Unit Information

ICT159 - Foundations of
Programming

OUA3, 2023

This guide should be used in conjunction with the Handbook as the official source
of information about this unit.
Refer to myMurdoch Learning for on-going communication and your learning and
assessment content.

Unit coordinator: Professor Hamid Laga

Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge that Murdoch University is situated on the lands of the Whadjuk and Binjareb
Noongar people. We pay our respects to their enduring and dynamic culture and the leadership of
Noongar elders past and present. The boodjar (country) on which Murdoch University is located has,
for thousands of years, been a place of learning. We at Murdoch University are proud to continue this
long tradition.

© Published by Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, August 2023.

This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it
may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any
other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or
transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ICT159 - Foundations of Programming: OUA3, 2023 Page 2 of 17

Contents
1. Unit information ............................................................................................................................................ 4
1.1 Unit Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Learning outcomes .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Graduate attributes ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.4 Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) ............................................................................... 5
1.5 General guidance and requirements .................................................................................................. 5
2. Contact details ............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Unit coordinator and lecturer ............................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Teaching team..................................................................................................................................... 6
3. How to study this unit ................................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 How to contact your tutor if you are an external student? .................................................................. 7
3.2 Weekly study ....................................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Lab exercises ...................................................................................................................................... 7
4. Unit Schedule ............................................................................................................................................... 9
5. Assessments .............................................................................................................................................. 10
5.1 Assessment summary ....................................................................................................................... 10
5.2 Assessment information .................................................................................................................... 10
5.2.1 Laboratory Work ............................................................................................................................ 10
5.2.2 Assignment 1 ................................................................................................................................. 11
5.2.3 Assignment 2 ................................................................................................................................. 12
5.2.4 Final Exam ..................................................................................................................................... 12
5.3 Academic integrity ............................................................................................................................. 13
5.4 Extensions and late submissions ...................................................................................................... 14
5.5 Determination of the final grade ........................................................................................................ 14
6. Learning resources .................................................................................................................................... 15
6.1 All learning resources........................................................................................................................ 15
6.2 Essential learning resources ............................................................................................................. 15
7. Academic Advice and Student Support ..................................................................................................... 16

ICT159 - Foundations of Programming: OUA3, 2023 Page 3 of 17

1. Unit information

Welcome to:
ICT159 - Foundations of Programming

1.1 Unit Overview

Welcome to Foundations of Programming! This is a first-year unit designed to introduce students to the
basic concepts of constructing an algorithmic solution to a problem and implementing this in a programming
language to facilitate execution on a computer. The unit does not cover general information technology
concepts but may be suitable for those from other disciplines seeking a more technical and programming-
focused background in IT.
This unit introduces key aspects of computer programming including data storage and manipulation, and
problem solving using a high-level programming language. Topics: algorithms and problem solving; testing
methodologies; fundamental aspects of a programming language including data types, input/output, simple
selection and iteration control structures, procedural and data abstraction, one-dimensional structures; and
introduction to object-oriented programming theory.

1.2 Learning outcomes

This unit enables you to demonstrate your achievement of the following unit learning outcomes.

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1. Construct algorithms to solve basic to intermediate problems using a combination of sequences,
selections and iterations.
LO2. Implement such algorithms in a common programming language.
LO3. Apply the methodology of top-down design to the construction of solutions and implement these
solutions in a modular way.
LO4. Be familiar with a number of basic data structures commonly used in computer programming.

1.3 Graduate attributes

This unit will contribute to the development of the following Graduate Attributes:

• Communication
• Critical and creative thinking
• Independent and lifelong learning
• In-depth knowledge of a field of study

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1.4 Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA)
The Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) Framework enables the use of a common language to
describe the various skill that exist in the information technology realm, and the levels at which those skills
are exercised. For more detail regarding the framework, see: http://www.sfia-online.org
This unit addresses the following SFIA Skills:

SubCategory Skill Code Level

This unit will assist in preparing students for a number of common ICT roles, including:

• Programmer
• Software engineer
See: http://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/26528/ICT-Skills-White-Paper-Common-Job-
Profiles-and-Skills-Mobility-30-Dec-2013.pdf

1.5 General guidance and requirements

Please refer to Support & Advice via myMurdoch for all the information you need for your studies.
This includes:
Student admin, Exams and Essentials, including Policies (refer to Assessment Policy and others), Key
dates, Complaints and appeals

• Learning and study support, including information about Academic Integrity and Murdoch Academic
Passport
• Health and wellbeing information, including Accessibility services, Medical and counselling services,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support, and Sexuality, sex and gender diversity support

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2. Contact details

2.1 Unit coordinator and lecturer

Name: Professor Hamid Laga

Discipline: Information Technology
Office: 245.1.020, Perth Campus
Email: [email protected]

Phone: 08 9360 2325

2.2 Teaching team

You will be notified who your teaching team is at the beginning of the teaching period. The teaching team
member will provide you with their contact details.

