University of Chester, Computer Science and Information Systems Student Handbook

Honours Degree Student Handbook 2009-10

The First Week

During their first week on the programme, computing students must:

1. 1. Obtain a CSIS Computer Facilities Usage Registration Form from the CSIS Department Office (Beswick Building, room 008) When this has been completed and returned to the CSIS Office you will be granted log-on permission to CSIS network.
2. 2. Log on to the CSIS network and reset your password.

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Logging on and getting help

Coputing students use two distinct networks, and consequently need to know how to:

• Log in to the University Network
• Get technical help when working with University Network facilities University LIS Technician

Printer Credits

Computer print credits are needed to print to the University printers. You receive an initial allocation of print credits free of charge. When these have been used, more can be purchased from machine in the Open Access are of the Chritchley Building. The charge is currently £5 for 100 sheets. At the end of an academic year, unused print credits are carried over to the next year (or reimbursed in the case of final year students). Colour printing is charged separately and is available in Learning Resources..

Backups of Assignments and Other work

IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU MAKE BACKUP COPIES OF ASSIGNMENTS AND OTHER WORK.

You may purchase blank CDs and DVDs from the CSIS Office (Beswick 008).

Other consumables available from the CSIS Office include: display wallets and disk pockets.

N.B. You must not use CDs which are sub-standard or of dubious origin as these are likely to be unreliable and may cause damage to the disk drives in the laboratories.

Access to CSIS Facilities on Chester Campus

CSIS workshops, tutorial rooms, tutor's offices, and the CSIS Department Office (CBE 008) are on the ground floor of the Beswick Building on the Chester campus. Some teaching will take place in Binks and Chritchley Buildings. There is a Computer/Network Helpdesk situated in the Open Access area of Chritchley Building and another in Learning Resources.

Computing resources are available during the working day, and during evenings and weekends. Details of availability are given on the LIS web page. You may use the CSIS workshops when they are not required by tutors - consult the timetables in the corridor adjacent to the CSIS Office. Out of hours access is only allowed if you are in possession of your Passcard. Admission to computing resources out of normal hours is offered as a concession and will be withdrawn if you abuse the system.

Access may vary from published times according to the availability of porters and security staff'. You must leave promptly if requested to do so by a duty porter or security staff.

Access to CSIS Facilities on Warrington Campus

The Warrington campus has a new, purpose-built IT Building (Tucker Building) which houses brand new state of the art computer equipment.

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Safety from electrical and other haards

Acquaint yourself with the procedure to be followed if you hear a fire alarm or if first-aid is required (see the notices in the corridors).

Mains voltages may be present in almost any item of equipment. In particular, computer terminals and CRT displays have potentials in excess of 10,000 volts. You are therefore NOT permitted to remove cases from equipment, or replace mains connectors or fuses.

Food and drink must NOT be brought into any computer laboratory, since contaminated equipment may become dangerous.

As part of the Universities No Smoking Policy, smoking is NOT permitted within the buildings.

You should become familiar with the workshop layout and especially the position of power switches, fire alarm boxes and fire extinguishers.

How to Use CSIS Facilities

Computing facilities are governed by Regulations and Guidelines for Acceptable Use . Read these carefully because misuse of computer facilities may lead to you being suspended or excluded from the programme.

A collection of video guides and video guides can be accessed via the Department Resources web site.

Out of Hours Use of CSIS Facilities

Additional rules apply when computing facilities are used during the evening or at weekend:

• Do not tamper with equipment, heating or security systems.
• Report ALL problems to the user support or network technicians, either by email or in person on the next working day.
• Don't attempt to carry out remedial work yourself.
• Ensure that, if you are the last to leave a room, all windows are closed and lights are turned off.
• If possible, arrange for the door to be locked.

Out of hours use is a concession, and will be withdrawn from individuals if necessary

Be particularly careful and vigilant when working in the evenings and weekends, with regard to safety from electrical and other hazards.

