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COMP51915: Professional Skills

It is possible that changes to modules or programmes might need to be made during the academic year, in response to the impact of Covid-19 and/or any further changes in public health advice.

Type Tied
Level 5
Credits 15
Availability Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap None.
Location Durham
Department Computer Science

Prerequisites

  • Programming skills in Python. Basic C programming skills.

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations of Modules

Aims

  • Provide training in collaborative large-scale code development.
  • Provide training in essential subject-specific project management, collaboration techniques and version control.
  • Provide training in essential wider professional skills: entrepreneurship, intellectual property, etc.
  • Provide transferable skills training: communicating novel ideas in science, and reflecting on ethical issues around data as well as research in a broader sense.

Content

  • Training on common tools for agile, collaborative code development including build systems and CI.
  • Software development and usage workshops.
  • Entrepreneuership, Research Ethics (Intellectual Property, e.g.), Academic Writing, Basic Project Planning and Timetabling.
  • Communicating Science, Philosophy and Ethics of Data Sciences.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • understanding and critical reflection of legal and ethical principles underpinning theapplication of computational methods and data science in economical and societal context
  • fundamental entrepreneurial/project management and implementation skills

Subject-specific Skills:

  • technical skills in using build systems, CI and common tools for collaborative code development
  • competent management of software projects, understanding of versioning and techniques for quality control

Key Skills:

  • mature research on industrial scale
  • responsible research
  • productive research

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Workshop: Agile and Responsible Code Development, Collaborative Working32 days in one week4 hours, 3 hours, 3 hours10 
Workshop: Project Management32 days in one week4 hours, 3 hours, 3 hours10 
Workshop: Communicating Science and Research Ethics32 days in one week4 hours, 3 hours, 3 hours10 
Workshop: Structured Innovation32 days in one week4 hours, 3 hours, 3 hours10 
Preparation and Reading110 
Total150 

Summative Assessment

Component: CourseworkComponent Weighting: 100%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Workshop Presentation/e-poster20 minutes25 
Workshop Presentation/e-poster20 minutes25 
Workshop Presentation/e-poster20 minutes25 
Workshop Presentation/e-poster20 minutes25 

Formative Assessment

The successful participation in professional and transferable skills training as well as the entrepeneurial training will be assessed formatively through individual and/or group presentations. Alternatively, the lecturer may ask for a short essay. They are indirectly assessed (project planning, presentation and communication skills, source code handling) with formative feedback by each individual coursework.

More information

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