MODULE INFORMATION

TAYLOR’S COLLEGE

FOUNDATION IN COMPUTING

JANUARY 2025 SEMESTER

ITS30505
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

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MODULE OVERVIEW

Introduction

Welcome to Introduction to Computing!

Introduction to Computing serves as an introductory module for students who aspire to embark in
a career heavily involved with computer systems. Students will be exposed to the basic
characteristics and principles of computer organization concepts, which include the basics of
computer number systems, truth tables, logic gates, computer networking, as well as some of the
latest input, output, and storage devices.

Module Synopsis

This module takes on a hybrid of the Guided Learning and Self-Directed Learning approaches
where the module facilitator(s) first introduce the essential knowledge surrounding the topics to be
taught. Depending on the nature of the topics (theoretically- or problem-solving-based), students
are expected to engage in research and self-exploration to further understand or expose
themselves to any advancements surrounding such concepts.

This module adopts a mixture of face-to-face learning and blended learning for its lecture and
tutorial sessions. Face-to-face lectures serve to introduce students to the concepts required to be
taught by the module, whilst face-to-face tutorials serve to either present opportunities for
students to share their own findings or to reinforce concepts taught. In either case, students will
need to carry out the given tasks at their own time prior to meeting for tutorials.

Students undertaking this module will be evaluated through an Individual Assignment, Group
Project, Written Test, and a Final Examination. The Individual Assignment reinforces students'
knowledge of the topics surrounding the information processing cycle, computer networks and
the basics of computer number systems. The Group Assignment, on the other hand, allows
students to work as a team in designing a logic gate system for a given scenario and explore
future advancements or current issues in the computing industry. The Written Test helps students
reinforce the knowledge gained up to that point, whilst the Final Examination takes it further to
test students on all topics taught.

Module Information

Course Credit 5
Course Status : Core
Pre-requisite : Nil
Contact Hours : 4 hours lectures and 4 hours tutorial per week

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Lecturer Details

Name : Hanin Abdul Rahman

Email : [email protected]
Consultation Hours : By appointment
Office : Block E, Level 9

Module Learning Outcome

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

Learning Outcome PLO1 PLO2 PLO3 PLO4 PLO5

MLO1 Describe the concepts in computer organization

including input and output devices, storage devices, Y
and computer networks. (TGC 1.1, 1.2)

MLO2 Apply skills in Boolean algebra, computer number

systems, and logic gates for using the Karnaugh Map Y
method and designing truth tables. (TGC 2.1, 2.3)

MLO3 Work together as a group in designing simple logic

circuits that can be applied on a circuit board and Y
simulator. (TGC 5.2, 5.3)

MLO4 Exhibit the ability to explore current advancements

revolving the computing and information technology
industry and its involvement in society. (TGC 4.1, 4.2) Y

MODULE DELIVERY / TEACHING AND LEARNING ARRANGEMENTS

Lectures

Lectures are one-way communication of information from the lecturer to the students in a hall with
a capacity of 200 students. Interaction is minimal as knowledge on the concepts, theories, and
examples are explained to the students.

Lecture attendance is compulsory. Students are STRONGLY advised to attend lectures as core
knowledge of the module will be delivered in a continuous pattern. Failure to attend one lecture
may lead to confusion at subsequent lectures. In addition, students are required to prepare for
tutorials which will incorporate and emphasise the information conveyed in lectures.

Tutorials

Tutorials are interactive sessions between one tutor and 25 to 30 students. Students are expected
to prepare and participate in discussions and Q&A sessions. This is an opportunity for students to
seek clarification on module/topic areas they have not had a clear grasp of yet. Practical sessions
are a variant of such sessions where students typically apply the knowledge learnt in lecture
sessions into practice.

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Self and Independent Study

Students cannot expect lecturers to be the sole provider of knowledge and information as these
are unlimited. Students are expected to self-practise and study independently at lease 141 hours
for this module.

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY

Form of Assessment Length/Hour Weightage Due Date MLO Assessed

Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 20% Week 4 1

Assessment 2: Group Project 40% Week 7 3, 4

Assessment 3: Written Test 1 hour 10% Week 7 2

Assessment 4: Final Examination 2 hours 30% Exam Period 1, 2

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Students should not expect lecturers to be the sole providers of knowledge and information, as
these are unlimited. Instead, students are expected to engage in self-practice and independent
study for at least 141 hours for this module.

Written Test (10%)

Written Tests are to be conducted live during a Lecture session, unless mentioned otherwise by
the lecturer at a later date. Students will be required to answer all the given questions in the test
within the stipulated time limit. Submission instructions as well as the respective Written Tests'
format will be provided on a later time leading to each of the Written Tests' sessions.

