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Note: This page dates from 2005, and is kept for historical purposes.

The University of Queensland
School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
Semester 2, 2003

COMP1300 - Introduction to Computer Systems
COMP2302 - Computer Organisation

Course Profile

Version

This is version 1.0 of the COMP1300 / COMP2302 course profile, dated 14 July 2003..

Changes since the last version

Not applicable.

Course Summary

Course Code(s): COMP1300, COMP2302
Engineering students should enrol in COMP1300; Information Technology students should enrol in COMP2302. Other students may enrol in any course code, although it is recommended you enrol in COMP1300.
Unit Value: #2
Contact Hours: 5 hours per week (2L1T2P)
Purpose: COMP1300/2302 is an introduction to how computers work at the lowest levels and will cover topics from binary numbers and logic gates to assembly language and C programming. After this course you'll have a basic understanding of how computers work and you'll be able to develop programs for a microcontroller based computer system.

Teaching Staff

Dr Peter Sutton (Course Coordinator)
Office: 47-312
Phone: (07) 3365-4854
Fax: (07) 3365-4999
Email: p.sutton+comp1300[at]itee.uq.edu.au
Consultation Time: Monday 2-3pm

Mr Len Payne (Lab Supervisor)
Office: 47-402
Phone: (07) 3365-4137
Fax: (07) 3365-4999
Email: payne[at]itee.uq.edu.au

Tutors

To be advised.

Course Goals

The specific learning outcomes expected of students are listed below. In general terms, students are expected to understand how computers work at the lowest levels and be able to program a specific computer (Atmel AVR microcontroller) using assembly language and C. It is expected that upon successful completion of the course, students will:

  1. understand number representations and be able to perform operations on and conversions between various representations
  2. understand the operation of digital logic gates
  3. understand various representations of logic functions (equations, truth-tables, schematics, simple timing diagrams) and be able to perform manipulations on and conversions between various representations
  4. understand the operation of simple combinational logic circuits (e.g. decoders and multiplexers) and how such logic circuits can be constructed from simple logic gates
  5. understand the operation of latches and flip-flops and how they can be built from simple logic gates
  6. understand the operation of simple sequential logic circuits (e.g. counters and shift-registers)
  7. understand how arithmetic and logical operations are performed by computers
  8. understand the memory hierarchy that exists within computers (from registers to secondary storage) and the characteristics of the different types of memory, and be able to perform calculations using those characteristics
  9. understand the principles of computer input-output (e.g. polling vs. interrupts, serial vs. parallel, synchronous vs. asynchronous)
  10. be able to construct flow-chart representations of computer programs
  11. have an understanding of the general architecture of a processor - the components that make it up and the communication used between the components (e.g. buses)
  12. understand the difference between macroarchitecture and microarchitecture of a CPU and the operation of the fetch-execute cycle
  13. understand the concept of an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
  14. have an understanding of the functionality, use and architecture of the Atmel AVR microcontroller family
  15. understand the different types of instructions an ISA may contain (e.g. data movement, arithmetic, branching etc) and what they're used for
  16. understand why different machine instructions have different formats (e.g. opcode plus some number of operands)
  17. understand the different types of addressing modes a microprocessor may support and when and why they might be used
  18. understand the use of a stack in making procedure calls
  19. understand the concept of interrupts and how they're supported in hardware
  20. understand the requirements of an interrupt service routine
  21. understand the concept of assembly and assembly language and the relationship between assembly language and the underlying machine instructions
  22. understand the concepts of interpretation and compilation and the differences between them
  23. understand the principles of good assembly language programming
  24. be able to write, modify and debug AVR assembly language programs, specifically, programs which control AVR hardware and process data from and control devices external to the AVR
  25. have an understanding of how to use the AVR microcontroller to build simple digital systems
  26. be familiar with the basic concepts of the C programming language
  27. be able to write, modify and debug simple C language programs (targeted to the AVR microcontroller)
  28. have a basic understanding of the concepts of linking and loading and the use of libraries
  29. understand the concept of a virtual machine, in particular virtual memory
  30. be aware of the similarities and differences between several specific microprocessors and microcontrollers
  31. have some familiarity with the format and content of microprocessor and microcontroller datasheets
  32. be able to neatly wire-up and operate simple digital circuits
  33. be able to use the LogicWorks software application to draw and simulate digital circuits
  34. be able to use Atmel AVR Studio and other tools to write, assemble, simulate, debug and download programs to an Atmel AVR Project board
  35. be able to use the GNU C cross-compiler with AVR Studio to write, compile and debug a C language program for an Atmel AVR Project board

