Why separate streams?
The School of Computing Science & Engineering has decided to introduced
streaming into its major introductory Computing courses. We aim to provide
different styles of teaching, and different assignment and laboratory work to
provide either a more directed step-by-step learning approach in the normal
course, or a more challenging, open-ended problem solving approach in the
advanced course. In our experience, providing just one of these approaches has
typically disadvantaged a large group of students. We hope that the
introduction of separate streams will allow you to choose the style and
approach that suits you.
Who's doing what?
The enrolment condition for the advanced course was either a UAI of 97 or
else admission to the Higher Mathematics course. Not all people who
qualified by this criterion chose to take the advanced course.
How are the courses assessed?
To maintain standards across the two courses we are setting common
components of final exam. The performance of the 2
courses in these exams will determine the scaling formula to apply across
the courses. This is like what happens in HSC Mathematics (between 3 and 4
Unit say).
Can I transfer between courses?
Yes. Until the end of week two, you can use the university's online system to
transfer between the two streams. Until the end of week four you can transfer
by sending an email to cs1011 and requesting a transfer. After week
eight, transfer is no longer possible.
Which one should I do?
The question most likely on your mind is "should i do 1011
or 1711?" Firstly note you can change freely between them
(subject to the 1711 class size limit) in the first few
weeks. So this is not a critical decision before uni starts.
Richard Buckland has an information page on the
differences between them.
The biggest difference is the pace of lectures. If you're doing 1011
and you keep finding that you've understood the idea Tim is explaining
and you keep wishing he'd go on to something new, then you might find
1711 more interesting. If you're doing 1711 and you're having trouble keeping up with what Richard is saying, you might consider switching to 1011.
We DONT assume you have done any computing already for 1011
or 1711. There is no extra credit for doing 1711, the uni
regards the subjects as interchangable. You do extra work
in 1711. You'd be mad to do 1711. That said - it's a lot
of fun.
If you have a high maths mark you should do 1711 (that
seems to be a good indicator of computing aptitude for
many students). If you don't have a high maths mark
you are still try it if you are feeling
enthusiastic. But if you don't have a high maths mark
you need to print out and sign the form
"transferring INTO 1711"
and hand it in at the CSE school office
(ground floor of the K17 building)
Which one will give me higher marks?
Whichever one is right for your learning style. Pick whichever one you enjoy more -- that's the one where you will learn the most and do the best.
There is more information on the COMP1711 home page.