Name: Drew Paridaens

Role: Lecturer and Tutor
Office: 245.1.020, Perth Campus
Email: [email protected]
Phone:

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3. How to study this unit

This is an OUA unit. It means you will be studying the unit fully online with no time-tabled weekly activities.
Thus, self-discipline is very important in order to benefit the most from the unit, achieve the learning
objects, and pass the unit (hopefully with a high grade). You need to keep working regularly on the weekly
activities and do not fall behind.
Keep always in mind that programming is not a skill that you can learn in just one week (e.g., in the week
prior to the exam). It is a skill that you build up over the entire semester (and beyond). Thus, it is important
to work regularly on the tasks starting from Week 1.

3.1 How to contact your tutor if you are an external student?

To contact your tutor, please send an email to [email protected]. Make sure that the purpose
of your email is clear in the subject of your email.
Make also sure that you include your Student ID in the body of the email.
Emails sent to different email addresses may be lost and the response delayed.

3.2 Weekly study

At the start of the unit, the lecture materials will be available online. You are strongly advised to read and
understand them. Never ever start working on the lab exercises of the week before reading and
understanding the lecture materials of that week.
Lecture videos are also available on LMS. After reviewing and studying these materials and the specified
readings, you should begin the laboratory exercises.
New exercises and materials will be released almost every week. In conjunction with the submission
deadlines for the labs and assignment, you should use this to judge whether you are keeping up to date.

3.3 Lab exercises

OUA students do not have the opportunity to attend in person lab sessions. Thus, it is essential that you
are very proactive in tackling this work. You should make an attempt at completing the work. If you have
problems completing the work, you should contact your tutor for further advice or assistance. However, you
should make every endeavour to resolve the problem by yourself before seeking assistance as this will
maximise your learning and minimise delays.
Your primary resource will be the lecture notes and videos, although textbook readings will also be of
assistance. Essentially, all of the information you need is provided in the unit materials, so it is strongly
advised not to attempt to google solutions as often the information located will not be applicable to the
concepts being taught in this unit. In many cases, googling will be more of a hindrance than a help as the
search results will often be aimed at experienced programmers and will be difficult to apply in the context of
the unit. If you are unable to find the tools you need to solve a particular part of a question in the provided
materials, your tutor can assist you by pointing you in the right direction. You should always seek additional
information from your tutor if you’re ever unclear concerning the feedback on assessed items.
There are a total of 12 labs for completion over approximately 12 teaching weeks of university study. This
means that one new lab exercise will be released via the unit LMS site most teaching weeks and you can
use this as a way of judging how you are keeping up with the lab work.

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It is very important that you make sure you do not fall behind in the laboratory work as these
exercises are critical in teaching you the skills that you will need for successful completion of the
assignment, and ultimately the exam.
Note: although you are studying externally, you do have a tutor that you can contact and ask questions.
The absence of face-to-face contact can make external study of this unit particularly difficult.
The lab exercises need to be submitted weekly (5PM Friday of every week is the firm deadline).
Some labs are made up of a number of small practice exercises, while others consist of one large project-
style exercise including the writing of both an algorithm and computer code. Some labs include other
additional assessed components.
All electronically submitted files should be named using the format:
ICT159_StudentID_Surname_labXqY,
where
• StudentID is your student ID
• Surname is your surname
• X is the lab number and Y
• is the question number.
All of these parts must be clearly labelled, especially when multiple lab exercises are being submitted in a
single batch. Any work submitted that does not meet these specifications may result in marks being
deducted or simply not be accepted and receive no marks.
The unit also includes an assignment, which includes a number of components that are required to be
submitted. Program source and compiled code is submitted in separate files, along with a Word document
containing all documentation components. The assignment question sheet will fully detail what is required
for each part of the assignment so you should read this information carefully. The assignment also includes
a template that you should use for structuring your submission.
Abbreviated feedback will be written on the submitted work, and this will include the final grade and mark.
Where relevant, work will also be annotated to indicate problems with either the layout or structure of the
code. If you have any questions about the feedback you have received, such as an explanation of what a
particular piece of feedback means, you should contact your tutor to discuss this.

