Computer Science BSc

In the first year, you'll learn the foundations of computer science, including programming and systems and architecture. You'll also work on your own lab-based project.

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the foundations of programming. On completion of this module, you will be able to explain the key foundational concepts used to construct, analyse and debug small to medium sized programs for a variety of computing applications.

To provide you with an understanding of the organisation of computer-based systems from the small-scale (for example gates, processors and memory), through the medium-scale (for example personal computer organisation), to the large-scale (for example the Internet). On completion of this module, you will be able to describe a range of typical computer based systems in terms of their internal organisation of components and their system interfaces.

To provide you with an understanding of the foundations of Computer Science. On completion of this module, you will be able to explain the key concepts underpinning the discipline of Computer Science.

To provide you with experience of a range of Computer Science projects that reinforce First Year teaching and learning and provide opportunities to apply this learning in a supported and structured environment.

After developing more advanced skills during your second year, you'll have the opportunity to take an optional placement year in a computer-based industry. To support you financially while you benefit from industry experience, we will cover your tuition fees for the year.

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the concepts involved with object-oriented programming. To this end, you will cover the fundamentals of objects, classes, inheritance, composition, encapsulation and polymorphism. In addition, the module will expose you to GUI frameworks, introduce some basic software engineering design principles and patterns, and provide a more abstracted view of system design in terms of layered software architectures. It is expected that on completion of this module, you will be able to design, implement and test non-trivial object-oriented programs.

Part I of this module will provide you with an opportunity to gain practical level experience of Operating System management techniques in a realistic and flexible environment. Access is provided to a 64-bit Linux Enterprise system to promote active learning and reinforce lecture material.

Part II of this module provides you with the basic skills needed to learn both the practical and conceptual skills that build the foundation for understanding basic networking.

You will gain an understanding of the “layered” approach to networks by examining the OSI and TCP/IP models in detail as well as an introduction to switching and routing.

This module builds on the programming fundamentals developed in the first year through the study of software development processes, software engineering tools and techniques, and the analysis of algorithms and data structures.

This will enable the design, implementation, testing, profiling, and optimisation of software to be accurate, elegant and efficient implementations.

Several software engineering tools and techniques will be introduced and utilised throughout this module, where you will get to implement design, management, testing, and profiling of software.

This module will give you practical experience with the development of dynamic websites using HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript. You will learn how to store client-side data and get first-hand experience with the server-side storage of data using databases.

You will also obtain a deeper understanding of the operation of large-scale websites, such as Facebook and Google, and the security, privacy and legal issues that affect web applications.

The module aims to provide you with a working knowledge of the principles and practice of blood sciences and to gain experience in the application of commonly used techniques.

The module aims to provide you with a working knowledge of the principles and practice of cellular pathology and to gain experience in the application of commonly used techniques and the delivery of cellular pathology services. Emphasis is placed on the use of histological equipment, and on routine and special staining techniques for the demonstration of pathological conditions.

The overall aim is that you understand and gain experience in the principles, practice, quality assurance and applications of commonly employed methods of molecular biology and genetics used in the investigation of disease.

The module aims to develop your employability skills by achieving the set of agreed learning outcomes using a Three Way Negotiated Learning Agreement. The module develops a range of skills specific to the individual workplace.

This practical experience module provides the means for you to link academic work with the 'real world', facilitating the embedding of transferable and graduate skills necessary for future career paths and employment.

You will reflect upon areas of knowledge relevant to the placement learning experience and develop personal knowledge through a review of your learning, with the opportunity to enhance your self-expression, communication, self-reliance and co-operation.

This module provides you with the opportunity of choosing and working on a project that reflects your interests and aims and outcomes of your programme. It should constitute a practical problem-solving project relevant to your programme of study.

The primary aim of the module is to consolidate and deepen your understanding of material taught on your programme, to exercise professional judgement, to undertake individual research and to conduct an investigation and/or develop a product, process or application relevant to the focus of your programme.

It provides you with the opportunity of engaging in significant system development, the typical output of which represents the solution of a problem akin to those that you as a fledgling professional practitioner are likely to encounter in future employment.