More detailed learning outcomes will be provided for each teaching activity. You should notice the presence of the word "understanding" in the list above. It is not expected that you memorise numerous facts and figures to pass this course - in fact the exams and tests are all open-book.

Assumed Background

There are no prerequisite courses, however programming experience is advantageous. If you have not previously taken COMP1500 (or equivalent), it is highly recommended that you take it as a companion course during this semester. COMP1300/2302 are incompatible with CS105, CS200, CS206, COMP2300 and ELEC2002. COMP1300/2302 are also incompatible with each other - you may only gain credit for one of the two courses.

Resources

Textbook

The required texts are

The course will draw heavily on the first of these books. The second book serves as an excellent introduction and reference to the C programming language.

As an alternative, the following single text may be considered as a (cheaper but poorer) replacement for both of the above:

This book covers most of the course material but lacks the depth of the two books above.

Page references will be provided to material in all three books.

Reference Texts

Students are not expected to purchase the following books, but may find them useful. Copies of some of these books are available in the library.

Handouts

Handouts and course notes will be made available on the course web site (see below). It is also expected that notes will be made available in printed form through the Print On Demand (pod) centre within the UQ Bookshop.

The course notes will contain a brief study guide for each lecture (e.g. learning objectives and exercises) along with copies of the slides to be presented. The course notes will also contain other relevant material.

On occasion, handouts may be given at lectures. If you fail to collect a handout at a lecture, you may access it on the course web site. Spare copies will NOT be available after the lecture time. You will have to download and print the document yourself if you wish to have a printed copy.

Facilities

Practical work for this course will take place in the Computer Systems teaching laboratory (47-405, Axon Building). You should note that this laboratory is classified as an Engineering laboratory and workplace health and safety regulations require that covered footwear be worn in the laboratory. You should read the sections entitled "Laboratory Usage" and "Health and Safety Issues" in the ITEE Student Guide 2003 (pp21 - 23, available from the ITEE general office) and abide by the rules listed. You will also be required to read and understand the "Occupational Health and Safety in the Laboratory (Undergraduate Student Edition)" guidelines and submit the associated OHS declaration. (These guidelines and the declaration will be made available as a link from the course web site.) Failure to complete the declaration and/or abide by the guidelines will result in your exclusion from the laboratory. In particular, if you fail to wear covered footwear, you will be excluded from your prac session.

Access to 47-405 will NOT be available outside scheduled prac sessions.

Students will have access to general computing resources (e.g. Windows PCs) in the School of ITEE. These resources may be used to access course electronic resources (e.g. the course website).

Consultation

The course coordinator will be available for consultation in his office on Mondays from the conclusion of the lecture (sometime between 12noon and 1pm) until 2pm. Brief queries can sometimes be made in the few minutes immediately AFTER a lecture (but not before). You may visit his office at other times, but he may be busy with other commitments. If you wish to guarantee availability at some other time you should make an appointment.

The best resources you have for queries about the course material are your fellow students - working something out or solving a problem with your peers is one of the best ways to learn. Your tutors are also available to help with course related queries - ask them during your regular tutorial time or during your weekly prac session. The tutors are NOT available outside the regularly scheduled tutorial and prac hours - please do not contact them outside these hours. The course newsgroup (see below) is also available as a resource - you are encouraged to actively participate.

Distribution of Notices

Notices to students will usually be delivered electronically (e.g., by email, news posting and web-site update). Details of these resources are provided below.