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4. Unit Schedule

Topics in this unit are divided according to concept, not time. Therefore, each topic will vary in size.

Week Topic
1 Introduction to the unit and to algorithms
Introduction to Programming: computer architecture, variables, operators,
2
instructions, sequence of instructions, variable types,
From Algorithm to Computer Program: C Programming Language: the compilation
3
process (from C program to binary/executable code)
4 Selection (if, else, switch-case, nested if and if else)
5 Iterations and loops (for, while, do … while)
Modular Programming: functions, function parameters (input), function output,
6
function libraries
7 Arrays: 1D, 2D and nD arrays, array size and array indexing, algorithms on arrays
8 Pointers and Arrays (revisited)
Files and File Input/Output (I/O): definition, creating, reading from and writing into
9
files
Data Structures (Part I): definition, examples of data structures (simple variables,
10
arrays and structs
11 Data Structures (Part II): practical examples
12 Introduction to Object Oriented Programming: classes vs. structs
Unit Review and Preparation for the Final Exam

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5. Assessments

Assessment for this unit is conducted in accordance with the Assessment Policy.

5.1 Assessment summary

Unit
N Assessment Weight Individual / Due Date
Learning Data of release
o Name % Group and Time
Outcomes
Weekly by the
LO1, LO2, Start of each
1 Laboratory Work 30% Individual end of each
LO3, LO4 week
class
Monday 8:00 AM
Friday 23:59 of
2 Assignment 1 LO1, LO2 10% Individual of Week 7
Week 9

LO1, LO2, Monday 8:00 AM Friday 23:59 of

3 Assignment 2 20% Individual
LO3, LO4 of Week 10 Week 12
LO1, LO2, Specified exam Specified exam
4 Final Examination 40% Individual
LO3, LO4 period period

5.2 Assessment information

5.2.1 Laboratory Work

ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION
There will be laboratory work assessed during most of the weekly lab sessions. The labs are made up of
practical exercises designed to build your problem-solving and programming skills. Some of these are just
collections of simple exercises, while others are project-style tasks involving the creation of an algorithm
and subsequent code.
Laboratory exercises are assessed primarily based on the student’s demonstrated understanding, taking
into account factors such as correctness, simplicity and clarity of code, and code style.
As each session builds upon the previous ones, students who do not complete a lab session will find
completing the next week’s work very difficult! If you miss a lab session and find yourself having difficulty
catching up, then you should contact your tutor or the Unit Coordinator immediately.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Students are required to submit the work via LMS by Friday 5:00 PM of each week. You tutor will then mark
the work and provide you with feedback. Please refer to the section “Lab Work Submission” on LMS.
HOW IT IS ASSESSED (summary)
Laboratory exercises are assessed primarily based on the student’s demonstrated understanding, taking
into account factors such as the correctness and simplicity of the algorithmic solution, simplicity and clarity
of the code, and coding style (i.e., whether it follows the best practices).
FEEDBACK FOR LEARNING

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 • If you are an Internal Student, your tutor will provide you feedback during the lab session.
• If you are an External Student, your tutor will provide you feedback via LMS.
FURTHER DETAILS
See myMurdoch Learning for further details, such as instructions, communication, resources, guides,
exemplars and a descriptive rubric assessment tool.

5.2.2 Assignment 1

DESCRIPTION
This is a take-home assignment, which you are required to complete within 2 weeks of its release. It is
composed of a series of exercises in which you will be required to write algorithmic solutions to specific
problems, code some of them in C programming language, and test that the solution actually works.
This is an individual work and thus must be completed individually.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Submission details are given in the section “Assignment 1” in LMS. Please pay very close attention to all of
these instructions as assignments which do not meet these criteria may lose marks or not be accepted.
Note that exact due dates and times are available on LMS.
Uploaded submissions should be made as a single zip files:

• Copy all your files into a folder named ICT159_StudentID_Surname_Assignment1. For instance,
student John Smith whose student ID is 123456, should name the folder as:
ICT159_123456_Smith_Assignment1
• Zip the folder using winzip (RAR files will not be accepted). This will result in a file named
ICT159_StudentID_Surname_Assignment1.zip.
• Upload this file to the submission area on LMS.
Note that any piece of work or assessable component may not be accepted or otherwise awarded zero
marks if not submitted in an appropriate form as per supplied instructions.
HOW IT IS ASSESSED (summary)
The assignment will be assessed primarily based on the student’s demonstrated understanding, taking into
account factors such as the correctness and simplicity of the algorithmic solution, simplicity and clarity of
the code, and coding style (i.e., whether it follows the best practices).
The assessment includes a moderation process to ensure reliable, just, and fair outcomes.
FEEDBACK FOR LEARNING
Your assessment outcome will be provided to you via LMS.

