Computing (CIS and CC)
News
Relevant Links
Computing (CIS and CC) students should check here at least once a week. This is because some items may need to be utilised immediately. An example might be when a Booklist book, referenced in a coursework, changes edition during the session.
Student opportunity to meet the Course Director in March and April - 05/03/10
Dr Brownrigg will be visiting a number of countries and teaching institutions in the next few weeks. Although having some commitments already, he would be very happy to meet any students who would like to discuss their studies. His itinerary is:
March 6-8 Mahe (on the 8th at Universtity of Seychelles)
March 11 Malaysia, Penang
March 12-13 Singapore, SIM
March 15 London, Barbican. ES Ceremony for graduates
April 8-12 Mahe, University of Seychelles
April 17-19 Trinidad, SBCS
If you would like a meeting, please arrange via the local institution if possible, or email external.computing@gold.ac.uk.
343 Urgent Announcement - 04/03/10
Please go to the VLE for the latest draft for 343 Computing art and image effects. Please note that this draft replaces the previous version, and students should use this draft.
Assignment 2: Electronic Submission of Coursework - 25/02/10
We are continuing with the trial of electronic submission of coursework via the Computing VLE.
Level 1 and 2 courses included in the trial for Assignment 3 are:
108: Information systems
110: Introduction to computing and the Internet
112: Creative computing I
209: Database systems
226: Software engineering, algorithm design an analysis*
227: Creative computing II
*note that 226 is a new addition to this list
Level 3 courses included in the trial for Assignment 1 are:
325: Data compression
326: Computer security
343: Computing art and image effects
346: Sound and music
For the ten courses listed above, please upload your coursework by going to the computing VLE [external link]. Log in using the username and password that has been sent to you by email. Choose the course that you are submitting work for and scroll down to Assignments. You will find a link which says "submit electronically here". Click on this link and follow the instructions to upload your coursework.
Only one file can be uploaded for each assignment. If you have more than one file to submit for an assignment, please either cut and paste them together into a single file, or put them into a single zip file, and submit that. Written documents should be in doc or pdf format only. The preferred format for 227 and 346 is pdf.
If you have any problems uploading your coursework, please email support@my.londonexternal.ac.uk. Please remember to include your SRN (student registration number), and the course number where appropriate, in all correspondence as this will help us to deal with your query more quickly.
Note that you must also submit your coursework in hard copy as instructed in the assignment booklet. An electronic only submission will gain no marks.
However, you are urged to use this opportunity to practise uploading your coursework, and help us to iron out any problems with the system, before it becomes a compulsory requirement.
Courses that are not listed above are not currently included in this trial of electronic submissions of coursework. Do not attempt to submit your coursework electronically via the VLE for any course other than 108, 110, 112, 209, 226, 227, 325, 326, 343 and 346.
Correction to Assignment 2, 2910112 2009/10 - 10/02/10
In part F of the assignment, the sentence
'Do this in black and white by using different size black circles on a black background.'
should read
'Do this in black and white by using different size black circles on a white background.'
Apologies for this error, which meant making b/w images impossible! Thank you to the student who pointed this out, in a post to the VLE 112 discussion area.
209 - Database systems - correction to assignment 2 - 10/02/10
There are some errors in the table of example data given in part (7). The corrected table can be downloaded here [pdf: 1pg, 42KB]. The data that has been altered is shown in bold. Please also alter the date of birth of Irdan Khastani to 17-08-1976.
346 Example Examination Questions Paper - 09/02/10
A sample paper for 346 is now available. Please note that this is an example paper from which students should gain an understanding of the kinds of examination questions that they might be asked. As it is indicative, it does not comprehensively cover the whole scope of the syllabus, and you should prepare yourself for an examination that covers any of the subjects within the advertised syllabus.
