Suggested Enrolment Patterns in MITS/MCOMP COURSES for 2009

When you officially enrol for the first time at ANU (if for semester 1), you will be required to choose courses for a full year. In actual fact the first semester is the most important one. You can change your enrolment as the year progresses and you can actually change your first semester enrolment up until (about) week 3 without penalty.

You can choose any courses which are within the rules for the program that you are taking. You should do your best to ensure that your enrolment pattern is legal (if it is not, you might possibly not be able to graduate when the time comes; or, at best, you may have to take extra courses). The rules for the programs are defined by the relevant StudyAt pages are accessible from the main page.

You should make your choice of any electives (including project courses for the MCOMP) very carefully, considering your abilities (technical and language), and the nature of the assessment of the course. It is strongly recommended that you study the course home pages, attend the first few lectures, and speak to the lecturers of any courses that you are seriously considering.

The following are suggested, legal enrolment patterns for the MITS and MCOMP. These are designed for full-time enrolment beginning semester 1 2009. Note that full-time enrolment at ANU is defined to be 18 units and more. Standard full-time enrolment is 24 units. Standard part-time enrolment is 12 units.

MITS Pattern - Standard Full Time

Semester 1

Course	Units
COMP6700 Introductory Programming in Java	6
COMP6442 Software Construction for eScience	6
COMP6311 Software Analysis and Design	6
Free choice	6

Notes:

• the Introductory Programming course (COMP6700) runs in intensive mode over the first seven weeks of the semester.
• students with sufficient background in Java programming can claim status for COMP6700 and take any other 6000- or 8000- level COMP course instead.
• for part-time enrolment, COMP6700 and COMP6442 are recommended for the first year (unless for students who are less confident in their programming abilities, who might prefer COMP6700 and COMP6311)
• MITS students seeking to upgrade to the MCOMP (i.e. those who would have otherwise qualified for the MCOMP except for insufficient grades) should seek exemption for any MITS core courses (e.g. COMP6700) already covered in previous studies. Once this is granted by the MITS convenor, their first semester enrollments should be changed to include not more than two COMP6000-level courses.

Some possibilities for the free choice course (in order of increasing technical difficulty - note you can choose a 6000-level non-computing course as well) are:

Course	Units
COMP6340 Networked Information Systems	6
COMP6300 Introduction to Computer Systems	6
COMP6331 Computer Networks	6
COMP6365 System Architecture and the Human Brain	6
COMP6464 High Performance Scientific Computation	6
COMP6320 Artificial Intelligence	6
COMP6430 Parallel Systems	6

Semester 2

Course	Units
COMP6240 Relational Databases	6
Free choice	18

Some possibilities for the free choice courses are (in order of increasing technical difficulty) are:

Course	Units
COMP2720 Automating Tools for New Media	6
COMP6341 Information Technology in Electronic Commerce	6
COMP7310 Green ICT Strategies	6
COMP6390 HCI and Usability Engineering	6
COMP6461 Computer Graphics	6
COMP6466 Algorithms	6
COMP6310 Concurrent and Distributed Systems	6

COMP2720 involves some light programming, and may be useful for students wishing to gain some programming experience. COMP6461, COMP6466 and COMP6310 have a significant component involving programming (C or Java experience is recommended).

Full-time students requiring further choice may consider the possibilities below. With permission from the respective course co-ordinator, 8000-level COMP courses may also be taken, e.g. COMP8110. It is also possible for up to two 6000+ -level non COMP courses be taken as part of the MITS (provided approval is given by the MITS convenor). Recommended courses include the following ENGN courses (however, students intending to enroll in these courses should check with the respective course co-ordinator that their background is sufficient. Permission from the course co-ordinator may be required before enrollment):

Course	Units
ENGN6516 World Energy Resources and Renewable Technologies	6
ENGN6615 Computational Engineering *	6
ENGN8101 Modelling and Optimisation *	6

*: requires a strong mathematics background.

MCOMP Pattern - Standard Full Time

The Masters of Computing is more flexibly structured. The main guideline is to have a minimum of 36 units of 8000-series computing or `advanced' 6000-level courses. An important consideration is whether to specialize in one of the designated areas (Artificial Intelligence, Computer Systems, e-Research, Information & Human Centered Computing or Software Engineering). While this can be done at any time until graduation, it is better to do so as soon as possible.

Because of this, `transitional' 6000-series courses should be carefully chosen, for reasons of being nominated within your specialization area (provided you have not already done a similar course in your previous degree), or for filling a `gap'.

The 12-unit project courses ( COMP8740, COMP8750, COMP8770, COMP8780, COMP8790) will require Departmental consent (e.g. from the co-ordinator of the respective course). See the MCOMP Projects page for more details on this, noting the intention for the project courses to be undertaken in the second semester of full-time study. Note that, in order to gain a specialization in the MCOMP, the corresponding project course must be taken. The choice of whether to enroll in a project course is a critical one, as project courses may be more demanding in terms of time, technical ability, self-sufficiency and communication skills than regular courses. The subsequent choice of the project topic (and supervisor) is also very critical, and should be taken with care (note also that the project topic must be suitable for the desired specialization area).

If you intend to take a project course, it is recommended that COMP8110 be taken in semester 2 (before or concurrently with the project course) as good project management practices are expected. Furthermore, in order to pass, you will need to demonstrate high levels of written and verbal communication in your project presentation and report. Implementation-oriented projects, particularly for COMP8790, should also exhibit high standards of software engineering practice (e.g. in requirements, risk analysis, design, and testing). Finally, in your report, you should also demonstrate your knowledge of the area of your specialization, as the project forms a `capstone' for your degree.

Semester 1 - MCOMP Schedule 1 (non-project)

Course	Specialization(s)	Units
COMP6320 Artificial Intelligence	AI	6
COMP6365 System Architecture and the Human Brain	AI, IHCC #	6
COMP6463 Overview of Logic and Computation	AI	6
COMP6467 Introduction to Statistical Machine Learning	AI	6
COMP6430 Parallel Systems	CSys, eRes #	6
COMP6464 High Performance Scientific Computation	CSys, eRes	6
COMP8400 Algorithms for Data Mining	IHCC	6
DART8004 Formal Structures for New Media I	IHCC*	6
COMP8100 Requirements Elicitation and Analysis Techniques	SE, eRes	6
COMP8180 Systems and Software Safety	SE	6
COMP8440 Free and Open Source Software Development	SE*	6

Semester 2 - MCOMP Schedule 1 (non-project)

Course	Specialization(s)	Units
COMP8420 Bio-inspired Computing: Applications & Interfaces	AI, IHCC	6
COMP8620 Advanced Topics in Artificial Intelligence	AI	6
COMP8650 Advanced Topics in Statistical Machine Learning	AI*	6
COMP6433 Real-Time and Embedded Systems	CSys #	6
COMP8320 Multicore Computing	CSys #	6
COMP6390 HCI and Usability Engineering	eRes, IHCC	6
COMP6461 Computer Graphics	eRes, IHCC #	6
COMP8110 Managing Software Projects in a System Context	SE	6
COMP8150 Advanced Software Architecture $	SE #	6

*: Courses not currently listed under MCOMP Schedule 1 with the indicated specialization but potentially could be counted, on a case-by-case basis. May require permission from the course co-ordinator.

#: These courses might not be offered in 2010. Greyed-out courses are likely to be offered instead.

$: COMP8150 is run in intensive mode in the Spring Semester. Lectures begin at the beginning of October. Assignments are set over the October - late November period.