ENGG 1811 Computing for Engineers Course Wrapup and

ENGG 1811 Computing for Engineers Course Wrapup and Exam Structure ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 1

Course objectives From the course introduction: After completing this course, students should be able to • use applications such as spreadsheets and databases to effectively solve computational problems in science, engineering, commerce and humanities. • design, program, document and test Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programs that accurately comply with a given set of requirements. • gain an understanding of the limitations/advantages of some of the emerging IT technologies, and how to exploit them in solving engineering problems. ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 2

How are these goals measured? • Laboratory work – most skills developed here • Assignments – more extensive exploration of some aspects • Mid-session exam – limited in scope and primarily for progress feedback • Final exam – broad and intensive, determines final grade in most cases Non-linear summation (see next slide) Other (40) Labs (10) Assignments (18) Exam (60) Mid-semester Test (12) Final Mark (100) ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 3

Final Mark Calculation • If your exam is OK (more than 20/60) you get the sum of the component marks • If your exam is not OK (not more than 20/60), then Final = 3. 75 * Exam * Other / (Exam + Other) Your mark can’t exceed 50, but… You may be eligible for a PC, depending on your average mark for all courses in the term (type pc wam into the UNSW search engine) ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 4

Exam format • 2 hours (plus 10 minutes reading time) • Three kinds of questions reflecting and testing different levels of understanding – Multiple choice – Short answer – Programming exercises • Approx 50% VBA-related (lecture material for week 5 to 10), and yes! approx 50% non-VBA related (lecture material for weeks 1 to 4, 11 and 12) • No supporting materials (but table of VBA functions provided) • Paper isn’t released ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 5

Exam structure Section Type and Answer Method Questions, Marks Recommended Time Spent A Multiple choice 24 Q 30 minutes (answer sheet) 24 marks Short answer 16 Q (on the paper) 40 marks Programming 3 Q B C 45 minutes (separate book) 36 marks Important: If you answer questions in the wrong sheet/paper/book, you run the risk of the marker not finding them! ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 6

Section A • Each question has 4 possible answers – 1 mark for a correct answer – 0 marks for a missing or incorrect answer • Erase any old answer completely • Double-check that your student ID is clearly shaded in the right boxes and is 100% correct • Double-check that your name is clearly written and shaded • This section is scanned, not human-marked Topics: • 18 questions on general computing topics and use of Excel, Access (the lecture material from weeks 1 to 4, 11 and 12) • 6 questions on VB rules, algorithms, programming principles (the lecture material from week 5 to 10) ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 7

Section B Each question requires a few lines only • varies from 1 to 5 marks per question • allow only a bit more than 1 minute per mark • keep within the limited space, don't waffle Topics: • 12 questions (30 marks) on general computing topics and use of Excel, Access (the lecture material from week 1 to 4, 11 and 12) • 4 questions (10 marks) on VB rules, algorithms, programming principles (the lecture material from week 5 to 10) ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 8

Section C Programming exercises, 4 questions Answer any 3 questions only • All answers fit on about half a page, don’t look for a complicated solution, most require only one to three decision control structures and one procedure • VBA details are not critical, you are being assessed on your ability to devise algorithms and express them in a formal notation • Sketch out your solution first, present (relevant!) pseudocode if you are running out of time • A thoughtful attempt at two questions is better than an incomplete, hurried go at three questions ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 9

General exam approach • Use reading time to plan (also for writing name etc on answer sheet and books) • Plan your use of the available time! • Answer straightforward questions first • Watch the time! • If you're hoping for just a pass, concentrate on using the time to produce reliable answers to a majority of questions, not necessarily all of them • Watch the time! Unfortunately, "I ran out of time" doesn't get you any sympathy marks • Again remember, if you answer questions in the wrong sheet/paper/book, you run the risk of the marker not finding them! ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 10

How to prepare Lecture notes • Review and properly understand the material • Concentrate on examples (mainly for VBA) Lab exercises • Attempt any exercise you didn't quite get to • First exercise is generally more relevant for VBA labs • Lab 13 is especially valuable practice! Sample exam • Attempt under exam-type conditions if possible • Solutions available a few days before exam (Tue 15 June) Forum and consultations (see schedule) ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 11

Exam Guide: Week 11 Onwards • Only Multiple Choice + Short Answer questions for this part of course • Questions will only test general knowledge of lecture material – Content of lecture slides is sufficient – No examination of formulas or algorithms for this part of course • E. g. you will not be asked to encode/decode messages, or generate or use a decision tree • But you will be expected to be able to explain what such kinds of things and processes are, and in what way they are useful ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 12

What if I’m sick? • Only attend the exam if you are functioning fairly normally • Get a medical certificate on the day • Submit Application for Special Consideration to Student Central (opposite Library) • Supplementary assessment is not automatic, depends on reasonable effort in other parts of the assessment Supplementary Exam • Time/Date: 8. 45 am, Wednesday 14 July 2010 Location: Rex Vowels Theatre (Elec Eng LG 1) • Please reconfirm the time, date and location of the supplementary exam by visiting the class web page after the final exam and just before the above date. • There will be NO further supplementary dates. • Similar format, but may have less VBA choice • No additional consultation or help ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 13

Extra Help • There will be exam consultations, mainly courtesy Steve Cossell, up to the final exam • Next Wednesday (02/June/2010) Steve will run summary and problem solving classes at 10 am and 3 pm in CLB-7, including the exercises overleaf ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 14

More VBA examples 1. Write a function to calculate the final mark given exam mark and coursework, both expressed as percentages 2. The cosine of an angle in radians can be derived from the series Write a VBA function that calculates an approximation to cosine using the first few terms of the series, stopping after including the term where k is equal to n ( and n are parameters to the function). Hint: consider what you have to multiply each term in the series by to get the next term. ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 15

Feedback (1) From Sarah, a 3 rd Year Petroleum Eng student (excerpts) “…Prior to this course [ENGG 1811 07 s 2] I had no idea that VB existed or that I would ever be capable of writing my own subprograms or functions, or the applications these had in my life. “I spent S 1 of this year on exchange at the University of Texas, Austin and […] decided to take a graduate subject. I did not know that coding ability was a prerequisite, so you can imagine my relief when coding VB for Excel was the recommended way to go about solving our weekly assignments. The assignments given were by no means trivial and I spent a hefty portion of time on them each week, using the knowledge that you imparted to write my own simulators with which to analyse field data. I held my own in a class full of Ph. D students with vastly more experience and knowledge than I. “Your course gave me confidence in my ability to code and most certainly saved me in Texas. I thought you might also like to know that during the 2 internships I have done, Excel has been used very heavily and being able to understand VB has helped me understand a subprogram that even my supervisor had been using blindly. ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 16

Feedback (2): We want to hear from you! • Provide us feedback using the on line CATEI survey forms: one form for the course, and a form for each lecturer • Completion rates in Engineering are below UNSW average: fuels the impression that ‘injuneers’ can’t be bothered! • We do seriously consider your feedback • So tell us - what you liked and disliked about the course • Thanks! ENGG 1811 © UNSW, CRICOS Provider No: 00098 G Wrapup & Exam Structure slide 17