Introduction
The use of multimedia and Internet computing is growing and the rate of growth will increase as both the technology improves and the level of discrimination increases, led by user demand. There is a clear requirement for well-trained and highly qualified professionals who are able to offer the skills necessary to take full advantage of developments in both hardware and software. Much of what is produced for Internet dissemination is currently of a poor standard and often pays little attention to user interface requirements. This programme will provide graduates with the necessary skills to redress the balance and to take full advantage of new technologies. It will do so by examining in detail the underlying inftrastructure of the Internet and the hardware and software used to transmit the content and render it at the output stage.
Students entering the programme will already have a high degree of knowledge of computer systems and their operation, and will be able to make use of such facilities. This is a specialist programme and students will need to develop their research abilities and will, as a result, be able to organise their time and work patterns to accommodate such tasks. Where coursework is of a group participation nature, students will learn how to maximise the effectiveness of group relationships. Opportunities exist for students to practise their communications skills, both written and verbal, as they present the results of subject-specific investigations to their peers. The project is a further opportunity for students to develop their written and other communication skills.
Programme Aims
Students admitted to this degree programme will possess a first degree, which will normally include a substantial element of Computing. The degree is designed to advance students' understanding of the following specialist areas:
- The Global Internet;
- Multimedia Interaction;
- Network Infrastructure:
- Multimedia Hardware and Software:
- The Design and Implementation of Usable Systems.
To enable students graduating at Masters level to:
- Choose a specific topic related to the degree programme and study it in some depth with a view to producing a project report;
- Move on immediately, if they wish, into postgraduate research.
Cognitive Skills
Students graduating from this programme will be able to analyse the manner in which complex, distributed computer systems are constructed and will, as a result, be able to make judgements on how a given application should be tackled. The knowledge gained from their studies will allow students to create systems that are well structured, reliable and useable. Certain modules will allow students to obtain experience in reading, summarising and evaluating some primary research literature relevant to the degree programme, and communicating their summaries and evaluations to their peers.
Subject Specific Practical and Professional Skills
The knowledge gained from exposure to the modules in this programme will enable students to make a contribution to the provision of high quality networks and distributed systems, multimedia systems and virtual reality systems. In all cases, students will be able to provide well designed user interfaces.
Outline Structure
Taken full-time, the programme is of twelve months' duration. Two semesters, each of fifteen weeks duration, are spent in studying taught modules with a total modular weight of 120 credits. The remaining time is devoted to a project with a modular weight of 60 credits, which may, subject to satisfactory arrangements for supervision, be carried out in collaboration with an industrial partner. The course may be taken on a part-time basis. A part-time candidate must complete the project within a maximum period of one calendar year after completion of the taught modules.
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Programming | 15 | 1 | |
| Ethical, Legal and Professional Issues of IT | 15 | 1 | |
| Fundamentals of Multimedia | 15 | 1 | |
| Modelling and Simulation | 15 | 1 | |
| Networks Laboratory | 15 | 1 | |
| Research Methods and Project Preparation* | 15 | 2 | |
| Information Management and Semantic Technology | 15 | 2 | |
| Computer Vision | 15 | 2 | |
| Computing Project | 60 | 2 | |
| Project Preparation* | 5 | 2 | |
| Research Methods* | 10 | 2 | |
*Part-time students undertake two separate modules, namely COP454, Research Methods (10 credits) and COP454, Project Preparation (5 credits), the latter being taken in the year in which the project is to be undertaken **COP454 &COP500 are taken by part-time students only.
Contact the Programme Director
Dr Colin H C Machin
Director of Postgraduate Programmes
Department of Computer Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough, LE11 3TU
Tel: +44 (0) 1509 222683
Fax: +44 (0) 1509 221586
Email:c.h.c.machin@lboro.ac.uk
