Individual Coursework (55%) BE133-6-SP - Debates in Public, Social and Environmental Accounting 2024-2025 - Spring Coursework assignment Drawing from academic literature (i.e., academic journal articles and books), practitioner research (e.g. research reports published by NGOs, think thanks or the Government), and the general media (e.g. articles published in newspapers) write an essay addressing the following: Critically analyse how the adoption of New Public Management (NPM) principles influences local governments’ accountability. To achieve this, you must include in the body of your manuscript a comprehensive analytical table that systematically interrogates the multifaceted influences of NPM principles (e.g., those related to markets, managers, and measurements), critically examining their positive, negative, and paradoxical effects across diverse accountability dimensions. IMPORTANT - Your discussion should integrate the findings of at least 6 academic papers/books that have been published on this topic and alternative sources, such as media articles and reports by national and international organisations and NGOs. - Your discussion should incorporate real-life examples to illustrate the points being made. - Note that this coursework invites you to reflect and provide arguments on the topic based on your own research. The essays that are well researched will normally attract a higher mark than those that are not. In particular, consider papers from journals such as: • Critical Perspectives on Accounting; • Management Accounting Research; • British Accounting Review; • Accounting, Organizations and Society; • Journal of Management Accounting Research; • Contemporary Accounting Research; • Financial Accountability & Management; • European Accounting Review; • Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. - Essays should not exceed 2,000 words (excluding list of references, tables/pictures and appendices). - You must indicate the total word count on the first/cover page. ‐ Essays must be typed with 12pt Arial or Times New Roman font, double-spaced. ‐ Essays should be written in an appropriate academic format. The following structure is suggested: o Introduction (max 300 words) – i.e., what is the key focus/argument of your essay? o Body (max 1,400 words) – i.e., ideas and elaboration with appropriate sub-headings o Conclusion (max 300 words) – i.e., overall reflection on the topic and concluding argument ‐ You should ensure that you have fully acknowledged the work of others in the body of the text. Ensure that you provide complete references for articles, books and other sources that you have cited in the body of your essay. You may refer to “EBS Student Resources” https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4454 ‐ The essay must be submitted to the Online Course Submission (OCS) Server (FASER), by the published deadline date. - All coursework will be anonymous (unless otherwise specified in the ‘Assessment’ section of this module outline), so you should ensure that only your registration number is included in the header. - Under the University’s zero tolerance rules, late work will receive a grade of ZERO. More information concerning late submission of coursework or absence from in-class tests, can be found here: https://www1.essex.ac.uk/students/exams-and-coursework/late-submission.aspx ‐ University Regulation 6.21: It is an academic offence for a student to engage in unfair academic practices or to cheat in any examination, or in any other submitted part of his or her University work, whether or not such work is formally assessed. A student maybe found guilty of an academic offence whether or not there has been intention to deceive; that is, ajudgement that negligence has occurred is sufficient to determine guilt. See more information of academic offences here: http://www.essex.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations/affairs.aspx#cheating ‐ Students requiring support may contact EBS learning team:[email protected]
Assignment 2 Note: Please make sure that you always use notations consistent with lecture notes. Different notations will not be accepted. Question 1 (12 marks) Consider a relation R (A, B, C, D, E, G, H, I, J) and its FD set F = {AD → B, BD → G, BE → I, AE → DI, AI → E, AEI → C}. Regarding the following questions, please give your answers and brief justifications. (1) Check if AB → G. (1 mark) (2) Find all the candidate keys for R. (2 mark) (3) Determine the highest normal form of R with respect to F. (2 marks) (4) Find a minimal cover Fm for F. (2 marks) (5) Regarding F, does the decomposition R1 = {ABCDJ}, R2 = {BDGI}, R3 = {BCEH} of R satisfy the lossless join property? (2 marks) (6) Provide a step-by-step lossless decomposition of R into BCNF normal form. (3 marks) Question 2 (8 marks) Consider the schedule below. Here, R(*) and W(*) stand for ‘Read’ and ‘Write’, respectively. T1, T2 and T3 represent 3 transactions, and t1, t2, …, t12 represents different timeslots. Note: Each transaction begins at the time slot of its first operation and commits right after its last operation (same timeslot). (1) Is the schedule serializable? If it is not serializable, draw a precedence graph; otherwise, provide an equivalent serial schedule. (2 marks) (2) Use the Two-Phase Locking protocol to add appropriate locks/unlocks for each of the transactions. (3 marks) (3) Based on the locks/unlocks you added in q(2), if the transactions attempt to follow the schedule in the table, what will happen? Please justify your answer using the method learned from the lecture. (3 marks) Question 3 (6 marks) Consider the following page request sequence: P1, P2, P1, P4, P3, P7, P2, P1, P4, P5, P8, P6, P8, P2, P8. Assume there are 3 buffers in the buffer pool. (1) Sketch the process of how blocks are replaced in the Least Recently Used (LRU) policy, and calculate the cache hit rate. (2 marks) (2) Sketch the process of how blocks are replaced in the Most Recently Used (MRU) policy, and calculate the cache hit rate. (2 marks) (3) Sketch the process of how blocks are replaced in the First In First Out (FIFO) policy, and calculate the cache hit rate. (2 marks)
BE142: TAXATION POLICY AND PRACTICE Coursework SP 2024/2025 (30% of final mark) STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE: Your work should be uploaded to FASER in one of these two formats only, either a PDF document or a WORD document. Any other format could result in you not receiving a mark for this piece of assessment. QUESTION Please answer the following: ress acombination ofeconomic, social, and fiscal challenges. Thelingeringeffec ve placed significant onsequently, thegovernmentseeks toand maintainfiscal One driving factor is income inequality and the needforafairertaxsystem(Limberg,2019; Apps & Rees, 2018). Reforms, such as theabolition ofthe non-domi aim to close loopholes that disproportionately benefit high-net-worth individ greater equity.Simultaneously, adjustments ng middle-income households.Another key goal ofthe UK tax reforms is to foster economicgrowtha For example, changes in corporate taxationaim to while ensuring companies contribute the sector-specific issues, such as increasing Finally, global shifts in tax policies, such asOECD-ledcorporate taxreforms,compeltheationalstandards.These revisions onomic recovery. ent'srecent taxpolicy changes announced in 2024 on individuals and businesses.Using specific ex criticallyanalysewhetherthesechangesalignwiththeprinciplesoffairnessefficiency In order to meet the learning outcomes of the assessment, students are expected to address at least two key areas of reform. (e.g., National Insurance Contributions, changes to Capital Gains Tax, or the abolition of non-domiciled tax status) and provide recommendations for further policy improvements. You may organise your essay as follows: 1. Begin with an overview of the relevant 2024 UK tax policy changes. 2. Discuss the implications for different stakeholder groups, such as employees, employers, high-net-worth individuals, or small and medium sized businesses. 3. Apply theoretical frameworks like equity versus efficiency trade-offs or the Laffer curve to assess the changes. 4. Support your analysis with examples, statistics, or case studies. 5. Conclude your essay by proposing well-justified recommendations for enhancing the tax system. / :BE142 CoreTextsMelville, A. (2024), Taxation:FinanceAct2024,30Edition, Harlow, England:Pearson.[ Systems • /25(31 Birmingham, England: Fiscal Publications.[ 2:TaxAdministration andComplianceSuggested journal articles/ reportsAdam,S., & Miller, H. (2024). Reformingthetaxationofnon-doms: policyoptio International Tax andPublic, ,1093-1128.Chenghao, Y., Mayburov,I. A., & Ying, W. (2024). Fiscal Effects ofEnvironmental Journal ofTax Reform (2), 258-270.Flores, L. R., Huysmans, M., &Ferwerda,J.(2024).The political businesscycleof tax reforms. , (1) progressive income taxation. , (3), 319-33 s the states: responsiveness andresponsibility in European tax governance. fEuropeanPublic, (4), 977-998.Nembe,J.K.,&Idemudia,C.(2024).Designingeffectivepoliciestoaddressthe .WorldJournalofAdvancedResearchand , (3),1171-1183.Paterson, A.,Sakariyahu, R.,Lawal, R.,&Alab financialmarketAbehaviouralperspectiveBritishJournalofManagement35174-191.Richardson, D., & Stilwell,F.(2024).Taxreform.The Journalof , (92),189-205.Schuster, E. P. (2024). Taxreformsde EuropeanCompany andFinancialLaw Review Spies-Butcher,B.,&Bryant,G.(2024).Thehistoryandfutu Possibilitiesfor a newfiscal politics beyond neoliberalism.Critical Perspec , ,102596. ndpolicy . , (5), 408
