Bachelor of Computing in Communications and Media

The four-year Bachelor of Computing in Communications and Media aims to train students in the technological underpinnings of interactive and digital media technologies, as well as the skills of media design and content creation, tempered with an understanding of the artistic and human aspects. The programme has been designed to facilitate the integration of all these aspects. Moreover, students who are passionate about games and wish to gain additional knowledge and practical experience in games development will be able to pursue a Specialisation in Games under this programme.

The following aspects of interactive media and games are covered in the programme:

• •      Foundations of IT: This refers to the basics of computing required to understand, design, and extend media systems.
• •      Information encoding, customisation, and repurposing: Information encoding, such as XML, is required for information to be mass communicated on the Internet and World-Wide Web (WWW). Customisation refers to the personalisation of information to individuals and groups which the technology allows, and repurposing refers to the customisation of information for heterogeneous networks (wired and wireless) as well as the plethora of end devices (static and mobile, with varying display plus communication capabilities).
• •      Text, multimedia information analysis and processing: These refer to the technological basis of various interactive digital media (text, image, graphics, audio and video) and the various types of processing, such as data rate transformation, summarisation, etc.
• •      Human-computer interaction: This refers to the human-centred design of intuitive and flexible interfaces for people to communicate via end devices on Internet fringes.
• •      Games design and games technology: This refers to the design of games and the technologies for the development of digital games.
• •      Entertainment technology: This refers to technologies required to develop interactive games and virtual reality systems.

Degree Requirements
The Bachelor of Computing (Communications and Media) programme, B.Comp. (CM), requires at least 160 MCs.

(i)    PROGRAMME REQUIREMENTS (Total of 120 MCs)

Computer Science Foundation
CS1010     Programming Methodology
CS1020     Data Structures and Algorithms I
CS1231     Discrete Structures
CS2010     Data Structures and Algorithms II2
CS2100     Computer Organisation
CS2102     Database Systems
CS2103T   Software Engineering
CS2105     Introduction to Computer Networks

Communications & Media Breadth & Depth
CS3240     Human-Computer Interaction
CS3241     Computer Graphics
CS3248     Design of Interactive Systems4
CS-coded module at level-3000

Complete 20 MCs from any CM Programme Elective Group, with at least 12 MCs at level-4000 or above4.

8 MCs of Computer System Project modules from the following list, or modules approved by the Department of Computer Science:
CS3281   Thematic Systems Project I and CS3282 Thematic Systems Project II, or
CS3283   Media Technology Project I4 and CS3284 Media Technology Project II4

Either
CP4101 B.Comp. Dissertation
or
Complete 12 MCs from any CM Programme Elective Group, with modules at level-4000 or above, or modules approved by the Department of Computer Science.

Enrichment
CS-coded or NM-coded module at level-2000

IT Professionalism
IS1103         Computing and Society
CS2101        Effective Communication for Computing Professionals

Mathematics & Sciences
MA1301      Introductory Mathematics
MA1521      Calculus for Computing
MA1101R    Linear Algebra I
ST2334        Probability and Statistics
Science Module

(ii)     UNIVERSITY LEVEL REQUIREMENTS (20 MCs)

(iii)      UNRESTRICTED ELECTIVES (20 MCs)

Specialisation in Games
To obtain a specialisation in Games, student must:

• Read CS3240 Human-Computer Interaction or CS3242 3D Modeling and Animation.
• Replace CS3248 Design of Interactive Systems by CS3247 Game Development.
• Take CS3283 Media Technology Project I and CS3284 Media Technology Project II on game development.
• Take at least 20 MCs from any CM Programme Elective Group, with at least 12 MCs at level-4000 or above. Among these 20 MCs, at least 12 MCs must be chosen from Elective Group C, with modules at level-3000 or above.

Programme Elective Groups

A)    Interactive Systems Technology Group

CS2106    Introduction to Operating Systems
CS3103    Computer Networks and Protocols
CS3103L Computer Networks Laboratory
CS3240    Human-Computer Interaction
CS3243    Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CS3245    Information Retrieval
CS3246    Hypermedia and World Wide Web
CS3248    Design of Interactive Systems
CS3283    Media Technology Project I
CS3284    Media Technology Project II
CS3343    Digital Media Production
CS4241    Multimedia Information Retrieval
CS4243    Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
CS4248    Natural Language Processing
CS4345    General-Purpose Computation on GPU
CS4347    Sound and Music Computing
CS5240    Theoretical Foundation of Multimedia
CS5241    Speech Processing
CS5246    Text Processing on the Web
CS5248    Systems Support for Continuous Media
CS5249    Audio in Multimedia Systems
CS5341    Computational Photography
CS5342    Multimedia Computing and Applications
CS5343    Advance Computer Animation
Other relevant modules approved by the Department of Computer Science