Email

Announcements regarding the course will be distributed by email to the standard student email addresses of enrolled students using the comp1300-2302-all[at]itee.uq.edu.au mailing list. This mailing list will be archived on the ITEE web site. On occasion the teaching staff may email individual students or groups of students (e.g. students within a particular tutorial group) about course-related matters. It is expected that students will read their email regularly, preferably daily.

Students may email the course coordinator by sending email to comp1300[at]itee.uq.edu.au (or comp2302[at]itee.uq.edu.au) or by using the address given above (p.sutton+comp1300[at]itee.uq.edu.au). Failure to use one of these addresses or failure to include the course code somewhere within the Subject: line of your email, may result in automatic deletion of your email.

Web

The course web site is available at http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~comp1300 where COURSECODE is either comp1300 or comp2302. The course web site will contain copies of relevant handouts and notices and will allow students to view their progressive results.

Newsgroup

The course newsgroup is uq.itee.comp1300-2302. This group is available on both the University and School news servers (news.uq.edu.au and news.itee.uq.edu.au). Students are free to post questions (and answers!) to the newsgroup. Copies of announcements will also be posted to the newsgroup. The teaching staff will monitor the newsgroup.

The newsgroup is also archived on the ITEE web site. A link to this archive will be available from the course web site.

Teaching Activities

Lectures

There are two lectures each week:
Lecture 1:
Monday 12-1 (UQ Theatre)
Lecture 2:
Tuesday 9-10 (UQ Theatre)

The mySI-net timetable shows L1 as 12-2 on Monday. In general, the second hour of this time will not be used for lecture, but will be used for other purposes, e.g., class test overflow time, review of class test answers, software demonstrations, lecturer consultation. Attendance at this second hour is not required, except if the class tests extend into this time.

Lectures provide an introduction to the course material and present examples to help students understand the principles and techniques. Students should prepare for lectures by undertaking the recommended reading or other recommended activities. Please note that the lecture slides in the course notes will NOT be a complete record of the lecture. Examples will be worked through and exercises undertaken which may not be shown on the slides.

Tutorials

Students should sign-up for and attend a weekly tutorial session. (Sign-up will be available via mySI-net from 9am July 22.) In the first few weeks (and during the last week), tutorials will be held in standard classrooms and cover lecture and prac material. In weeks 5 to 12, tutorials will be held in a computer lab and will concentrate on C programming exercises. The available tutorial sessions are listed below. These times are subject to change. Not all sessions will be offered. The number of sessions offered will depend on enrolment numbers. Because spaces are limited, you should only attend the session to which you are signed-up. You may change the session you're signed-up to if desired (via mySI-net).

Tutorial Day Time Room (weeks 2-4, 13) Room (weeks 5-12)
A Monday 9am - 10am 68-621 78-116
B Monday 10am - 11am 45-104 78-116
C Monday 11am - 12noon 43-105 78-116
D Monday 2pm - 3pm 1-E301 78-116
E Monday 3pm - 4pm 67-343 78-116
F Tuesday 2pm - 3pm 43-104 78-116
G Tuesday 3pm - 4pm 78-343 78-116
H Tuesday 5pm - 6pm 78-224 78-116
I Wednesday 10am - 11am 39A-209 78-116
J Wednesday 11am - 12noon 78-344 78-116
K Wednesday 4pm - 5pm 68-621 78-116
L Wednesday 5pm - 6pm 68-621 78-116
M Thursday 2pm - 3pm 50-C203 78-116
N Friday 1pm - 2pm 78-224 78-116
O Friday 2pm - 3pm 45-104 78-116

Tutorials commence in week 2 of semester. Students who sign up for a Wednesday tutorial session should attend an alternative session in week 3 (because of the Exhibition public holiday).

A PASS tutorial session will also be running (details to be provided later). This tutorial session is for students who feel they need extra help. Sign-up is not necessary - any student may attend.