Java Lab 13 Fall 2022 In this lab, you will practice with exceptions. Create a project named Lab13. Download the file BadWeekday.java into the src directory. Create a new class named Lab13Driver with a main program. Add a public static Scanner object that wraps System.in. Read BadWeekday to see what it does. Each time you call one of the methods described below from main( ), first print “Problem 1” or whatever problem it is (just for identification) and print a blank line at the end of each section for spacing. Run each new method with both good and bad data. 1. Create a public static void method named problem1( ) that does the following: prompt the user to enter a day of the week, a String. If their entry is invalid, print the error message “Bad day entered”; otherwise, print their entry and “Nice job!”. To tell if the entry is invalid, use this: !BadWeekday.WEEKDAYS.contains(entry). Call problem1( ) from main. 2. Create a public static void method named problem2( ) that does essentially the same thing as problem1 with these changes: if the entry is invalid, throw a new BadWeekday exception with the message “Bad day entered” – don’t print an error message; if it’s valid, print “Nice job” . Add “throws BadWeekday” to the method signature. Call problem2( ) from main. – when prompted, add a try-catch block around the call (note: it’s not the default choice when IntelliJ complains about it). Don’t print the stack trace, print e.getMessage( ) instead. 3. Create a public static void method named problem3( ) that calls problem2 – when prompted, add a try-catch block around the call. Print e.getMessage( ), not the stack trace. Call problem3( ) from main. 4. Create a public static void method named problem4( ) that calls problem2 – this time, take the default option when it complains (“Add exception to method signature”). Call problem4( ) from main – when prompted, add a try-catch block around the call; print e.getMessage( ). 5. Create a public static void method named problem5( ) that calls problem2 – take the try-catch block option. In the catch, print “Caught “ + e.getMessage( ), then re-throw the exception. Call problem5( ) from main – when prompted, take the try-catch block option. Then surround the call to problem5 with a try-catch. 6. Create a public static void method named problem6( ) that calls problem2 – take the default option. Call problem6( ) from main – take the default option. This should tag main as “throws BadWeekday” . How is this different?
STA 279: Data Analysis 1 The Goal We have been learning a lot about working with text data! The goal of this assignment is to apply the text analysis techniques we have been learning to a real world text data set. What are we actually submitting? You will submit two documents. • Data Analysis Formal Report: This will be the main component of the DA, which will include all of the sections outlined on the next page. Your Formal Report must be submitted as PDF or html. There must be no code or unformatted output showing on this document. This includes warnings and other stray code output – hide it all. Points will be taken off for this! You will be graded on spelling, grammar, formatting, and writing, as well as your stats. Make sure you use spell check. • Code Book: This is the .Rmd file of your work which will show all of your code. It must be clear looking at this which code goes with each section of your report. Dr. Dalzell must be able to run your code and reproduce the results from your data analysis. The goal is that a person who reads your report, and wants to replicate your results, could access your code appendix and completely reproduce the results and figures in your formal report. One suggestion. It is easiest to simply work in Markdown to make your formal report. Annotate the code along the way, but use echo = FALSE on line 9 of your Markdown file to hide all the code. When you are done, knit the file to save your report. Then, submit both the .Rmd and PDF / html versions of the document! Can we work with a partner? You are welcome to work with one other person!! Each person must fully contribute, and you must email Dr. Dalzell before 9 PM on Wednesday February 12th confirming who you are working with. If you work with another person, their name must be included on your report submission for them to receive credit, and only one person should submit an assignment. If you do not report your partner’s name and your work with someone else, both parties will receive a 0. Can I use AI? You may not use AI tools of any kind on any part of this Data Analysis (this includes code and writing). Violating this in any way will result at minimum in a 0 on the assignment. Section 1: Introduction This first section can be fairly short. I just need you to tell me which data set you have chosen, and briefly explain why you chose this data set (there is no correct answer to this, I’m just curious!!!). Section 2: Text Length One of the first things we learned when working with data is that length can be an important thing to look at when comparing different text. Is certain text longer than another, and why might that be? For this section, you will be comparing text length between at least two groups in your data set. This could be comparing how many lines of texts are spoken by different characters or how this changes across seasons, or how long essays tend to be if written by AI or a human, etc. Each of you has chosen a different data set, so what you choose will be slightly different. Your task: State clearly what research question you are going to explore that relates to text length. Create an appropriate, well formatted, labelled graph to explore your research question, and discuss what the graph and results tell you about the answer to your research question. Example: Comparing the number of words spoken by Lorelai, Rory, Emily, and Luke in Gilmore Girls in different seasons. Section 3: Top Words In the next section of the analysis, you will be looking at words themselves. Your task: Create and state a research question that involves the most frequent words in text. Create an appropriate, well formatted, labelled graph to explore your research question, and discuss what the graph and results tell you about the answer to your research question. Example: Looking at the top 10 words spoken by a specific character in Friends. Section 4: TF-IDF Your task: Create and state a research question that involves distinguishing 3 or more text documents by looking at the most frequent TF-IDF words. Create an appropriate, well formatted, labelled graph to explore your research question, and discuss what the graph and results tell you about the answer to your research question. If you chosen the AI data set, you only need to compare 2 documents, because your data set does not have 3. Example: What are the top 10 words what most distinguish texts written by AI or humans? Section 5: Sentiment Analysis In this section, you will be comparing the sentiment in the lines of text. Your task: Create and state a research question that involves analyzing the sentiment of text. Create an appropriate, well formatted, labelled graph to explore your research question, and discuss what the graph and results tell you about the answer to your research question. Example: Comparing the average sentiment score spoken by particular character across different seasons of The Office. Note: If you want to go beyond the positive/negative sentiment we used in the labs, consider using the nrc or other lexicons!