The module intends that your choice of individual project will provide you with a significant opportunity to reflect on your learning progress and to develop your learning for life-long and career development.

Computer systems are almost never perfect, exhibiting errors, crashes and hangs whose implications range from benign to fatal. This module will examine the different notions of correctness relevant to computer systems, and how these are applied to the different parts of a computer system.

Automatic and user-guided methods that attempt to find possible problems within systems will be covered and demonstrated on practical examples. Also, methods for ensuring that no problems can possibly exist within a system design will be examined and applied.

This module aims to develop your understanding of the techniques and approaches used to capture, store and analyse data generated by organisations for purposes of business intelligence. In a digital age it is important for businesses to make use of data captured about its entities. You will learn about information retrieval, data presentation, pattern recognition techniques and data models that can be used in business intelligence applications. Descriptive data models can be used to gain a better understanding of overall organisation and predictive data models inform the decision making in all aspects of the business.

This module aims to develop a deep understanding of the latest web-based app programming techniques, frameworks, and methodologies used by the industry to develop the next generation software that can be deployed on any mobile devices (both Android and iOS).

The module will investigate, develop, and deploy latest programming language standards that are fundamental to app development and currently being widely employed in industry.

Modern programming frameworks will be introduced to provide the essential software architecture for large-scale software development and the ability to target either the Android or iOS platform.

The module will cover the three most important components of a complete mobile app: front end, back end, and system administration.

This module is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills related to designing, securing, operating, and troubleshooting enterprise networks.

This module also covers wide area network (WAN) technologies, introduces software-defined networking, virtualisation, and automation concepts that support the digitalisation of networks.

Extensive labs emphasise hands-on learning and practice to reinforce the skills to configure and troubleshoot enterprise networks.

The module reflects the job skills and responsibilities that are associated with professional-level job roles such as network engineer, systems engineer, network support engineer, network administrator, and network consultant.

This module aims to equip you with the underlying concepts and theory in interactive media manipulation. In doing this, you will develop skills in synthesis and modification of media, hardware controllers, data visualisation and sonification.

By understanding the relationship between cognitive psychology and our mathematical treatment of media data, you will develop a strong theoretical foundation with which to explore this area.

You will be programming using a wide range of languages and explore a wide range of paradigms for completing various media-based tasks including the design and development of interactive artefacts.

As we are dealing with media and its presentation, there are strong links to the digital arts and you are expected to explore their creative side in addition to the computing skills required.

Background reading will provide you with a historical and philosophical context for reflecting on their own practice and that of their peers.

During this module, you will gain understanding of underpinning concepts and practical techniques relevant when considering humans, both in the organisation of design and design processes, and as a way of incorporating a user perspective in the design of products and services.

The module also includes analysis of user experience, the characteristics of users and their tasks, and the technical, organisational and physical environment in which products or systems may operate.

The aim of the module is to introduce you to a range of AI theories and techniques, including the most commonly used. You will also have the opportunity to implement these newly learnt techniques, and to extend your own development skills.

Designing secure computer systems is a cross cutting discipline: from organisational policies, via programming languages and network protocols all the way down to physical layers, security controls need to be installed at all levels of a computer system.

This course aims at giving you an overall appreciation of the meaning of security and privacy, teaching you standard techniques of designing, developing and assessing secure computer systems.

At the end of the module, you will have acquired skills and knowledge in basic cryptology, security protocol design, threat analysis, security models and security engineering techniques.

The aim of this module is to examine in depth the concepts and techniques needed in the construction of interactive graphics systems covering advanced graphics programming techniques. The module will cover theory and mathematics as required.

You will gain practical experience via significant individual project work, developing computer graphics programs using an industry standard environment.

Interactive technologies are developing continually, and new devices that offer novel ways of interacting with computer-based systems are constantly finding their way into our homes, workplaces and lives. In this module, you will encounter and study a range of innovative and emerging interaction technologies.

The module affords an opportunity to become familiar with the technologies and devices themselves as well as ways of analysing their applicability for particular uses and situations, and approaches evaluating their use.

