College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Computer Science
Curriculum Review Meeting
Minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2013
13/26 Attendance and apologies
Present: Dr John Bullinaria
Dr Tom Chothia
Professor Ela Claridge
Dr Hamid Dehghani
Dr Martin Escardo
Ms Samantha Gardiner-Hardy (Secretary & Academic Administration Officer)
Dr Dan Ghica
Dr Peter Hancox
Mr Bob Hendley
Professor Andrew Howes
Professor Achim Jung
Dr Ata Kaban
Dr Manfred Kerber (Co-Chair)
Dr Mark Lee
Professor Ales Leonardis
Dr Paul Levy
Dr Mirco Musolesi
Dr Michael Mistry
Dr David Parker
Dr Eike Ritter (Co-Chair)
Professor Jon Rowe
Mr Alan Sexton
Dr Volker Sorge
Dr Iain Styles
Dr Hayo Thielecke
Dr Peter Tino
Professor Jeremy Wyatt
Dr Christine Zarges
Student Representatives: Mr Paulius Balasevicius
Mr Joe Gardiner
Mrs Hannah Hughes
Apologies: Dr Rami Bahsoon
Professor Russell Beale
13/27 Minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 June 2013 and matters arising
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed to be an accurate record.
Developments following the December 2013 meeting included:
-Compulsory first year advisorials had been reintroduced.
-Transition reviews were proposed to take place during weeks 2-3.
-Changes to the MSc entry requirements had been implemented. Stream 2 had been removed. Students with a 2:1 in Computer Science would only be allowed to enter the Advanced programme. The MSc Advanced programme could be completed via either a research or advanced taught route.
13/28 Review of Final Year Options
The Chair presented the proposed final year options. Please see appendix. Discussions included:
-The potential to move to 20 credit modules to allow modules to cover areas on a more in depth level. Some concerns were noted regarding progression and duplication of subject area. It was noted that the impact on the MSc programmes should be considered.
-The subject of Large Data was noted as needing to be included and it was suggested that this may be covered in either Intelligent Data Analysis, Machine Learning, Parallel Programming or Databases.
-Enterprise Systems would be made available to the third year.
-Mobile and Ubiqutous Computing would stay in year 4. It would be investigated as to whether the module could be extended to year 3 and costings would need to be considered to confirm if this was viable.
-Evolutionary Computation would be changed to a 20 credit module.
-Secure Promgramming would be made available in year 3.
-Cryptography would remain in year 4 only.
-Aut Verification had not yet been written, interested partied were invited to present a proposal to Teaching Committee.
All of the issues raised would be considered further at Teaching Committee.
13/29 Presentation by Lecturer Award Winner – Dr Peter Tino
Dr Peter Tino made a presentation as the Lecturer Award Winner.
13/30 Module Questionnaire Results
Results of all module questionnaires were presented.
Dr Dan Ghica noted concerns regarding Foundations of Computer Science. It was noted that the module had received negative feedback. It was felt that this was due to the amount of work students needed to undertake and the balance of the module. It was felt that the open marking nature of the module made students work harder and this could potentially distract attention from other modules. Possible areas of improvement noted were the potential to move from ocamal to Haskall and to review the marking scheme.
13/31 EU Funding Opportunities, Sheena Griffiths - European Research Funding Officer
Sheena Griffiths made a presentation regarding EU Funding Opportunities.
13/32 Feedback from College Education Committee
Dr Kerber noted that:
-announcements should be made on canvas if lecture are cancelled.
-feedback should be provided within 20 working days. Monitoring of feedback needed to be considered to ensure that the 20 working days rule was being adhered to.
-a bank of good examples of feedback needed to collated.
13/33 Project Changes Update – Andrew Howes
A number of changes to projects were noted including:
-a change to the discrepancy process: a bid to reduce the number of discussions by only discussing reports if there was more than a 10 point difference and not across a boundary.
-Andrew would update paperwork and circulate to colleagues.
-changes would also be introduced at MSc Level.
13/34 Specialised MSc Programmes, DTC Sci-Phy
-The future of MSc Multidisciplinary Optimisation was discussed as the programme had not recruited for a number of years.
-The Security Group were asked to review the MSc Computer Security to see if it could be revitalised.
-HCI numbers were noted as increasing and offered no exclusive modules and so would continue.
-Robotics numbers were noted as down and 40 credits were exclusively taught to this programme only.
-DTC Sci-Phy was noted as changing with new recruits due in October 2014. A new programme and new modules needed to be approved and this would be led by Iain Styles.
13/35 “Teamwork” System – Ela Claridge
13/36 Continuous Assessment and extra time- Iain Styles
-Ian Styles delivered a reasonable diligence presentation.
-Guidance would be provided next term on recording of lectures for all students.
-the Fit to Sit policy was due to undergo significant changes launching in September 2014. Students will be permitted to declare an illness 3 day after an event. The policy will also cover changes to reassessment. Further details will be circulated once available.
13/37 Sharing best practice, Canvas Assessments Review – Phil Smith
Phil Smith delivered a Canvas Assessments Review, including:
-noting Canvas was excellent as module content was available in place.
-it could be used for weekly submissions, class test, assignment submissions.
-marking via speedgrader via a rubric was very easy to set up and use. Marks could be allocated easily. Feedback was easy to use and communicating with students was efficient and effective.
13/38 PGT Examinations Review
The PGT Examinations Review was noted.
13/39 Thesis Groups; Postgraduate Research Experience Survey - Peter Hancox
The presentation was noted.
13/40 Date of next meeting
Monday 23 June 2014