Assignment Remit Programme Title Department of Economics Module Title LI Contemporary Issues in the UK Economy Module Code 07 23274 Assignment Title Assignment (Main) Module Learning Outcomes: This assignment is designed to assess the following module learning outcomes: Critically evaluate aspects of UK economic performance and policy Apply understanding of economic concepts to real-world situations Demonstrate an understanding of how economic theory is used to formulate policy Your submission will be marked using the Grading Criteria given below. Assignment: Suppose that you are an Economic Adviser to the UK Government. You are asked to write a 1,500 word report on one of the following topics to help inform. an ongoing policy review: Either The Chief Economist for the Department for Education has asked you to provide an economic evaluation of the forthcoming increase in the tuition fee cap for Home university students in England (75%). Conclude your report by offering recommendations as to how university finances can be placed on a more stable footing in future (25%). Or The Chief Economist for the Department for Work & Pensions has asked you to provide an economic evaluation of the policy of auto-enrolment into workplace pension schemes in the UK (75%). Conclude your report by offering recommendations as to how this policy could be modified in future to deliver better outcomes (25%). For both titles: present a balanced argument initially before offering policy recommendations towards the end of your report. Referencing: use the Harvard system of referencing for this question. Word limit: 1,500 words +10%. Diagrams, data plots and equations are excluded from the word count. The list of references at the end of your report is also excluded. However, in-text citations are included in the word count.
21-259: Calculus in Three Dimensions Lecture #4 Spring 2025 Cylinders and Quadric Surfaces Definition: A cylinder is a surface that consists of all lines (called rulings) that are parallel to a given line and pass through a given plane curve. A quadric surface is the graph of a second-degree equation in three variables x, y, and z. The most general such equation is Ax2 +B y2 +C z2 +Dx y +E yz +F xz +G x + H y + I z + J = 0. By translation and rotation (i.e., change of variables) any quadric surface can be written as on of the two standard forms Ax2 +B y2 +C z2 + J = 0 or Ax2 +B y2 + I z = 0. Some examples of cylinders: Some examples of quadric surfaces: We can use traces to help us sketch cylinders and quadric surfaces. We find traces by setting one of the variables equal to a constant and then drawing the resulting plane curve, keeping in mind the plane where the curve lies. Below are traces of the surface z = y2 − x2: Example 1. Classify the quadric surface x2 +2z2 −6x − y +10 = 0. Example 2. Reduce the equation 4y 2+z 2−x−16y−4z+20 = 0 to one of the standard forms and classify the surface. Example 3. place the letter of the correct equation next to each plot. Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates In many situations, it is physically or mathematically advantageous to describe a point or region in space with a different coordinate system. One such coordinate system for a point P(x, y, z) in R 3 is constructed on the following three pieces of information: — r : the (nonnegative) distance between the origin and the projection of P into the x y-plane (x, y)r , — θ: the angle between the positive x-axis and the line segment from the origin to the point (x, y)r , and — z: the height of the point above the x y-plane (the z in P(x, y, z)r ). These three coordinates form. the cylindrical coordinate system and a point is represented by the triple (r,θ, z)c . Cylindrical coordinates are essentially the polar coordinate system for R 2 together with a Cartesian coordinate for z. We will use the subscript. c to denote cylindrical coordinates (even in 2-D where they are polar coordinates). Note that r itself is a nonnegative distance - it cannot be negative. The quantity −r can be interpreted as the distance from the origin at the angle of θ +π. Recall that sin(θ +π) = −sinθ cos(θ +π) = −cosθ While θ is meaningful for any real number, is it also common to restrict 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π. If r ≥ 0 and 0 ≤ θ < 2π, then every point in R3 other than the origin has a unique set of cylindrical coordinates. Example 4. Convert the following Cartesian coordinates to cylindrical coordinates (using a positive r ): a) (−1,√3,√3)r b) (−2,−2,−1)r Example 5. Convert the following cylindrical coordinates to Cartesian coordinates: a) (2,π/3,−1)c b) (1,−π/4,4)c Example 6. Describe (in words) the surface in R 3 that is given by the following cylindrical equations: a) r = 2 b) θ = π/6 c) z = 4−r2 Spherical Coordinates Spherical coordinates are much like polar coordinates for the x y-plane combined with polar coordinates for the θz-plane. The three components of the system are: — ρ: the distance between the origin and P (ρ > 0), — θ: the angle between the positive x-axis and the line segment from the origin to the point (x, y,0)r , and — φ: the angle between the z-axis and the line segment from the origin to the point (x, y, z)r . These three coordinates form. the Spherical coordinate system and a point is represented by the triple (ρ,θ,φ)s . We will use the subscript. s to indicate that a point is written in spherical coordinates. Much like the case with cylindrical coordinates, we commonly restrict ρ ≥ 0 and 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π. The convention for φ is to restrict it to values between 0 and π. Example 7. Convert the following Cartesian coordinates to spherical coordinates: a) (1,−√3,2√3)r b) (−1,1,√6)r Example 8. Convert the following spherical coordinates to Cartesian coordinates: a) (1,π,π/2)s b) (4,3π/4,π/3)s Example: If a point satisfies x > 0, y < 0, and z < 0, what can you say about θ and φ? The spherical coordinate system represents several geometric objects with very simple formulas. For example, ρ = 2 represents the sphere centered at the origin with radius 2. θ = π/4 represents the halfplane that contains the line y = x and is bounded by the z-axis. The equation φ = π/4 represents the top half of the cone z2 = x2 + y2. Example 9. Describe (in words) the surface in R 3 that is given by the following spherical equations: a) ρ = sinφsinθ b) ρ2 (sin2φsin2 θ +cos2φ) = 9
Music 119 (2025) – Assignment 4 Instructions Assigned: February 24th, 2025 Due: March 7th, 2025 Theme: Signal Processing Instructions In the assignment Canvas folder, you will find a stereo wave file that contains a recording of an acoustic guitar (48kHz/24bit). The sound of the guitar has at least one somewhat overpowering low frequency resonance that is reducing the clarity of the sound, making the guitar a bit “ muddy” or “ boxy”. Using a parametric equalizer, please identify and attenuate what you hear as being the strongest problematic resonance. Using that same equalizer, please make the sound of the instrument brighter (more high frequencies), to your taste. After you have EQ’d the guitar, use a reverb plugin to add some ambience to the guitar. The type and amount of ambience is entirely up to you. Do this by either inserting a stereo reverb plugin on the guitar track and adjusting the wet/dry mix, or sending the sound of the guitar to an aux track within the DAW that contains a reverb plugin (as we saw in class). When you have completed this, create a mix wherein the maximum peak amplitude of the guitar excerpt is between -2dB and -0.5dB, then render/mixdown/bounce the file. Deliverables: Please upload to Canvas: 1) A single, stereo WAVE file, 48kHz/24bit resolution, containing your mix. This file should be named using the following convention: “first name.last name.student number.Music 119 Assignment 4.wav” 2) A single page PDF containing: your name, a screenshot of the EQ sebngs, a screenshot of the reverb sebngs.