By understanding how computing devices and products are used and studying the ways that usage changes over time, you will gain a critical awareness of the processes by which interactive products gain in popularity and become successful.

After completing the module, you will therefore be better equipped to anticipate and select the successful interaction technologies of the future, analyse situations of use and potential users, design using the latest interaction technology, and evaluate novel and innovative designs.

Many modern websites store and process large amounts of data. Typical examples are property search websites, price comparison websites and financial websites.

This module aims to give you the ability to download, store and process large quantities of data and build websites based on this data using advanced JavaScript frameworks.

At the end of the module, you will have gained advanced skills with Java, JavaScript, web development and big data, which are highly sought after skills.

The module will focus on the teaching of computer science within the secondary school (age 11-16) setting. You will observe, analyse and prepare materials for teaching practice. You will then start to apply your knowledge of computing to teaching practice.

During this module, you will develop an understanding of the Teachers’ standards, therefore supporting your preparation for application of initial teacher training courses. You will complete reading on education pedagogy to critically analyse practice.

The module will also support your development of public speaking.

This module aims to develop understanding of the integration of modular robotic and sensor systems. It will enable students to acquire practical skills of robotic software/hardware integration and validation. In addition it aims to develop understanding of human robot interaction.

We're taking a new innovative approach to computer science teaching at Middlesex, which uses practical, problem-led sessions to reflect the way computer science occurs in the real world.

You’ll have access to a range of teaching styles, developed by academics who are experts in their fields. Programming is integrated throughout each year, and you will learn through lectures, workshops and tutorials. You will also learn through practical experience during supervised laboratory work and your own guided research.

Seminars and workshops are a great opportunity to discuss what you have learnt with your peers and tutors. Most seminar and workshop groups have about 25–30 students.

In your final year, you will be encouraged and helped to apply for work placements, and given help with your CV and interview technique. The faculty runs sessions in conjunction with a number of employers on the opportunities available.

Your work will be divided into credits. Each credit is equal to 10 hours of study time. You will complete 120 credits per year of study, which are broken down into modules of typically 30 credits.

For one-to-one support, you will meet with either your personal tutor or module leader. We also will share our library of online resources.

You will be studying at our leafy north London campus in Hendon.

Timetable

Whether you are studying full or part-time – your course timetable will balance your study commitments on campus with time for work, life commitments and independent study.

We aim to make timetables available to students at least 2 weeks before the start of term. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on-campus sessions.

Year one - typical weekly breakdown

During your first year, your weekly timetable will typically consist of:

• 2-hour lecture on Monday morning and a 1-hour lecture with speakers from Industry in the evening
• Programming workshop (2 hours): using a LISP-based dialect, from simple tasks to controlling a robot using tweets
• Physical workshop (3 hours): from simple logic gates to micro-controllers and assembly
• Design workshop (2 hours): to develop design skills for software, hardware, system engineering, etc
• Synoptic workshop (3 hours): working around a problem to pull everything together.

Teaching vs independent learning

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework, presentations and exams.

Your independent learning is supported by the library and study hub, laptop hire, and with online materials in MyUniHub.

Here is an indication of how you will split your time.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3/final year

Our excellent teaching and support teams will help you develop the skills relevant to your degree from research and practical skills to critical thinking. And we offer free 24-hour laptop loans with full desktop software, free printing and Wi-Fi to use on or off campus, even over the weekend.

Your learning will be assessed regularly and is made up of 100% coursework.

Assessments

You will be assessed through exams, practical demonstrations, essays, reports, presentations, individual and group work and online quizzes. Assessments will either be completed online or on campus.

We'll test your understanding and progress with informal and formal tests.

The informal tests usually take place at least once per module, from which you’ll receive feedback from your tutor. The grades from these tests don’t count towards your final marks.

There are formal assessments for each module, usually at the end, which will count towards your module and your final marks.

Assessments are reviewed annually and may be updated based on student feedback or feedback from an external examiner.

To help you achieve the best results, we will provide regular feedback.