TCHR3001: Early Childhood Matters Title Assessment 2 – Critical Analysis Type Critical analysis on a contemporary issue in ECEC Due Date April 18, at 11:59 pm AEST (end of Week 6) Length 2000 words Weighting 50% Academic Integrity GenAI may be used in this task You may use Grammarly Premium to provide feedback and suggestions on your writing for academic tone, written expression, grammar, Australian English spelling, and punctuation. You must not use GenAI to generate ideas for this assessment task. Submission Word document submitted to Turnitin (Do not submit PDF documents) Unit Learning Outcomes This assessment task maps to the following ULOs: ULO1: Students identify a range of issues important to early childhood education and care ULO2: Analyse a range of positions highlighted in authoritative literature on contemporary issues related to early childhood education and care ULO3: Students critically reflect on their personal approach/philosophy of learning, development and teaching within early childhood education and care in relation to contemporary issues ULO 4: Argue a position on current issues in early childhood education and care, in relation to the literature Aim This assessment requires students to critically analyse diverse perspectives that align with a contemporary issue in early childhood education and care, as presented in authoritative literature, and develop a well- supported argument for their own position on the issue. Rationale This assessment builds on assessment 1 and continues to extend students’ analytical and reflective skills. The task fosters critical thinking through the examination of sector issues and the development of evidence-based arguments. By engaging with diverse perspectives and constructing well-supported arguments, students develop the professional expertise needed to navigate the challenges and opportunities within the early childhood field, which, in turn, directly prepares them for roles requiring thoughtful decision-making, policy analysis, and leadership in early childhood settings. Task Description This task entails two parts. Part One: • Select a contemporary issue relevant to early childhood education and care from the options discussed in Modules 4-6. Examples of some areas/issues could include, but are not limited by o Children’s images in social media o Immpact of an environment on children’s learning and development o Limited access to resources/funding to meet a child’s additional needs o Reconciliation in EC settings o Children’s use of technology in EC settings. • Research at least five authoritative sources (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, reputable reports, books) presenting diverse perspectives on the chosen issue. The unit readings will also help. • Based on your research, analyse one dominant position on this issue by identifying its strengths and underlying assumptions to justify your position. • Your analysis should demonstrate your understanding of the broader landscape of perspectives surrounding the issue. Part Two: Outline an opposing or alternative perspective on the chosen issue. Using current and relevant scholarly literature, justify your own position in relation to both the dominant perspective you analysed in Part One and this opposing/alternative view. Finally, reflect on the relevance of your chosen position to your practice as a teacher/educator working in the Australian early years sector. How might this position inform. your approach to teaching and learning? Task Instructions 1. Choose an issue: Select one contemporary issue in early childhood education and care from the topics covered in Modules 4-6. 2. Research: Find at least five authoritative sources (like peer-reviewed journals, reputable reports, or books) that offer different perspectives on your chosen issue. 3. Analyse a leading position: This might be a commonsense way of thinking with little critical thought. Based on your research, critically analyse the existing literature on your chosen issue, summarizing and synthesizing the different perspectives presented in your selected sources. Identify common themes, points of disagreement, and underlying assumptions. If you prefer, a table or other visual aid could be helpful in comparing and contrasting different ideas. 4. Explore an opposing view that adopts critical thinking. Develop a well-supported argument for a contrasting position, drawing on evidence from the literature and engaging directly with the perspectives you analysed. 5. Justify your stance: Use your research to explain and support your own view on the issue, comparing it to both the dominant position and addressing opposing opinions, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of the issue's complexities. 6. Reflect on personal relevance: Explain how your viewpoint would affect your work as an early childhood teacher in Australia. How would it shape your teaching? Please note: • This task can be written in first person (“I” statements) or third person, however you need to be consistent over the task in the tense and person you use for each section. • All areas of your responses to this task need to be supported by relevant and current scholarly literature. This means you need to cite relevant and established literature that supports what you are saying throughout your writing. Formatting and style. • APA 7th formatting is required for this task. • Include the cover page provided in your assessment task folder at the start of your submission. • Include one reference on a new page at the end of your task. Referencing • APA 7th Referencing style is required to be used for this task. • Include one reference list for both responses on a new page at the end of task. Place the title References in bold in the centre at the top of this page. • At a minimum, your sources for this task will include the EYLF (AGDE, 2022), the NQS (ACECQA, 2023), a range of unit literature, and broader current scholarly literature. • Broader literature may include textbooks, peer reviewed articles, and published newspaper and/or media articles by reputable sources (for example, the ABC, The Conversation, Early Childhood Australia) • You need to include at least 10 current scholarly references in your response to this task per the rubric outline. Resources •Academic Integrity -https://www.scu.edu.au/about/leadership/executive/academic-portfolio-office-apo/academic-integrity-framework/ •SCU Student Learning Zone -https://www.scu.edu.au/current-students/learning-zone/ •The Early Years Learning Framework -https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf •National Quality Standard -https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard •Guide to the National Quality Framework (including the National Quality Standards) - https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/about/guide Referencing Style Resource: Please refer to the APA 7th Referencing Guide for this task -https://libguides.scu.edu.au/apa Writing and Analysing Resources: • How to Incorporate Evidence into Your Writing - https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scu-dep/current-students/learning-zone/quick-guides/how_to_incorporate_evidence_into_your_writing.pdf • Summarising and Paraphrasing - https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scu-dep/current-students/learning-zone/quick-guides/summarising_and_paraphrasing.pdf • Writing Paragraphs (PEEL method) - https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scu-dep/current- students/learning-zone/quick-guides/writing_paragraphs.pdf • Planning and Writing Body Paragraphs (using the PEEL method) - https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scu-dep/current-students/learning-zone/quick- guides/planning_and_writing_body_paragraphs.pdf Task Submission • Submission of your assessment is via Turnitin. The submission link can be found in the Assessment Tasks and Submission Tab in the TCHR3001 Blackboard site, in the Assessment 2 folder. Please note: • It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted the correct file and the final version of your assessment for marking before the due date/time. • When you have submitted your assignment to Turnitin it is essential you download the Digital Receipt. • If you have any difficulty submitting your assignment, please contact Technology Services and make sure that you log a job with them, so you have evidence of your attempted submission. To avoid any last-minute problems, make sure you submit well before 11:59pm on the due date. • Label the Word file with your surname and the assessment number, e.g., Simpson_A1.docx • You are strongly advised to undertake your own similarity check via Turnitin, prior to the due date, to identify and resolve any academic integrity issues prior to submitting - see SCU Academic Integrity and Turnitin.You can submit up to three times and receive the similarity match report immediately – after three attempts, you will need to wait 24 hours. • If Turnitin does not generate an automatic email receipt. If you have successfully uploaded your assessment, a green bar will appear at the top of the screen that says: Submission uploaded successfully: Download digital receipt. Use the hyperlink to download your digital receipt and store this with your assignment file.