B)    Content Creation and Mass Communications Group

NM2210      Interactive Media Design Theory
NM2216      Interactive Media Design:Users
NM2217      Interactive Media Design:Creating
NM3216      Game Design
NM3221      Situated Interaction Design
NM3222      Interactive Storytelling
NM3223      Digital and Interactive Collage
NM3226      Interactive Entertainment Design Methods
NM3227      Serious Games
NM3228      Interactive Sequential Art
NM3229      Interactive Visualizations
NM3231      Physical Interaction Design
NM4209      Game Design Project
NM4210      User Experience Design
NM4224      Sound and Interaction
NM4225      Critical Interactive Design NM4226 HCI and Interactive Arts/Entertainment Design
NM4227      Playable Art
NM5209      Interactive Media Arts
NM5210      Interactive Media Design Research
NM5214      Interactive Media to Support Participation
NM5215      Design Knowledge for Interactive Media
Other relevant modules approved by the Department of Computer Science

C)     Games Technology Group

CS3242    3D Modeling and Animation
CS3247    Game Development
CS3283    Media Technology Project I
CS3284    Media Technology Project II
CS3343    Digital Media Production
CS4243    Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
CS4247    Graphics Rendering Techniques
CS4340    Digital Special Effects
CS4344    Networked and Mobile Gaming
CS4345    General-Purpose Computation on GPU
CS5343    Advance Computer Animation
NM3216    Games Design
NM3227    Serious Games
Other relevant modules approved by the Department of Computer Science

University Scholars Programme (Communications and Media)

• They will not be required to read University Level Requirements (20 MCs). These are replaced by the 3 USP Inquiry Modules and 2 USP Foundation modules (Quantitative Reasoning Foundation and University Scholars Seminar).
• They will not be required to read CS2101 Effective Communication for Computing Professionals. It is replaced by USP Foundation module: Writing and Critical Thinking.
• They will not be required to read one Science Module (4 MCs). It is replaced by 1 USP Inquiry module in Sciences and Technologies basket.
• They will read UROP modules (CP3208 and CP3209) in place of CS3283 and CS3284. CP3208 and CP3209 are independent study modules (ISMs) which will also be counted as 2 USP Inquiry modules in Sciences and Technologies basket.

Table 1: Summary of degree requirement for Bachelor of Computing in Communications and Media9

9       There should not be any double-counting of a module’s MC towards different requirements of the programme.
10     CS1010 can be replaced by CS1101S Programming Methodology.
11      CS1020 and CS2010 can be replaced by CS2020 Data Structures and Algorithms Accelerated. The remaining 2 MCs will be added to the Unrestricted Electives Requirements.
12     Students who specialise in games should refer to Specialisation in Games for the requirements of these modules.
13     MA1301 is waived for students with A-level Mathematics. The 4 MCs gained from the waiver should be used to read a letter-graded module.
14     Students pursuing a double degree in Mathematics or second major in Mathematics are encouraged to read MA1102R Calculus in place of MA1521.
15        Students should choose ST2131 (Probability) and ST2132 (Mathematical Statistics) in place of ST2334 (Probability and Statistics) if they plan to pursue higher level statistics modules.
16        A Science module can be LSM1301 (General Biology), LSM1302 (Genes and Society), PC1143 (Physics III), PC1144 (Physics IV), PC1221 (Fundamentals of Physics I), PC1222 (Fundamentals of Physics II), PC1432 (Physics IIE) or courses approved by the Department of Computer Science.

CS1010 (4 MCs) can be replaced by CS1101S Programming Methodology (5 MCs).

CS1020 (4 MCs) and CS2010 (4 MCs) can be replaced by CS2020 Data Structures and Algorithms Accelerated (6 MCs). The remaining 2 MC will be added to the Unrestricted Electives Requirements.

Students taking CS2103T Software Engineering must take CS2101 Effective Communication for Computing Professionals in the same semester.

Students who specialise in games should refer to Specialisation in Games for the requirements of these modules.

MA1301 is waived for students with A-level Mathematics. The 4 MCs gained from the waiver should be used to read a letter-graded module.

Students pursuing a double degree in Computer Science and Mathematics/Applied Mathematics are recommended to replace MA1521 Calculus for Computing by MA1102R Calculus.

Students pursuing a double degree in Computer Science and Mathematics/Applied Mathematics will take ST2131 Probability and ST2132 Mathematical Statistics in place of ST2334 Probability and Statistics.