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Foundations of Computing (COMP10001)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
Summer Term
Ekaterina Vylomova
ekaterina.vylomova@unimelb.edu.au
Semester 1
Semester 2
Shaanan Cohney
Overview
Availability | Summer Term Semester 1 Semester 2 |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
AIMS
Solving problems in areas such as business, biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, humanities, and social sciences often requires manipulating, analysing, and visualising data through computer programming. This subject teaches students with little or no background in computer programming how to design and write basic programs using a high-level procedural programming language, and to solve simple problems using these skills.
This subject is the first subject in the Computing & Software Systems and the Informatics majors, and introduces students to programming and the basics of algorithmic thinking.
INDICATIVE CONTENT
Fundamental programming constructs; fundamental data structures; abstraction; basic program structures; algorithmic problem solving, testing and debugging; introduction to the Web, multimedia and visualisation.
Examples of projects that students complete are:
- A text analytics “library” consisting of a series of independent functions to calculate/extract different things given a document/document collection as input
- A video recommender system, broken down into a series of functions
- An AI player for an online card game, designed such that students play off against each other (and against the class) at the end of semester
Please view this video for further information: Foundations of Computing
Intended learning outcomes
On Completion of this subject,the student is expected to:
- Use the fundamental programming constructs (sequence, alternation, selection)
- Use the fundamental data structures (arrays, records, lists, associative arrays)
- Use abstraction constructs such as functions
- Understand and employ some basic program structures
- Understand and employ some basic algorithmic problem-solving techniques
- Read, write, and debug simple, small programs
Generic skills
On completion of this subject, students should have developed the following generic skills:
- An ability to apply knowledge of basic science and engineering fundamentals
- An ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution
- The capacity to solve problems, including the collection and evaluation of information
- The capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection
- An expectation of the need to undertake lifelong learning, and the capacity to do so
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
Credit cannot be given for COMP10001 if students have already obtained credit for COMP20005 Engineering Computation (Intro. to Numerical Computation in C as of 2022).
INFO10001 Informatics 1: Practical Computing (prior to 2011)
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
One 2-hour end-of-semester examination, due during examination period.
| During the examination period | 50% |
A two-stage project, requiring approximately 30 - 35 hours of work, with stages due in approximately weeks 7 and 12 (15% each project stage).
| Week 7 | 30% |
One 1-hour mid-semester test.
| Mid semester | 10% |
Workshop assignments that demonstrate programming competency, due weekly, requiring 10 - 13 hours of work per student.
| Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Dates & times
- Summer Term
Principal coordinator Ekaterina Vylomova Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 45 hours, comprising three 2-hour lectures (1-hour live lecture, 1-hour pre-recorded material) and three 1-hour tutorials per week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 16 January 2024 to 16 February 2024 Last self-enrol date 22 January 2024 Census date 2 February 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 9 February 2024 Assessment period ends 19 February 2024 Summer Term contact information
Ekaterina Vylomova
ekaterina.vylomova@unimelb.edu.au - Semester 1
Principal coordinator Chris Ewin Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 60 hours, comprising three 1-hour lectures and one 2-hour workshop (1-hour tutorial followed by 1-hour computer lab) per week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 26 February 2024 to 26 May 2024 Last self-enrol date 8 March 2024 Census date 3 April 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 3 May 2024 Assessment period ends 21 June 2024 Semester 1 contact information
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Shaanan Cohney Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 60 hours, comprising three 1-hour lectures and one 2-hour workshop (1-hour tutorial followed by 1-hour computer lab) per week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 22 July 2024 to 20 October 2024 Last self-enrol date 2 August 2024 Census date 2 September 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 20 September 2024 Assessment period ends 15 November 2024 Semester 2 contact information
Shaanan Cohney
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Subject notes
LEARNING AND TEACHING METHODS
The subject is delivered through a combination of lectures and workshops (combination of tutorial and individual/group work in a computer lab). Students get a hands-on introduction to Python through a series of online worksheets with embedded programming tasks/automatic assessment, and then go on to complete three projects.
INDICATIVE KEY LEARNING RESOURCES
Students have access to lecture notes, lecture slides, tutorial worksheets, which houses the interactive worksheets as well as a programming environment. The subject LMS site also contains links to recommended resources relating to basic programming, and advanced problems for students who want to extend themselves.
CAREERS / INDUSTRY LINKS
As an introductory programming subject, this is relevant to all aspects of the IT industry. Exemplar companies/organisations which have been involved in the delivery of the subject (through guest lectures etc.) are: Palantir Technologies (software engineering, intelligent systems), AURIN (Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network: geomatics, distributed computing, web development), VLSCI (Victorian Life Sciences Computing Initiative; computational biology, bioinformatics, distributed computing, big data). There have also been guest lecturers from within the university in fields including computational ophthalmology, electronic voting, and social media analysis.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Bachelor of Biomedicine Course Diploma in Informatics Course Bachelor of Design Course Master of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) Informal specialisation Science Discipline subjects - new generation B-SCI Specialisation (formal) Digital Studies - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 April 2024