Individual Assignment (20%)

Individual Assignment requires students to complete a worksheet containing problems revolving

introductory computing concepts as well as that of input, output, and storage. This is an
individual assignment.
Individual Assignment is slated to be due Week 4, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Group Project (40%)

For the Group Assignment, students are expected to complete a worksheet themed after digital
systems. Additionally, students are expected to prepare a short educational video to go through
an ongoing topic of interest in the computing and IT industry, or to explain a topic under the same
theme that's not covered extensively in the module syllabus. Students are expected to present
their findings at the end of the semester. Unless stated otherwise by the lecturer at a later date,
the Group Project is to be undertaken in groups of FIVE (5) members. The Group Project is slated
to be due Week 7, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

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ASSESSMENT OFFENCES

Taylor’s College treats any acts of dishonesty relating to assessment of College modules very
seriously. It is vital that students acquaint themselves with the College’s policy on assessment
offences. Assessment Offences is defined here as passing off the work of others as one’s own
including copying (reproducing or imitating), cheating, collusion (agreement to deceive, using
words or ideas of colleagues or other students and passing them off as your own), plagiarism and
other breaches of assessment or other examination regulations. Cheating, collusion and
plagiarism are the use of unfair means of presenting work for assessment; aiding another student
in the use of unfair means of presenting work for assessment; or preventing or attempting to
prevent another student from being able to be assessed properly.

The College is to check any work submitted by students using text comparison software, for
instance Turnitin. The similarity index produced by the software is an important tool to assess a
student’s performance. However, the index is not the only tool to conclusively determine the
existence of breach of academic integrity. It is important to note that although the rate of similarity
may be significantly high or otherwise, the lecturer/tutor/instructor is responsible to exercise his or
her independent professional judgement to determine the actual existence of a breach of
academic integrity.

Allegations of and investigations into assessment offences will be dealt with in accordance with
the regulations and procedures in force at Taylors College for the module. Where a student is
found to have committed an assessment offence a decision must be taken either to take no
further action or to impose an appropriate penalty which may include failing the student and
determining whether or not the student will be permitted another assessment attempt.
Where it is decided that penalty is to be imposed, the penalty could include one of the followings:

a) the mark for the relevant piece of assessment be reduced; or

b) the mark awarded for the relevant piece of assessment be reduced to zero; or
c) the student be deemed to have failed the module and is not permitted for another assessment
attempt for the module.

Please refer to Taylor’s College Programme Guide for details on Assessment Offences.

Late Submission of Assignment

Assignments submitted within 24 hours after the published deadline will be penalised as below:

a) A mark of more than 50% for the assignment will be reduced to 50%. This reduced mark will
be used in the calculation of the overall module mark;
b) A mark of 50% or less will stand and be used in the calculation of the overall module mark.

Assignments will not be accepted after the 24 hour window and will be recorded as a non-
submission. A mark of ZERO will be awarded. Please see the section on Non-Submission of
Assignment below for more details.

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Extension of Deadline

No extension will be granted for the assignment, except in the case of extenuating circumstances.
Please refer to the section on Extenuating Circumstances in this booklet, should you like to
request for consideration of extenuating circumstances.

Students, whose application for extenuating circumstances is accepted, will not receive their
marks, when the other students who submitted on time receive theirs.

Non-Submission of Assignment

Students who do not submit their assignment will be deemed to have forfeited their right to a resit
of the module. These students will be required to repeat the module with attendance and
undertake all assessments again.

Note that students are granted only three attempts at a module. If you do not pass the module in
the third attempt, you will be excluded from your respective programmes.

Feedback and Mark for the Assignment

The mark and feedback on the assignment will be provided on a Feedback Form. The purpose of
the feedback is to help you to assess your ability to apply the knowledge and concepts taught in
the module in sufficient depth, as well as your progress toward meeting the module objectives.
The feedback and marks for the assignment will be given to you within 10-15 days of your
submission of the assignment.

FINAL EXAMINATION (30%)

Generally, the final exam is a closed-book exam (unless told otherwise by respective lecturer).
Only “hard copy” dictionaries are permitted for use in the exam, provided approval from the
relevant authorities are made officially. The dictionary must not be enhanced or tampered with in
any way. Electronic dictionaries and mobile phones are not permitted. The use of dictionary
during examination must be done with the prior approval from the Examination Unit.

Final Examination Format

Generally, the final examination is a closed-book examination (unless told otherwise by the
respective module lecturer). Only "hard copy" dictionaries are permitted for use in the
examination, provided approval from the relevant authorities have officially been made. The
dictionary must not be enhanced or tampered with in any way. Electronic dictionaries and mobile
phones are not permitted during the examination. The use of a dictionary during the examination
must be done with prior approval from the Examination Unit. Furthermore, the use of a calculator
of any kind is forbidden during the final examination.