Pracs

Students should sign-up for and attend a weekly prac session. (Sign-up will be available via mySI-net from 9am July 22.) The pracs are designed to reinforce your learning of the course material. They are also designed to build the practical skills of students in prototyping logic circuits, using the LogicWorks application and writing, assembling, compiling and running code on a microcontroller. There are twelve weeks of pracs (including two prac exams which are described in the Assessment section below).

Prac activities are carried out in pairs. You may choose your own partner, or you will be assigned one at your first prac session. You should maintain the same pairing for the whole semester. The project (see below) will be completed with your prac partner.

You should obtain a workbook in which to write your prac notes. The workbook should be an A4 bound notebook. All preparatory exercises, working notes and diagrams, code listings etc should be included in your workbook (as glued-in printouts if necessary). Your workbook will not be directly assessed, however, it is the only item you may take into the prac exams, so it is in your best interests to make it as complete as possible. Your prac workbook should be individual - i.e. it should be separate from your partner's workbook (although the contents may well be very similar).

Keeping a workbook is a good introduction to professional practice. Many people working in industry or research are required to keep workbooks. These fully document the thoughts and steps behind any experiments or development. It is common commercial practice that each page of a workbook is signed and dated at the end of each day and often that this is witnessed by some independent person. Some organisations require that workbooks be kept in a fire-proof safe each night. The workbooks are legal documents which can be used, for example, to support patent claims.

The available prac sessions are listed below (subject to change). Not all sessions will be offered. The number of sessions offered will depend on enrolment numbers.

Prac Session Day Time
Pa Monday 2pm - 4pm
Pb Monday 4pm - 6pm
Pc Tuesday 2pm - 4pm
Pd Tuesday 4pm - 6pm
Pe Wednesday 10am - 12pm
Pf Wednesday 2pm - 4pm
Pg Wednesday 4pm - 6pm
Ph Thursday 8am - 10am
Pi Thursday 10am - 12pm
Pj Thursday 2pm - 4pm
Pk Thursday 4pm - 6pm
Pl Friday 2pm - 4pm
Pm Friday 4pm - 6pm

Pracs commence in week 2 of semester and will be held in 47-405 - the Computer Systems teaching laboratory. Students who sign up for a Wednesday prac session will be required to attend an alternative session in week 3 (due to the Exhibition public holiday).

You may change your prac session sign-up (subject to the availability of space in the desired session). You may only attend the session you have signed up to and you must sign-up to that session by midnight prior to the session. For prac exams, you must sign-up by 11:59pm of the Sunday immediately before the prac exam week. Changes to signup will not be possible during prac exam weeks.

Attendance

You are not required to attend any of the teaching sessions (except those in which an assessment activity is taking place), however, you are strongly encouraged to do so. The lectures, tutorials and pracs have been specifically designed to aid your learning of the course material. Failure to attend a session may result in you being disadvantaged. It is up to you to find out what happened at any class session that you miss. Should you miss a tutorial or prac, you MAY be able to attend an alternative session. You should apply via the form on the course web-site and you should be prepared to provide documentary evidence of extenuating circumstances (e.g. medical certificate). The capacity of the laboratory and many of the tutorial rooms is quite limited, so the possibility of attending a session other than your regularly scheduled session is quite low. Preference will be given to those students who have a legitimate excuse for missing a session (e.g. medical reasons).

Teaching Plan

Week Number Monday's Date Lecture Number Lecture Topic Prac Session

Tutorial Exercises

 Assessment
  Monday Extra Hour (1-2pm)
1 28 July 1 Introduction.
Bits, Bytes and Binary Numbers.		 (Not used.) (No prac in the first week.) (No tutorial sessions in the first week.)  
2 Logic Functions and Gates.
2 4 August 3 Flip-flops. Lab Equipment Introduction 1. Combinational Logic Lecture 1 and 2 material  
4 Binary Number Systems.
3 11 August 5 Arithmetic and Combinational Circuits.   2. Flip-flops
(Wednesday pracs to be rescheduled)		 Lecture 3 and 4 material (Wednesday tutorials to be rescheduled.)
 