Software

You must read and abide by the University's Code of Conduct for the use of Software or Datasets. Before you can use the software you must have obtained, signed and returned (to the CSIS Office) a Copyright Acknowledgement Form.

All software used by you in the CSIS Department is copyrighted, and unauthorised copying is illegal under both our license agreements and the Copyright Act of 1986. The Department will not accept responsibility for students who contravene this Act.

Through Microsoft Academic Alliance Computer Science & Information Systems students are entitled to access licences for various software applications. With your personal student identification details, you can log in and access various software used within the department. This involves downloading special files that require you to burn to CD or DVD before you can install. For further information please visit here.

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Keeping in Touch

It is your responsibility to make sure that you are up-to-date with what is happening in relation to your modules, your programme and the CSIS Department. This means viewing your emails and on-line discussion boards at least once each day and checking notice boards. If you have difficulty with email access we have an on site technical team available for all IT support issues.

On-Campus in Chester

Timetables are posted on the notice boards in the Beswick Building. These list all the lectures and any other room bookings for the current week. Module / group class lists are also displayed. Other information is communicated via the notice boards, to your University email address, and by post.

Notice boards around and within the labs have sections for urgent and important messages, system information, careers news and items for sale.

On-Campus in Warrington

Electronic Channels of Communication

	Channel Purpose	Channel Type	Controller / Moderator
CSIS News	Departmental news and developments	CSIS Portal	Controlled by CSIS Publicity Officer
Modules (one per module)	Module-related tutorials and discussion	IBIS Discussion Board and email (utilising module registration list).	Post-moderated by Module Leaders
PAT Tutorials (one per PAT)	One-to-one and one-to-many between PAT tutor and his/her students	Email (utilising PAT allocation list)
Cafe	Social interaction between student	CSIS Discussion Board	Post-moderated by Student Representatives
Mailbox	Confidential correspondence	Email between individuals using university provided email address

Note. In a pre-moderated forum messages have to be authorised by the moderator before publication, in a post-moderated forum the moderator monitors postings and removes unacceptable messages (and 'unsubscribes' a user if they persistently offend).

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Course Aims

The educational aims of the honours degree programmes are:

1. To promote the student's academic, vocational and personal development
2. To encourage a critical and theoretically informed and reflective approach to academic study
3. To foster learning and research related to the academic, personal and vocational concerns of the student
4. To facilitate access to higher education and lifelong learning by flexibility in admissions procedures, and learning and teaching styles
5. To develop skills and knowledge appropriate to preparation for postgraduate study or further research, and to a range of vocations and careers, particularly in the area of the programme's particular discipline
6. To provide effective, structured learning opportunities for undergraduate study in the programme's particular discipline which promote the development of knowledge and understanding, research skills, skills of analysis and interpretation, skills of coherent argument, skills of communication and presentation
7. To increase self-awareness and insight into both professional and ethical issues relevant to the programme's particular discipline.

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge and sills developed and assessed within an undergraduate programme may be categorised as follows:

• Subject knowledge and skills
• Cognitive (= thinking) skills
• Key skills

These are carefully blended into the programme, with progressive development through the three levels, so that the student finally achieves capability that is implicit in the term 'graduate'.

Subject Knowledge and Skills

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) defines the subject knowledge and skills appropriate to undergraduate computing programmes. Specifically, the programme offered by the CSIS Department incorporates knowledge, understanding and skills relating to:

• The system lifecycle
• System analysis and design
• Software tools deployment
• Operating computer equipment
• Development teamwork
• Risk assessment

Professionalism is central to the educational aims of the programme. Although the programme is not directly linked to graduate membership of professional bodies, the modules are delivered using best practice, current techniques and ethical standards consistent with professional body guidelines.

Cognitive Skills

The close alignment of the teaching, learning and assessment methods requires students to engage with others both in the classroom and in practical settings, to share ideas and to develop analytical, critical and reflective skills. Students are encouraged to challenge current thinking and practice by reasoned argument. They are encouraged to develop problem-solving skills through problem-based learning. Seminars and group work provide forums for students to articulate thoughts and develop skills in constructing intellectual concepts for debate. The portfolio of student assignment work further encourages critical and reflective skills. Each module's learning outcomes indicate the required level of attainment that students are expected to achieve.