Assignment 2: Electronic Submission of Coursework - 05/02/10
We are continuing with the trial of electronic submission of coursework via the Computing VLE. For Assignment 2 (levels 1 and 2) the courses included in this trial are:
108: Information systems
110: Introduction to computing and the Internet
112: Creative computing I
209: Database systems
227: Creative computing II
For the five courses listed above, please upload your coursework by going to the computing VLE http://computing.elearning.london.ac.uk [external link]. Log in using the username and password that has been sent to you by email. Choose the course that you are submitting work for and scroll down to Assignments. You will find a link called "Assignment 2 – submit electronically here". Click on this link and follow the instructions to upload your coursework.
Only one file can be uploaded for each assignment. If you have more than one file to submit for an assignment, please either cut and paste them together into a single file, or put them into a single zip file, and submit that. Written documents should be in doc or pdf format only. The preferred format for 227 is pdf.
If you have any problems uploading your coursework, please email support@my.londonexternal.ac.uk. Please remember to include your SRN (student registration number), and the course number where appropriate, in all correspondence as this will help us to deal with your query more quickly.
NOTE THAT YOU MUST ALSO SUBMIT YOUR COURSEWORK IN HARD COPY AS INSTRUCTED IN THE ASSIGNMENT BOOKLET. AN ELECTRONIC ONLY SUBMISSION WILL GAIN NO MARKS. However, you are urged to use this opportunity to practise uploading your coursework, and help us to iron out any problems with the system, before it becomes a compulsory requirement.
Courses that are not listed above are not currently included in this trial of electronic submissions of coursework. Do not attempt to submit your coursework for Assignment 2 electronically via the VLE for any course other than 108, 110, 112, 209 and 227.
323 Electronic Commerce corrections - 04/02/10
In the printed copies of the coursework assignments for 2910323 Electronic Commerce, it incorrectly says in the title "Introduction to Information Systems". Please accept our apologies for this mistake and be assured that the coursework is that for 2910323 Electronic Commerce.
On page 2 of the subject guide for 2910323 Electronic Commerce, it incorrectly says "The subject guide is divided into 12 chapters, ..." This should say "The subject guide is divided into 10 chapters, ..." Students should note that only the 10 chapters in the subject guide and the corresponding 10 chapters in the recommended text book are examinable. Although students may wish to read the entire textbook, the material in the remaining 2 chapters will not be examined.
Correction in Creative Computing II (2910227) Vol 1. - 03/02/10
p. 47: Paragraph starting: "The perceived intensity..."
The middle section of this paragraph should read:
"For example, dividing the sound by 10 will result in an amplitude that is 10 times smaller. However, the sound that is heard will be perceived as approximately a quarter as loud. This is due to the way the ear responds non-linearly to changes in a sound's amplitude."
Message to all students from Prof D'Inverno, Head of Computing, Goldsmiths - 25/01/10
Professor Mark d'Inverno, Head of Department of Computing, Goldsmiths would like all students on the CIS and CC External Programme to know that they are invited to apply to transfer to Goldsmiths for the second or third years of their studies. Please download a letter [pdf: 1pg, 378KB] from Professor d'Inverno regarding this opportunity.
226 Software Engineering, Algorithm Design and Analysis - 22/01/10
Correction to subject guide volume 1.
Please download a corrected version [pdf: 1pg, 17KB] of Figure 12.4: State machine for the class Event.
Creative computing level 3: 346 Sound and music - 20/01/10
The draft version of this guide is available for download. Please note that this is a draft version, and it is likely that it will change. However, the main content is as per this guide so it should be a useful resource for you now. Any changes are likely to be clarifications and expansions.
We hope to put up some sample examination questions in the next week.
Code for 343 Computing art and image effects - 19/01/10
To help students experiment with the supplied code, complete code listings to generate some of the figures from the subject guide are provided below. For each link the code is provided as text in a .doc file.
Figure 3.9 [doc: 16pgs, 82KB]
Figure 3.11 [doc: 12pgs, 90KB]
Figure 3.16 [doc: 18pgs, 94KB]
Figure 4.29 [doc: 27pgs, 133KB]
318 Information Systems Management: Converting references from edition 7 to edition 6 of textbook - 19/01/10
As you are probably aware, the essential reading text book for 2910318 is Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy by Turban and Volonino. The subject guide refers to the 6th edition of the book, but this has recently been replaced by a 7th edition.