ACFIM0018 GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE FINANCE MARCH 2025 Overview • Your summative coursework represents 45% of the final mark for the unit. • The coursework is in the form of a report. • Penalties will apply if the coursework is submitted late. • The coursework is a group work assessment. You will be required to make a plagiarism statement and your submission will be tested for originality. Coursework requirement Essay Topic: Green Finance Portfolio Project Question: You will form. groups of four members to analyse and develop an investment strategy focused on sustainable stocks. Your task is to examine how companies' environmental or social practices impact their performance. This analysis should result in a 2,500-word report detailing your strategy and findings. In cases where a group is constituted of three members, the required word count for the report will be reduced to approximately 2,000 words. The deadline to form. a group is 24 January 2024. After this date, individuals who have not yet formed a group will be randomly allocated to groups. The Brief: Your group is tasked with developing an investment strategy that focuses on sustainable stocks. This involves analysing how the environmental or social practices of companies influence their financial performance. Your analysis should include: 1. Stock exchange or index selection: Each group will select a major stock exchange (e.g., NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE) or an index (e.g., S&P 500, FTSE 100). Focus your analysis on companies listed on the chosen exchange or in the index that are engaged in sustainable practices or green technologies. This may include firms specialising in renewable technologies, those with low carbon emissions or low carbon emission intensity or high E-scores, or companies focusing on gender balance or reducing wage gaps, among others. 2. Company selection and analysis: From those identified in the first step, select a group of companies to form. an investment portfolio focusing on sustainable stocks. In your report, provide a clear explanation for choosing these particular companies, considering factors like sustainability performance, financial stability, and growth potential. Additionally, evaluate each company's compliance with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Ensure your analysis deeply investigates how these companies incorporate ESG factors into their business operations and the consequent effect on their overall sustainability. 3. Market trends analysis: Investigate how current sustainability trends are influencing the stock market in which your chosen companies are listed. Analyse the impact of various factors, such as environmental policies, advancements in green technology, and increasing public awareness of sustainability issues on stock prices. This part of your analysis should provide insight into how broader environmental and social trends are shaping market dynamics and investor behaviour. 4. Stock performance evaluation: Evaluate the stock performance of your selected portfolio in comparison to the overall market portfolio. This assessment should include an analysis of how your sustainable stock portfolio performs against broader market indices. 5. Sustainability report: Compile your findings into a comprehensive 2,500-word report. The report should detail your investment strategy, the rationale behind your company selection, and an evaluation of each company's sustainability impact and stock performance. Academic and/or real- world practice references should be used where appropriate to substantiate your analysis. The goal of this assignment is to apply green finance principles in a practical setting, fostering a deeper understanding of sustainable investing and its impact on corporate performance and market trends. Your report should not only showcase your investment strategy but also reflect critical thinking about the role of sustainability in finance. Background: The project is designed to provide students with practical experience in analysing and strategising within the realm of sustainable investing. It reflects current trends in the financial market and the crucial role of finance in driving sustainable development. Marks will be awarded for: All students in a group will receive the same mark. Students will be assessed based on their ability to demonstrate critical reflection on relevant academic literature, apply appropriate analytical tools, analyse results, and evaluate and appraise them in the context of the material covered in lectures (ILO3, ILO4). Assessment criteria : 1. Quality of analysis: Marks will be awarded for the depth and accuracy of your analysis of companies' sustainability practices, financial health, and market performance, including an assessment of their adherence to ESG criteria. Marks will also be given for demonstrating a thorough understanding of current sustainability trends in the stock market and their impact on stock prices and investor behaviour. 2. Report quality: Marks will be based on the clarity, coherence, and overall quality of your written report. This includes the organisation of content, argumentation logic, and the presentation of data and findings. 3. Critical thinking and originality: Recognition of the level of critical thinking, originality, and insight shown in your analysis and recommendations. 4. Research and data utilisation: Evaluation of the extent and depth of research conducted and how effectively data and resources are utilised to support your analysis and findings. Appropriate academic and real-world practice references should be used. These criteria are designed to assess a comprehensive understanding and application of green finance principles, analytical skills, strategic thinking, and the quality of communication in your report.
