School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Computing for Engineers and Scientists (CITS1005)

6 points / Semester 2
Location: UWA (Crawley)

Handbook Description

This unit introduces students to the process of taking an engineering or scientific problem, identifying its components, and expressing a solution in computational terms. MATLAB is used as the programming language. Students are taught standard programming constructs and data types, the use of operators and control flow, along with basic software engineering principles, to aid the production of correct and efficient programs. In particular, the decomposition of programs into functions to aid design, modularity, and code reuse is emphasised, as is the need for code documentation. In addition, the unit introduces students to the concepts of reading and writing of files, basic data structures, representation of surfaces, data visualisation, graph algorithms, optimisation, and basic geometric algorithms.

Prerequisites: TEE Applicable Mathematics or TEE Calculus or TEE Discrete Mathematics
Corequisites:

Unit Aims

Students are able to (1) demonstrate competence in the MATLAB programming and understand general programming constructs found in most procedural languages; (2) identify the components of simple problems and express them in computational terms; (3) understand the issues involved in using text and binary files to store data; (4) know how to present and visualise simple data sets so that interpretation is facilitated; and (5) appreciate how graph algorithms, optimisation algorithms, and simple geometric algorithms can be used to solve a wide variety of problems.

Teaching Staff

Unit Co-ordinator: Dr Wei Liu

Textbook

Contact Hours

62 (lectures: 26 hrs; labs: 24 hrs; tutorials: 12 hrs)

Assessment

Assessment for this unit consists of both continuous assessment (including tests and programming project) and an examination paper. Code submitted as part of assignments is assessed on the basis of its correctness, design and clarity, error trapping and documentation.

Unsatisfactory Progress

Any student who does not demonstrate satisfactory progress in this unit, as defined in the FECM Policy on Assessment Practices and Procedures, may be refused admission to the final examinations. The final deadline for notification of unsatisfactory progress is the last day of Week 10.

Penalties

The School of Computer Science and Software Engineering has adopted a policy on minimum penalties for late items of assessment. This is the default policy of all units unless indicated otherwise, in writing, by the specific unit coordinator.

This policy shall apply to all items of continuous assessment, whether submitted either physically or electronically. Immediately after the submission deadline for an item of continuous assessment, a penalty of 20 percent will be applied PER DAY or PART THEREOF. The minimum mark possible for late submission is zero. The percentage is based on the item´s total contribution to the unit´s assessment. For example, a project contributing 40% to the unit´s assessment will incur a penalty of 8 marks for each day late until it is submitted or a mark of zero results.

A more detailed description is given in this School´s Policy on Late Submission. The Faculty does have an appeals procedure, the details of which can found at the Policy for Appeals.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is broadly defined to be when any portion of the work presented for assessment, can be attributed to another party. The student making the submission should acknowledge what aspects of the presented work is not directly derived by them. For the purposes of plagiarism it is irrelevant that you have been given permission by someone to copy their work and present it as your own.

You are directed to the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering Policy on Plagiarism and the Faculty of Engineering,Computing and Mathematics Policy on Plagiarism.

Academic Conduct Essentials (ACE)

All students who have not previously been enrolled at UWA are required to complete a short compulsory online module called Academic Conduct Essentials (ACE) within the first 10 weeks of semester. ACE introduces students to essential knowledge regarding ethical scholarship, helps prepare them for the expectations of their university career and informs them of correct academic conduct.

The unit can be accessed via WebCT. The final unit quiz must be completed with a mark of 80% or greater. Students may attempt the quiz as many times as they wish to gain the required pass mark. Completion of the unit will be recorded as an Ungraded Pass (UP) on students’ academic records. Non-completion (NC) within the required timeframe will also be documented on formal academic records. More information on ACE is available at ace.uwa.edu.au

Faculty Marks Adjustment Policy

Final assessment is subject to the Faculty Scaling Policy.

Supplementary Examinations

Supplementary examinations will be awarded in accordance with Faculty Policy on supplementary assessment.

Student Rights

The University's charter of student rights is available at http://www.secretariat.uwa.edu.au/home/policies/charter

Academic misconduct

The University of Western Australia strongly supports teaching and learning that promotes academic literacy and ethical scholarship for all students. As part of this commitment, UWA has recently developed new guidelines relating to Academic Misconduct (including plagiarism). It is also developing a range of resources for students and staff to further strengthen academic literacy and ethical scholarship at UWA. Further details are available on the Teaching and Learning website.

Unit Outline