6 Sequential Circuits
4 18 August 7 Computer Memory.   3. Adders and Subtractors Lecture 5 and 6 material  
8 Flowcharting
5 25 August 9

Class Test One

 Class Test One may stretch into this time. 4. Counters and Shift Registers C Programming 1: Hello World Class Test One (Monday)
10 CPU Chips and Buses
6 1 September 11 Microarchitecture Class Test One Review Prac Exam One C Programming 2: Loops Prac Exam One (during prac sessions)
12 Introduction to AVR Microcontroller
7 8 September 13 Instruction Set Architecture   5. Atmel AVR Studio C Programming 3: Functions Assignment Out
14 Instruction Formats
8 15 September 15 Addressing Modes Installing the software tools at home 6. AVR Assembly Language Programming C Programming 4: Preprocessor  
16 Instruction Types
9 22 September 17 Flow of Control, Interrupts   7. Tone Generator (Assembly and C) C Programming 5: Structures and Pointers Project Out
18 AVR Input/Output
  29 September

Mid-semester break (one week)
10 6 October 19 Assembly   8. Interrupts (Tone Generator, Serial IO) C Programming 6: Debugging Assignment Due (Friday, 5pm)
20 Aspects of C programming
11 13 October 21 Class Test Two Class Test Two may stretch into this time. 9. Terminal IO Project Assistance Class Test Two (Monday)
22 Libraries
12 20 October 23 Linking and Loading Class Test Two Review Project Work Project Assistance Project Due (Friday 5pm)
24 Virtual Machine
13 27 October 25 Other Architectures   Prac Exam Two   Prac Exam Two (during prac sessions)
26 Review
  3 November Revision Period
Exam Week 1 10 November           Final Exam
Exam Week 2 17 November          

Assessment

COMP1300/2302 will be assessed by several methods as outlined below. Your final grade (on a 1 to 7 scale) will be determined by combining the marks and grades from the various assessment components as described below. For each assessment item, reference is made to the specific learning objectives (from the list above) which the assessment item will address.

Class tests

Two class tests will be held during lecture time (in place of lectures 9 and 21). The tests are individual and will be multiple-choice, open-book. The lecture 9 test will cover material from lectures 1 to 7 (and associated readings, tutorials and pracs). The lecture 21 test will cover material from lectures 8 to 18 (and associated readings, tutorials and pracs). The class-test marks will be combined to give a final class-test mark out of 100% by scaling your lower test mark to be out of 331/3 and your higher test mark to be out of 662/3. (For example, if you achieve 30% on class test 1 and 60% on class test 2, your final class test mark will be 50%).

Failure to attend a class-test will result in a mark of zero for that test unless you submit a request for a special class test (using the form available from the course web site). The request should be accompanied by supporting documentary evidence of extenuating circumstances (e.g. medical certificate) and must be submitted to the course coordinator no later than five working days following the scheduled test. Special class tests will be scheduled at a time and date to be advised.

Open-book means that you may bring any written material into the examination room. You may also bring a battery-operated or solar-powered non-programmable calculator. Programmable calculators and other computing or communication devices are NOT permitted. You will require a HB or 2B pencil and an eraser to complete the class tests.

Class tests are subject to the rules of the University (see the Assessment Rules). In particular, please be sure to bring identification (student card) and obey the instructions of exam supervisors.

The first class test is designed to evaluate you against learning objectives 1 to 9. The second class test will examine you against learning objectives 10 to 20 and 24.

Assignment

Students will be required to undertake an assignment in which they research the architecture of various microprocessors and/or microcontrollers and write a brief report which compares and contrasts these architectures. The assignment will be individual and will be graded on a 1-7 basis. The assignment will test you against learning outcomes  11, 13-15, 17, 30 and 31. More detailed assessment criteria will be provided later in the semester (with the assignment handout). Submission of assignment work without academic merit (see description below) will result in an assignment mark of 0 being awarded.

Project

Students, in pairs, will be required to undertake a project in which they develop a program for the AVR microcontroller which implements specified behaviour. The project will test you against learning outcomes 10, 24-28, 34 and 35. More detailed assessment criteria will be provided later in the semester (with the project handout). Submission of project work without academic merit (see description below) will result in a mark of 0 being awarded. The submitted project will also form the basis of the second prac exam. Both students within a pair will receive the same mark for the project.