STUDENT - PRODUCT ASSESSMENT TASK Task Number 1 of 2 Task Name Prepare Digital Content for a Website National unit/s code SIRXOXM005 National unit/s title Develop a basic website for customer engagement. National qualification code BSB40320 National qualification title Certificate IV in Entrepreneurship and New Business RMIT Program code 2305 RMIT Course code MKTG6112C Assessment Information Assessment duration and/or due Task instructionsType of Product (tick which applies)Summary and Purpose of AssessmentAssessment Instructions.Please indicate which appendix number this evidence has been provided in or place the screenshots within this text field. Enter your response to the following question (2): 3 Research and analyse 3 Content Management Systems (CMS) e.g. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix. Use independent websites and reviews to assist you in analysing and comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each of the following aspects: a. market share/popularity b. cost structure/plans c. responsive/mobile-friendly design d. hosting services e. plugins f. security g. support/help h. how intuitive the user interface is and any limitations it poses Please place your Style. Guide Here; Section B – Planning Criteria for assessment Satisfactory (Teacher Use) Comment Y N 1 Select a CMS that is suitable for the client and their organisational requirements. Supply the active and working link to the URL of your website. 2 Document the structure of your website as a current sitemap. (Always update the sitemap to keep it current) Please indicate where your assessor will find this evidence: eg: appendix A 4 Select a theme or template that matches the brand guide and will achieve consistency and alignment with the organisational branding. Document the style. guide of the selected theme/template. Embed screenshots showing colour schemes, font use, logos and other style. components. Enter your response to the following question (5): 6 Create and document a list of 10 or more suitable keywords based on keyword research in order of popularity. Nominate the names of keyword tools you have used and include screenshots of your keyword organic search results. Please indicate where your assessor will find this evidence: eg: appendix A 8 Develop image content suitable to the target audience, accurately representing products and services for your post and two web pages. The images can be created by you or sourced from a third party. You may use images from image websites, that use Creative Commons imagery. Edit the images with the CMS or with image editing software to produce a high quality and visually appealing outcome to suit the dimensions and look of the website. Document all your images, their sources, photographers or creators and copyright status. Please indicate where your assessor will find this evidence: eg: appendix A 10 Proofread all copy and on two devices (PC and mobile device), test all links and other website functions, navigation and content for accuracy. Submit a statement of results for both devices that confirms that you have completed this. Please indicate where your assessor will find this evidence: eg: appendix A
ECE 121DA Semiconductor Processing and Device Design I Winter 2024 PN Junction Design Assignment (Due Date: March 2, 2024, midnight online) This individual assignment aims to familiarize you with the semiconductor device design TCAD tool introduced in class. You are allowed to work with other students in the class (your group members and others) but each student must upload their own assignment. This is effectively a one dimensional simulation but you will gain experience so that you and your group can effectively set up the two dimensional MOSFET simulation. 1) Abrupt vs. Graded Junctions. Create n+-p junctions in silicon with the n+ and p concentration to be 5×1019 cm-3 and 1017 cm-3 respectively. For the following two cases: i) An abrupt n+ to p transition ii) A linearly graded n+ to p transition over ~1 mm a) Simulate the current-voltage characteristics at an operating temperature of 25°C, 75°C and 150°C. b) Extract the reverse breakdown voltage at each temperature. Compare and explain any differences observed in the above cases. Please plot all three temperature IV (current-voltage) curves for each diode on the same semilogarithmic plot. Extract all the relevant device information (energy band diagram, carrier concentration, etc.) to support your argument(s). * You should hand in your solutions with written discussions online. In addition, submit ALL your simulation input files online on the course website before the due date.
ACFIM0018 – Green and Sustainable Finance Group project assignment: description and requirements As part of this assignment, your group is required to examine how companies' environmental and social practices impact their performance. Step 1: Choosing stocks You are expected to construct a portfolio with 3 to 5 sustainable stocks. The criteria for choosing stocks will depend on your group's decisions. Please refer to lecture 2 to see different approaches used in ESG analysis. For groups with 4 members, you can choose 3 or 4 stocks; for groups with 3 members, 2 or 3 stocks are sufficient. For groups with 5 members, you are expected to choose 4 or 5 stocks. In your report, please describe the criteria and methods you use. It is common to use combined methods. Therefore, you are welcome to use more than one method. However, using a single method is also appropriate. Step 2: Analyse ESG factors. After selecting stocks, you will need to analyse their ESG performance. 1. How is the ESG performance of sectors/industries that your stocks belong to? Are they subjected to high regulatory risks? Are they environmentally-friendly industries? 2. For each stock, we analyse the performance itself: • Changes overtime (i.e., have scores/performance increased or decreased over time?) • How does the performance compare to its industry or peers? • Drivers of the Scores: What factors contribute to a stock having a high or low ESG (Environmental, Social, or Governance) score? Which components constitute or contribute to its score? How do these companies incorporate ESG factors into their business operations, and what is the consequent effect on their overall sustainability? In this step, you are also expected to analyse whether companies face high climate risks, including both transition and physical risks. Step 3: Analyse market performance How does the market respond to ESG trends or climate change? For example, how did the market react to news related to climate change or regulatory changes? Or, consider the market's response when more firms in your chosen industries began disclosing ESGor carbon emissions information. Or analyse how the market responded to Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. You may choose any relevant news for analysis or conduct your own research for information. Step 4: Stock performance 1. Applying the exercise provided from Lecture 4, determine your ESG preferences and assign weights to the stocks in your portfolio. 2. Compare this to the performance of the ESG portfolio and the market portfolio. If you select firms from the S&P 500, you may use the S&P 500 index for comparison. Alternatively, depending on your portfolio, you can choose from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, Russell 1000 Index, Russell 2000 Index, NYSE Composite, FTSE 100, FTSE 250 Index, FTSE All-Share Index, or MSCI World Index. Step 5: Report Recommended structure and content of the research report. The report should include six sections: 1. Executive summary page 2. Company selection/Screening criteria to form. ESG portfolio 3. ESG performance analysis 4. Market trend analysis 5. Stock market performance 6. Conclusion/Limitation Please note: the word count of each part is just recommended. Please feel free to adjust them by yourself. 1. Executive summary page (approx. 200 words, depending on your group size). Should contain: • Information about the overall ESG score of your portfolio and stock performance (High ESG and high stock returns, or ESG neutral but high stock returns, or high ESG scores but low ESG). • Your overall/highlights/snapshot view of the portfolio’s ESG score and the performance of your portfolio (i.e., Do you have optimistic views that the current ESG score will maintain and stock performance will perform. better? Or not?) 2. Company selection/Screening criteria to form ESG portfolio (approx. 150 - 200 words). Should contain: • Please refer to step 1 and lecture 2. 3. ESG performance analysis (approx. 600 – 1000 words, depending on your group size). Should contain: • Please refer to step 2: Critical analysis of the company’sESG performance. 4. Market trend analysis (approx. 200 – 300 words, depending on your group size). Should contain: • Please refer to step 3 5. Stock market performance (approx. 200 - 300 words, depending on your group size) Should contain: • Please refer to step 4 6. Conclusion/Limitation (approx. 150 - 200 words, depending on your group size). Should contain: • In this section, give an overview of your portfolio. You can raise any limitations we should consider (for example, the divergence of ESG ratings, if any) or any overall concerns. PLEASE MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY THROUGHOUT THE REPORT! Please remember that this is a practitioner-style. report, not an academic essay. The report should not include direct references to academic articles within the main text. You are expected to use academic findings to support your analysis, and these references should be included in the footnotes. Footnotes should be used to cite the sources of information and data used in the report. All tables, figures, graphs, diagrams or formulas must be contained within the main body of the project. Formulas, tables, figures and diagrams with numerical content, and references in footnotes to data sources SHOULD NOT be included in the word count. If you chose to present narrative/textual content in a format of a table, a diagram, or a figure, than this text SHOULD be included in the word count.
