THE COURSES FILE

I shall send you a request to review an entry for the Courses file for each course of which you are a supervisor. It's your responsibility to return the new version, but if you have any colleagues on the course it's usual to decide on the details together.

The Courses file contains the information we hold about the lecture courses we present in the department. It follows the standard mark-up form, with fairly self-explanatory field names. The material to be supplied is also fairly self-explanatory; look at some of the existing course descriptions in the handbook if in doubt.

There are two changes this year, both to record information which we have to collect some time anyway; the principle is that if we do it now then it's all done, potentially for ever, or until it's decided that the items should be changed. The changes are :

The list of fields follows, in alphabetical order. You can ignore any fields which don't apply to your course ( tutors, recommended texts, etc. ), or you can insert a field from the list below which isn't there but would be useful.

Several other fields exist in the database, but are not in the file you get. That's because they come from other sources ( for example, times and places of lectures and tests ).

Field	Contents
\|!\|assignments!\|	The percentage of assignment credit in the final result - 20%, for example ( - but see also \|!\|jointassignments!\| ). The assignment credit includes anything that isn't tests or examinations, so it covers ordinary assignments, seminars presented, small projects, essays, book reviews, etc.
\|!\|attributes!\|	A selection of words from the list below; only the first four characters of each word are necessary, but you can use more if you wish. The words are : calculators if calculators may be used in the examination; open-book if prescribed literature may be used in the examination; project labelling the course as a project ( no lectures, individually supervised, "independent" work ); practical an official practical course ( both practical work and examination must be passed to pass in the course as a whole ); plussage assessed by plussage ( the final mark is either the specified combination of coursework and examination, or the examination percentage alone, whichever is greater ); Computer Science has not traditionally operated plussage, and our only current example is the 225 course which is really Mathematics.
\|!\|contents!\|	A more detailed account of what's there, probably more technical than the description, and comprehensible after the student has finished the course. Don't be deliberately abstruse, though - the handbooks are intended to be helpful.
\|!\|copy!\|	This course inherits any details not explicitly given from the course identified in the next line - COMPSCI101SC, for example. If there are several versions of a course ( different semesters or campi ) you can now select one as the master version and refer to it from the others using the \|!\|copy!\| field in your files. See the 2000 printed handbook and the web versions ( for example, the 101 course ) to see how it works. The COMPSCI101AC markup file includes this : `\|!\|copy!\| COMPSCI101FC` You can include any other fields you like in the text including the \|!\|copy!\|, and they will override the corresponding filelds in the \|!\|copy!\| source, so variations are still possible. The copy is taken into account in the other automatic parts of the system.
\|!\|description!\|	A general description of the topic, comprehensible to any ( well, almost any ) student who might want to take the course.
\|!\|examination!\|	The percentage of examination credit in the final result - 70%, for example.
\|!\|jointassignments!\|	The percentage within the assignment credit identified in the \|!\|assignments!\| field which comes from cooperative work. For example, if students gain 20% of their final mark from unassisted assignment work and 10% from cooperative assignment work, return \|!\|assignments!\| 30% and \|!\|jointassignments!\| 10%.
\|!\|lectureroom!\|	Where the lectures will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|lecturers!\|	Mainly for information; this should be correct. Change it if it's wrong.
\|!\|number!\|	Mainly for information; this should be correct. Change it if it's wrong.
\|!\|organisation!\|	Things about the organisation of the course. Put in anything you think will be helpful, without bloat.
\|!\|prerequisites!\|	In most cases, this is mainly for information, and should be correct - change it if it's wrong. For a few courses ( usually the "Special topics" with official prerequisite listed as "Permission of HoD" ), you might be able to inprove significantly on that. Aim to be helpful and realistic.
\|!\|restrictions!\|	These are courses which share a significant amount of material with your course. Comments as in "prerequisites" above.
\|!\|test!\|	The percentage of test credit in the final result - 10%, for example.
\|!\|testplace!\|	Where the test will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|testtime!\|	When the test will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|texts recommended!\|	Useful books which are not essential. Details as below, please. Most courses have specifications for eitherrequired orrecommended texts, but you can have both if you want them.
\|!\|texts required!\|	Set textbooks which the student are expected to study during the course. Please give author(s), title, publisher, date, or whatever equivalent comes closest if that doesn't fit.
\|!\|timetable!\|	When the lectures will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|title!\|	The name of the course. Usually it's the title given in the Calendar, but for postgraduate special topics put the realtitle. ( The handbook's supposed to be informative; the Calendar's a legal document. )
\|!\|tutors!\|	Useful for one or two courses - usually not included.

