School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Staff/Student Meeting - Clayton Campus

Mr Sudad Abbas, Dr David Albrecht, Dr Peter Atkinson, Mr Stanley Breskin, Ms Amanda Crawford, Prof John Crossley, Mr Rupak Das, AssocProf Trevor Dix, Dr Alan Dorin, AssocProf David Dowe, AssocProf Graham Farr, Mrs Karen Fenwick, Ms Kirsten Frederiksen, Ms Edwina Goh, Mr Charles Greif, AssocProf John Hurst, Ms Karan Juneja, Mr Edgar Kherlopian, Dr Carlo Kopp, Mr Sahwini Kumar Alluri, Dr HiamHiok Lim, Mr Kunal Mamik, Prof Kim Marriott, Mr Jon McCormack, Ms Caroline McGregor, Ms Kerri Morgan, Dr Ann Nicholson, Dr Andrew Paplinski, Ms Debbie Pickett, Mr Andrew Pinto, Dr Ronald Pose, Mr Glen Pringle, Dr Sita Ramakrishnan, Mr Joel Reicher, Ms Su Rogerson, Mrs Linda Smeaton, Mr Stewart Smith, Prof Bala Srinivasan (Chair), Mr Hayden Stainsby, Dr Charles Twardy, Mr Kim Ung, Dr Christina Varsavsky (Maths), Dr Stephen Welsh

The Head of School, Prof Bala Srinivasan opened the meeting and welcomed the student representatives and staff.

Minutes of the last meeting:
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as correct and accurate report.

Action items:

Professor John Crossley asked student reps to advise the student body that they should communicate their concerns about the number of textbooks in the Hargrave Library to Sara Miranda the IT Librarian. He also advised that th difficulty of the last part of the CSE3305 Formal Methods course will be looked at and taken into account.

Honours students - items raised at the previous meeting have been followed up, with the exception of chairs in the Honours lab. BCS Hons Co-ordinator Ann Nicholson advised that all broken chairs will be fixed or repaired before the move to the new building.

CSE1301 tutorial solutions were posted on the noticeboards as requested.

Access signs were posted on the MUSE and Honours Labs and unauthorised access is now under control.

Reports:

BACHELOR OF DIGITAL SYSTEMS -

BDS students raised their concerns about the phasing out of the degree and the future standing of students presently in the degree. The meeting was advised about the rationale behind the decision and reassured that individual students will be given advice and assistance to complete their degree or transfer to a different degree.

CSE2318/CSE3318 Data Communication and Computer Networks - Students raised problems encountered with lack of co-ordination of feedback from tutors and their concerns regarding the marking of pracs and assignments. Some students were penalised following the release of the solution on the web. ADT, lecturer and student rep undertook to investigate this matter at the School level - disadvantaged students will be investigated and appropriately handled.
ACTION:
Charles Greif/Peter Granville, Joel Reicher, Hayden Stainsby, John Hurst.

BACHELOR OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING -

ADT, AssocProf John Hurst advised that the Bachelor of Software Engineering degree will receive acreditation from IEAust and ACS. BSE Course Co-ordinator, Dr Sita Ramakrishnan, thanked both students and staff who participated in the accreditation process.

CSE2324/CSE3324 Computer Architecture - students complimented AL Debbie Pickett for the prac component of this unit.

CSE2303 Formal Methods I - students said that the lectures in this unit were very good and thanked Dr David Albrecht.

CSE2201 Software Engineering Practice - demonstrators were very good and the subject was well co-ordinated.

CSE2305 very good so far and the assignment was received quite well. Students asked if Introduction to C++ could be introduced earlier in the course.

CSE3325 Multimedia Programming and WWW - Lecturer Dr Alan Dorin is a great quality lecturer and students would like demonstrators available when the assignments are due.

CSE2302 Operating Systems - Students reported a lot of complaints about the lab structure and the failure rate in pracs. Students had concerns about the ramifications of failing the prac hurdle. Lecturer, Charles Greif and AL Joel Reicher have undertaken to clarify this at lectures. The method of marking pracs is to be consistent across all tutors. Assistant Lecturer, Joel Reicher undertook to look at how many students are presently failing pracs.
ACTION: Charles Greif, Joel Reicher

BSE Hons - don't have interim presentations same as BCS Hons students. Students would like a presentation workshop to be held in about week 9. Harriet Searcy, FIT Language and Learning has indicated she is prepared to give this.
ACTION : Dr Lloyd Allison

Students reported that the video link to Caulfield is not adequate for seminars.

BSE Hons students asked if the MUSE lab would get lockers once the present lockers are moved to the new building.
ACTION: Mandy Cheng

CSE1303 Computer Science - BSE students had compliments for this unit and said the pracs so far are o.k.

CSE1402 Technical Documentation for Software Engineers - A discussion took place about the marking of the pracs in this subject and about feedback. Students felt it was unfair that there is random marking of 1 in 3 pracs. Students also had concerns regarding not getting feedback in time to correct any mistakes with future pracs. They were advised that if they were unsure they should talk to tutors during classes. If there is anything not dealt with in pracs, they should approach the Assistant Lecturer, Caroline McGregor, during consultation time. Students asked if pracs could be available on line at the time advertised or if preparation material could be supplied in advance.
There were a number of complaints about ITS service in labs. It was suggested that ITS be invited to a lab class to see the problems as they occur. Students were advised to send hard data to the Associate Dean Teaching (AssocProf John Hurst).
ACTION: Carlo Kopp / Caroline McGregor / John Hurst

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE:

Student reps had received positive feedback from semester 1. Congratulation to Graham Farr and Ingrid Zukerman for CSE1301. The exam was fair. CSE1304 received congratulations as well. CSE1303 in semester 2 is well structured and organised.

Students asked if there could be an advanced component in first semester rather than waiting till second semester. The idea of streaming was discussed.

Students asked why tutorial solutions in CSE1303 couldn't be posted sooner. The lecturer advised that solutions are released when they are so that no students are disadvantaged. Anyone who does not have their pracs and tutorials in the correct order should be advised to see the Assistant Lecturer immediately.

CSE1434 students were upset that material was introduced in pracs that wasn't yet in lectures.

Student rep (Sudad Abbas) asked if it is possible enable games in computer labs after hours, to boost morale.

BACHELOR OF ARTS/COMPUTER SCIENCE:
The student rep reported that Art/CompSc students are satisfied with the balance and that CSE1303 pracs were getting difficult but in a good way.

MEETING CLOSE -
There will be a second meeting in semester 2 to be held on Friday 17 October at 1.00 pm. Location in the new building to be advised.