Computational Foundations of Cognitive Science 1
Assessment
Requirements for Passing the Course
In order to pass CFCS1 you must satisfy the following requirements:
- achieve at least 35% in the examination;
- achieve a total of at least 25% in assessed coursework;
- obtain a combined total mark of at least 40%.
It is important to understand that while there are resits for
examinations there are no resits for coursework. Therefore if you do
not meet the requirement on coursework the only way to pass the course
is to retake it the following year. You will still be able to take the
resit examination if you wish but this can only act as a practice run
to help you with your reattendance of the course, and will not be
marked. Note that as usual the requirements can be waived by the Board
of Examiners if there are sufficiently strong mitigating
circumstances; it is therefore vital that you inform your Director of
Studies of any such circumstances.
Assessed Coursework
Each student is required to submit the following items of assessed
coursework for CFCS1:
- 4 assessed assignments, worth 6.25% each (i.e., 25% in total).
All assignments are due at 16:00 on the due date, and are to be handed
in as hardcopies at the Informatics Teaching Office (Appleton Tower,
4th floor).
Late coursework assignments will not be accepted without good
reason:
the work will be recorded as late and a mark of zero given. Any
extension to an assignment deadline for a student must be approved by
the Course Organiser, and the reason for the extension must be
recorded by the ITO and Director of Studies.
If you are ill please make sure that a medical certificate is
submitted to the Course Secretary. Doctors will normally only give a
certificate for a long period of illness or for an illness that
strikes at a crucial time (e.g., if you miss an examination because of
illness). Your Director of Studies may give you a certificate of
support if you are ill for a short period, or if if other personal
crises have an adverse affect on your work.
Checking Coursework Progress
In order to succeed in your studies you should keep up with the
material of the course and make a good attempt at all the assessed
assignments. The requirements stated above represent a bare minimum and
do not indicate good progress. Your marks for each assessed practical
assignment will be returned to you as soon as they are available so
that you can (and indeed should) keep your own record.
For your convenience and as a means of helping you to check your
progress, the ITO will do its best to collect the following
information for you at just after half way through each half course
and email it to your University SMS account:
- the record of your assessed practical assignment marks so far
(note that in some cases there might be marks pending for recently
submitted coursework);
- the record of submitted assessed practical assignments.
It is your responsibility to check your SMS email account
regularly. If for some reason the information does not reach you then
ask the ITO either in person or by
email
quoting your full name,
matriculation number and the course(s) for which you are seeking
information.
Degree Examination
A degree examination assessing all material in CFCS1 will be held in
the Semester 2 examination period. The length of the examination will
be 120 minutes. For the exam date, please
check
here.
The rubric of the degree examination will be as follows: There
are
4 questions and all questions are compulsory. Different questions may
have different numbers of total marks. The exam will be closed
book, no calculators allowed.
The degree examination is weighted at 75% and the coursework are
weighted at 25% to get the combined total mark for the course.
Remember that you need to get a minimum of 25% on the coursework, a
minimum of 35% on the degree examination, and 40% overall, to pass
CFCS1.
(In the past, this examination has occasionally fallen on a
Saturday. If you cannot attend a Saturday examination, for good reason
(e.g., religious reasons), inform your Director of Studies of this as
soon as possible.)
Past Exam Papers
Past exam papers for CFCS1 (and the previous course, FMCS1) can be
found
here.
Please
note that both the content and the rubric of the exam may be different
for the CFCS1 exam this year.
Resits and Appeals
If you do not qualify for exemption, and fail the degree assessment in
April/May, you will get a second chance in August.
Appeals against the final mark awarded may be considered by the
University where there are irregularities in the conduct of the
assessment or the Board of Examiners did not have all available
information at the time of assessment. Appeals in cases where the
information was available but not given to the Board (for example, you
broke your leg the week before the examination but didn't tell anyone
until the results were published) are generally not considered. Tell
your Director of Studies before the Board of Examiners if you feel
there are factors that may have affected your performance.
Regulations and Guidelines
There are a number of on-line documents covering guidance and
regulations on various aspects of the School and the University
available
here.
Informatics Policy and Guidelines on Plagiarism
You may discuss this assignment with other students but your
submission should be based on your own work. If you do include work
carried out in collaboration with others, you must properly attribute
any contributions that they made to the work. Keep in mind that you
are responsible for deriving educational value from your assignments.
Please make sure to read the
Informatics
Guidelines on Plagiarism.
Data Protection Act 1998
The use by the university of personal details concerning students, and
the use by students of personal details from on-line university
records, university publications, and other sources, is governed by
the Data Protection Act. An explanation of the responsibilities of
staff and students with respect to the Data Protection Act 1998 can be
found on-line
here.