If you have a copy of edition 6 then please continue to use this together with the subject guide. However, if you have a copy of edition 7, then please download this conversion table [pdf: 2pgs, 68KB]. This will tell you which pages in the 7th edition you should refer to when reading the subject guide.
For a small number of references in the subject guide, to pages in the 6th edition of the textbook, we are unable to give an equivalent page reference for the 7th edition. We have therefore sought permission from the publishers, Wiley, to reproduce these pages. Unfortunately we are unable to do this without permission without infringing copyright laws. As soon as Wiley responds to our request, we will make the remaining pages available to all 318 students.
Electronic submission of courseworks via the VLE - 13/01/10
Apologies for the confusion that some students are experiencing regarding the submission of courseworks. The intention of this notice is to clarify.
This year, the submission of courseworks electronically is not compulsory. If you only submit by post or courier, you will not be penalised.
For selected courses, as listed below, and some level 3 courses that will be added later in the year, we would LIKE you to submit electronically AS WELL. While not submitting electronically will not cause you to lose marks in any way at all this year, if you do submit electronically, it will be good experience and practice for you.
The reason for asking for electronic submission is to give you practice in doing the electronic submission, at a time when it is not yet compulsory. It is likely that in future years electronic submission will be compulsory; this is your chance to practice.
As has been stated before, if you ONLY submit electronically, you will get NO MARKS for the coursework. It is COMPULSORY to submit printed copy (and other media if required) for all courseworks this year, together with your printed and signed plagiarism declarations. And for some selected courses, you may (and we would like you to) submit electronically as well.
An electronic-only submission will gain NO marks - 23/12/09
All students submitting coursework electronically through the computing VLE should note that the usual print and other media submission, with an attached, signed plagiarism declaration form, MUST be submitted, according to the submission directions in the assignments booklet, because it is THIS that will be marked to gain credit for the coursework element. The electronic submission is for text similarity checks and is in itself NOT the basis for gaining credit.
Electronic Submission of Coursework: 108, 110, 112, 209, 227 - 21/12/09
This year we are trialling electronic submission of coursework starting with Assignment 1 for the five courses:
2910108: Information Systems: Foundations of E-business
2910110: Introduction to Computing and the Internet
2910112: Creative Computing I: Image, Sound, Motion
2910209: Database Systems
2910227: Creative Computing II: Interactive Media
More courses will be added to the trial later in the year.
Next year it is expected that electronic submission of coursework will be compulsory. Please try and upload your coursework this year. This will give you the opportunity to practice the procedure, and will help us to iron out any problems with the system. Please note that you must also submit your coursework in hard copy and that your electronic submission and your hard copy submission must be exactly the same.
To upload your assignment, go to the computing VLE http://computing.elearning.london.ac.uk and log in using the username and password that has been sent to you by email. Choose the course that you are submitting work for and scroll down to Assignments. You will find a link to the actual assignment, and another to the electronic submission page. Click on the second link and follow the instructions to upload your coursework.
If you have any problems uploading your coursework, please email support@my.londonexternal.ac.uk. Please remember to include your SRN (student registration number), and the course number where appropriate, in all correspondence as this will help us to deal with your query more quickly.
343 Computing art and image effects: Note on code in the subject guide - 19/12/09
The code may work differently according to the version of Processing you are using, which is a feature of Processing. The code was developed under version 1.0.5 An edit that needs making if using a later version is to listing 3.18, where between lines 51 and 52 the following line should be added the declaration int width, height;
(essentially such later versions do not accept width and height being set, undeclared, in scene(), and take the default valus of 100 on rendering the scene)
Also, as two small edits, make line 32 and 58 of listing 3.43 comments (by inserting // at the start of line) or delete them (the text was originally part of the preceding line in each case).
