Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

GCSE Maths Grade B

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

To develop confidence in the use of fundamental techniques in Computer Science.
To provide a knowledge of the formal concepts essential for study and professional practice in Computing Science and Software Engineering.
To practice the basic techniques for modelling and solving computing problems.
To prepare students for the more advanced topics they will encounter on their degree.
To develop an awareness of the role of formal techniques in Computing Science.

Outline Of Syllabus

Set Theory
Numbers and their Representation
Real Valued Functions
Vector and Matrices
Combinatorics
Relations and Functions
Proof Techniques
Graph Theory
Propositional Logic
Predicate Logic

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of this module students will have gained comprehension and experienced application of key scientific, logical and formal concepts in the field of computer science, including:

• Application of set theory to data structures in programming languages.
• Representation of numbers in computer hardware and programming languages, and ability to convert between
representations.
• Analysis of complexity of algorithms, through application of functions, in particular polynomials,
logarithms, and exponents.
• Application of derivative and stationary points of a function, in optimal decision making and to simulating
motion in computer games.
• Application of matrices and vectors to data structures in programming languages, computer graphics, and other
computational problems.
• Utilise combinatorics for efficient computing and security
• Defining and applying functions, including concepts such as recursion and composition.
• Use formal techniques to model and analyse computing systems.
• Formulate and reason about logical statements.
• Translation of natural language descriptions and reasoning processes to and from logical equivalents in the
propositional and predicate logic

Intended Skill Outcomes

At the end of this module students will be able to apply their knowledge and understanding of the topics covered in this module:

• To choose appropriate formal techniques to aid problem solving.
• To employ formal structures to model design problems.
• To prove formal properties of developed models.
• To apply learnt techniques to solve a range of computational problems.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures (PiP) and online study videos will be used to introduce the key module material and for demonstrating the key concepts by example. Students are expected to follow-up lectures within a few days by re-reading and annotating lecture notes to aid deep learning.

Tutorial exercises will be provided online and integrated into the study materials. These allow students to gain practical skills and understanding in the theory and techniques developed during lectures. A weekly tutorial support session (PiP) will be provided to allow students to access individual help with the module material and to do further examples exercises via an online quiz.

Further practical application related to this material will be developed in the co-requisite modules Portfolio 1 and Portfolio 2.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The computer assessments given at the end of each semester ensures students get the vital opportunity to go back over the material covered (this is important given the type of technical topics considered) and is very well suited to formally assessing the type of material covered.

A range of small formative assessments are provided weekly. They are used to support student’s self-study during the module and gauge their understanding as the course progresses.

General Notes

N/A