Computer Science Questions

What's the course content really like at BCU for Computer Science?
Are the lecturers helpful in explaining things if you have a problem with something and how are the tutorials?

How many people left the course in the first year?

How many days a week are lectures and tutorials?

I've looked at the modules for the first year but they don't really offer an in-depth look.

How long were you in the labs for debugging things, and how long are the examinations for?

Is everyone on the course taught together in a lecture hall or do they prefer to lecture in small classes?

Thanks for any help with this.

We've asked the Programme Leader for assistance with this and this is the reply: "BSc Computer Science is a 3-year course with an optional placement year after second year. Students need to earn 120 credit each year to get the degree. The course is designed around three main themes, i) Analytical and Mathematical Ability, ii) Programming and iii) Professional Developments. All the modules taught in the course aim to develop skills around these three themes and the module contents are updated every year keeping an eye on the current trend in the industry and academic research.

The course is delivered by teaching staffs that have long experience either in industry or academia. They are always eager to help the students whether it is inside official teaching hours or not. In addition to the lecturers directly involved in the teaching of modules, there is Centre for Academic Success, where the students can get additional support for their teaching and learning.

Each year the students need to take 120 credit, and we have two semesters in a year, i.e. 60 credit per semester. For each 15 credit, students need to attend 3 hours of teaching (including lectures and lab sessions) per week, this implies in a semester the students need to attend 12 to 14 hours of teaching per week (depending on additional seminars in some modules). Usually there is no teaching on Wednesday afternoons.

Computer science involves heavy programming, and there are lab sessions (usually 2 hours per week for every 15 credits) for each programming module that involves coding and debugging. In addition to that, the students can practice in their own time and ask help from the academics or CAS.
Length of the exams depends on the module and type of exam. Usually paper based exams are an hour to 3 hours long. Length of practical exams may vary depending on the task, but longer than 3 hours. Bottom line, for 15 credit modules exams cannot be longer than 3 hours.
Lectures (usually 1 hour per 15 credit per week) are delivered in a lecture hall, where concepts are introduced and explained. Lab sessions (usually 2 hours per 15 credits per week) are delivered in small groups (no more than 40 students), where the application of the concepts are demonstrated."

Please let us know if you need any further assistance.