The final examination will be based on the course outline covered during class lectures, tutorials/
practical sessions, and discussions. There may be examination revisions from time to time, even
more so towards the end of the semester during when this may prove useful in preparing for the
examination. Further information regarding the final examination will be disclosed by the lecturer
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during revision sessions. The final examination is expected to consist of some analytical,
application, and theoretical questions.

All students are only granted THREE (3) attempts at a module. Students who do not attend the
final examination without prior approval are deemed to have forfeited their right to a re-sit
attempt. In this case, the student will be required to repeat the module and undertake all
assessments again. Should a student be unable to pass the module in the third attempt, the
student will be excluded from the respective program.

Refer to the section on Extenuating Circumstances, should you seek to request for consideration
on the grounds of extenuating circumstances.

RE-SIT ASSESSMENT

Marks awarded for a re-sit component is capped at 50%. Students are only allowed to attempt a
re-sit of the assessment if the module does not comprise of a final examination component.
Moreover, only students who have attempted/submitted the coursework assessment prior are
eligible for the assessment re-sit.

The re-sit assessment for the continuous assessment component will be in the form of an
assignment, carrying a maximum weightage of 50% of the overall module re-sit assessment. The
re-sit assessment guidelines will be made available on the module webpage in TIMeS after final
results have been released.

Resit Examination

Like the Final Examination, the re-sit examination is a closed-book examination. Only "hard copy"
dictionaries are permitted for use in the examination, provided approval from the relevant
authorities have officially been made. The dictionary must not be enhanced or tampered with in
any way. Electronic dictionaries and mobile phones are not permitted during the examination. The
use of a dictionary during the examination must be done with prior approval from the Examination
Unit. Furthermore, the use of a calculator of any kind is forbidden during the re-sit examination.
The marks earned for the module after the re-sit examination is capped at 50%.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Extenuating circumstances are circumstances which are unforeseen, unexpected, significantly

disruptive and beyond a student’s control. The circumstances must relate to a specific piece of
assessment or examination rather than being problems of a kind that affect a year as a whole or
parts of it.

A student who is of the opinion that:

• his or her performance in an examination or in other assessed work has been adversely
affected by an extenuating circumstance(s), or
• his or her ability to attend an examination has been adversely affected by an extenuating
circumstance(s).

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Could submit an Extenuating Circumstances Form to the Examinations Centre at Taylor’s College.
The form must be accompanied by supporting documentary evidence. Acceptance of extenuating
circumstances shall be evaluated on a case to case basis by an Extenuating Circumstances
Panel. The decision of the Panel shall be deemed as final.

Circumstances that are unlikely to be accepted as extenuating circumstances include the

following:
• personal illness or disability for which special arrangements are already in place.
• colds or know conditions such as hay fever.
• normal examination stress or anxiety experienced during revision or the assessment period
(unless corroborated by medical evidence as a chronic condition and undergoing treatment).
• non serious domestic or personal disruptions (eg moving house, change of job, holidays,
weddings, normal job pressure, failed travel arrangements, financial difficulties, oversleeping).
• study related circumstances (equipment failure including computing/printer difficulties (unless
they occur in the examination itself), failure to have taken back up copies for work stolen or
corrupted, bunching of deadlines/examinations, missing books, poor time management,
misreading the examination timetable, taking the wrong examination).
(Note: The above list is not exhaustive).

RECOMMENDED TEXT

1. O'Leary, T., O'Leary, L. & O'Leary, D. (2021). Computing Essentials 2021 (25th Edition).
McGraw-Hill Education.
2. Kurose, J. W. & Ross, K. W. (2021). Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (8th
Edition). Pearson Education Ltd.
3. Deschamps, J., Valderrama, E. & Teres, L. (2017). Digital Systems: From Logic Gates to
Processors. Springer International Publishing.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

1. Watson, D. & Williams, H. (2019). Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science.
Hodder Education.
2. Long, P., Lawrey, S. & Ellis, V. (2021). IT for Cambridge International AS & A Level Coursebook
(2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press.
3. Bryant, R. E. & O'Hallaron, D. R. (2015). Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective (3rd
Edition). Pearson Education.

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GRADING

Grade Marks Grade Points Definition Description

Evidence of original thinking; demonstrated

outstanding capacity to apply, analyze synthesize
A 80-100 4.00 Excellent and evaluate information; outstanding grasp of
subject matter; evidence of outstanding command
of relevant knowledge base.

Evidence of some original thinking: demonstrated

very good capacity to apply, analyze, synthesize
A- 75-79 3.67 Very Good and evaluate information: very good grasp of
subject matter: and evidence of very good
command of relevant knowledge base.

B+ 70-74 3.33 Demonstrate good capacity to apply, analyze,

synthesize and evaluate information; good grasp of
Good
subject matter, and evidence of good command of
B 65-69 3.00
relevant knowledge base.