The learning activities of a module are instrumental in developing the student's 'cognitive skills', which, for the computing discipline, may be categorised as:

• Requirements Definition
• Analysis and Evaluation
• Conceptualisation and Modelling
• Innovation and Design
• Testing of products and ideas
• Methods and Tools
• Reflection and Communication
• Professionalism

Key Skills

A number of key skills are conidered to be essential to personal and vocational success. They are:

• Communication
• Application of number
• Using information technology
• Improving own learning and performance
• Working with others
• Problem solving

Four of the key skills areas are integral in the philosophy of delivering modules of the programme:

• Communication
• Using information technology
• Improving own learning and performance
• Problem solving

Certain modules of the programme have been identified as being most suitable for developing the remaining key skills (i.e. Application of Number, Working with Others) and the learning outcomes reflect this.

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Learning Materials and Information Sources

On-Line and Other Resources

There is a strong Department ethos concerning the provision of learning and teaching materials. The culmination of many years' experience in providing on-line materials has been the integration of the Department's in-house network with the university IBIS system.

All modules have on-line materials including lecture notes, workshop notes, scenarios and assessments. A resource section provides generic tutorials, downloadable software and reference material. University, Department and Programme handbooks are available in electronic format through IBIS

Using Information Sources

An important part of undergraduate study is research and reading beyond the lecture notes, course material and recommended textbooks.

You are encouraged to provide evidence of this reading in your assignments, by including cited quotions and paraphrasing in your work, and applying the principles, techniques and examples to the scenario or problem posed in the assignment, or by analysing and evaluating the cited source.

The majority of the assignment should be your own, original, work.

Reference sources should be cited using APA referencing system.

Reading and Research

Each module has a reading list, prepared by the module tutor.

Several copies of the essential textbooks are stocked by the University Library, for borrowing or use in the library, and students also make use of the University Library for more general reading. Some specialist books and journals are held in the CSIS Department.

It is important that students read up-to-date literature for background information, over and above stated course requirements. The university Library is well stocked with suitable books and subscribes to a number of computing journals, and its use by students is strongly encouraged. There is a good collection of e-books which students can read off-campus.

Students may wish to buy some books, or to share the purchase with other students.

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Practical and Group Work

Practical Work

Computer Science study includes approximately 50% of hands-on computing. Some of this will be in formal workshop sessions, but the majority will be done during independent study time, in the CSIS laboratories, in the Open Access room, or elsewhere.

Project work plays an increasing role as the course develops, and is sometimes formulated by the student. A demonstration of the product (to tutors, fellow students or outside 'clients') is generally an element in the project, and the student will always undertake a review of the product and the way the work was done, in order to develop the skills of a reflective practitioner.

Group Work

Working in teams is a vital aspect of the students' experience at each level. This usually involves some form of group work on a case study (analysing a situation or formulating a solution) or a project (to gain synergy from the collective focus on an issue, or simply using the extra resources to achieve a goal in a shorter timescale).

An important element in computing is the capacity to recognise differing viewpoints and hence role play is a common feature of group activity

Assessment and Progression

Assessment is generally by assignments, examinations and projects. The method of assessment, and the weighting of marks, is given in each module's specification.

Knowledge and skills are developed within the three levels of the degree programme - designated levels 4, 5 and 6. Progression to the next level depends on you having developed and demonstrated subject knowledge and technical, cognitive and key skills appropriate to the current level.