Prac Examinations

Two prac exams will be held during the regularly schedule prac times in weeks 6 and 13 of semester. Prac examinations are individual. Each two-hour prac session will be split into two prac exam sessions. You and your prac partner will be allocated to different sessions (you will be informed of this allocation prior to the prac exam session). The prac exam in week 6 will involve the completion of an activity or activities like those undertaken in pracs 1 to 4. The prac exam in week 13 will involve the completion of an activity or activities like those undertaken in pracs 5 to 9 and the project.

You may bring your workbook (see description above) into the prac exam but no other written or electronic material (e.g. floppy disks) may be brought into the room. You WILL have electronic access to the prac resources (e.g. prac handouts, template code for pracs, datasheets) and in the second prac exam you will have access to your project code..

Prac examinations are marked on a pass/fail basis. You must pass both prac exams to be awarded a passing grade (i.e. 4 or higher) for the course. Should you fail a prac examination, you may undertake a supplementary prac exam (at a time to be scheduled - possibly during the examination period) - i.e. you have a second chance to pass each prac exam should you fail it the first time..

Failure to attend a scheduled prac examination will be considered failure of the exam unless you submit a request for a special prac exam (using the form available from the course web site). The request for a special examination should be accompanied by supporting documentary evidence of extenuating circumstances (e.g. medical certificate) and must be submitted to the course coordinator no later than five working days following your scheduled prac examination. Failure of a special prac exam will be treated the same as failure of the original prac exam and will entitle you to a supplementary prac exam. Failure of a prac examination through non-attendance (where a special exam is not awarded) will NOT be considered grounds for awarding a supplementary prac exam, i.e. you will not pass the course.

You must only attend the prac session you are signed up for. You may change your signup up until 11:59pm of the Sunday immediately before the prac exam weeks. You may not change your signup during prac exam weeks.

Prac examinations are subject to the rules of the University (see the Assessment Rules). In particular, please be sure to bring identification (student card) and obey the instructions of exam supervisors.

As with all prac sessions, you will NOT be admitted to the prac exam if you are not wearing covered footwear or if you have not submitted an Occupational Health and Safety declaration. This will be treated as an exam failure through non-attendance.

The first prac exam will test you against a subset of the learning objectives 1 to 7, 32 and 33. The second prac exam will test you against a subset of the learning objectives 18 to 21, 23 to 28, 34 and 35.

Final Examination

A two hour final examination will be held during the final examination period. This exam will be open-book and will contain both multiple-choice and written-answer questions. Open-book means that you may bring any written material into the examination room. You may also bring a battery-operated or solar-powered non-programmable calculator. Programmable calculators and other computing or communication devices are NOT permitted. You will require a HB or 2B pencil and an eraser to complete the exam.

The final exam will test you against learning objectives 1 to 31.

Determination of Final Grade

Based on your assessment component marks, an overall percentage will be calculated according to the following weightings. Your overall percentage will be rounded to the nearest whole percent.

Assessment Component Weighting (%)
Final Exam 40
Class tests 30
Project 20
Assignment 10

Your final grade for COMP1300/2302 will be the highest grade for which your overall percentage and component results satisfy the criteria in the following table. For example, if you achieve final exam, class test, project, assignment, prac exam one and prac exam two results of 70, 49, 80, 75, pass and pass respectively, your overall percentage will be 66% and your final grade will be a 5.

To be awarded this requires that you achieve this...
Final Grade Overall Percentage Final Exam Class tests Project Assignment Prac Exam 1 Prac Exam 2
7 (High Distinction) 85% or higher 75% or higher 75% or higher 75% or higher 75% or higher Pass both on first attempt
6 (Distinction) 75% or higher 50% or higher 50% or higher 50% or higher 50% or higher Pass Pass
5 (Credit) 65% or higher 50% or higher 40% or higher 50% or higher 50% or higher Pass Pass
4 (Pass) 50% or higher 30% or higher No requirement 30% or higher 30% or higher Pass Pass
3 (Conceded Pass) 45% or higher No requirement. Pass at least one
2 (Fail) 20% or higher No requirement.
1 (Fail) At least one item of work submitted or exam/test attempted.
X No work submitted or tests/exams attempted.

