Computer Science at DMU

So has anyone done this course at DMU already? Or are currently doing it? What are your opinions on it? Is there anything I should know before Uni starts? I am going to be starting this course this year hopefully. Just want to be prepared.

Any specific questions?There are four modules in the first yearProgramming in CElements of computingCOmputational modellingComputer Ethics, Law & PortfolioElements is OS, Architecture and NetworksComp Mod is Maths, Haskell and Analysis&Testing, Maths is Logic, Set theory and SQLE,L&P is assesed by coursework including a group presentation, 2 essays and a web development project

Ohh Thank you Will there be any exams? How are we assessed in the course? Do teachers help a lot or only little?

Three exams, one for C, one for compmod and one for Elements. Each exam is worth 50% of your module grade. You also have numerous assessments for each module throughout the year for around 5-10%.

If by teachers you mean lab tutors, mostly i'd say yes. My C tutor was really helpful and all comp mod tutors I had were too.
Elements was...okay I suppose granted a lot of people didnt do much lab work on that subject, you'll see why when you come.

Ethics and law lectures were nice to listen to but you dont need notes really as you choose one topic and focus on that for your essay.

And i emailed a couple of lecturers sometimes with questions and they always replied so no worries there.

Hi I was thing of applying this year for computer science and was wandering how you are finding it at dmu? Also how hard is the maths involved? I am stuck between this course and Accouting and finance? What about the building itself where the labs are ect? Is it normally busy and lively or is it isolated from the main Hugh Aston building? Any help will be appreciated, especially about the maths part

I like it, overall it's pretty good but has a couple of flaws here and there.

The 'maths' isn't anything too complicated. It's logic (if's, true's and false's, binary 1's and 0's), set theory ( A = {1,2,3,4} ) and some analysis stuff ( Any formula you need will be given in exam)
And for programming, most example programmes that require knowledge of a maths function will teach you by making you write it out step-by-step.

Hugh Aston isn't the main building, it is one of the biggest though, but that is mainly for business and accounting. You will have a couple lectures there though, I have 2 per week this year. Otherwise your lectures will either be in Queens building, Bede Island or Clephan. Queens is like the premiere technology building, which you'll see more off in the second year.

Labs are all in Gateway house. Floors 3 &4 for tutorials, 5 & 6 for labs. Floor 6 is dedicated for CS & Games programming students. It's sorta walk-in whenever on floor 5 or 6, so while some rooms will be very active, if you're looking for silent spaces to work, there will usually always be a less packed room, or space in the library.

Ahh, this is so helpful I'm just so stuck between 3 courses I want to study at DMU. Accounting and Finance, Computer Science and software engineering. So generally do you still make friends with people from other courses at DMU or is each courses' students in their own buildings all the time? Also roughly how many people are in day to day lectures?
I am really interested in computer science but still have an element of fear about the maths part. Anyway, overall I loved the Uni and will definitely do one of the courses there Any further help will be appreciated about DMU or computer science itself there.

Well CS and SE in the first year are common, and closer to the end of the second year you get a form with the option to switch.
Yeah a few, my reccomendation is to get comfortable in the first year, I made the mistake of booking a private accomodation, and I got stuck with very unsociable people. But there are societies and clubs which are very opening to everyone, so plenty of chances to make friends there.
My lectures have roughly 250 people in them.

Trust me the maths part is the least worrisome thing about this course. First year is particularly easy. The worst thing about the first year was the Elements module's lab's, it's outdated and doesn't work, though they have said they are working on updating it now, but everything else is manageable. You might wanna practice a little C before you start, it'll give you a good headstart. Most other things are better learned there n then

You've been such a great help, thanks!! what do you recommend me doing to get a head start? I'll start over the summer as now i'm of course focusing on A2? Also, just to confirm is there no very hard maths/logic involved? What would a typical day be like for you? I talked to someone else who said something to do with 'logic laws and truth tables' being very complex? Is this true?

Again, thanks so much for the help, I just been worrying for the past 3-4 months about whether I am capable of completing this very interesting and respected course due to the maths element as I only got a B at GCSE. I look forward to seeing you next year haha!

I 100% promise the maths isn't hard. :P The only maths thing you do that involves numbers and formulas is calculating variance, and that's for the analysis part of the modelling module, and you're given the formula in the exam.

Logic laws and truth tables are extremely easy. The easiest part. Infact the first thing you learn. Basically, AND and OR operators.
If you wanna read up and get a head start on them that's up to you, but it's seriously manageable stuff. Like, True AND True = True, True AND False = False.

FOr a head start, learn some C and some basic HTML/CSS. These are taught from the beginning, but the headstart over other students does give you that edge.

I didn't do maths at A-Level and had that same worry. If you go somewhere like cambridge they usually expect you to have maths a levels because they jump into more complex theories, they usually require you to know programming too.

If you want I can send you some notes I wrote on logic/truth table stuff last year and see if you can handle it