use discussion forums for general queries (that relate to a significant portion of the cohort)
2. Email the teaching team at comp1010@mq.edu.au for enquiries specific to you

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during session. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

Note that three important themes will pervade the entire unit:

1. Problem-solving. A crucial skill for all of the weekly topics will be to write appropriate code to meet a given problem specification. This theme relates to the first two learning outcomes for this unit.
2. Software development. The use of JUnit testing framework is an important development practice that will be taught from the beginning and used throughout the unit. This theme relates to the third learning outcome of this unit.
3. Comparing different solution methods. Very often different algorithms are available for the same problem. Another important skill to develop throughout this unit is the ability to compare different algorithms in terms of efficiency and other criteria. This theme relates to the fourth learning outcome of this unit.

The schedule of activities is presented below.

1. Number of assessments reduced
2. UDL applied to all in-class assessments
   1. 50% extra time for all students
   2. Exams not in Practical Class but in separate exam sessions
3. Added an (unassessed) introduction to binary trees

COMP1010 is supported by the Computing Drop-in Centre (CDC) that operates daily (weekdays) from,

• 10:00 to 12:00 
• 13:00 to 1 5:00
• 16:00 to 18:00

The web page at https://students.mq.edu.au/study/faculties/science-and-engineering/drop-in-centre contains further information including,

• location,
• the service agreement about what the centre can and cannot help you with,
• week in which the service begins,
• other units supported by the centre,
• roster (as not all time slots will have staff supporting every unit),