Computer Science with Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)

Bucks New University

Discover the foundational principles for programming languages. You'll study variables, data types, assignment, conditionals, functions, data structures and the object-oriented paradigm. You'll work with other students on a project to simulate the working environment and will develop your problem-solving and computational thinking skills.

You'll look at principles of computer organisation, the layered nature of systems structures & the interfaces between them. You'll also study: components of a computer, the architecture, how they're organised, hardware, data representation, computer logic circuits, manipulation of data at the bit level & the theory of computation and its paradigms.

You'll study the architecture, structure, functions and models of the Internet and computer networks. You'll use models to examine protocols and services at the application, network, data link & physical layers and will analyse the principles & structure of IP addressing and the fundamentals of Ethernet concepts, network media & network operations.

This module introduces the mathematical language, knowledge and problem-solving skills that you'll need to study computing. You'll look at concepts such as set, relation, function and recursion/induction and principles of counting and finite probability. The fundamental notions of logic and their use for representation and proof are also explored.

This module provides you with an overview of cyber security threats and vulnerabilities, and how to identify and manage them in relation to information systems and assets. You will develop essential risk management skills, including assessing organisational context, identifying assets and threats, and producing risk mitigation strategies. You will also learn to adapt your approach to changes in threat environments, select appropriate auditing tools, and create effective information risk management strategies that secure organisational commitment.

This module aims to give you an understanding of how data is collected, stored and managed. You'll look at different approaches to data and the reasons for choosing one approach or another. You will also study issues of selecting an appropriate data solution aligned to real world use and application.

This module extends the Level 4 Programming module to introduce alternative data structures to arrays and lists in addition to a variety of algorithms that perform typical operations such as sort, search, insert, delete, and find on these data structures. You'll also look at how to evaluate storage structures and algorithms based on requirements.

This module within a practical Integrated development environment (Visual Studio) and using a modern OOP language (C#, C++, Java), will demonstrate how the key techniques of inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation can be directly applied to produce high quality software systems.

This module aims to support you in gaining an understanding of the research process, including principles of research methods theory (ontology/epistemology) and practical elements. You'll be guided in how to plan and prepare for a research-based dissertation or work-based project or artefact-based project.

This module aims to link between the modules concerned with computational complexity, data structures, algorithms and artificial intelligence. Data scientists find insights and solve business problems. In this module, you will study how to work with and explore data using a variety of visualisation, analytical and statistical techniques.

This practical class aims to provide you with a deeper understanding of high-level programming language. It covers several advanced topics, including object oriented, concurrent and network programming and provides insight into how data is managed in such systems. Practical sessions expose you to industrial software development practices.

You'll study the ‘Critical Systems Specification’, a crucial point-of-reference for all subsequent activities in the software development process. This document must be expressed in a language whose vocabulary, syntax and semantics are formally defined, so is based on maths. This generates proofs that the resulting code will meet its requirements.

Data science is a crucially important domain in computing due to the significant amounts of data being captured by businesses for analysis, processing and to support decision-making. In this module, you will learn to work with and explore data using a variety of visualisation, analytical and statistical techniques.

This module gives you the opportunity to carry out an individual, in-depth investigation into a topic of your choice, helping you to develop skills in research, problem-solving, and critical analysis. Working with a supervisor, and possibly in collaboration with a local company, you will undertake the project throughout the year, producing a final report and presenting your work in an oral defence. Your project proposal must be approved and moderated by the course team before you begin.