222 Data communications and enterprise networking: Correction to coursework 1 2009/10 - 19/12/09
Please note that there is an error in this assignment.
In question 3 the sentence: "Draw the trendline and calculate the correlation between RTT and distance." should read "Draw the trendline and calculate the correlation between RTT and packet size." NB Question 4 IS about correlating RTT and distance.
226 Software engineering, algorithm design and analysis: corrections to subject guide, volume 2 - 17/12/09
Please download a booklet [pdf: 10pgs, 98KB] containing corrections for volume 2 of the subject guide for 2910226B, published 2006.
108 Information systems: foundations of e-business - 11/12/09
Please note that the text book for 2910108, which is essential reading, is Information Systems Management: Managing the Digital Firm, by Laudon and Laudon. The subject guide refers to the 10th edition of this book, but there is now an eleventh edition. You may use either edition. There are several other books in print with similar titles as well as several other books by Laudon and Laudon - these may be useful extra reading, but please make sure that you get the correct book for the essential reading.
343 Example examination questions, and the May 2010 examination - 08/12/09
Please note that a set of six Example examination questions, with answer guidelines, are now available with the draft subject guide for 343.
For the May 2010 examination, please note the following:
- There will be FIVE questions on the examination paper.
- Full marks may be obtained for complete answers to THREE questions.
- A calculator (of a type that does not display graphics) may be used in the examination.
318 Information Management Systems - 19/11/2009
The Information systems management subject guide for 2009 incorrectly states that in the written examination, candidates will be required to answer two out of five questions. However, as in previous years, candidates will be required to answer three questions out of five. This information occurs in the Introduction on page 3, and also in the rubric for the Sample examination paper on page 73.
Candidates are reminded to always carefully check the rubric and instructions on the examination paper that they actually sit.
325 Data Compression - 19/11/2009
Correction to Assignment 1 2009/10
There is an error in Part One, question 1.
The Huffman tree and Array should be:
A Huffman tree:
Array:
Note that the first 8 lines of the question, up to and including the line 'A Huffman tree:' are as intended.
318 Information Systems Management - 18/11/2009
Please note that we are aware that the current subject guide for 318 (published 2009) refers to the 6th edition of Turban et al, Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy, whereas the booklist recommends edition seven of the same book as the 6th edition is no longer in print. The two editions of the book are quite dissimilar and we are currently in the process of making a table which students can use to see which sections of the 7th edition can be used in place of the material the subject guide refers to in the 6th edition.
Where possible, please try to obtain a copy of the 6th edition of Turban as the subject guide follows this book closely. However, please note that the examiner is aware of the problems being caused by the two different editions of the recommended text and will ensure that students are not disadvantaged in the examination by having either one edition or the other.
Creative computing Level 3
The table of contents and draft first chapter of 343 is now available for download, in the subject guide section. We hope to publish a full draft of all the chapters soon.
We expect a draft of 346 to be available soon.
Please would students contact the deputy course director, Dr Sarah Rauchas, if they are studying independently and would like to obtain drafts of the materials as they currently stand.
108 Information systems: foundations of e-business - 23/09/09
Correction to coursework 1.
In the section titled Reading for Assignment, students should read chapters 1 to 3 of the textbook, not chapters 1 to 6
Study materials.
For the 2009/2010 academic year, students are advised that examinable material is that from the subject guide, and from the textbook by Laudon & Laudon.
Please note that you can use either the 10th or 11th edition of Laudon & Laudon, as the chapters of relevance in the textbook are the same in both editions.
The following list of chapters from Laudon & Laudon is examinable, as well as material that is in the subject guide, but the textbook by Alter is no longer in use.
