Honours Modules

Modules offered at the Honours level vary from year to year depending on the interests of the staff. The following list of modules is provisional. An updated list will be placed on the honours web site if amendments are necessary. Additional modules offered by the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics are listed in their departmental handbook.

Compulsory Modules

The Research Methods (RM) and New Venture Planning (NVP) modules are compulsory for all Computer Science honours students.

Research Methods (RM)

Prerequisites: None

Course Objectives: The research methods module forms part of your practical training as a researcher and computer professional. The course emphasizes communication skills and introduces basic research methodology.

Credits: 10 credits

Lecturer or Convener: A/Prof. James Gain

Course Content: The course covers the following topics:

• Communication and presentation skills (PCU – see next section)
• Project management
• Scientific and technical writing
• Experimental design and validation

The practical aspects of the work will be evaluated through an exam and the Professional Communications course.

Please note that you must obtain at least 40% for this module in order to continue with honours.

The final module mark will be composed of the PCU module mark (25%) and any examinable material (75%).

Prescribed Book: Notes will be distributed.

Professional Communication Unit (PCU)

Course Objectives: The general aim of the course is to equip you with essential theory and practice in spoken, written and visual communication so that you can communicate more effectively at university and also in your chosen professional career. Your PCU course is run in the first two weeks of February in conjunction with other foundational courses such as Research Methods and the New Venture Planning (NVP) course. The communication modules will prepare you for other oral and written tasks you will be required to do later in the year.

Lecturer or Convener: Terri Grant

Outcomes:

You will be expected to:

1. Plan and present oral presentations. These presentations are expected to be of a professional standard in terms of:
   • Format and organisation
   • Appropriateness to audience
   • Tone, language and style
   • Visual aids
2. Function effectively in small-group activities. Team work is essential in university as well as professional life and you will be introduced to the following concepts:
   • Interpersonal, non-verbal and intercultural communication
   • Impromptu presentations
   • Perception and listening
   • Small-group communication
   • Problem solving and decision-making
3. Gather information, plan and write selected documents according to acceptable standards. These documents are expected to:
   • Conform to acceptable research methods, formats and referencing requirements
   • Be suitable for target readers in content, style, tone and vocabulary
   • Be well-planned, logically set out and argued
   • Include appropriate, professionally executed and well-integrated graphic aids

Course Outline:

Written Communication Content:

• Selecting a document
• Gathering information
• Planning a document
• Selecting appropriate style, tone and vocabulary
• Writing logically and persuasively
• Evaluating formats and layout (principles of readability)
• Integrating verbal and non-verbal (graphic) communication aids
• Documenting accurately
• Applying professional standards of presentation

Oral and Group Communication Content:

• Communicating effectively &mdash a two-way process
• Listening actively
• Considering differences in perception
• Assessing verbal and non-verbal cues
• Planning an oral presentation
  • Integrating visual aids
  • Checking timing and balance
  • Handling questions
  • Handling stress/anxiety
• Introducing group dynamics
• Problem-solving and decision-making

Course Material:

Communicating @ Work is the prescribed text. This, together with exercise material, will be handed out in the first session. You must provide your own writing and visual aid materials for exercises/assignments/orals.

New Venture Planning (NVP)

This module is tailored to suit the needs of future Computer Science entrepreneurs. It provides the skills necessary to prepare a successful business plan to launch a new company. The topic is introduced and assessed by means of a project, in which student teams will develop a business idea.

The learning experience will enable you to develop:

• The discipline of thinking through all the various aspects of starting and operating a business or new innovation
• The skill to identify areas in which a business or innovation has particular advantages or weaknesses
• The skill to determine with a reasonable degree of certainty whether or not a business or innovation is viable - before investing (and potentially losing) money
• The ability to know why and when you need to write a business plan and be able to produce a document which demonstrates to business associates - bankers, investors, and others - that you have carefully considered the options and the practicalities of starting or expanding a business
• A greater understanding of the importance of the process of team formation and management in a multi-disciplinary project team

All Computer Science honours students have to obtain at least 40% for this module in order to continue with honours. This course is not compulsory for Mathematics of Computer Science honours.

Elective Modules

These modules may be taken as long as you satisfy any listed module prerequisites. These are the current modules being offered for 2011.

1. Database Systems (DBS)
2. Evolutionary Computation (EC)
3. Visual Thinking and Visualization (VIS)
4. Interaction Design in the Wild (IDW)
5. Introduction to Image Processing and Computer Vision (ICV)
6. Expert Systems (ES)
7. Advanced Computer Graphics (ACG)
8. Internet of Things(IoT)
9. Information Security: Models and Architectures (SECAI)
10. Desktop High-Performance Computing: comparative parallel programming languages for multicore and accelerator architectures. (DHPC)
11. Mobile Game Development (MGD)
12. Network and Internetwork Security (NIS)
13. Community Based Co-Design (CBCD)
14. User Experience in Games and Virtual Environments (UXG)

External Modules

Students are encouraged to take external modules subject to the rules for external courses. These external courses have to be approved by the Honours Programme Coordinator. They will be weighted according to its relevance to computing in general. A critical aspect of undertaking such a module is your getting the permission from both the lecturer and the head of the relevant department to undertake the course. They have to provide a contact person who will be responsible for providing your final mark on time. Such arrangements obviously have to be confirmed in writing. Popular modules in the past have included Robotics and Agents offered by Mechanical Engineering.

Mathematics of Computer Science Modules

Modules within the Department of Mathematics and offered as part of the Honours in Mathematics of Computer Science have been approved as external courses by the Department of Computer Science.

Additional information can be obtained from the Department of Mathematics. Only certain courses will be considered for credit, specifically those dealing with the foundational aspects of computing or other pertinent topics such as quantum computing. These courses are usually counted as 20 credits within the department (36 lectures + tutorials).

The following courses are being offered in 2013:

1. Cryptography
2. Graph Theory
3. Enumerative Combinatorics

Business Strategy (BUS4050W)

This external course counts 20 credits and is typically taken by Business Science students. Please contact the School of Management Studies in the Faculty of Commerce for more details.