At Level 4 you must be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the basic terminology and key ideas of the discipline(s)
• Develop and demonstrate an open and questioning approach to new and unfamiliar material
• Demonstrate basic skills appropriate to the discipline(s)
• Express ideas rationally, accurately and with appropriate reference to sources
• Demonstrate communication skills appropriate to the discourse of the discipline(s) with accuracy, fluency and a degree of awareness of appropriate conventions

At Level 5 you must be able to:

• Recognise and relate to one another more complex ideas
• Relate your studies to personal perspectives
• Demonstrate a facility with the complex skills required by the discipline(s)
• Demonstrate logical argument and the skills of applying critical analysis to data and evidence
• Demonstrate the ability to audit your own skills and understand your development as a learner

At Level 6 you must be able to:

• Analyse, synthesise and critically reflect on complex ideas and apply them appropriately in a variety of contexts
• Formulate and express a coherent argument deriving from reading and/or practice, and comment critically upon such argument
• Apply a full range of skills appropriate for your discipline(s) to independent and collaborative enquiry
• Evaluate a range of approaches to, and methodologies of, studies in the discipline(s).

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Submitting Assignments

All assignments indicate the deadline for submission and you are expected to submit your work on or before that date/time. There are severe penalties for Late Submission unless an Extended Deadline has been agreed. According to the tutor's instructions, you should either hand-in a printed copy of the assignment or submit it electronically through IBIS.

If the assignment is to be handed-in, it must be submitted to the CSIS Department Office (Beswick CBE008), accompanied by a completed cover sheet. This sheet (available from Department staff or Office) will be dated, and a receipt issued to you. The cover sheet includes the disclaimer "I declare that this assignment is my own work and that all reference sources have been attributed".

It is your responsibility for the secure submission of assignments (they must not be handed to tutors directly or left at the Porter's Lodge). You will get an email receipt for assignments submitted through IBIS, which you should print and keep.

Extending a Deadline

A deadline will only be extended in exceptional circumstances. Approval of an extended deadline must be gained at or before the original deadline, from Dennis Holman at Chester. A request for an extended deadline must be accompanied by Form EX1 (Request for Extension to the Submission Date for Assessed Work) which can be obtained in IBIS or from the CSIS Department Office. A request must be supported by written evidence of medical, special needs or mitigating circumstances. The Request Form must be signed by the Head of Department.

Documentation outlining the categories of acceptable and unacceptable mitigating circumstances is available from the CSIS Department Office.

Late Submission

It is the individual student's responsibility to ensure that each assignment reaches the Department Office for registration.

Late work will be penalised by 10% for every day it is late.

Failure to submit assignments may lead to overall failure and early termination of your programme of study.

Plagiarism and Other Malpractice

The university treats plagiarism, collusion and other malpractice in assessment very seriously. The student may be excluded from the University, or have some lesser penalty imposed, depending on the circumstances. The minimum penalty is a mark of 0% for the work.

Plagiarism, is where a student incorporates another person's work by unacknowledged quotation, paraphrase or imitation, in a way that suggests it is their own.

Examples of plagiarism are:

• the verbatim copying of published work or another student's work without acknowledgement;
• the close paraphrasing of another's work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation without acknowledgement;
• unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another's work;
• the deliberate presentation of another's idea as one's own.

Collusion is conscious collaboration, without authorisation, between two or more students in the preparation and/or production of work which represented to be the product of his or her individual efforts. Unauthorised collaboration between a student and another person is collusion if it presented as the student's own work.

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Feedback, Marking and Grades

The tutor provides written feedback on each student's assignment, offering constructive criticism so that the student can improve their performance in future work and thus ensure that it is significantly better than the minimum required standard. Feedback sheets are returned to students via email or collection from the CSIS Department office.

The tutor may indicate a PROVISIONAL MARK. This may be altered as a consequence of monitoring, external examiner recommendation and decisions of the Assessment Boards.

The Required Standard

In general, students are required to achieve a pass mark of 40% in each module. However, compensation rules may be applied where a student has marginally failed. Details of these are given in the University's Assessment Regulations.

Students who do not achieve the required standards will be notified by Registry of the action they then need to take. The method of reassessment of a module is given in the module descriptor and usually takes the same format as the original assessment. A re-assessment period takes place at the end of the academic year to allow students to re-attempt failed components. There is a charge for the administration of this.

Assessment Boards

Assessment is managed at several levels.