The remarks in this page are specific to the request for course information for the handbooks. Please also look at the more general descriptions and requests which apply to the handbook as a whole if you're not familiar with them

Field	Contents
\|!\|assignments!\|	The percentage of assignment credit in the final result - 20%, for example ( - but see also \|!\|jointassignments!\| ). The assignment credit includes anything that isn't tests or examinations, so it covers ordinary assignments, seminars presented, small projects, essays, book reviews, etc.
\|!\|attributes!\|	A selection of words from the list below; only the first four characters of each word are necessary, but you can use more if you wish. The words are : calculators if calculators may be used in the examination; open-book if prescribed literature may be used in the examination; project labelling the course as a project ( no lectures, individually supervised, "independent" work ); practical an official practical course ( both practical work and examination must be passed to pass in the course as a whole ); plussage assessed by plussage ( the final mark is either the specified combination of coursework and examination, or the examination percentage alone, whichever is greater ); Computer Science has not traditionally operated plussage, and our only current example is the 225 course which is really Mathematics.
\|!\|contents!\|	A more detailed account of what's there, probably more technical than the description, and comprehensible after the student has finished the course. Don't be deliberately abstruse, though - the handbooks are intended to be helpful.
\|!\|copy!\|	This course inherits any details not explicitly given from the course identified in the next line - COMPSCI101SC, for example. If there are several versions of a course ( different semesters or campi ) you can now select one as the master version and refer to it from the others using the \|!\|copy!\| field in your files. See the 2000 printed handbook and the web versions ( for example, the 101 course ) to see how it works. The COMPSCI101AC markup file includes this : `\|!\|copy!\| COMPSCI101FC` You can include any other fields you like in the text including the \|!\|copy!\|, and they will override the corresponding filelds in the \|!\|copy!\| source, so variations are still possible. The copy is taken into account in the other automatic parts of the system.
\|!\|description!\|	A general description of the topic, comprehensible to any ( well, almost any ) student who might want to take the course.
\|!\|examination!\|	The percentage of examination credit in the final result - 70%, for example.
\|!\|jointassignments!\|	The percentage within the assignment credit identified in the \|!\|assignments!\| field which comes from cooperative work. For example, if students gain 20% of their final mark from unassisted assignment work and 10% from cooperative assignment work, return \|!\|assignments!\| 30% and \|!\|jointassignments!\| 10%.
\|!\|lectureroom!\|	Where the lectures will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|lecturers!\|	Mainly for information; this should be correct. Change it if it's wrong.
\|!\|number!\|	Mainly for information; this should be correct. Change it if it's wrong.
\|!\|organisation!\|	Things about the organisation of the course. Put in anything you think will be helpful, without bloat.
\|!\|prerequisites!\|	In most cases, this is mainly for information, and should be correct - change it if it's wrong. For a few courses ( usually the "Special topics" with official prerequisite listed as "Permission of HoD" ), you might be able to inprove significantly on that. Aim to be helpful and realistic.
\|!\|restrictions!\|	These are courses which share a significant amount of material with your course. Comments as in "prerequisites" above.
\|!\|test!\|	The percentage of test credit in the final result - 10%, for example.
\|!\|testplace!\|	Where the test will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|testtime!\|	When the test will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|texts recommended!\|	Useful books which are not essential. Details as below, please. Most courses have specifications for eitherrequired orrecommended texts, but you can have both if you want them.
\|!\|texts required!\|	Set textbooks which the student are expected to study during the course. Please give author(s), title, publisher, date, or whatever equivalent comes closest if that doesn't fit.
\|!\|timetable!\|	When the lectures will be held. ( Shouldn't appear in the stuff for editing. )
\|!\|title!\|	The name of the course. Usually it's the title given in the Calendar, but for postgraduate special topics put the realtitle. ( The handbook's supposed to be informative; the Calendar's a legal document. )
\|!\|tutors!\|	Useful for one or two courses - usually not included.

How to make your entries for THE COURSES FILE

How to make your entries for
THE COURSES FILE