MKTG7501 Fundamentals of Marketing Sem 1 2025 Assessment 2: STP Analysis Instructions and Guidelines Weight: 40% Assessment type: Report (Individual) Word limit: 2,000 words maximum. Any content submitted beyond the limit is ineligible for marking. Submission format: Word document (.docx is preferable) Submission due date & time: 20 April 2025, 4:00pm (Brisbane time) Brief description This assessment involves analysing a brand to understand and evaluate the company's segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategy. You should approach the task as though you’ve been hired to provide marketing consultancy services to an external company and are beginning with an evaluation of the given brand. You should use the template and provide relevant evidence and theory when evaluating the company’s current strategy. This assessment aims to increase learner knowledge of segmenting, targeting and positioning and the importance of having this strategic direction when executing a marketing mix. Evaluation is a crucial component of this task, using theory to support conclusions. The brand for this semester is Spinifex Skateboards (consider only the brand’s skateboard product line) You are expected to complete desktop research by identifying, analysing and evaluating evidence of the company’s marketing activities and exploring industry reports of influence. Further, the application of evidence against theoretical foundations and frameworks is imperative for completing this assessment. Report requirements Please ensure you consult the marking criteria or marking rubric (available in Assessment 2: STP Analysis - Guide & Submission Link folder within the Assessment section) to fully understand the expectations. The report should follow the provided template (additional subheadings can be added) and have a maximum word count of 2000, excluding the reference list. Everything else, including tables, figures, headings, and captions, is included in the word count. There are no appendices for this task, so all content must fit within the word limit. You do not need to include a cover sheet. APA 7 Referencing is required (use the Library style. guide). The report should include a mix of quality peer-reviewed scholarly sources to discuss theory, industry reports to establish the context, and websites that host firm details and competitor insights. There is no specific number of sources required, but reports that do not include evidence and theory will lack rigour and will not perform. well. Where should I start? This report requires in-depth analysis and evaluation, which takes time. Please start this early so you have time to thoroughly work through all areas. There are many places to start, but some ideas for you include … Ensure you’ve watched the lecture discussions on assessment Watch the library video on how to conduct research – accessed via Library Guide Conduct a search to find evidence (check their website and search others) Look at industry reports and statistics, accessed via Library Look up scholarly articles. Start with your textbook, conduct further keyword research in the library if needed and follow leads from the textbook. Activities in tutorials give you important information on how to apply theory to practice. Active participation in these activities facilitates the replication of knowledge in your assessment. Other important instructions/guidelines This evaluation is in relation to the Australian market only. The full report must be submitted electronically through Online Turnitin Submission. The submission link is in the Assessment 2: STP Analysis - Guide & Submission Link folder within the Assessment section on the course Blackboard site. References should be included for ALL works cited in the report – don’t forget information relating to the company, any theory, industry, trade, competitors and news materials. Under no circumstances should students contact the business involved. Penalties will apply. We are not interested in the firm’s perspective; we are looking for your analysis of evidence, so there are no advantages to contacting the firm, rather it will be detrimental. Formatting requirements Line spacing 1.5, font Arial, font size 11pt, standard margins (use the template) The word count includes ALL content (except the reference list). Any tables/figures/captions are all included. Therefore, it is your task to prioritise which information is critical and which is not. Any content over the maximum word limit provided will not be assessed, and penalties will apply. Detailed guidance on assessment elements/sections A template document has been provided for you to complete the STP analysis report (see the Assessment 2 Template in Assessment 2: STP Analysis - Guide & Submission Link folder). Working with the template, the following identifies the specific analysis expected within the template. Where you are asked to ‘identify’ , this involves presenting the evidence from market/reports, then considering and analysing the evidence and theory to determine the most logically aligned conclusions. You need to explain how you come to the conclusion, not just list it. Below are the detailed guidelines on various elements/sections of the template. Template explained Remember, for all elements/sections of this report, this is NOT a new proposal but your informed view of their current approach. To explain the template below, we use examples of Nike Alphafly relating to tutorial discussions, but this is NOT the brand for this semester. Ensure your assessment focuses on the Spinifex Skateboards for this semester noted on page 1 of this guide (as highlighted in yellow). 1. Introduction Introduction to the report and company, with an examination of the market (background). Consult IBISWorld and other industry resources to inform. the discussion. This requires you to identify the industry of the product (eg. Nike Alphafly is in the footwear industry and also the fitness industry). Also, identify any important industry trends (eg. For Nike Alphfly think about potential growth in the fitness industry, increased competition or perhaps low demand – all relevant to understanding the market). 2. Segmentation Segmentation evaluation: Review all bases of segmentation (demographic, psychographic, geographic, behavioural) to detail the segmentation of the current market. Complete the table by evaluating the relevance of each variable of every base of segmentation. Influential variables: Identify which variables are the most meaningful for this offering, with justification supported by theory. Discuss in depth which variables are more important to our offering and why (e.g. Income might be important for expensive Nike Alphafly [explain why this would be the case], but is geographic region important – why or why not, what evidence supports this). 3. Targeting Target strategy: Identify which target market strategy the firm is executing (select one only, either: mass, segmented, niche, local or individual), with justification aligned to theory and evidence. Target characteristics: Identify the target characteristics that are most important for our offering and explain why you perceive the characteristic to be the most attractive target. E.g., if we identified income as an important variable for Nike Alphafly, now we will note the demographic details of our target (see below table). Base Target characteristics Demographic ● Income: High income earners, earning more than $200,000 with high disposable income (add evidence as to why this is the right group, consider how many people in Australia earn this amount) ● Age: 35 – 50 years, active but aging individuals needing improved running support (add evidence as to why this is the right group) Persona: Develop a customer persona, explaining the key characteristics of influence. 4. Positioning Differentiation: Identify how the product differs from close competitors (select one only, either: product, service, channels, people or image), with justification aligned to theory. Perceptual map: Create and insert a perceptual map (simple to do in PowerPoint), identifying close competitors using relevant attributes. Identify 2 (two) most influential variables/attributes, 1 for the X axis and 1 for the Y axis. Map the position of the brand on the selected variables/attributes, relative to important competitors. Positioning evaluation: Complete the table by evaluating the position against each criterion. E.g. Criteria Evaluation explanation Important ● The superior performance and vibrant image of the Nike Alphafly (as identified in perceptual map), is highly valued by the target customer, with RunningShoes Magazine (running.c0m, 2024) listing this as the most important feature for any long distance running shoe. 5. Positioning statement and conclusion Develop a positioning statement that clearly illustrates the firm’s target and position [using the formula: To (target segment and need), our (brand) is (concept) that (point of difference)], drawing on prior discussions in your STP analysis to justify. Final evaluation of the effectiveness of the STP for this offering. Consider all that you have evaluated within the report and draw some final conclusions about whether this is a desirable position for the product. 6. Reference list Follow the APA guide from the library (APA 7th)