CSIS1120/COMP2120 COMPUTER ORGANIZATION Date: 22 May 2015 1. (a) What is big-endian and little-endian mode? [2] (b) A machine uses paging for its main memory. Explain why sometimes we get Memory Access Violation for array subscript. out of bound, and sometimes not. [3] (c) Write down two uses of displacement addressing mode that makes it the most commonly used addressing mode. [2] (d) Most arithmetic operations require 3 operands, two source operands and one destination operand. Explain where the operands are for two-operand, one-operand, and zero-operand instructions. [3] (e) A CPU executes in either user mode or supervisor mode. In which mode is a user program and the Operating System running? How can a user program switch to supervisor mode to access system services? [3] 2. (a) Write down the 8-bit one's complement, two's complement and excess-127 rep-resentation of the number 43 and -43. [4] (b) (i) What is sign extension? [1] (ii) Write down the algorithm for sign extending a two's complement number from m bits ton bits, m < n. [1] (iii) Given an 8-bit two's complement value 10110011, extend it to 12-bit. [1] (iv) Prove that your sign extension algorithm in (ii) provides the correct result. [3] (c) A machine uses a 36-bit word to represent single-precision floating point num-bers as follows: The value presented is given by (-1)S1.M x 2E-511. (i) Write down the bit pattern corresponding to the value -13. 0625 [4] (ii) Write down the value corresponding to the bit pattern C07EOOOOO [4] (iii) Explain how we can increase the range of the representation without in-creasing the number of bits for the representation. What is the disadvantage of your proposal. [3] 3. (a) (i) What is a two level cache system? [2] (ii) A memory hierarchy is to achieve an average memory access time that is close to the upper (faster) level. Based on this, try to explain the perfor-mance enhancement in a two level cache system. [4] (iii) In a two-level cache system, the level one cache has a hit time of lns (inside the CPU), hit rate of 903, and a miss penalty of 20ns. The level two cache has a hit rate of 953 and a miss penalty of 220ns. What is the average memory access time? [3] (b) Consider a hypothetical machine with 1024 words of cache memory. They are in two-way set associative organization, with cache block size of 128 words, using LRU replacement algorithm. The cache hit time is 9ns. Suppose the machine can access 4 words of memory in parallel, and the time to transfer the first 4 words from main memory to cache is 50ns, while each subsequent 4 words require lOns. Consider the following read pattern (in blocks of 128 words, and block id starts from 0): 0 1 2 3 4 3 4 5 3 10 8 7 0 9 2 8 10 7 9 7 11 13 5 4 8 13 15 10 13 12 and assume each block contains an average of 24 memory references. (i) What is the cache miss penalty (i.e., time to transfer one block of data from main memory to cache memory)? [2] (ii) Write down the content of the cache memory (for all the blocks) at the end of the memory references, assuming that the cache is empty at the beginning. [5] (iii) Write down the number of cache misses (the first reading of a block is also considered a miss), and the cache hit rate. [3] (iv) Calculate the average memory access time. [2] ( c) Consider a Hard Disk with an average seek time of 15ms, lms for moving to adja-cent track, and rotation speed of 5400rpm, with an average of 500 sectors/track, and each sector is 512 bytes. (i) What is the average rotation latency? [2] (ii) What is the time required for 1 sector to rotate under the read/write head? [2] (iii) What is the time to read 10 consecutive tracks entirely? [3] 4. Given the data path of a CPU as shown below: Figure 1: A simplified CPU In the data path shown, the S1, S2 and D fields in the instruction represent the two source and one destination operands, and are directly connected to the address port of the register file. Register S1 will be read into RFOUT1, while register S2 will be read into RFOUT2. RFIN will be written into register D. Registers A and B are the input registers and C is the output register of the ALU. There is a single CPU bus in the data path. (a) Describe how the following instructions will be executed inside the CPU: (i) The one-word instruction ADD R1 ,R2,R3 [i.e. R3 (own speed - front speed) x 4 ), set the brake level to 0. If their distance is more than 3 seconds, set the brake level to 1. If their distance is more than 2 seconds, set the brake level to 2. If their distance is more than 1 seconds, set the brake level to 3. (You ma.y invent your own instruction set as long a.s it is reasonable, a.nd may assume there is an integer multiply instruction.) Comment your program so that it can be understood.) [10] (b) (i) There is a. lot of overheads for Programmed 1/0. What are the other two I/O techniques which requires less CPU intervention? Explain briefly what they a.re in no more than three lines. [4] (ii) Which technique in part (i) is more suitable for a Gigabit Ethernet Network Controller. Give a. one sentence explanation. [2]
MSBA 7014 Business Simulation Assignment 3 Arena Modelling Practice Note: All questions must be completed using Arena. A Word doc/pdf file containing answers/justification for each sub-question must be submitted along with the Arean .doe file. 1. Assume that customers arrive at a drive-through pharmacy window according to a Poisson distribution with a mean of 10 per hour. The time it takes the pharmacist to serve the customer is random, and past data indicates that the time is well-modelled with an exponential distribution with a mean of 3 minutes. Customers who arrive at the pharmacy are served in the order of arrival, and enough space is available within the parking area of the adjacent grocery store to accommodate any waiting customers. (5 Points) a) Model the above scenario using Arena and report the system's key performance indices (KPIs). b) Plot the Server Utilization and Average Waiting Time in the .doe file itself. c) Increase the number of pharmacists to 2, 3, and 4 and report the KPIs. What happens to the server utilization in each scenario? 2. Components are arriving with IAT following N(10,2) minutes. They will be processed by a single machine, which takes 15±5 minutes (Uniform. Distribution). The shortest Processing time (SPT) rule is followed for loading the components. Simulate the system for the processing of 100 components. Compare the average waiting time of components with the FCFS rule. (5 Points)
2. Moving Average (MA) Model ECO374H1 Department of Economics Summer 2025 White Noise Process We will construct time series models out of building blocks The simplest building block is the white noise process, {εt}, where each εt is defined as an independent random shock with E [εt] = 0 and Var (εt) = σε(2) for each t , and ρk = 0 for k ≥ 1 rk = 0 for k ≥ 1 i.e. both ACF and PACF are zero for all lags I {εt} is a covariance stationary process See R file 2a. White Noise Simulation for simulated draws of the white noise process Wold Decomposition Theorem The white noise process is formally incorporated in linear time series models based on the following theorem, which implies that every covariance stationary stochastic process {Yt} can be written as the sum of two time series, one deterministic and one stochastic: Theorem (Wold Decomposition Theorem) If {Yt } is a covariance stationary process and {εt} is a white noise zero-mean process, then there exists a unique linear representation where Vt is a deterministic component and is the stochastic component with ψ0 = 1, and . Model Components In the decomposition above, the sequence fεtg is called random shocks or innovations Since , there must be a j from which all subsequent ψj+1, ψj+2, ... are getting smaller such that the corresponding innovations ε t -(j +1), ε t -(j +2), ... have a negligible effect on Yt The deterministic component Vt can include a trend or cycle In this Section we will assume Vt = 0, and return back to it with a full model in future Sections Lag Operator Representation We can write the Wold decomposition in terms of the lag operator L : where we define the composite lag operator Moving Average We can approximate (1) with the model called the Moving Average of order q, denoted by MA(q) In practice, we will seek to have a good approximation of the dynamics in Yt with few parameters, for a small q
ARCH1201 Design Studio 3 Low Carbon Urban Living: A Passive Design Terrace House DESIGN GUIDELINES: THE PROGRAM Term 1 2025 Project Site: Kent Street, Millers Point - The Rocks, Sydney The project site, located on Kent Street, Millers Point, is owned by the Land and Housing Corporation under the Family and Community Services portfolio. Currently occupied by a tennis court and small changing room, the site is bounded by: • Kent Street (west) • 94 Kent Street terrace house (north) • A sheer cliff wall (east) • Agar Steps (south) Positioned above the Barangaroo development, the site will serve as a vital link between Barangaroo and the historic Observatory Hill, reinforcing its role in Sydney’s evolving urban landscape http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/millers_point The Program The project aims to redevelop the tennis court site by introducing a new Terrace House with two residences and a Public Space. Project Scenario A portion of the Tennis Court will be sold to a private owner to develop a passive design Terrace House adjacent to 94 Kent Street. The proceeds will fund the creation of a Public Space on the remaining land. New Terrace House Designed for two independent residences, each with private outdoor spaces (balcony, garden, courtyard, or roof terrace): • Residence 1 (100 sqm): A home for a couple with two young children. • Residence 2 (60 sqm): Designed for two people, with details shaped by each student’s narrative. The design reimagines the traditional terrace house with a granny flat, encouraging shared spaces—whether in the living room, kitchen, studio, or outdoor areas. Students will expand the brief by defining the artistic or professional pursuits ofthe residents, choosing from disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture, creative writing, painting, sculpture, music, film, or theatre. New Public Space A public space will honor Country and the Gadigal Coastal People, who have inhabited this area for tens of thousands of years. It will be located between the new Terrace House at 96 Kent Street and Agar Steps. General Design Criteria – The Five Cs Fostering Creativity 1. Constraint - Working within site limitations and regulations. 