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COIT20245 - Introduction to Programming

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit is designed for students who have had little or no programming experience. The unit aims to teach students principles, design and development of object-oriented programs. It covers topics such as Integrated Development Environment (IDE), variables, fields, constants, data types, operators, expressions, loops, classes, objects, methods, arrays, file processing, graphical user interfaces and the principles of human-computer interaction. Students will learn how to design, implement and test programs using a modern IDE. Note: If you have completed unit COIT29222 then you cannot take this unit.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2014

Term 1 - 2017 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2017 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2017 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Sydney
Term 1 - 2018 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2018 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2018 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Sydney
Term 1 - 2019 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2019 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2019 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical and Written Assessment 20%
2. Practical and Written Assessment 30%
3. Examination 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 87.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 37.55% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Assessment items are not covered enough in tutorials.
Recommendation
Ensure tutors are covering the assessment items in tutorials by making tutorial sessions more specific to assessment items.
Action Taken
Tutors had been informed to cover the assessment items in the tutorials.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Computers in the labs are very slow
Recommendation
Labs have been dormant during the pandemic. Hopefully, they are improving with face-to-face labs returning.
Action Taken
The performance of the computers in labs have improved.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Some assessment attempts (including the project) by the students have used techniques not covered in the unit.
Recommendation
Make it mandatory that only techniques covered in the unit are used. Include this condition in the specification and the marking rubrics.
Action Taken
The condition has been implemented and students have been penalised for not using techniques only covered in the unit.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Attendance particularly in lectures has been poor.
Recommendation
Possibly automate attendance recording in large lectures. Contact students with poor attendance and identify them as being at risk.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Academic misconduct has been a problem especially collusion.
Recommendation
Continue to educate students on the consequences of academic misconduct. Possibly employ third party software to detect such breaches. With such a large cohort it would be difficult to individualise the various assessment items.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Some students find the unit's advanced level challenging, particularly when Java is used as the primary programming language, which may not align with the interests of all students in future programming pursuits.
Recommendation
Consider introducing Python as the primary teaching tool, as it could provide a more approachable and engaging experience for students navigating the complexities of an introductory unit with advanced content in Java.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students are happy with the teaching staff.
Recommendation
Continue employing experienced and dedicated teaching staff.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the principles of object-oriented programming.
  2. Demonstrate the use of an integrated development environment (IDE).
  3. Develop programs using various data types, operators, expressions, loops, classes, objects and methods.
  4. Develop programs using arrays, files and streams for storing, searching and sorting data.
  5. Explain the principles of human-computer interaction.
  6. Design, analyse and apply techniques to produce quality programs.

Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is in use in over 100 countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles.

ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile at https://www.acs.org.au/professionalrecognition/mysfia-b2c.html

This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA. The SFIA code is included:

  • Systems Integration (SINT)
  • Program ming/Software Development (PROG)
  • Data Analysis (DTAN)
  • Testing (TEST)
  • Applications Support (ASUP)

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Practical and Written Assessment
2 - Practical and Written Assessment
3 - Examination
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Practical and Written Assessment
2 - Practical and Written Assessment
3 - Examination