• If you are an internal student, you can discuss your feedback face-to-face with your tutor.
• If you are an external student, you can also request to discuss your feedback with the tutor who is
assigned to handle external students.
FURTHER DETAILS
See myMurdoch Learning for further details, such as instructions, communication, resources, guides,
exemplars and a descriptive rubric assessment tool.

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5.2.3 Assignment 2

DESCRIPTION
This is a take-home assignment, which you are required to complete within 3 weeks of its release. It is
composed of a series of exercises in which you will be required to write algorithmic solutions to specific
problems, code some of them in C programming language, and test that the solution actually works.
This is an individual work and thus must be completed individually.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Submission details are given in the section “Assignment 2” in LMS. Please pay very close attention to all of
these instructions as assignments which do not meet these criteria may lose marks or not be accepted.
Note that exact due dates and times are available on LMS.
Uploaded submissions should be made as a single zip files:
• Copy all your files into a folder named ICT159_StudentID_Surname_ Assignment2. For instance,
student John Smith whose student ID is 123456, should name the folder as:
ICT159_123456_Smith_Assignment2
• Zip the folder using winzip (RAR files will not be accepted). This will result in a file named
ICT159_StudentID_Surname_ Assignment2.zip.
• Upload this file to the submission area on LMS.
Note that any piece of work or assessable component may not be accepted or otherwise awarded zero
marks if not submitted in an appropriate form as per supplied instructions.
HOW IT IS ASSESSED (summary)
The assignment will be assessed primarily based on the student’s demonstrated understanding, taking into
account factors such as the correctness and simplicity of the algorithmic solution, simplicity and clarity of
the code, and coding style (i.e., whether it follows the best practices).
The assessment includes a moderation process to ensure reliable, just, and fair outcomes.
FEEDBACK FOR LEARNING
Your assessment outcome will be provided to you via LMS.

• If you are an internal student, you can discuss your feedback face-to-face with your tutor.
• If you are an external student, you can also request to discuss your feedback with the tutor who is
assigned to handle external students.
FURTHER DETAILS
See myMurdoch Learning for further details, such as instructions, communication, resources, guides,
exemplars and a descriptive rubric assessment tool.

5.2.4 Final Exam

DESCRIPTION
The final exam will occur in the assessment period after the end of semester. Please ensure that you are
aware of all University requirements with regards to final exams. The examination is timetabled and run by
the University Examinations Office. The exam timetable is usually released in the second half of the
semester.

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The examination will run for three hours and be closed book. The structure of the examination will typically
be short answer questions including those requiring the writing of algorithms and/or program code in the
language studied during the semester.
Past exam papers are available for download from the library website, however, note that the unit has
changed significantly in recent years, so not all of these papers will be useful for revision.
Please be aware of the University's requirements regarding what may be brought into a closed book
examination and the identification acceptable when attending an exam. For further information about
examinations, refer to http://www.murdoch.edu.au/oss/exams/
This is an individual work and thus must be completed individually.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Submission details are given in the section “Final Exam” in LMS. Please pay very close attention to all of
these instructions as assignments which do not meet these criteria may lose marks or not be accepted.
Note that exact due dates and times are available on LMS.
Note that any piece of work or assessable component may not be accepted or otherwise awarded zero
marks if not submitted in an appropriate form as per supplied instructions.
HOW IT IS ASSESSED (summary)
The assignment will be assessed primarily based on the student’s demonstrated understanding, taking into
account factors such as the correctness and simplicity of the algorithmic solution, simplicity and clarity of
the code, and coding style (i.e., whether it follows the best practices). In the exam, all the learning
objectives of the unit will be assessed.
The assessment includes a moderation process to ensure reliable, just, and fair outcomes.
FEEDBACK FOR LEARNING
Your assessment outcome will be provided to you via LMS.
• If you are an internal student, you can discuss your feedback face-to-face with your tutor.
• If you are an external student, you can also request to discuss your feedback with the tutor who is
assigned to handle external students.
FURTHER DETAILS
See myMurdoch Learning for further details, such as instructions, communication, resources, guides,
exemplars and a descriptive rubric assessment tool.