2. Context - Responding to the historical, social, and environmental surroundings. 3. Content - Integrating functional and programmatic needs. 4. Concept - Developing a strong design idea that balances innovation and site identity. 5. Comfort - Ensuring liveability, sustainability, and user well-being. Site Constraints & Design Requirements Architects must navigate constraints such as budget, space, zoning, and environmental considerations. Below are the key site constraints to consider. New Terrace House - Design Guidelines • Volume: Maximum 10m wide, 26m deep, and 9m high to align with the Kent Street terrace housing pattern. • Setback: Maintain a 3m distance from 94 Kent Street for privacy and access. • Perimeter Wall: Retain the existing 50cm-high wall along Kent Street, integrating steps and a ramp at both ends—one leading to 94 Kent Street, the other to Agar Steps. • Elevation: The site for both the terrace house and public space is 50cm above the sidewalk. New Public Space - Preservation Requirements • Tree Preservation: Retain existing trees to enhance thermal comfort and reduce heat impact. • Perimeter Wall: Maintain the 50cm-high wall along Kent Street, integrating steps and a ramp towards the first landing of Agar Steps. Context Kent Street, Millers Point, presents an ideal setting for urban analysis, featuring diverse urban typologies such as workers’ cottages, terrace houses, hotels (e.g., The Langham by Philip Cox), pubs, shops, and heritage streetscapes with trees, staircases, and open spaces. Architect Aldo Rossi (1931-1997) viewed cities as dynamic systems of permanence and alterations. Millers Point reflects this concept, shaped by topography and historical changes. The tennis court site has undergone several transformations: • 1880s: A sandstone quarry, later forming the Agar Steps (1870–1880). • Federation era: A pavilion and recreational space. • 1960s: Converted into a tennis court for Fort Street School. • 1983: Transferred to Department of Housing, later leased to The Langham Hotel (1996–present). This Design Studio represents another alteration to the site while preserving its historical memory. Resources for Urban Morphology Students should refer to: • “The Morphological Dimension” in Public Spaces, Urban Spaces by Carmona & Heath (Available via UNSW Library). o Access here. Project One: Positioning Students will analyze the site, focusing on topography, cultural/social context, and architectural integration. Content This second-year studio builds on architectural language skills developed in first year. Like a language, architecture conveys meaning through elements such as: • Walls, columns, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, stairs, beams, roofs. • Materials (brick, timber, glass, concrete, steel, stone). Design is structured by: • Conceptual organization (overarching ideas). • Hierarchy between architectural elements. • Spatial organization, circulation, volume, materiality, perception, and experience. Conceptual ideas emerge from a geographical, cultural, and historical analysis of the project site, ensuring meaningful architectural responses. New Terrace House - Functional & Design Requirements General Guidelines • Work within a 2400m3 volume (10m W x 26m L x 9m H). • Allocate 1400m3 for interior living spaces (100 sqm & 60 sqm residences), with the remaining open space designed as a balcony, garden, courtyard, or roof terrace. • Use masonry/bricks for structural walls and timber/concrete for floors. • The design must not include a garage to maintain the Kent Street terrace housing character. Larger Residence (100 sqm, 4 occupants) • Kitchen connected to dining & living areas with access to outdoor space. • Studio space for a specific artistic/professional activity. • Custom shelving for books and art objects. • Three bedrooms. • Two bathrooms (one with a bathtub). • Adequate storage. Smaller Residence (60 sqm, 2 occupants) • Kitchen connected to dining/living space with outdoor access. • Studio space (can be integrated into the living area). • One or two bedrooms (based on student narrative). • One bathroom. • Adequate storage. Refer to NSW planning guidelines for interior layouts, sizes, and scales: • Residential Flat Design Code • Apartment Design Guide New Public Space - Design Considerations • Create a harmonious space integrating Kent Street, the cliff, and Agar Steps. • Explore incorporating the cliff into the design. • Develop a garden with native plants, seating areas, and sandstone, concrete, and timber benches. • Decide whether to relocate or remove the existing pavilion/changing room based on the design narrative. • Prioritize usability, functionality, and aesthetic quality for public engagement. Concept Creativity and boundary-pushing are essential in designing your Terrace House and Public Space. Your concept should balance site identity, serving as a bridge between past and future while responding to site analysis, brief, and precedents. Effective Presentation Techniques: • Notated diagrams & sketches (plan, section, 3D). • Study/conceptual models. • Virtual reality presentations (if needed). • Collaborative discussions & feedback within tutorial groups. Comfort & Passive Design How can a terrace house enhance residents' quality of life? Passive design is key to thermal comfort, maximizing well-being while minimizing energy use. A sustainable home should not only be affordable and liveable but also high-performance, contributing to energy generation, water conservation, and a lower carbon footprint. Five Key Principles of Passive Design: 1. Orientation – Optimize solar heating, cooling, and natural ventilation. 2. Shading – Minimize excessive solar heat gain. 3. Insulation – Improve building fabric efficiency. 4. Thermal Mass – Absorb and store heat for temperature regulation. 5. Ventilation – Use operable windows for airflow and daylight control. For this project, solar power and rainwater collection are assumed as part of sustainable living strategies. Course Integration: • ARCH1201 Passive Design Terrace House aligns with: o ARCH1162 Construction & Structures 1 (John Carrick, Christian Grennan). o ARCH2170 Building Information Modelling (Lan Ding). The Rocks & Millers Point: A Historical & Social Perspective Originally inhabited by the Gadigal people for tens of thousands of years, The Rocks became the site of first contact between British settlers and Indigenous Australians in 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip established the first European settlement here, transforming Indigenous land into a convict settlement that later evolved into a working-class maritime community. By the early 1900s, The Rocks was a hub of global trade, linking the Pacific, Asia, the Atlantic, and Europe. Millers Point, an adjacent area, retained its historic charm with buildings from the 1830s and a largely unchanged streetscape since the 1930s. However, in 2014, the NSW Government’s decision to sell social housing forced out many long-term residents, shifting the area's demographic from working-class maritime workers to a wealthier middle class. Over time, The Rocks saw waves of unregulated development, demolitions, and preservation efforts. The construction of the Harbour Bridge (1932) and the Cahill Expressway (1962) reshaped the urban landscape. In the 1960s, plans for high-rise developments threatened the area's heritage, but the Green Bans movement, led by activist Jack Mundey, preserved much of its historical character. Architecture in The Rocks and Millers Point is more than just buildings—it reflects social and political change. Understanding this history is key to shaping the future of these spaces while respecting their past. The Terrace House: Evolution & Adaptation Terrace houses in Millers Point, originally built as affordable housing for Sydney Harbour workers, have a long history of resilience. Rooted in British design, they housed bohemian artists, students, and urban pioneers before evolving into modern homes reimagined for contemporary living (Bruhn, Butler 2015). Typically, terrace houses follow a consistent layout: a narrow, elongated site (4–10 meters wide), two floors, a street-facing entrance, and a linear arrangement of rooms along a corridor. Bedrooms are upstairs, with the front room often featuring a covered balcony. A small service wing with a bathroom and laundry is often connected via a courtyard or garden. Redesigning the terrace house today means reinterpreting these elements—rethinking spatial relationships, volumes, and voids to create dynamic, functional living spaces for the future. Current Situation: Millers Point & The Rocks Millers Point and The Rocks sit at the intersection of history and the future within Sydney Harbour. Our project site on Kent Street embodies this transition. At one end, Observatory Hill, with its sandstone buildings designed by Alexander Dawson and James Barnet in 1858, marks the area's colonial past. At the other, the rapidly rising towers of Barangaroo represent Sydney’s evolving skyline. Key developments shaping this transformation include Tzannes Architects’ International House (Australia’s first engineered timber office, completed in 2017), Renzo Piano’s residential towers, and Wilkinson Eyre’s six-star Crown Sydney Hotel Resort. The Central Barangaroo masterplan, led by SOM in collaboration with Anderson Hunter Horn, envisions a vibrant public and cultural hub. London’s David Chipperfield Architects, alongside Durbach Block Jaggers, Smart Design Studio, and John Wardle Architects, will design its final tower. Our new urban intervention—a Terrace House and Public Space—will bridge the contemporary Central Barangaroo with the historic Observatory Hill, connected by a staircase on the steep cliff above. This project aims to link Sydney’s heritage with its modern aspirations, shaping a seamless dialogue between past and future.
