The School proposes a change to the CMPT Major program to increase the minimum number of 400 level CMPT courses from two to four. The following revision to the calendar entry under Upper Division Requirements for a Major is proposed.
| Current | Proposed |
|---|---|
Depth RequirementFour additional courses from table I must be completed in the five areas chosen to satisfy breadth requirements. At least two of these courses must be numbered CMPT 400 or above. |
Depth RequirementFour additional courses from table I must be completed in the five areas chosen to satisfy breadth requirements. These courses must be numbered CMPT 400 or above. |
These changes are proposed to ensure that students expand their knowledge and depth of understanding in a specialty and to encourage students to take higher level courses.
For consistency with the general CMPT Major program leading to the B.Sc. degree, MACM 316 is proposed as a requirement for the two specialist programs in Multimedia Computing and Software Engineering.
| Current | Proposed |
|---|---|
Upper Division RequirementsStudents must complete at least 39 credit hours of computing science upper
division courses, which should include CMPT courses in the following
required and elective courses. At least six of the following are required, three of which must be at the 400 level,
three must be designated CMPT and at least two must be a non-CMPT course. Relevant FPA lower and upper division special topics courses may be applied
to the above requirement with the approval of the director of undergraduate
studies in the School of Computing Science. Some FPA courses listed above require prerequisites that are not included here.
Where possible, prerequisites for FPA courses will be waived or adjusted so that
computing science students in this specialist program can gain access. Eligible FPA courses taken to satisfy the upper division requirements may
also be used to satisfy the external breadth requirement. |
Upper Division RequirementsStudents must complete at least 39 credit hours of computing science upper
division courses, which should include CMPT courses in the following
required and elective courses. At least six of the following are required, three of which must be at the 400 level,
three must be designated CMPT and at least two must be a non-CMPT course. Relevant FPA lower and upper division special topics courses may be applied
to the above requirement with the approval of the director of undergraduate
studies in the School of Computing Science. Some FPA courses listed above require prerequisites that are not included here.
Where possible, prerequisites for FPA courses will be waived or adjusted so that
computing science students in this specialist program can gain access. Eligible FPA courses taken to satisfy the upper division requirements may
also be used to satisfy the external breadth requirement. |
| Current | Proposed |
|---|---|
Upper Division RequirementsRequired CoursesStudents must complete all seven of the following courses. Students must complete five or more courses chosen from the following list,
at least three of which are at the 400 level. Additional upper CMPT courses are required to bring the total CMPT credits
to 45 or more (ENSC 351 is treated as CMPT credit for this purpose). |
Upper Division RequirementsRequired CoursesStudents must complete all eight of the following courses. Students must complete five or more courses chosen from the following list,
at least three of which are at the 400 level. Additional upper CMPT courses are required to bring the total CMPT credits
to 45 or more (ENSC 351 is treated as CMPT credit for this purpose). |
MACM 316-3 is a core requirement of CMPT Majors pursuing the B.Sc. degree. It is particularly important with respect to the numerical computation work as required in multimedia applications involving graphics and sound. From a software engineering perspective, it introduces the important topic of numerical errors and limitations on the accuracy of numerical computation.
The inconsistency between the general CMPT Major program and the specialist programs with respect to MACM 316 has led to a highly undesirable phenomenon of MACM 316 avoidance. That is, some students may choose specialist programs primarily to avoid MACM 316.