This course was taught to two types of student in the University of York's
Computer Science Department. There were students studying for a taught
M.Sc. in Information Processing and the Human-Computer Interface.
This was a conversion course, giving IT skills to students whose first
degree was not Computer Science. And there were undergraduates studying
for a
B.A. in Information Technology, Business Management and a modern foreign
Language (ITBML). In neither case was it possible to assume anything other
than the most rudimentary mathematical knowledge. Fear of maths was also
prevalent. I taught the course in 1995 and 1996.
Workload
Lectures: 18 * 1 hr lectures
Practicals: 9 * 2 hr practicals
Private study: 52.5 hrs (including revision)
Assessment: 1.5 hrs (excluding revision)
Prerequisites
A willingness to learn some maths.
Assessment
An unseen 90-minute paper, worth 50 marks.
All questions to be answered.
Description
The course introduces students to some of the branches of discrete
mathematics that are most important to information processing.
Aims
Students should acquire the ability to formulate and evaluate
mathematical expressions in a range of mathematical models that are used
in information processing.
Students should master mathematical material that is co-requisite
and pre-requisite for other courses.
Content
(L1) The role of maths in information processing.
(L2-L3) Expressions and evaluation.
(L4-L6) Set theory.
(L7-L8) Relations.
(L9) Functions.
(L10-L12) Syntax and semantics of propositional logic.
(L13-L14) A proof theory for propositional logic.
(L15-L18) An introduction to the syntax and semantics of
first-order predicate logic.
** Lipschutz S.: Set theory and related topics, McGraw-Hill, 1964
(Any other book by Lipschutz that covers set theory, functions and
relations will be just as suitable.)
** Foxley, E. and Burke, E.: Logic and its applications, Prentice Hall, 1996