COMP2120/CSIS1120 Computer Organization Date: May 17, 2016 Question 1 (20%) (a) Complete the fol lowing truth table for a 2-to-4 decoder. (4%) (b) Draw a logic circuit for the 2-to-4 decoder in (a). (6%) (c) Illustrate how we can use 2-to-4 decoder to construct 1 K-byte memory using four 256 x 8 bit RAM chips. (6%) (d) Illustrate how we can use 2-to-4 decoder to construct a single bit 1-to-4 demultiplexer. (4%) Question 2 (20%) (a) Find the following sums/differences using 8-bit twos complement arithmetic. (8%) (i) 67 + 58 (ii) 76 + 64 (iii) (-42) - 88 (iv) (-21) + (-35) (b) Indicate which operations in (a) resulted in overflow, and state the overflow rule. (5%) (c) Draw a flow chart for division algorithm, assuming three registers A, M, Qare available and the divisor is placed in the M register, and the dividend in the Q register. (5%) (d) State the rule for assigning the signs of quotient and remainder when negative numbers are involved in the division operation. (2%) Question 3 (20%) (a) Explain in one sentence why cache is introduced between CPU and Main Memory (2%) (b) State the Principle of Locality and explain why it is important to cache operations (5%) (c) Describe and compare the following two techniques for mapping memory blocks into cache lines (3%) (i) Direct (ii) Associative (d) Explain how Set Associative Mapping combines the strengths of both direct and associative approaches while reducing their disadvantages. (5%) (e) For a system with two levels of cache, define Tc1 as the first-level cache access time; Tc2 as second-level cache access time; Tm = memory access time; H1 = first-level cache hit ratio; H2 =combined first/second level cache hit ratio. Provide an equation for the access time Ta for a read operation. (5%) Question 4 (20%) Consider a simple computer below. Except for PC and MAR, which are 12-bits registers, all other registers are 16 bits in width. This simple computer has 16-bit instructions shown in the following table: (a) Name and describe in one sentence the use of the each of the following registers. (5%) i. PC ii. MAR iii. MOR iv. IR v. ACC (b) Determine the size of the addressable memory space. (1 %) (c) Describe the data flow between registers during instruction fetch cycle. (4%) (d) Write the assembly program that calculate and display the sum of the first n integers, where n is the number acquired from the keypad. (10%) Question 5 (20%) (a) Compare the Programmed 1/0, Interrupt-Driven 110 and OMA techniques by complete the following table: (3%) (b) List three differences between Memory Mapped 110 and Isolated 1/0 approaches (6%) (c) Describe three different techniques for device identifications when multiple interrupts occur. (6%) (d) Modify the following Instruction Cycle State Diagram to include interrupt cycle processing. (3%) (e) Briefly explain the cycle stealing mechanism in OMA operation. (2%)
Module Code and Title PSB5048EE Embedded System Design and Development Assignment No. / Title CW 1 - Design a Smart Safe Device (SSD) Submit CW 1 Demo Date: Video Recording < Final > Logbook (individual) Date: < mid-term> Team Report Date: < mid-term> Estimated Time (hrs.) Assignment type: Team work % of Module Mark CW Part 1 = 40 Hand out date: CW Part 1 No late work accepted. Extensions allowed only in extenuating circumstances. It is important that the work submitted is an individual effort. The penalties for plagiarism are severe. To be completed by the assessor Intended Learning Outcomes assessed by this work. 1. Work as part of a team to identify, review and select techniques, procedures, and methods to undertake embedded development taking into consideration client requirements, costs of development/commercial risk / health & safety, environmental/recycle. 2. Develop test and implement an embedded system 3. Present outcomes to a client and a wider audience. Marks breakdown Hardware Firmware 1. Individual Electronic Logbook (pdf) (10 marks) 10 10 2. Team Report (pdf) (total 80 marks, break down as below): Main Body (a) Design & Implementation: i. Schematic capture, PCB layout, 3D layout, (15 marks) - Hardware ii. Code development (15 marks) – Firmware 15 15 (b) BOM Cost analysis & ROHS Environmental/Safety (15 marks) - Hardware 5 (c) Software flowchart (5 marks) - Firmware 5 (d) Prototype build & Modular Testing (20 marks) – Hardware / Firmware 20 20 (e) Integrated Testing / Validation (25 marks) – Hardware / Firmware 25 25 (f) Team work (10 marks) – Hardware / Firmware 10 10 3. Individual team member Poster Presentation & Q&A (10 marks) 10 10 Video recording 5 5 Total: 100 marks to final marks (CW 1 @ 40%) 100 100 To maximize learning, every student must be involved in either hardware or software/firmware development with its associated prototype build, modular testing, reporting writing / documentation. No student should be solely responsible for prototype build, report writing nor documentation only. Logbook should be A4 size. Scan and upload into the blackboard for submission as a pdf. No copying is allowed. Student found to plagiarize may be referred to the school for action and zero marks will be awarded for both students. Total 100 marks Total 100 marks Coursework Task Sheet Assessment Criteria The assessment consists of a team report, your individual Electronic Logbook and individual contribution to a team Poster Presentation. The report must consist of an introduction, sections that describe the design, implementation and testing processes, and a conclusion. A demonstration of the project at the end of the module is required and marks will be awarded for according to the above marking criteria. Please present your work clearly showing all appropriate equations used for calculations and indicating all the steps needed to get the final answers. Retain at least 2 digits after decimal point. CW 1: Design an embedded Smart Safe Device (SSD) TASK The tasks are chosen to enable you to get experience in the design, implementation, and testing of real-time embedded systems. Design, implement and test a solution to the following problem: You will be using a PIC18F4550 microcontroller board to design and produce a versatile prototype. The following tasks must be completed by the team: Design and build a prorotype that performs the following tasks: 1. The functional system implementation is based around the PIC18F4550 microcontroller. The standalone unit is remotely controlled via an Asynchronous Serial Interface by a host device. 2. The remote-control aspect of the communication is via a wireless Bluetooth communication device mounted on the remote lock system while the controlling device could be a smart phone, a Tablet, or a remote PC. The remote device sends a three-digit user selected code that locks and unlocks the system. 3. On receiving a correct 3-digit numeric PIN the locking or unlocking function can be selected. A ‘menu’ to be created on the remote device to display the various options: a. A welcome message and with a friendly and helpful instruction to guide the user how to use the app. Student can use existing apps available from the store (no bonus points). Or student can choose to write their own smartphone app, or PC app (bonus points to be awarded separately). b. Lock function, is to lock the locking mechanism using a relay board c. Unlock function is to unlock the locking mechanism using a relay board d. Change password function e. Enable or disable encryption function (bonus points to be awarded separately) 4. The secure code is set by the user (owner). The code should be stored in the non-volatile area of the PIC’s EEPROM. 5. The user would only be given the chance for three retry entries. An unsuccessful lock/unlock sequence will initiate an alarm condition on the remote lock unit via an on-board buzzer and by a flashing an RGB LED. The system should remain inactive for a specified time interval (e.g. 5 sec to 10 sec). 6. The RGB LED and buzzer will also be used for feedback purposes during the selection of the various system operational functions. 7. The locking/unlocking mechanism of the system is implemented via a solenoid with the appropriate driver interface. 8. The student is to design a complete hardware circuit and should include the various blocks: a. The solenoid and its relay module b. The RGB LEDs c. The Bluetooth module with UART interface d. 1 buzzer e. 1 numeric 3x4 (preferred) or 4x4 Keypad interface to the MCU (PIC18F) for local pin entry Note: The pin entry via keypad and the BT app must work together in one main program. The entry is either done via keypad or BT app to complete an operation. The development kit will be represented as a module in the completed hardware design and do not need to design the detailed PIC18F4550 MCU circuit. Connector provisions should be made for connecting your circuit to the development kit module. A schematic must be captured, showing clear details of all parts of the schematic and to be included in your report. 9. A double layer PCB of your design should be included in your report showing the PCB layer(s) and the 3D view. The size of your PCB design should not exceed 15 cm x 15 cm. All selected PCB component can be either Through Hole or Surface Mount Technology type. Your PCB should be a 0.8 mm FR4 laminate, 1 ounce copper. The pcb (including the 3D view) must be captured in your report. 10. A full listing of the Bill-Of-Materials (BOM) of your designed product should be included in your report with full references to component supplier's order codes and prices. All components chosen should be ROHS approved. An overall cost of your design should be given including your PCB manufacturing quote(s). Your BOM should NOT include Development tools (such as PICKIT3, PIC18F development board and software tools). 11. A short functional demo of less than 2-3min of your protoype should be made available and submit into the blackboard. A staff signed note that shows the team’s name and team member names should be shown in your video clip. 12. Only one team report should be submitted by one team member and should include team members names. This should be a PDF file. (Please make sure that the conversion from Word to PDF follows the correct formatting). The assignment report’s file name should begin with the team's name and the up-loader's surname. The other team members should upload a cover sheet with the filename: coversheet followed by the team's name. The cover sheet template is provided on Blackboard. TEAM MARK 1. Introduction. This will set the scene for the report, providing information on how you planned your work and what objectives you were attempting to meet. A Gantt chart should be included in your report showing your planned activities against time. You should also include a Project Management and Risk Assessment discussion. Identify any health and safety in carrying out the practical aspect of the work as well as any environmental issues that need to be addressed. 2. The Main Body of the report will comprise the following sections: a. Design & Implementation [15 marks]: Hardware and Firmware document the design process in writing. Implement the design running on the PIC microprocessor in the lab. All relevant input/output interfaces need to be implemented. Your code must be uploaded to the module web and all implementation decisions need to be described. The use of digital photographs and screenshots of the hardware/software set-up is permitted as part of your explanation of the implementation. b. Component selection / Cost analysis [Hardware 5 marks]: used and provide a cost analysis. Identify component suppliers and provide the corresponding stock number order codes. Create a Bill-Of-Materials (BOM) list. Make sure that your components are ROHS compliant. Consider the environmental implications and health and safety issues that some of your design components might have. c. Software Flowchart [Firmware 5 marks]. Firmware to develop an integration level flowchart to facilitate and help in the development of the overall firmware program. d. Prototype & Modular Testing [Hardware 20 marks, Firmware 20 marks]: A prototype must be built and it must be able to demonstrate the intended application. Document the prototype build in your report. Independent verification of hardware and firmware/simulation to ensure that it is working before the actual integrated testing. e. Integrated Testing / Validation [25 marks]. Document the test methodology that you have followed for your design. This must describe what tests you decided to do and why you decided to make them. You also need to document calibration procedures, debugging issues and corresponding test results. f. Teamwork [10 marks] Emphasis is also given to evaluate the cohesiveness of the team, and able to demonstrate the ability to work together and able to discuss issues together to resolve project issues. g. Poster and Q&A [10 marks] The team must provide a one-page A0 poster for presentation (no print needed). Marks will be given on the details, clarity, sufficient information, presentation, and Q&A. h. Video Recording [5 marks] A video recording must be uploaded into the blackboard. An overall prototype demonstration (integrated features) recording is sufficient. Otherwise, for those features missing on the integrated prototype video, the relevant modular/feature testing video should be provided. 