Subjects

Who is it for?

If you enjoy the challenge of solving problems and puzzles involving logic, reasoning and imagination, then this subject is for you. You will learn how to think about problems in an abstract way and explore the different ways solutions can be found and described as algorithms.

This subject imparts thinking skills that can be used in any field of study that interacts with digital technology. It is ideal for you if you are interested in studying mathematics, computer science, data science or software engineering at a tertiary level.

What do you do?

Activities and challenges include:

• representing information and analysing the possible relationships that exist, for example within a social network
• creating algorithms to solve problems and puzzles
• exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning
• learning about algorithms that are being used in our society within popular social apps and interfaces and the associated ethical issues that impact humans and society

What skills do you need?

You need to be an organised and independent learner who can stay on track in a disciplined way.

Good thinking and analysis skills are needed to meet all the challenges in this course, which is at first year University level.

Satisfactory completion of Year 11 Math Methods is a prerequisite.

Some basic programming skills are recommended but not essential. You will use Python as part of the course, and you will find it advantageous to learn this before you start. You can use the recommended textbook below, or one of any number of introductory Python resources available.

What skills do you develop?

This subject expands your high order thinking skills so that you can look at a real-world problem in an analytical way and be able to create an abstract model of the problem and create an algorithm to solve it.

You will learn how to construct algorithms consisting of information models together with unambiguous instructions for solving problems, and implement algorithms in the Python coding language.

You will learn how to evaluate the efficiency and correctness of algorithms for solving problems.

Requirements

Satisfactory completion of Units 1 and 2 Mathematics Methods is required to be able to understand the Mathematics within the course.

Good internet is needed to complete the required work in this course. All work will be completed and submitted online weekly.

Things to think about

You need good literacy and numeracy skills to complete the required reading and assessments for this course. The course requires about six hours per week, which is similar to the time commitment required by other Units 3 and 4 VCE subjects.

The online course is well-developed and is rich in study materials which include theory documents, worked examples, interactives, exercises, online quizzes and video tutorials.

Things you can do now

You will find the course easier if you learn the basics of Python before you begin. During the first few weeks of the course, your teachers will reference Automate The Boring Stuff with Python, a free e-book available at http://automatetheboringstuff.com. The first 11 chapters provide a comprehensive introduction to coding with Python, and you can work through these before you start the course.

You can watch the following videos to get an idea of some of the algorithms you will learn:

Dijkstra’s Algorithm – Computerphile – YouTube

Floyd–Warshall algorithm in 4 minutes – YouTube

Quick Sort – Computerphile – YouTube

The Alpha Go Documentary gives you an interesting account of the development of neural networks and artificial intelligence:

AlphaGo – The Movie | Full award-winning documentary – YouTube

You can find out about pathways into university via the study of Algorithmics (HESS):

Monash University

Swinburne University

RMIT University (Apply for credit)

Deakin University (Recognition of Prior Learning)

Course details can be found at the VCAA website.