Informatics 1: Data & Analysis

2012–2013

Note: This page refers to a past version of the course. You can also consult the current course web page.

This is a taught course in the School of Informatics suitable for first-year undergraduate students (SCQF level 8). The course provides an introduction to representing and interpreting data from areas across Informatics; treating in particular structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data models. For further details see the course catalogue entry.

Lectures · Online · Contact · Tutorials · Exercises · Assignment · Slides · Videos · Reading · Examination · Previous Years

Lectures: 11.10–12.00 Tuesdays and 14.10–15.00 Fridays during Semester 2. Tuesday lectures are in the Lecture Theatre 5 of Appleton Tower and Friday lectures are in Lecture Theatre B of the David Hume Tower. You are strongly advised to attend all lectures.

Links: Appleton Tower (Map), Lecture Theatre 5; David Hume Tower (Map), Lecture Theatre B.

Online: This web page has links to slides and videos from all the lectures. Other resources include:

  • Course blog: This carries information about individual lectures and tutorial work.
  • Discussion forum: You can post questions and answers on anything related to Informatics 1 courses. The course lecturers, teaching assistants and tutors will also read and answer questions.

Warning: Please read this page if you have problems viewing or commenting on the discussion forum.

Contact: The course lecturer is Ian Stark and the course teaching assistant is Aurora Constantin.

Ian Stark has a drop-in office hour for Informatics 1 students 10.30–11.30 in AT 4.09 every Thursday morning during semester.

If contacting the lecturer or teaching assistant by email please use your University address. You can also always ask questions on the discussion forum.

Tutorials: These started in week 3 and happen each week until the end of semester, except for Innovative Learning Week. If you are ill or otherwise unable to attend one week then email your tutor, and if possible attend another tutorial group in the same week.

Link: Tutorial group times, places and membership.

If you wish to move to a different tutorial group, please ask the ITO through their online contact form.

Exercises: Exercises for each tutorial are available from Tuesday of the preceding week. You should complete these during the week, and bring your solutions to the tutorial for discussion; if your work is online, bring a printout.

You can discuss your work on these exercises with other students, and ask questions on the discussion forum. If you are having difficulties, drop in to InfBASE for help.

Informatics 1: Data & Analysis is part of the first-year programme for all undergraduate degrees in the School of Informatics. During semester 2, students should also be taking Informatics 1: Object Oriented Programming. Please see the following links for more information.

Slides: These are the slides for each lecture through semester.

Videos: Recordings of lectures are available online.

Please note that these recordings supplement lectures by allowing you to review the material presented and later revise for the course exam. They are not intended as a substitute for attending and participating in the lectures themselves.

Link: Video this year; Video from 2010–2011; Video from 2009–2010.

Reading: There is no required course textbook, although some material is handed out in lectures. The following are useful references for the three components of the course.

R. Ramakrishnan and J. Gehrke. Database Management Systems. Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2003.

A. Møller and M. Schwartzbach. An Introduction to XML and Web Technologies. Addison Wesley, 2006.

T. McEnery and A. Wilson. Corpus Linguistics. Second edition, Edinburgh University Press, 2001. Chapter 2: What is a corpus and what is in it?

Assignment: There is a written assignment based on previous exam questions. Your tutor marks this and gives you feedback, but it is not part of the overall course assessment.

Examination: Assessment for Inf1-DA is based on a two-hour written examination at the end of the year. The paper follows a similar format each year, and past papers are available online.

Links: Marks and grades; Past papers.

Previous Years: The web pages for previous incarnations of the course include slides, lecture videos, reading material, and tutorial exercises.

Links: 2011–2012; 2010–2011; 2009–2010.


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