3. Conclusions. In your conclusions, you should survey the team’s work and results and show how the task requirements were met. You should also survey the work, describing what went well and what did not. Go back and re-asses your original planning ideas. Discuss your findings. Document the issues encountered and how you solve them. Highlight any issue that is not resolved for future work. Suggest future improvement to your design. [Team report total 80 marks] INDIVIDUAL MARK [10 marks] Your individual Electronic Portfolio (eLogbook), cannot be the same for each team member, document the journey of your learning, the knowledge learnt, the design consideration you had went through, with detail calculation or explanations, the decision make on your design, will be uploaded to Blackboard through the link that will be provided. All laboratory activities should be discussed; solutions to tasks and fully commented software listings should also be included. All students should individually upload their personal Portfolio. The eLogbook could be a scanned copy of your hardcopy log book that shows all your work done. In-class Poster Presentation & Q&A Session [10 marks]. Two (or more) assessors will evaluate your individual contribution to the work to check that it meets the objectives. This will be your team’s presentation of your assignment. Each team member will be individually assessed. Questions will be asked during the session. The team report needs to be uploaded through Blackboard via the link that will be provided. Only One Report per team to be uploaded by one team member. The other team members should upload a cover sheet that will be available via Blackboard. Your uploaded project report naming should include your team name on its title. Your lab teams will be as defined at the start of the assignment session and cannot be changed. Teams are expected to work in pre-allocated bench areas. You need to attend these classes promptly and follow laboratory health and safety rules. Classes will be supervised by a lecturer/tutor. Keep a safe copy of all coursework submitted for reference. Key Components Used in this project:
ELEC0078 Coursework for final assessment. Question: After reading about this review on the development of photonic based biosensors, please write a report covering the following questions; • What are the key differences between the different biosensors presented in the paper? • Does any element of the systems require to be built as a coherent photonic system? • Please be specific on what element in the paper correspond to, or would require a, coherent photonic systems. • Are there some subsystems used that were seen during the lectures? • Considering the simple Mach Zehnder senser shown in Fig 1a, derive a sensor sensitivity in terms of minimum refractive index change that can be measured. You might have to make some assumption on the laser source used and the detection system used. • Please state any assumption you make to assess those parameters. • The report should not be more than 5000 words and/or 10 pages including figures. Fail (85%) Structure of the report (15% of total) The report has no structure and does not flow logically The report has the premise of a structure, but the flow is not logical. There is some logic in the structure. But some gaps are still present The structure is sound and flows logically. It is not complete (Small element missing in discussions and details) The structure is sound and flows logically. The level of details is excellent with a high level of analysis. The structure is at a standard that could be published in a peer-reviewed journal Technical details of the photonic systems (50% of total) None of the photonic systems elements for the systems have been described in the report. Only one of the photonic systems for the systems have been well presented. Half of the photonic system elements for the systems have been well presented. Most of the photonic system elements have been presented in detail. All the photonic system elements for the systems have been presented. The level of details is very high and at a standard expected for peer review. Derivation on the systems comparison (35%) of total No derivation to estimate the sensitivity of the sensor is presented. The start of the derivation is presented. A derivation based on the lecture notes is presented. It still needs to be linked to the actual systems. The derivation is fully linked to the actual systems and lead to a conclusion. Some mistakes are remaining. Full derivation done and related to the system. Detailed conclusion and clear assumption on the system stated. The conclusions on resolution are advanced. Discussion are added on system improvement.
CSE5023: Recent Advances in Deep Learning Assignment 2: Transformer and its Applications This assignment is designed to deepen your understanding of the Transformer architecture and its applications across various fields of deep learning (including language modeling and computer vision). You are expected to train and finetune Transformer models using PyTorch, analyze their performance, and compare different configurations. 1 Part I: Translation (50 points) In the first part of this assignment, you will train a Transformer-based model from scratch for a translation task using PyTorch, focusing on translating English to Chinese. This is a sequence-to-sequence task, which means it’s a problem that can be formulated as going from one sequence to another. We will provide a big enough corpus of texts in two languages, so you can train a new translation model from scratch. 1.1 Transformer Architecture Implement the Transformer architecture and the training procedure by completing the python files tokenization.py and model/transformer.py. In these files, ”TODO” annotations would notify you where to complete and how to do it. Transformer comprises two main components: an encoder and a decoder. Each component is built using layers of Transformer blocks. After completing the code, please write down in the report your thoughts and understanding of the architecture of the transformer. Specifically, your report should at least answer the following questions. 1. What are the differences between the encoder and the decoder in terms of their structure and function? 2. How the attention masks are implemented within the encoder and decoder? And explain in detail the moti- vation why we need the attention mask. 3. What are the differences between the training and inference for the decoder? 1.2 Training and BLEU Evaluation Train your Transformer model from scratch and plot the training loss curve. During training, remember to save intermediate models at appropriate intervals for the following BLEU score evaluation. BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy) is an algorithm for evaluating the quality of text which has been machine-translated from one natural language to another. Quality is considered to be the correspondence between a machine’s output and that of a human: “the closer a machine translation is to a professional human translation, the better it is” — this is the central idea behind BLEU. BLEU was one of the first metrics to claim a high correlation with human judgements of quality, and remains one of the most popular automated and inexpensive metrics. Implement the BLEU score evaluation script in chinese bleu.ipynb. For Chinese, word segmentation should be done before BLEU evaluation. We have provide an optional segmentation tool in the file. You should not only report the BLEU scores during validation process but also evaluate your final model on the test dataset. Additionally, list some examples of translation outputs from the test data in your report as specific illustrations of the model’s performance. 1.3 Warm-up and Learning Rate Tuning Fix your training procedure with a new learning rate scheduler: Cosine Annealing with Warm-up. The learning rate would increase linearly in warm-up epochs and then gradually drop in a half of cosine curve. Tuning the learning rate and evaluating the BLEU to get the better performance. 1.4 Ablation Study of Hyper-parameters Ablation Study: Explore the effects of various hyper-parameters in terms of model’s architecture (the number of blocks, the number of attention heads, the dimension of embedding and so on). Document your findings in a tabulated format. Before comparison, you should set a baseline for the different ablation studies. Suggesting to use a set of hyper-parameters as a baseline before comparison. Subsequent adjustments should be based on this baseline to implement. 1.5 Positional Embedding Implement a new type of positional embedding, for example, a learnable positional embedding. Report your findings and provide a detailed discussion on the role and effectiveness of different positional embedding strategies. 2 Part II: Sentiment Analysis (30 points) In the second part of this assignment, you will finetune the encoder developed in the first part assignment on a sentiment analysis task (you may need to pre-process the data set and change the max length setup). Sentiment Analysis is the task of classifying the polarity of a given text. For instance, a text-based message can be categorized into either ”positive”, ”negative”, or ”neutral”. Given the text and accompanying labels, a model can be trained to predict the correct sentiment. 2.1 Task 1: Fine-tuning Based on the Transformer model trained in the Part 1, implement a new model for sentiment analysis by removing the decoder and adding a linear layer for classification. You should use cross-entropy loss as the loss function and modify the training and validation code from Part 1 to suit this new task. Carefully monitor and document the training loss and validation accuracy curves in your report. Since this is a fine-tuning task, it is essential to load the pre-trained parameters of the encoder from Part 1. Besides, easy tuning of hyperparameters and debugging of your code are crucial to achieving reliable classification results. 2.2 Task 2: Positional Embedding Investigate the effects of including or excluding positional embedding in your model. Report your findings and provide a detailed discussion on the role of positional embedding in different tasks. 2.3 Task 3 (Optional): Advanced Techniques Employ advanced techniques not covered in class to enhance the performance of the translation or sentiment analysis tasks, providing detailed analyses, implementations, and results. 3 Part III: Vision Transformers (20 points) Vision Transformer, or ViT, is a model for image classification that employs a Transformer-like architecture over patches of the image. An image is split into fixed-size patches, each of them are then linearly embedded, position embeddings are added, and the resulting sequence of vectors is fed to a standard Transformer encoder. 3.1 Task 1: ViT Implementation Based on the code of Transformer architecture and training procedure in the Part 2, implement vision classification task on the CIFAR10 dataset. This involves constructing an appropriate DataLoader and replacing NLP-specific embeddings with a learnable linear layer. Carefully monitor and document the training loss and validation accuracy curves in your report. 3.2 Task 2: Comparison with CNNs Implement CIFAR10 classification using a pre-trained CNN model, such as ResNet in PyTorch. model = torch.hub.load(′pytorch/vision : v0.10.0′ ,′ resnet50′ , pretrained = True) Compare and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Vision Transformers (ViTs) relative to Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). 4 Submission instructions The submission will include: 1. A written report with section-by-section descriptions of your procedures, results, and analysis. 2. Code for producing all results for all parts and tasks. 3. Instructions on how to run the code. Create a ZIP archive with the results of Assignment (all parts and tasks). Give the ZIP file the name student- number assignment2.zip, where you insert your student number. Please submit the archive through Blackboard. Make sure all files needed to run your code are included or you may be given 0 points for it. The deadline for assignment 2 (all parts and all tasks) is the 25 May 2025 at 23:55 (Beijing Time).
