Introduction to Computer Program Design

This course introduces the fundamentals of programming in a high-level programming language (Java), using an object oriented approach to program design. Students develop their programming skills by constructing computer programs for a variety of applications. The course provides a foundation for all later courses in computer science, and develops programming skills useful for students in many other disciplines.

Course overview

Points

15

Fees

$888.3 NZD

International fees

$3811.5 NZD

Course offered in

  • Trimester 1

  • Trimester 3

Duration

1 trimester

Prerequisites

Co-requisites

Restrictions

COMP 112

Taught by

The School of Engineering & Computer Science

Wellington Faculty of Engineering

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Course content

COMP 102 is about the design and construction of computer programs. The course forms a basis for later courses in Computer Science and Engineering, but will also be useful for students who want to learn computer programming but do not intend to study this subject at higher levels.
 
Please note, in trimester three (summer) this course can only be taken by attending in person on campus. On-campus activities including workshops and laboratory sessions are required, with no online alternative.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course should be able to:

  1. Read, comprehend, design, and construct small programs using the Java programming language and an object-oriented design approach.

Academic requirements

None. (Any background in programming is obviously helpful, but is neither expected nor required).

Available offerings

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Offering CRN 943

This course outline is final and archived.

Duration

2 March 2020 - 28 June 2020

Starts

Trimester 1

Campus

Kelburn

Lecture start times

Tuesday - 09:00, 09:00

Wednesday - 09:00, 09:00

Friday - 09:00, 09:00

Schedule

2 March 2020
Course begins

2 March 2020 to 7 June 2020
Teaching
13 April 2020 to 27 April 2020
Break
8 June 2020 to 11 June 2020
Study period
12 June 2020 to 27 June 2020
Exam period
28 June 2020
Course ends

  • 2 March 2020 - 22 March 2020

    • Tuesday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – LT303, New Kirk, Kelburn
    • Wednesday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – LT303, New Kirk, Kelburn
    • Friday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – LT303, New Kirk, Kelburn
  • 27 April 2020 - 28 June 2020

    • Tuesday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – , , Kelburn
    • Wednesday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – , , Kelburn
    • Friday
      • 09:00 - 09:50 – , , Kelburn

Teaching format

During the trimester there will be three lectures and two lab sessions per week.

Workload

COMP 102 is a 15pt course and therefore has nominal total workload of 150 hours. In order to maintain satisfactory progress in COMP 102, you should plan on spending at least 10 hours per week on this course. A plausible and approximate breakdown for these hours would be:

  • Lectures : 3 hours
  • Reading and preparation: 1 hour
  • Lab Sessions: 2 hours
  • Further work on the assignment outside the lab session: 4 hours

Additional classes

Each student should sign up for and attend TWO weekly 1 hour lab sessions:
 
We also have optional workshops and help desks. More details are given on our web site.

Texts

Required

The textbook for COMP 102 in 2019 was: Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design and Data Structures, by Lewis, DePasquale, and Chase, 4th Edition, published by Pearson (2016: ISBN 10: 0134285433 ISBN 13: 978-0134285436).
 
Note that the course does not follow the textbook closely; the textbook is intended to be a resource and to provide you with explanations that will complement the lectures. The assigned textbook matches the course better than any other Java textbooks that we have seen, but other Java textbooks could also be a useful reference if you already have them. Note that the assigned textbook is also the current textbook for COMP103.

There are no required texts for this offering.

Recommended

Required materials and equipment

Students are not required to have their own computers, but it helps and resources are provided to make it easy for students work on the programming assignments on their own computers.