B- 60-64 2.67 Demonstrate adequate capacity to apply, analyze,

synthesize information, adequate grasp of subject
C+ 55-59 2.33 Pass matter, and evidence of adequate command of
relevant knowledge base.
C 50-54 2.00

D+ 47-49 1.67 Demonstrate inadequate capacity to apply and

analyze information, insufficient grasp of subject
D 44-46 1.33 Marginal Fail matter, and evidence of very weak command
relevant knowledge base.
D- 40-43 1.00

Demonstrated very weak capacity to apply and

analyze information, very weak grasp of subject
F 0-39 0.00 Fail
matter, and evidence of very weak command of
relevant knowledge base.

Withdrawn from a module before census date,

WD - - Withdrawn
typically mid semester.

Withdrawn from a module after census date,

F(W) 0 0.00 Fail
typically mid semester.

An interim notation given for a module where a

student has not completed certain requirements
IN - - Incomplete
with valid reason or it is not possible to finalise the
grade by the published deadline.

An interim notation used for a module which

continued for more than one semester. An “IP”
IP - - In Progress
grade carries with it no credit or grade until a
regular grade is assigned.

Given for satisfactory completion of

non- graded module.
P - - Pass Note: Non-graded module is module that is
‘graded’ with ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ without any grades
such as A,B,C or D.

Given for a module where attendance is for

AU - - Audit
information only without earning academic credit.

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MODULE CONTENT

LEARNING REMARKS /
WEEK TOPIC
OUTCOMES DATELINES

Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer

Systems
• Information Processing Cycle
• Concept of Hardware and Software
• Internal Hardware in a Computer
• Application Software and System
Software Briefing of Individual
1
• Custom-Written Software VS Off-the- 1 Assignment
6 Jan - 10 Jan
Shelf Software
• Type of User Interfaces (UIs) Briefing of Group
• Type of Computers Assignment

Chapter 2: Input Devices

• Concept of Input
• Type of Input Devices and Applications

Chapter 3: Output Devices

• Concept of Output
• Type of Input Devices and Applications

Chapter 4: Storage Devices

2
• Concept of Storage 1
13 Jan - 17 Jan
• Characteristics of Storage
• Types of Storage Access: Primary
Memory & Secondary Memory
• Virtual Memory
• Cloud Storage

Chapter 5: Computer Networks and

The Internet (Part 1)
• Network Types
• Network Strategies: Client-Server &
P2P Models
• Network Topologies
• Network Latency, Throughput, &
Bandwidth
• Data Transmission Methods
• Wireless Technology
3 • Components in a Network
1
20 Jan - 24 Jan
Chapter 6: Computer Networks and
The Internet (Part 2)
• Internet & The World Wide Web
• Internet Connection Requirements
• Network Protocols
• IPv4 & IPv6 Addresses
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
• Domain Name Service (DNS)
• Common Network Security
Technologies

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 LEARNING REMARKS /
WEEK TOPIC
OUTCOMES DATELINES

Chapter 7: Fundamentals of Data Representation

(Part 1)
• Decimal, Binary, and Hexadecimal Number
Systems
• Conversions between Decimal, Binary, and
Hexadecimal Number Systems
• Binary-Coded Decimal (BCD) System Due of Individual
4 • Gray Code Assignment
2
27 Jan - 31 Jan • ASCII Code System and Unicode System

Chapter 8: Fundamentals of Data Representation

(Part 2)
• Signed Binary Numbers
• Binary Arithmetic Operations
• Hexadecimal Arithmetic Operations

Chapter 9: Logic Gates

• Introduction to Truth Tables & Logic Gates
• Types of Logic Gates
• Modelling Scenarios and Computer Systems
using Logic Gates and Truth Tables

Chapter 10: Boolean Algebra

5 • Boolean Operations
2, 3
3 Feb - 7 Feb • Boolean Algebra Laws
• Simplifying Boolean Operations
• Standard Forms of Boolean
Operations
• Deriving Boolean Expressions from Logic
Circuits & Truth Tables

Chapter 11: Karnaugh Maps

• Introduction to Karnaugh Maps
• Rules Governing Karnaugh Maps
• Simplifying Boolean Expressions using Karnaugh
Maps

Chapter 12: Future & Advancement of Computing Written Test

6
• IT in Society 1, 2, 3, 4
10 Feb - 14 Feb
• Impact of IT
• New Emerging Technologies
• Careers in Computing Industry

Chapter 12: Future & Advancement of Computing

7 • The Digital Divide Due of Group
1, 2, 3, 4
17 Feb - 21 Feb • e-Security Project
• Ethics and Ownership

Module Wrap-Up and Revision

FINAL EXAMINATION - 24 FEBRUARY 2025 to 7 MARCH 2025 -

DO NOT TAKE LEAVE during this period

- END OF MODULE INFORMATION -

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