INFOSYS 306 2025 S1 Individual Assignment 2 – Case Study Overview The assignment aims to deepen your understanding of the prevalence of platform business in a variety of business context. It also allows you to demonstrate your ability to apply the key concepts/theories of platform businesses to analyse platform businesses in the real world. Task You are tasked to conduct a case analysis of a platform. business chosen from the list below. Content of the case study 1. Introduction (5 marks) • Provide an overview of the platform by describing the key business/function/value enabled by the platform. 2. Platform. analysis (60 marks, 10 marks for each point) • The different sides of the platform and the value they derive from the platform. • The core interaction occurring on the platform, including participants, value units, and filters • The network effects within and/or between different sides of the platform. • How does the platform monetize? • Does the platform have any governance mechanisms? If so, what are they and how they work? • What potential challenges does the platform. face? Could you propose any solutions to address those challenges? 3. Conclusion (5 marks) • Briefly summarise the case study Guidelines 1. The case study contains both objective business information and your own independent analysis. 2. Objective business information should draw on the information available online. The online resources include but are not restricted to the platform’s website, news, online reports and reviews, etc. You can also register as a user of the platform. to gain first-hand experience of using the platform. 3. Your independent analysis is where you apply the knowledge of platform business to the business you have chosen. Requirements 1. The case study should be 1200 words (+/-10%). 2. Use the APA format for referencing. The word count does not include the references. 3. The case study is due on Canvas midnight on 23 May 2025. 4. Late submissions will receive a penalty. The penalty will follow the general practice of the university. Grading and Indicative Marking Rubrics The assignment is marked out of 70 points and worth 8% of your total course marks. It will be assessed against the following rubrics.
Part B of MRA - ECON1000 Introductory Economics S1 2025 MRA ‘Part B’ - Assessment (worth 36 Marks) Overview The assessment has become available on Thursday 22nd May at 11am and is STRICTLY due on Thursday 5th June at 11pm. Key assessment information: Part B of MRA is a downloadable ‘take-home’, ‘open book’ assessment where you can pace yourself to answer the questions. Refer to ‘ ECON1000 S1 2025 MRA Hints and Tips’ recording/PDF (slides 2,4-6) for suggestions on how to do well in Part B of MRA. The student, by yourself (please no Gen-AI LLMs or other agent assistance) has 14.5 days (348 hours) to complete Part B of MRA under normal circumstances. Many thanks in advance for your cooperation, Brennan AI Tech Incorporated (BAT Inc.) Answer ALL short-answer style. questions from the document file provided. Your answers need to be typed, but diagrams must be hand-drawn (digital inking using a stylus is fine) and included into an editable Word document (or PDF). Note, word count is a suggested maximum. It is crucial is that you specifically answer the questions and have sufficient explanations and refer to key sentences, ideas and data from various articles* where relevant to support your analysis. (*):= the key articles are available for free online [but if not, see alt. links below]. IMPORTANT: When ready to submit, ONLY include answers and prepare your document as following: Full Name and Student ID on the first page as a title in the Word document (or PDF). Submit your file to Turnitin by the due date (go to Assessments tab on Bb, subfolder ‘PART B of MRA: SHORT ANSWERS’). All the best with the assessment :-) Part B. SHORT ANSWERS: Analysis and Application [36 marks] [There are three (3) main questions to be answered with sufficient explanations and where relevant using well-labelled, hand-drawn diagrams with accuracy.] Q1 - The economic impacts of Argentina,s use of fiscal policy [14 marks] The president of Argentina Javier Milei is famous for taking a chainsaw approach to fiscal spending since he came to power in late 2023, as pointed out in these articles (listed in chronological order): 1. Calatrava, Almudena (2024) ‘Argentina’s Poverty Rate Spikes in First 6 months of President Milei’s Shock Therapy’, Associated Press Newswires, September 27th, available:https://apnews.com/article/argentina-poverty-milei-economy-crisis- f766deb9302aa4ddde1bb9ae26aaf7af 2. Grinspan, Lautaro (2024) ‘Inflation Down, Poverty up as Milei Takes Chainsaw to Argentina’s Economy’, Al Jazeera, December 30th, available:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/30/inflation-down-poverty-up-as-milei-takes-chainsaw-to- argentinas-economy 3. The Guardian (2025) ‘The Guardian View on Argentina’s Austerity Year: Painful Cuts, Rising Poverty and a Geopolitical Gamble’, The Guardian, January 13th, available:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/12/the-guardian-view-on- argentinas-austerity-year-painful-cuts-rising-poverty-and-a-geopolitical-gamble 4. Reuters (2025) ‘Argentina’s GDP Seen Growing in Q4 After Shrinking for Six Quarters’, Reuters, March 18th, available: https://www.reuters.com/markets/argentinas-gdp-seen-growing-q4-after-shrinking-six-quarters-2025-03-17/ 5. Roberts, Michael (2025) ‘Argentina: Anarcho Capitalism to Austerity’, Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt, April 16th, available:https://www.cadtm.org/Argentina-anarcho-capitalism-to-austerity a) Use the multiplier AD model diagram to illustrate and explain in detail what is happening to the Argentinian economy as Milei vows to “maintain a fiscal surplus at all costs” . In your diagram, begin the economy in 2023, and explain the multiplier processes at work during 2024 and what to expect for 2025 (assume a marginal propensity to consume (MPC) of 0.75 throughout). 500 ±100 or so words should be sufficient for Q1a 10 marks for quality of analysis, including diagram b) Consider the broad impact of the 2024 austerity measures on university students, public sector employees and pensioners in Argentina. Use a figure with income and consumption on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis to illustrate and discuss the way in which Argentina’s working class has responded to programme of austerity. 300 ±100 or so words should be sufficient for Q1b 4 marks for quality of analysis, including figure Apply key economic concepts taught in Modules L4 and L3 in ECON1000 S1 2025 and refer to key sentences and ideas from the salient articles where relevant to support your analysis. Q2 - The impacts of monetary policy on inflationary expectations in Australia [10 marks] Economic life has become quite expensive lately. The costs of living in Australia and elsewhere have gone up dramatically over the past couple of years owing in part to the accumulated effect of past high inflation. Read the following articles (listed in chronological order): 1. Jericho, Greg (2025a) ‘The Reserve Bank Should be Looking at These Numbers and Wondering why it Waited Until February to act’, The Guardian, March 6th, available:https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2025/mar/06/rba-interest- rates-australia-inflation-data-gdp-growth 2. Carter, Jeremy Story (2025) ‘Can Australia Still Afford...’, ABC News, April 21st, available:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025- 04-21/can-australia-still-afford-the-pub-coffees-and-friday-takeaway/105115938 3. Schneiders, Ben (2025) ‘Australia is in a Cost-of-Living Nightmare: What can the new Albanese Government Learn from its Last Term?’, ABC News, May 7th, available:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-07/can-albanese-government-fix-the-economy- four-corners/105260320 4. Jericho, Greg (2025b) ‘The Reserve Bank Played it Safe and Didn’t cut Interest Rates in April – and Households Suffer’, The Guardian, May 8th, available:https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2025/may/08/reserve-bank-australia- interest-rates-retail-trade-cost-of-living-economy 5. Verrender, Ian (2025) ‘Why Soaring Property Prices Could Dampen Future Interest Rate Cuts’, ABC News, May 13th, available: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-13/why-soaring-property-prices-could-dampen-future-rate-cuts/105284238 Use the multiplier AD model and Phillips curve diagram to illustrate and explain in detail how the aggregate demand function in the Australian economy has shifted over the past couple of years. Begin your economy in June 2022 with an unemployment rate of 3.5% and explain the socio- economic outcomes up to March 2025 from the RBA’s response to the positive shock. In your answer, elaborate on the significance of monetary policy in the Australian context. 500 ±100 or so words should be sufficient for Q2 10 marks for quality of analysis, including linked diagrams Apply key economic concepts taught in Modules L8 and L7 in ECON1000 S1 2025 and refer to key sentences, ideas and data from the salient articles where relevant to support your written analysis. Q3 - The key factors affecting the labour market in the United States [12 marks] Critically evaluate the relevant factors at play here in the WS/PS model—productivity, worker bargaining power (including unions)—when reading the following analyses (listed in chronological order) and relevant data source: 1. Weller, Christian E. and Natalie Baker (2025) ‘The Biden Administration Handed Over a Strong Economy’, The Center for American Progress, January 23rd, available:https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-biden-administration-handed-over- a-strong-economy/ 2. Poydock, Margaret, Celine McNicholas, Jennifer Sherer, Heidi Shierholz (2025) ‘16 Million Workers Were Unionized in 2024’, The Economic Policy Institute, January 28th, available:https://www.epi.org/publication/millions-of-workers-millions-of-workers- want-to-join-unions-but-couldnt/ 3. Derby, Michael S. (2025) ‘US Labor Union Membership Slips in 2024 to Record low’, Reuters, January 29th, available: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-labor-union-membership-little-changed-2024-government-says-2025-01-28/ 4. Saraiva, Augusta (2025) ‘US Productivity Rises at Solid Pace, Helping Limit Labor Costs’ , Bloomberg, February 6th, available: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-06/us-productivity-rises-at-steady-pace-helping-limit-labor-costsor https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/markets/us-productivity-rises-at-solid-pace-helping-limit-labor-costs/ar-AA1yxyER data source: 5. Unemployment Rate (UNRATE) in the United States, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE In this context, use WS/PS model to illustrate and explain in some detail into what has happened to real wages and unemployment and for the other relative factors in the US economy over the past nine years from December quarter 2015 to December quarter 2024. 600 ±100 or so words should be sufficient for Q3 12 marks for quality of analysis, including diagram Apply key economic concepts taught in Modules L5 and L6 in ECON1000 S 1 2025 and refer to key sentences, ideas and data from the salient articles where relevant to support your written analysis.