Assessment

This course will be assessed through assignments, two tests, and a final examination. The tests will be held in an evening (after 5pm) in the 5th and 9th weeks of the trimester

  • Assignments

    Due: Weekly

    CLO:

    • 1,

    Mark: 20%

  • Test 1

    Due: Week 5

    CLO:

    • 1,

    Mark: 15%

  • Test 2

    Due: Week 9

    CLO:

    • 1,

    Mark: 15%

  • Final Examination (2 hours)

    CLO:

    • 1,

    Mark: 50%

Mandatory requirements

In addition to achieving an overall pass mark of at least 50%, students must:

  • submit reasonable attempts for at least seven of the nine assignments. A "reasonable attempt" is a D (40%) or better. Students who have not met these mandatory requirements will be required to do make-up programming assignments in order to be able to pass the course.

If you believe that exceptional circumstances may prevent you from meeting the mandatory course requirements, contact the Course Coordinator for advice as soon as possible.

Group work

Students may work in pairs on the core and completion parts of the assignments, as long as they declare who they worked with on the assignment. The challenge parts of the assignments must be worked on individually.

Work submission

Submission of assignments must be done via the ECS online submission system, accessible through the course web pages: https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/COMP102_2020T1/Assignments. Marks and comments will be returned through the ECS marking system, also available through the course web pages.

Extension

Individual extensions will only be granted if there are special personal circumstances, and should be negotiated with the course coordinator before the deadline whenever possible. Documentation (eg, medical certificate) may be required.

Penalties

LATE DAY POLICY (for Assignments). Each student will have ONE LATE DAY which you may choose to use for any assignment or assignments during the course. Please note that these 24 hours are for the whole course, not for each assignment. So you have on average 2.4 late hours for each assignment. There will be no penalty applied for these hours. You do not need to apply for them, instead any late hours you have left will be automatically applied to assignments that you submit late. You get zero marks for late assignments when you run out of these late hours, unless you have made arrangements on the basis of exceptional circumstances with the course coordinator.
 

Assignments submitted after the solutions are made available will generally not be marked, unless you have made arrangements on the basis of exceptional circumstances with the course coordinator. Solutions are usually made available one day after the time the assignment was due.

Communication and additional information

The primary means of communication outside of lecture will be the COMP 102 web site at https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/COMP102_2020T1/. There you will find, among other things, more details about course requirements, the course schedule (with links to copies of the lecture slides), details and resources for the assignments, the COMP 102 Forum, ways of getting help, and the assignment submission system. The forum is a web-based bulletin board system. Questions, comments, and responses can be posted to the forum. Staff will read the forum posts and will frequently respond to them also.You should make a bookmark to the course home page because you will need to access it frequently.

Student feedback

Student feedback on University courses may be found at: http://www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/feedback/feedback_display.php
 
While the formal student feedback in 2018 was good, informal feedback made it clear that some students in COMP 102 would prefer to move through the material faster than in the lectures, and other students needed additional time in order to come to grips with the material. In 2019, COMP 102 and 112 were restructured to provide alternative streams for students with different backgrounds and different levels of programming skills. The intention is to enable students to choose the options that work best for them, and to be able to easily switch between options during the course if they find they would do better with an alternate option.
 
2018 also introduced a lot more "live coding" during lectures. Student feedback on this was generally positive, and we intend to continue with this style in 2020.

You can view Student course feedback collected for the University courses from the last completed trimester for which feedback was collected

Class representative

The class representative provides a useful way to communicate feedback to the teaching staff during the course. They also work with the VUWSA Education Office on any academic issues that arise in their course. Reps are elected by students by the third week of classes every trimester. Being a rep requires a weekly commitment.

The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington values te reo Māori. Students who wish to submit any of their assessments in te reo Māori must refer to The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy - PDF 134kb

He mea nui te reo Māori ki Te Herenga Waka. Ki te pīrangi koe ki te tuhituhi i ō aro matawai i roto i te reo Māori, tēnā me mātua whakapā atu ki te kaupapa here, The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy - PDF 134kb

Course additions and withdrawals

If you want to add or drop a course you need to make sure you follow the correct process.

Important information

Keep your uni experience running smoothly—find out how to manage your studies from enrolment through to graduation.

Find out more:

  • Enrolment and course advice
  • Student conduct and feedback
  • Examinations and assessments