Your attention is drawn to the following implied requirements. In addition to achieving the required overall percentage for a given grade:

Assessment Policies

Submission

Submission instructions for the assignment and project will be contained in the assignment/project handout. Submission will be electronically (via http://www.submit.itee.uq.edu.au/) and/or via the submission boxes on level one of the GPSouth building. A signed coversheet declaring that your submission is your original work (or the work of you and your partner) will be required.

Late Submission

Late submission of the assignment and project will result in a penalty of 10% plus 10% per working day or part thereof, i.e. a submission less than one working day late will be penalised 20%, less than two working days late 30% and so on. Requests for extensions should be made to the course coordinator (before the due date) and be accompanied by documentary evidence of extenuating circumstances (e.g. medical certificate).

Late submission should be made to the school office (ask them to put it in Dr Sutton's pigeon hole) or electronically as instructed.

Return of Assignments

Students will be notified of assignment collection arrangements towards the end of the semester.

Academic Merit, Plagiarism, Collusion and Other Misconduct

The School and the wider academic community in general takes academic integrity and respect for other persons and property very seriously. In particular, the following behaviour is unacceptable:

Penalties for engaging in unacceptable behaviour can range from cash fines or loss of grades in a subject, through to expulsion from the University.

You are required to read and understand the School Statement on Misconduct, available on the ITEE website at: http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/about/student-misconduct.jsp

If you have any questions concerning this statement, please contact your lecturer in the first instance.

Graduate Attributes Developed

The University of Queensland has defined a set of graduate attributes to specify broad core knowledge and skills associated with all undergraduate programs (http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=20&s3=5). This course addresses these attributes as follows:

Attribute Contributions from this Course
In-depth knowledge of the field of study COMP1300/2302 provides an introduction to the implementation of computer systems. Students will gain knowledge of the operation of computers and processors at the lowest levels. Students will also gain knowledge and skills in software development for embedded computing systems.
Effective Communication The assignment will require students to gather and present information in a written form. Students will also be introduced to the concept of a prac workbook and the importance of keeping detailed notes about experimental work. Pracs and the project will require students to work in pairs and effectively communicate with their partner in order to accomplish the prac objectives.
Independence and Creativity This course will provide students with a basic knowledge of how to solve "digital problems" (e.g. how to use a microcontroller) which can be used by students to creatively solve future design problems (e.g. in Engineering Team Project courses). Open-ended tutorial exercises give students an opportunity to demonstrate creativity in the solution process. Students are expected to work independently on the assignment.
Critical Judgement Students will be introduced to criteria on which microprocessors and other computer hardware can be evaluated. This will allow students to make informed comparisons and judgements on the capabilities of particular pieces of computer hardware. The assignment will provide an opportunity by which this ability can be demonstrated.
Ethical and Social Understanding Students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the school's misconduct policy. Students are expected to conduct themselves appropriately during lab sessions and in the use of the school's computing resources.

Having Troubles?

If you are having difficulties with any aspect of the course material you should seek help. See the "Consultation" section above.

If external circumstances are affecting your ability to work on the course, you should seek help as soon as possible. The University and UQUnion have organisations and staff who are able to help, for example, UQ Student Support Services are able to help with study and exam skills, tertiary learning skills, writing skills, financial assistance, personal issues, and disability services (among other things).

Complaints and criticisms should be directed in the first instance to the course coordinator. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may bring the matter to the attention of the Head of School.

Support for Students with a Disability

Any student with a disability who may require alternative academic arrangements in the course is encouraged to seek advice at the commencement of the semester from a Disability Adviser at Student Support Services.

Sourced From http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/undergraduate/_profile_view.php?print=1&file=2003_2_COMP1300_StLucia

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