What’s happening with the Computer Science degree?

Following a regular review of the department, including extensive consultation with students, we are introducing a new, revised, and refreshed curriculum. This means that the papers we offer and the regulations for Computer Science degrees are changing, and there will be a couple of years of transition as we switch from the old to the new. During this transition you may see different versions of the regulations in different places, so this page is here to give you clear and practical information about what you need to do to complete your degree.

This page should answer most of questions you might have about how this change affects you. If not, or if you just want to talk to someone about planning your degree, then contact adviser@cs.otago.ac.nz – we're here to help.

What regulations do I need to follow?

While we transition to the new curriculum you will be able to complete a Computer Science major under either the old or new regulations. In most cases the new regulations are more flexible, and will be the easiest to satisfy, but our aim is to make sure that you can complete your degree without any unnecessary delays. Any COMP or COSC papers that could be used towards the old requirements can be used towards the new ones as well, so you won't have to repeat anything.

Most students take the required 100-level papers in their first year of study, the required 200-level papers in their second year, and the 300-level papers in their final year of study. If you are in one of these situations, then there's a clear list of things you need to do. If not, don't worry – we've got a plan for that too.

First Year in 2021

Assuming you start in Semester 1, you will be using the new regulations for your whole degree. You will need to complete:

COMP 101, 161, 162, one mathematics paper from the approved list

COSC 201, 202, 203, 204 (all offered from 2022)

Four 300-level COSC papers, including at least one of COSC 326 and 345

Second Year in 2021

Assuming you've completed COMP 160, 101, and a mathematics paper you need to complete:

COSC 241, 242, 243, and either COSC 244 or 212

Four 300-level COSC papers, including at least one of COSC 326 and 345

Third Year in 2021

Assuming you've completed COMP 160, COMP 101, a mathematics paper, and all of COSC 241, 242, 243, and 244 in 2020 you need to complete:

Four 300-level COSC papers, including at least one of COSC 326 and 345

If you want to carry on to Honours

You will need to complete a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, including a fifth 300-level paper, and have a B+ average in your 300-level papers. The fifth 300-level paper can be in any subject, not necessarily Computer Science, and could be a paper you've taken as part of a minor or second major. COSC 341 used to be required for honours, but this is no longer the case. Contact adviser@cs.otago.ac.nz for more information about Honours, or other options for further study such as the Postgraduate Diploma in Science.

Taking COMP 160 in Summer School 2021

Some students may be taking COMP 160 in Summer School 2021, to go in to our 200-level papers in Semesters 1 and 2. COMP 160 is being offered in Summer School, and following that the advice for 'Second Year in 2021' will apply.

What about a Minor in Computer Science?

A minor in Computer Science requires:

· COMP 160 or COMP 162 and one other 100-level COMP paper

· Three COSC papers at 200-level or higher, at least one of which must be at 300-level

For most students starting their from 2021 onwards, the 'other 100-level paper' will be COMP 161 as a requisite for COMP 162, although this may not always be the case.

What if I don't fit into the categories above?

This will mainly be an issue if you are taking 100- and 200-level papers over different years. To deal with that, there is a table of equivalents between the old and new curriculum. As long as you have one option from each row of the table, you will have completed the requirements for a Computer Science major under the new curriculum. Where the requirements are the same, there is just one entry in the row.

What happened to the old ENGL 127 requirement?

We've listened to feedback from students that they wanted an alternative that was more specific to Computer Science. We still think that communication is important, so the new curriculum has a lot more assessment relevant to that, including large written pieces of work at 200-level. If you are not confident that your writing skills are up to the job, then it is probably a good idea to take a paper to help you build those up. Most humanities papers have significant written components, and ENGL 127, 128, and 228 all develop communication skills.

Which Mathematics paper should I take?

The approved options for the “mathematics” paper are one of:

MATH 151, 160, 170, COMO 101, STAT 110, 115, BSNS 112, or FINC 102.

The basic idea is that you should come out of the degree with more mathematical ability than when you started. We want to be flexible in our approach, and different areas and applications of

Computer Science use different types of mathematics. Here are some guidelines if you're having trouble choosing:

· Some of our 300-level options require MATH 160, so that's often a good option.

· If you have to take a mathematics paper for a minor or second major (e.g. STAT 110 for Geography or FINC 102 for Finance) then that will satisfy the Computer Science degree requirements.

· If you have not studied mathematics through to NCEA level 3, then MATH 151 is usually the place to start. The Mathematics department has useful online tools to help students decide what's best for them, and can offer more advice.

Of course, if you want to study more mathematics than the minimum requirement then that's great, and we're sure you'll find it useful.

If you have any other questions about how this affects you

Email adviser@cs.otago.ac.nz with your question, or to make a time to come and talk to an adviser.