Development Fieldwork MGDI60502 Workshop for Assignment 1 Assignment 1 • Essay on a policy based on your pathway theme • 30% of overall mark • 1,000 word (+/-10%) • Due: 4 Mar 2pm (Tuesday) Essay topic • Describe a pathway-specific policy, or theory, issue in Rwanda and come up with two research questions that directly address it How to address the essay topic • Use policy that is given in-pathway o e.g. Rwanda Vision 2050, 2020 etc. o This may vary between pathways depending on pathway themes ▪ Eg. if finding a policy on your topic is a challenge in your pathway, your pathway lead may have instructed you to look at a relevant theory instead. • Give relevant details of the policy o Use local lit./concepts where/if possible/relevant (see e.g. slides for lecture 1 in Bb) o Make sure the reader understands what the policy is about o Base this on your in-pathway readings and discussions • Articulate clearly what is the issue/problem o Draw on your in-pathway readings and lectures o This does not have to be long, but should be clear o Can be a simple statement of 1-2 sentences How to address the essay topic, cont'd • Use academic literature o Make sure you link your policy issue to relevant academic literature o This should be something from your in-pathway readings and discussions o Academic lit. can be theoretical, empirical or both (use your in-pathway lecture/readings as a guide) • Make sure you have two research questions o At the end of your essay you should arrive at two interesting questions o I.e. you have looked at the policy and relevant literature and you think these two questions may be relevant to ask in that context • Aim to justify why these are relevant questions o Justifying your two questions depends on what previous research says about issue X, e.g. o You agree with arguments about policy issue X and provide an example to extend it o You disagree with arguments about policy issue X and provide an example that shows this o You have identified a gap in the arguments about policy issue X (something that is missing in previous research/discussion about policy issue X) Pathway Address your research theme DM Development and Service Delivery ECCD Climate Change and Conservation GTI Industrialisation and Development PGDP Politics and Governance of Land MMD Migration and Displacement PID Participation and Empowerment Essay structure • 1,000 words (+/-10%, 900-1,100 ) • 6-7 paragraphs of 150 words each • Introduction 1-2 paragraphs • Main body 4 paragraphs • Conclusion 1 paragraph
UA 323 Problem Set 1 Development Economics Due: March 6 This problem set if based on the paper “The colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation”, by Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2001). This paper was a key reason why these three economists won the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics. Read the abstract, introduction and conclusion. Answer the following questions: 1. What is the key question that the paper tries to answer? Not the practical thing they actually do, but the Big Picture question. What makes it hard to answer this question? 2. To answer the Big Picture question the paper use an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Describe the choice of instrumental variables AJR (2001) use to get around the challenges you described in question 1. Why are these instruments relevant (i.e. correlated with the endogenous variable: institutions)? 3. As you know, for zto be a valid instrument, it must be excluded: it must only be related to y through its effect on x. What does this assumption mean in the context of this paper? Can it be checked or validated? What do the authors do to convince you that they have a good instrument? For reasons that will become obvious, please answer this question before moving on with the problem set. On Brightspace, you can find an Excel file called Institutions with some of the data used by AJR (2001) in their analysis, as well as an accompanying file with the variable labels. 4. Upload your Excel dataset in R. You can do it using the read_excel. So, if you had to upload a dataset called Dataset.xlsx in R you would use the following code: Institutions
Renewable Energy Technologies – 24-25 EEEE3019 This document describes your coursework assignment for the module Renewable Energy Technologies The assignment makes up 25% of the total module mark, i.e. worth 2.5 credits . - Coursework Release Date – 12/02/2025 at 15:00 - Please submit your assignment on-line via Moodle by the official date and time deadline. The submission link will be available along with the coursework in the same tab as the Module. - The assignment is a case study exercise (consisting of research and design). Credit will be given for appropriate design choices, backed up by relevant calculations, justification of assumptions and appropriate references to existing wind turbine designs, research papers, etc . (see specifications below). Instructions for the Wind Turbine Design assignment Coursework – Present the outline design for a new wind power generation system (wind turbine, generation, and MPPT controls) for Cloud Computing Site in your home city (i.e., birthplace). The power of the system required would be 6MW for students roll numbers ending in 0/3/6, 10MW for students roll numbers ending in 1/4/7 and 16MW for students roll numbers ending in 2/5/8/9. Odd roll numbers will have high speed generator and even roll numbers will have direct drive generator. Key points to address in the poster while providing outline design. 0. Consider the design exercise (coursework) for horizontal axis wind turbine (you can ignore vertical axis wind turbines for this activity). 1. Clearly indicate the specifications based on the roll number ending digit, birthplace and odd/even roll number. 2. Justify why wind is preferable and what are potential other options (again justify the choices) (options - single renewable, hybrid, or storage based a better option). 3. Determine the historic wind data associated with your location and provide a plot of it. 4. Select a capacity factor and justify your choice. 5. Determine the total installed capacity required based on your choices . 6. The option of using either one full capacity wind turbine or multiple smaller wind turbines (can all be same power rating or different power rating). Justify your selection and if you go for multiple smaller turbines then justify the selected number of smaller wind turbines and their respective power rating. 7. Draw a one-line electrical diagram from an employed electrical system for the wind power generation (starting from source to sink). 8. Explain the outline design of wind turbine. a. Choice of rated wind speed, tip speed ratio, blade diameter and blade speed 9. Explain the outline design of electrical generator. a. Selection of generator type, pole number, drive type, gearbox ratio, outer diameter, and stack length (active magnetic length of electrical generator core) 10. Selection of the turbine control strategy. Discuss MPPT in two to three sentences . 11. Pick a current product (wind turbine) that is available on the market closest to the generated design values in point 6. 12. Put relevant references (expected 5 minimum and can be more – please do not provide google and Wikipedia references) 13. Make good use of visuals to make your work exciting from its looks . Justify any assumptions made as it carries marking weightage. Note: Only one submission in the pdf form will be allowed. Anything which is not a poster or beyond the poster will not be considered for assessment. Editing and formatting information/clarification Please note that there is no word limit, only size limit – one-page poster (see the template for more information). Figure and table should have their own captions, numbering, and short explanation. No appendix needed. Have a balance between text and visuals . Feel free to use flowcharts, smart art, block diagrams, etc . to create an exciting poster. Select contrasting color combinations (avoid use of similar colors – e.g. yellow text on white background). All the topics and sections should have connectivity (should tell one single story) – not like five/six different topics stitched together. Use 1.1 line spacing as minimum, and minimum of 18pt font. Margins as shown in the template. Use “sans serif” style. font.