The Module Assessment Board (MAB) operates at module level to coordinate and deal with module related issues prior to the Subject Assessment Board.

The Subject Assessment Board (SAB) operates across all the undergraduate programmes. Its responsibility is to ensure the overall quality of the programmes and assessment process, and to make recommendations to the Awards Assessment Board. The SAB takes decisions on progression and referral.

The Awards Assessment Board (AAB) contains representatives from all undergraduate programmes within university together with two External Examiners, and determines progression between levels and overall degree awards for all undergraduate students, as well as monitoring the overall quality of the assessment process.

The MAB, SAB and AAB are operated with the rules and guidelines specified by the university Quality Assurance Handbook

Who's Who in the CSIS Department

Module Leader and Module Tutors.

Each module has a Module Team with a designated Module Leader, and Module Tutors.

The Module Leader is responsible for devising a learning schedule, preparing and delivering a series of module lectures to all students enrolled for the module, and developing a new set of assessment material for each delivery of the module. The Module Leader also devises the content of workshops, tutorials and seminars and briefs Module Tutors on their use.

The Module Tutor acts as facilitator at module workshops, tutorials and seminars, and gives feedback to the Module Leader on their effectiveness. Depending on the number of students enrolled on the module, there may be several module-tutor groups. The Module Tutor may be facilitator for several groups. The Module Leader generally acts as a Module Tutor for at least one of the groups.

The Staff Directory in IBIS provides contact details for all members of the CSIS Department

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Programme Leader

Each programme has a Programme Leader whose role is to ensure that the programme has coherence, and that subject knowledge and technical, cognitive and key skills are developed progressively and comprehensively through the three levels of the degree programme.

The Programme Leader oversees the administration of a programme. In particular, the Programme Leader:

1. Oversees timetables and deadline dates
2. Deals with student problems and difficulties for the programme as a whole (module leaders deal with individual modules)
3. Deals with disciplinary matters
4. Advises on module options
5. Acts as an information focus between the academic and administrative side of the university and the students on the programme.

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Departmental Adminstrators and Technicians

You should contact one of the Department Administrators in the first instance if you have a query . They are located in Room CBE008 in Beswick Building

Student Guidance ad Spport Services

The University's Student Services and Guidance (SSGS) unit deals with a variety of issues, including special needs, voluntary work in the community, counselling, and careers. SGS is located in the Binks Building on the Chester Campus and the Student Centre in the Main Teaching Block on the Warrington Campus

Personal Academic Tutor (PAT)

The student's Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) monitors student's progress, provides pastoral support, counselling and guidance, and facilitates access to any specialised support the student may need. The student normally has the same PAT throughout their degree programme, allocated during induction week.

Management

An individual programme is the focus of attention for students enrolled on that programme, but within the scope of the CSIS Department, there may be broader issues. Such issues may arise from delivery of a module that is common to several programmes. There is also a need for coordination of student registrations and results. Thus the Department Assessment Officer (DAO) maintains the Department's Student Information System (SIS) and advises on cross-programme issues at assessment boards.

Head of Department and Dean

The Head of Department deals primarily with strategic matters affecting the Department as a whole, but will become involved in disciplinary procedures as required, as will the Dean of the Faculty of Applied and Health Sciences.

Feedback and Student Representation

Students are encouraged o provide the university with comment and suggestions on ways in which programmes and services can be continually improved. There are, for example:

• Module evaluation forms, on which students record their views of modules
• Student representatives, elected from each programme cohort. The student representatives attend meetings of the Programme Committee, Programme Planning Team meetings, Staff-Student Liaison Committee meetings, and the School Board of Studies.

Students are elected from each programme in each undergraduate year of study to represent their fellow students. The elections are held early in the first semester and liaison meetings are held twice each semester. Representatives receive minutes of the meetings which they should convey to the student body. Copies of the minutes are also posted on CSIS on-line bulletin board.

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Frequently Asked Questions

We've tried to answer the question that students often ask, but if we haven't dealt with your query please email the Departmental Administrator, Karen McArdle - k.mcardle@chester.ac.uk.