Applied Economics and Statistics Group Project This is an end-of-term group project worth 30% of total module mark. There are 4 or 5 students in one group, and you should work on and complete this project together, as a group. The group allocation will be published on Canvas near the time. Please choose one topic out of two below and answer all questions on that topic. • Submission deadline: Thursday 8 May 2025 (after Easter break) • Word limit: 1500 words • Please submit the Data Ethics Form. on Canvas before your final submission. Topic 1 Crime rates and wage Your submission should contain answers to all the questions below. 1. With reference to Becker’s model, explain the theoretical relationship between regional crime rates and average wage. [15%] 2. Construct an empirical model that can be used to test the theoretical relationship you provide in Q1 (for example, OLS regression model). Explain the variables you choose in your model. [25%] 3. Based on the model you create in Q2, find the data needed on the variables in your model. You need to consider the sample size, decide the time period and regions or countries of your data. You may discover you are not able to find data on some of your variables, hence, you may need to revise the model accordingly. For instance, you could find crime data from https://data.police.uk/, and wage rate data from https://www.statista.com/statistics/416097/full-time-hourly-wage-uk-by-region/, but you are strongly encouraged to look for more datasets (dependent on what variables you choose for your model), compare and combine them to construct your own datasets. [30%] 4. Estimate the model and interpret your results. [30%] Topic 2 Happiness Your submission should contain answers to all the questions below. You have been introduced to various research on happiness. On this topic, you are asked to implement a student survey and investigate what affects the happiness of different groups of students at University of Birmingham. 1. Step 1 - Design a survey questionnaire, which should contain 15 to 25 questions and is aimed to help you understand the happiness of your fellow students and its determinants. You should also adopt Likert scale where appropriate and provide instructions to participants on how to complete your survey questions. You will need to complete the Data Ethics Form (one form per group) before your final submission. You need to provide participation information and get participants’ consent (please find in the suggested template for questionnaire). Submit the questionnaire in Word or PDF format you design. Survey questionnaire is not included in the word count. [25%] 2. Step 2 - Distribute your questionnaire to the sample you select. When deciding your sample, you may wish to consider what your sample is and the sample size. For instance, how many students you wish to survey? Do you want to focus on students from Economics department, Business School, or even the whole University of Birmingham? How many students do you plan to survey on? How do you ensure the randomness of your sample selection? Do you wish to distribute the survey online, or in person? You can consider a few online free platforms for distributing the survey, such as, Google online form (you may need a gmail account), etc. But you do need to ensure the responses are all from UoB students. Your submission should include a summary on how you complete Step 2. 3. Step 3 - Collect and analyse your survey data. You may wish to produce some descriptive statistics on the data you collect, and conduct basic empirical analysis dependent on the sample size you obtain. Your submission should include a summary on Step 3. [25%] 4. Step 4 - Interpret your results, with reference to the theories and research introduced in the lecture. You are also encouraged to use extended references. The interpretation of your results should be included in your submission. [25%]
Module Title Business Statistic and Data-Driven Decision Making Assignment Mode Individual Assignment Word Count 300 words (+/- 10%). Excl. References and Appendix Citation Format At least three citations in APA format Marks 100 marks Due Date Refer to LMS Assignment Brief In this assignment, you are tasked with identifying a product of personal interest (e.g. smart phone, running shoe, etc.), hereafter referred to as Product XYZ. As a member of the marketing team for a company selling Product XYZ, your goal is to recommend a suitable launch price for a newly developed model of Product XYZ. Conduct a market survey to gather price data for Product XYZ online. You may also collect additional relevant variables that could aid in your analysis (e.g. features, brand reputation, etc.). Gather at least 10 records and organize your findings in the following format: No. Brand Model / Description Price (S$) Source / URL 1 2 … … … 10 Note: You may add more columns if you choose to collect additional variables. Complete a management report of approximately 300 words. Your report should be professionally formatted in .pdf format and must include the following sections: • Introduction: o Provide an overview of the research, clearly stating the objective and significance of the study. o Describe the data source and method used for data collection. Include the collected data in the appendix. • Results: o Present the data collected using relevant charts and descriptive statistics. o Interpret these charts and statistics to highlight key insights. o Include detailed calculations of statistics to demonstrate your understanding. o Recommend a launch price for your company model of Product XYZ. • Reflection: o Reflect on what you have learned about statistical methods and data analysis through this exercise. o Provide suggestions for improvement. • References: Cite all external sources used in your research, if any, following APA guidelines. WNote that you are not required to include references for the sources of price data collected during your market survey. • Appendix: Include a table showing the data you collected during your market survey. Rubric Components Maximum Marks Introduction 20 Results 30 Reflection 30 Quality of Work 20
SCIS315 ESSAY QUESTIONS Choose ONE essay question from the list. When answering your selected Essay question, provide examples from the course and readings, as well as external sources, to support your answer. Your essay should be 2000-2500 words, and is worth 35% of your final grade. (Make sure you write the number of the essay question you answer in your paper.) Q1: What is environmental history, and how can it help us understand the motives for environmental change in Aotearoa New Zealand? Select TWO of the following topics to write on: new species introductions and ecological and social impacts science, agricultural development and environmental change human impact on environments and environmental impacts on humans colonisation and environmental change Source: Modules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Reading lists Q2: Assess the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘history of science’ approach in Aotearoa New Zealand. What other alternative models are there available, and why are they useful? Use examples to support your answer. Source: Modules 1 and 2 Reading lists Q3: “Māori had little or no environmental impacts in Aotearoa.” Critically interrogate this statement. Source: Module 3 Reading list Q4: “New Zealand currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars on fighting introduced pest species, yet nineteenth-century settlers spent corresponding amounts on bringing in species from overseas.” Account for the motives of nineteenth-century acclimatisation and describe some of the environmental impacts then and now of those introductions. You may choose three or four species to illustrate your answer. Source: Module 2 Reading list Q5: What was New Zealand’s grasslands revolution and its environmental impact, and to what extent did scientific ideas help further it? Source: Module 3 Reading list Q6: To what extent are New Zealand’s current environmental problems a legacy of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientific agriculture? Source: Module 3 Reading list Q7: What role did natural history play in colonisation? Discuss with reference to New Zealand, Australia and India. Source: Module 2 Reading list Q8: What role have museums played in science and exchanges of scientific knowledge in the 1800s and early 1900s? Source: Module 4 Reading list Q9: Discuss the nature of knowledge exchange between Europeans and non-Europeans with reference to botany, natural history specimens and environmental knowledge. Source: Modules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Reading lists Q10: What role did the state play in ONE of the following areas? Select ONE of the following areas to write about: mental health care in Aotearoa New Zealand from 1840 to 1970. indigenous health in Aotearoa New Zealand and India from 1840 to 1970. public health in Aotearoa New Zealand and India from 1840 to 1970. Source: Module 5 Reading list