Part One: Organizations, Management and the Networked Enterprise108 Information systems: foundations of e-business Chapter 1: Information Systems in Global Business Today Chapter 2: Global E-Business: How Businesses Use Information Systems Chapter 3: Information System, Organizations, and Strategy Chapter 4: Ethical and Social Issue in Information Systems
Part Two: Information Technology Infrastructure Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Chapter 6: Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management Chapter 7: Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology Chapter 8: Securing Information Systems
Part Three: Key System Applications for the Digital Age Chapter 9: Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications Chapter 10: E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods Chapter 11: Managing Knowledge and Collaboration Chapter 12: Enhancing Decision Making
Part Four: Building and Managing Systems Chapter 13: Building Information Systems Chapter 14: Managing Projects Chapter 15: Managing Global Systems
227 creative computing media resources - 08/04/09
These .wav audio files, reverb1.wav [size: 2MB], piano1.wav [size: 2MB] and echo1.wav [size: 2MB], are downloadable for use in some of the exercises involving impulse response.
We also include a number of room responses [zip: 2.8MB] that you might find useful. The room responses, kindly provided by Rebecca Stewart, Department of Electronic Engineering, Queen Mary, University of London, are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical 3.0 License. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ [external link] for full license.
227 Creative Computing study materials - 27/01/09
Additional reading to help you with the material in chapter 3, Information Retrieval, is the following:
Witten, I. H., A. Moffat and T. C. Bell, "Managing Gigabytes:
Compressing and Indexing Documents and Images by Ian H. Witten"
Morgan Kaufmann Publishing, San Francisco,
ISBN 1-55860-570-3.
van Rijsbergen, C. J., "Information Retrieval".
Available at http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/Keith/Preface.html [external link].
Deadline for submission of assignments 2009 - 06/01/09
You are reminded that the deadline for submission of assignments 1 for Level 1 and 2 units is 15 January 2009. Please note that the deadline is a ‘sent by’ not a ‘received by’ deadline. Students should ensure that envelopes are postmarked or that courier documents clearly state the date the work was sent by. Please refer to the Coursework Assignment Guides for further information about submission.
Students should also note that the deadline for examination entry is 1 February 2009.
Appropriate quoting and referencing in summitted work - 11/1/2007
Despite instructions and advice in the Student Handbook and other documents, examiners are still detecting some instances of unreferenced copying (plagiarism). All passages taken from sources must be demarked (in quotation marks and inset) and identified at the point of use together with a full citation in a reference list.
For example, using text from elsewhere (including a subject guide) without demarcation is plagiarism, even if the source is included in a general reference list later. It is plagiarism because the copied text is not distinguished from the other (student) work and so is falsely represented as the student's work.
Only by a proper demarcation and identification of what has been copied, AT THE POINT OF USE, can plagiarism be avoided and good academic practice maintained.
As a general guide, quoting has no value in itself, beyond for comparison or illustration of a point in a discussion. Thus long quoting should be avoided (even if properly referenced), as worth no marks in itself. The examiners are looking for answers, in the student's own words, that show understanding as well as basic knowledge.
CIS320 Project supervision, and referencing practice
in all work - 3/1/2006
The Visiting Examiners have asked that students are reminded of the importance of proper referencing practice to avoid plagerism, and also that students are reminded of the value of supervision on the project. Advice on proper referencing practice is given in the Subject Guide for the Project, which is online on the CIS student site. See Subject Guides.
This advice is applicable also to courseworks.
Analysis of student performance shows that the project pass rate for students using a supervisor is very significantly higher than that for those without, and so students are very strongly recommended to find a supervisor if at all possible
For the attention of all Project students
| External Examiners for the CIS programme have noted that Project students with a supervisor do better than unsupervised students, and have asked the University to publish statistics on pass rates for supervised and unsupervised students, in order that students can judge for themselves the importance of finding a Project Supervisor. The course Director analysed last year's Project results, as far as was possible, and reports the following: |
|
| Supervised Project students: Unsupervised Project students: |
pass 75.3% fail 24.7% pass 58.2% fail 41.8% |
| This comes from a small sample size, as it is not always possible to determine if a student is supervised or unsupervised, and so not all Project results for 2004-05 are included in the calculations. Nevertheless the statistics seem to support the conclusions of the External Examiners that supervised Project student achievement is on average better than unsupervised. Students are urged to seek supervision whenever practicable. |
|