Introduction to Computer Programming

Every year several students fail the course because of dishonest practice. Please do not be among them. You are encouraged to discuss the general aspects of a problem with others. However, anything you submit for credit must be entirely your own work and not copied, with or without modification, from any other person. If you share details of your work with anybody else then you are likely to be in breach of the University's General Course and Examination Regulations and/or Computer Regulations (both of which are set out in the University Calendar) and/or the Computer Science Department's policy (see section 9). The Department treats cases of dishonesty very seriously and, where appropriate, will not hesitate to notify the University Proctor.
If you need help with specific details relating to your work, or are not sure what you are allowed to do, then contact your tutors or lecturer for advice.

Laboratory Work
Practical work is an essential part of learning to program.
A new laboratory exercise will be made available each week and you are expected to work on that exercise during your scheduled lab for that week. Each laboratory exercise is accompanied by an online quiz. The quizzes are electronically graded and the sum of all your quiz marks contributes 10% of your total course mark. Usually you will submit your work at the end of that scheduled lab session but if you wish to continue to work on the exercise in your own time during the next week you may do so. However, you must submit each quiz by its final submission date, the so-called "drop dead date", which is written on the exercise handout. Usually this is the Friday of the week after the lab exercise is handed out.
The lab tutors will help you work through the exercises when you are stuck, but try to solve the problems yourself before calling for help. In programming there are infinitely many possible programming exercises and each one has a huge number of possible solutions. It's not the solution to the problem that's important, it's the mental processes you use to get even one solution that matter. Tutors can provide only limited assistance with guiding your mental processes - ultimately you yourself have to acquire the necessary problem-solving skills.

Mid-Course Quiz/Test
An online test will be administered in the second term: details to be announced. The quiz/test will be worth 15% of your course grade. The test will be an open book online examination, similar in style and question-type to the lab quizzes, but invigilated and with a strict time limit.

Programming Assignment
As explained above, the programming assignment is actually a series of stand-alone programs handed out throughout the course, starting in the third week. These will be submitted through the same online quiz system that is used in labs. Each quiz question will have a due date and unless specified otherwise in the task description late submissions will not be accepted.

Examination
The examination will be 3 hours long (to be confirmed) and will count for 55% of the final grade. It is a closed book examination - textbooks, written material and calculators will not be allowed. The date and location of examinations is determined by the Registry, not the department. They'll be sent to you by email when they've been nalised. Also, they will be available through the University Course Information System. If you have an examination clash then please consult the course supervisor immediately.

Aegrotats
If factors beyond your control (such as illness or family bereavement) prevent you from completing some item of course work (including laboratory sessions), or prevent you from giving your best, then you may be eligible for aegrotat or impaired performance consideration. Details of these may be found in the University Calendar. Supporting evidence, such as a medical certificate, is normally required. If in doubt, talk to your lecturer.

The Computer Science department's grading policy states that in order to pass a course you must meet two requirements:
1. You must achieve an average grade of at least 50% over all assessment items.
2. You must achieve an average mark of at least 45% on invigilated assessment items.
If you satisfy both these criteria, your grade will be determined by the following University- wide scale for converting marks to grades: an average mark of 50% is sucient for a C- grade, an average mark of 55% earns a C grade, 60% earns a B- grade and so forth. However if you do not satisfy both the passing criteria you will be given either a D or E grade depending on marks. Marks are sometimes scaled to achieve consistency between courses from year to year.

Week 1 Introduction to the Course and Python - No lab this week
Week 2 Strings and Modules - Lab 1: Getting Started
Week 3 Objects, methods and lists - Lab 2: Strings and Modules
Week 4 Conditionals: the if statement - Lab 3: Objects, Methods and Lists
Week 5 Iteration (looping) - Lab 4: Conditionals
Week 6 File Processing - Lab 5: Iteration
Week 7 Style and Program Design - Lab 6: Files + Revision
Week 8 Sets and Dictionaries - Lab 7: Style and design
Week 9 Objected Oriented Programming - Lab 8: Sets and dictionaries
Week 10 Graphical User Interfaces - Lab 9: OO
Week 11 Introduction to Software Engineering -   Revision/Assignment
Week 12 Overflow (probably no lectures) - Revision/Assignment