5.3 Academic integrity

Murdoch University expects students and staff to pursue the highest standards of integrity in all academic
activity. Academic integrity involves behaving ethically and honestly in scholarship and relies on respect for
others’ ideas through proper acknowledgement and referencing of publications.
Academic misconduct is treated seriously and penalties may apply.
More information about academic integrity can be found at https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/learningstudy. To
help you learn about academic integrity practices, all students are required to complete the Murdoch
Academic Passport (MAP100). Please also note the library citation guide.

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Murdoch University makes use of content matching software to detect submitted work that is not original.
When you submit an assessment to myMurdoch Learning, it is checked by this software. Your Unit
Coordinator may apply other processes to verify that your submitted assessment is your own work.

5.4 Extensions and late submissions

In cases where a student has been individually and specifically disadvantaged in the completion of an
assignment then a limited extension may be granted. Students should contact the Unit Coordinator in
writing (i.e., by e-mail to [email protected]) as soon as they become aware that they may
need an extension and provide appropriate documentation such as a medical certificate.
Please note that extensions are not often granted close to the due date and extremely rarely after this has
passed.
Extensions will not be granted once work has been returned to other students. Therefore, if you have any
concerns about being able to complete a piece of assessed work you should contact the Unit Coordinator
regarding this as soon as possible.
If you are granted an extension, then you need to include a copy of the e-mail from the Unit Coordinator
confirming this and include it with your submission.
Assignments submitted after the due date without an extension having been granted will incur a flat 10%
penalty per day late or part thereof, including weekends. Note that assignments are not normally accepted
if more than five days late.
This unit follows Murdoch policies and procedures with regards to extensions and late submissions,
supplementary and deferred assessment.
Students who feel that their disability, medical condition or disability caring responsibilities may impact on
their capacity meet assessment submission are strongly advised to visit Access and Inclusion as early as
possible to discuss potential needs and assistance.

5.5 Determination of the final grade

To pass the unit,
- Your final grade (aggregated over all the assessment components) should be 50% or higher, and
- Obtain a mark of 45% or above in the final examination, and
- Submit Assignment 1 and Assignment 2.
Refer to Reporting of Results in the Assessment Policy for information about marks and grades.

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6. Learning resources

6.1 All learning resources

Your learning resources and any updates are provided through myMurdoch Learning (LMS) in the
myMurdoch portal.
Learning resources within the myMurdoch Learning online environment for this unit will be
1. integrated within the sections and learning activities
and/or
2. through tools such as:
o My Unit Readings
o Collaborate
o Echo360
o PebblePad
The specific types of learning resources that we use include

6.2 Essential learning resources

Essential to success in this unit are these learning resources:

Resource details Resource type Available

Lesley Anne Robertson, Simple
Program Design: A Step-by-Step Book
Approach (Latest Edition).

For many students the above textbook combined with the lecture notes will be sufficient. However, other
students may wish to consider purchasing:

• Tanya McGill, Val Hobbs, Greg Williams & Diarmuid Piggot, Building Blocks for Programming,
Second Edition, Murdoch University, 2002.
Other resources and further recommended resources are in our myMurdoch Learning.
The following will be provided during the teaching period:
• lecture slides/notes
• reading schedule and supplementary notes
• laboratory instructions
• other miscellaneous materials such as additional documentation and links to software

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7. Academic Advice and Student Support

Need guidance on study related issues?

Use this flowchart or seek direct assistance from
Student Support Services or MyMurdochAdvice.

If you have…?
• Questions about content covered in tutorials or practical sessions.
• General questions about completing assessments.
• Concerns about another student or your learning needs. Tutor
• Positive and constructive feedback.

• Questions about unit content, assessments, attendance or tutorial times.

• Questions on marked assessments. Unit
• Academic issues with your learning in this unit. Coordinator
• Positive and constructive feedback.

• Academic issues that haven’t been adequately addressed by the unit

coordinator.
Academic
• Academic issues relating to progression through your degree, withdrawal from a
unit or intermission. Chair
• Positive and constructive feedback.

• Academic or other issues that haven’t been adequately addressed by your

academic chair or you aren’t comfortable discussing with your academic chair.
• Request to re-mark an assessment. Head of
• Complaints or appeals relating to your studies that haven’t been adequately Discipline
addressed. Visit Complaints and Appeals for more advice.
• Positive and constructive feedback.

To further escalate an appeal or complaint, contact the Dean Learning and Teaching
and/or see Complaints and Appeals for formal appeals procedures.

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES: https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/supportservices

LEARNING AND STUDY SUPPORT: https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/learningstudy

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MYMURDOCH ADVICE: https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/mymurdochadvice
COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS: https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/ComplaintsAppeals

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