INFOSYS 306 2025 S1 Individual Case Analysis Assignment Overview This assignment is based on the case “Cardagin: Local Mobile Rewards” (Venkatesan 2014). (You can also find it at Modules – Assignment documents – Individual assignment 1”). Cardagin is a mobile app that provides consumers access to the loyalty programs of merchants that participate in the Cardagin network. In addition to the case provided, you may also watch the following two videos better understand Cardagin’s business model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0af1mrm5c2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVMn5slk9Bk&t=89s The assignment will demonstrate your ability in applying the key concepts/theories of platform. businesses to real world situations and solving real-life challenges faced by the managers of platform businesses. Questions Read the case “Cardagin” and answer the following questions. 1. Discuss the factors that influence merchants to (a) join Cardagin and (b) continuously use the system (7 points) (The factors influencing the decision to join and the decision to continuously use should differ.) 2. Discuss the factors that influence consumers to (a) join Cardagin and (b) continuously use the app (7 points) (The factors influencing the decision to join and the decision to continuously use should differ.) 3. Describe the network effects on Cardagin (7 points) (You need to explicitly indicate the sidedness and valence of the effects) 4. Which side does Cardagin charge? Do you think it is appropriate? Why? (4 points) 5. Suppose that the budget at Cardagin only allows it to acquire one side, do you recommend Cardagin to focus on acquiring more merchants or more consumers? Justify your recommendation. (5 points) Requirements 1. Your assignment should NOT exceed 1500 words. Marks will be deducted for exceeding the word limit. The length of answers does not determine grades, but quality. 2. No references are expected for this assignment. However, if there are references in your answers, please use the APA format. 3. The Cardagin case does not need to be referenced. 4. The assignment is due on Canvas at 11.59 pm on 11 April 2025. 5. Late submissions will receive a penalty. The penalty will follow the general practice of the university. Guidelines 1. Answer the questions directly. Introduction and conclusion are not needed. 2. Your answers to the questions should draw on the information provided by the case, the knowledge of platform businesses covered in the lectures, and logical thinking and analysis. 3. Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities are important for all the questions. The questions also assess different aspects of your learning and ability. Questions 1 and 2 focus more on your ability to extract and process information of the case and your understanding of the general business operations and consumer behaviours. Questions 3-5 focus more on your ability to apply the knowledge of platform. businesses to real situations and make decisions to solve real-world business issues. Grading and Indicative Marking Rubrics 1. The assignment carries 30 points and is worth 10% of your total course marks. 2. There are no absolute right or wrong answers, though some may make more business and economic sense than others. Your grades will be determined by a. Whether you can derive key information from the case b. How logical and thoughtful you are in approaching the questions c. How well you organize and integrate the information of the case and your own ideas. d. Whether your answers are relevant and meaningful e. Whether there are flaws in your reasoning and justifications f. Whether you can consider the issues by having a big picture and without omitting important information g. Whether you can effectively present your ideas/solutions/arguments in a clear structure Points Performance Evaluation Criteria (75%~100%) *30 Excellent • Excellent knowledge and understanding of the case • Excellent ability to concisely and accurately extract the essence of the content • Excellent presentation of own thoughts, opinions and learnings based on the content • Clear logic and reasoning with sufficient justification and argumentation • Excellent ability to organize and structure the content, allowing readers to follow the logic easily • Excellent and professional writing (50%~74%) *30 Good • Generally, good knowledge and understanding of the case, though there are a couple of points missed or less well developed • Good ability to extract the essence of the content, though some points could be further developed and elaborated • Good presentation of own thoughts, opinions and learnings based on the content though some aspects could be further developed or supported with better justifications • Good logic and reasoning with justification and argumentation, but there are a few logic flaws • Good ability to organize and structure the content, though the logic could be further improved • Overall good writing ability (25%~49%) *30 Adequate • Demonstrates adequate knowledge and understanding of the case, though some important content is missing or not developed • Only repeat the information in the case but own ideas are not adequately presented • Logic and reasoning are unclear. Justification and argumentation are inadequate • The content is just presented piecemeal, without sufficient content organization • Barely OK writing ability (0~24%)*30 Poor • Inaccurate knowledge and understanding of the case • Unsatisfactory summary of the case. Own thoughts and analysis are missing. • No content organization and flow • Writing is hard to follow
MTH 223: Mathematical Risk Theory Tutorial 3 Part II 5. Suppose that loss X has a two-point mixture distribution with the following c.d.f.: FX (x) = 0.3F1 (x) + 0.7F2 (x) for all x, where Fj (x) is the c.d.f. of eXj for j = 1, 2, X1 has a normal distri- bution N(1.5, 2), and X2 has a gamma distribution GAM(2, 1/5), i.e. F1 (x) and F2 (x) are lognormal and loggamma distribution functions, respectively; see the Distribution Table for their expressions. (a) Calculate the mean of the loss. (b) Calculate the variance of the loss. (c) Calculate the probability that the loss exceeds 10. 6. Assume that loss X has a three-component spliced distribution with following p.d.f. (a) Calculate the mean of the loss. (b) Calculate the variance of the loss. (c) Calculate the distribution function FX (x) of the loss for all x ∈ (-∞, ∞). (d) Calculate the probability that the loss is between 6 and 12 . 7. The conditional distribution of loss X , given Θ = θ > 0, is a uniform. distribution U (0, θ). Θ has a Gamma distribution GAM (2, 6). (a) Calculate the mean of the loss. (b) Calculate the variance of the loss. (c) Calculate the probability that the loss exceeds its mean.
INSTRUCTIONS: • Please complete all questions. Responses will need to be interpretive with evidence of critical thought and reflection. We do not encourage dot point responses. Responses will require demonstration of an understanding of the impact of overarching policy, food systems, food security and commercial determinants of health on various priority populations and ages using one of the frameworks that were referred to in class. Question 1 Question 1a. (5 marks) a. Identify the marketing tactic that you see in this image. Who is it aimed at, and which level of the ecological framework does this represent? Please give reasons for your answer (5 marks) Response: Question 1b. Case study (15 marks) Case Study Scenario: Influences of food choice on children/adolescents aged 10-17 Background In the growing city of Metropolis, the fast-food industry has become a dominant force in the local food system. With a population of over 5 million, the city's diverse demographic includes a significant number of children and teenagers. Supermarkets, convenience stores and the fast-food industry, recognizing this, have heavily invested in marketing strategies aimed at young consumers and their families. Setting the Scene: Metropolis is known for its vibrant culture and fast-paced lifestyle. Parents and care givers work long hours, and the school day is long and busy. Parents often do their shopping while driving their children home from school. Ready to eat foods and a range of snacks are plentiful at supermarkets which carry an affordable source of a range of foods. Metropolis also has large shopping centres with public transport hubs near schools. Students who use public transport to and from school often take connecting buses from these hubs. These shopping centres have food courts which also provide convenient food options, where fast-food chains have established a strong presence. Answer the following question: Using the ecological framework described by Mary Story and colleagues (2008), describe the levels of influence across the food system that impact the food choice of children and adolescents (aged 10-17). Please note that you are expected to describe with critical thought the influence and strategies of multiple players and ethical considerations that impact individual food choice in this age group. Please ensure that your response provides examples to reflect the differences across this age group. Response: Question 2: Question 2.a Reading: (8 marks) This question refers to the reading in Tallis by Kavian F, Mehta K, Willis E, Mwanri L, Ward P, Booth S. Migration, Stress and the Challenges of Accessing Food: An Exploratory Study of the Experience of Recent Afghan Women Refugees in Adelaide, Australia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020. Using the dimensions of food security, discuss in detail these women’s experience around accessing and procuring food in their new setting. Response: Question 2 b. (2-part question) i. Provide three examples of how malnutrition impacts infants and children under 5 years of age in Low- and Middle-Income countries and discuss why these are of concern at the population/societal level. (2 marks) Response: ii. Using the UNICEF Framework of Malnutrition, discuss in detail two basic and two underlying issues that you consider are the most significant contributor to stunting in a resource poor country setting. Please also state why you consider these two as the most significant causes (10 marks) Response:
BIOT 5340 Final Challenge Big Idea: Biotechnology describes biological processes that have been manipulated or modified in some way through modern science. A major industrial application of biotechnology is in the development and preparation of biological medicinal products using genetically engineered bacteria, yeast, fungi, cells or even whole animals and plants. How does biotechnology fit into everyday life? Why do people need to know or not need to know about biotechnology? Essential Question: With today’s current climate and coronavirus pandemic how do we prepare ourselves and the world for the current and future situations? How could some of this been prevented? What are some of the current plans in place and is that enough? Final please include, how do you see yourself fitting into the future of biotherapeutics? The Challenge: Present your position in a visual presentation that is 15 minutes long and connecting your position to at least 5 different module topics from the course. You may use PowerPoint, any visual aids, or other aids to present the material and answering the essential and guiding questions. Please record this and let me know how you would like to submit it to me: google share, Microsoft teams, drop box, email, or whatever else you may use. Due Date: April 18th,2025 Please make all necessary assumptions and if something is still lingering or you want to check if you can make that assumption please feel free to email and ask.
