This module component aims to develop the mathematics taught in year 1 into a solid foundation on which to develop the competence and skills necessary to tackle the higher mathematics encountered in the study of Civil and Structural engineering.
The computing component equips the learners with basic introductory programming skills to enable them to develop elementary Microsoft VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) applications to automate typical Engineering tasks.
Mathematics:
- Differentiation and its applications.
- Partial Differentiation and its applications.
- Matrices: Matrix operations; Determinants; Methods for finding the inverse of a matrix; Elementary row operations. Gaussian Elimination.
- Analysis and presentation of data, measures of central tendency and dispersion. Simple probability.
Computing:
- Introductory programming theory – variables and data types, flowcharts and pseudocode, formulation of assignment statements using order of precedence rules
- VBA user-defined Functions in Excel, VBA subroutines and manipulation of Excel sheets using Ranges
- Design of VBA forms using standard controls – labels, textboxes, command buttons;
- Programming Theory – Basic Selection, Binary Selection and Multiple Selection using If Blocks, Multiple If-Blocks, Nested If-Blocks and Compound Statements using logical operators
- VBA controls – frames, option buttons and check boxes;
- Development of elementary Engineering applications
Mathematics:
Instruction will consist of 2 hours of lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week. The emphasis of course delivery will be ‘hands-on’ problem solving.
Computing:
There will be a 1-hour session in the computer laboratory each week. The course material will be delivered by lectures in the computer laboratory and by a series of videos that have been recorded specifically for the course. The students will be expected to complete a range of programming exercises during the laboratory session. They may also be required to complete a larger assignment outside of the time allocated to the laboratory.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 55 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 45 |