Abstract algebra Problem 1. Let n ∈ N and consider the set i.e., Rn is the set of n-th roots of unity. (a) Prove that R,, is a subgroup of (C", x); i.e., the group of non-zero complex numbers under multiplication. (b) Compute |Rnl. (c) When n=8, prove that i ∈ Rg and compute lil. (d) Prove that R is a cyclic group for every n ∈ N and name a generator for R, (a generator for R, is called a primitive n-th root of unity). Problem 2. Let G be a group and let S be a non-empty, finite subset of G (I underlined "set" because weare not assuming that S is a subgroup). Further suppose that S satisfies the property ab ∈ S whenever a ∈ S and b ∈ S; i.e., S is closed under the operation of G. Prove that if z ∈ S, then z-1 ∈ S. Hint: consider the cyclic subgroup of G generated by x.
Comp 251: Assignment 2 General instructions (Read carefully!) • Important: All of the work you submit must be done by only you, and your work must not be submitted by someone else. Plagiarism is academic fraud and is taken very seriously. For Comp251, we will use software that compares programs for evidence of similar code. This software is very effective and it is able to identify similarities in the code even if you change the name of your variables and the position of your functions. The time that you will spend modifying your code, would be better invested in creating an original solution. Please don’t copy. We want you to succeed and are here to help. Here are a couple of general guidelines to help you avoid plagiarism: Never look at another assignment solution, whether it is on paper or on the computer screen. Never share your assignment solution with another student. This applies to all drafts of a solution and to incomplete solutions. If you find code on the web, or get code from a private tutor, that solves part or all of an assignment, do not use or submit any part of it! A large percentage of the academic offenses in CS involve students who have never met, and who just happened to find the same solution online, or work with the same tutor. If you find a solution, someone else will too. The easiest way to avoid plagiarism is to only discuss a piece of work with the Comp251 TAs, the CS Help Centre TAs, or the COMP 251 instructors. • Your solution must be submitted electronically on ed-Lessons. • To some extent, collaborations are allowed. These collaborations should not go as far as sharing code or giving away the answer. You must indicate on your assignments (i.e. as a comment at the beginning of your java source file) the names of the people with whom you collaborated or discussed your assignments (including members of the course staff). If you did not collaborate with anyone, you write “No collaborators”. If asked, you should be able to orally explain your solution to a member of the course staff. At the end of this document, you will find a check-list of the behaviours/actions that are allowed during the development of this assignment. • This assignment is due on March 1th at 11h59:59 pm. It is your responsibility to guarantee that your assignment is submitted on time. We do not cover technical issues or unexpected difficulties you may encounter. Last minute submissions are at your own risk. • This assignment includes a programming component, which counts for 100% of the grade. • Multiple submissions are allowed before the deadline. We will only grade the last submitted file. Therefore, we encourage you to submit as early as possible a preliminary version of your solution to avoid any last minute issue. • Late submissions can be submitted for 24 hours after the deadline, and will receive a flat penalty of 20%. We will not accept any submission more than 24 hours after the deadline. The submission site will be closed, and there will be no exceptions, except medical. • In exceptional circumstances, we can grant a small extension of the deadline (e.g. 24h) for medical reasons only. • Violation of any of the rules above may result in penalties or even absence of grading. If anything is unclear, it is up to you to clarify it by asking either directly the course staff during office hours, by email at ([email protected]) or on our discussion board (rec- ommended). Please, note that we reserve the right to make specific/targeted announcements affecting/extending these rules in class and/or on one of the communication channels used in the course. It is your responsibility to monitor MyCourses and the discussion board for announcements. • The course staff will answer questions about the assignment during office hours or in the online forum. We urge you to ask your questions as early as possible. We cannot guarantee that questions asked less than 24h before the submission deadline will be answered in time. In particular, we will not answer individual emails about the assignment that are sent the day of the deadline. Programming component • You are provided some starter code that you should fill in as requested. Add your code only where you are instructed to do so. You can add some helper methods. Do not modify the code in any other way and in particular, do not change the methods or constructors that are already given to you, do not import extra code and do not touch the method headers. The format that you see on the provided code is the only format accepted for programming questions. Any failure to comply with these rules will result in an automatic 0. • Public tests cases are available on ed-Lessons. You can run them on your code at any time. If your code fails those tests, it means that there is a mistake somewhere. Even if your code passes those tests, it may still contain some errors. We will grade your code with a more challenging, private set of test cases. We therefore highly encourage you to modify that tester class, expand it and share it with other students on the discussion board. Do not include it in your submission. • Your code should be properly commented and indented. • Do not change or alter the name of the files you must submit, or the method headers in these files. Files with the wrong name will not be graded. Make sure you are not changing file names by duplicating them. For example, main (2).java will not be graded. • Do not add any package or import statement that is not already provided • Please submit only the individual files requested. • You will automatically get 0 if the files you submitted on ed-Lessons do not compile, since you can ensure yourself that they do. Note that public test cases do not cover every situation and your code may crash when tested on a method that is not checked by the public tests. This is why you need to add your own test cases and compile and run your code from command line on linux. Homework Exercise 1 (60 points). Complete Search Let’s play a fun game :). We will provide a two-dimensional board with some holes on it, where each hole can contain a ball. In each turn during the game, you will only be allowed to jump (horizontally or vertically) over an adjacent ball into the empty hole next to it. Once the jump is performed, the ball which was jumped over is removed from the board. The idea of the game is to apply the minimum number of moves (i.e., jumps) to end in a state with a minimum number of balls such that no further moves can be made. Note: there could be cases where balls are dispersed and cannot cancel each other. Let’s analyze one example to make sure that the game is clear. Figure 1 shows the initial state of the game, and a sequence of moves (i.e., horizontal or vertical jumps over adjacent balls) that allows for a state (i.e., the last state) with the minimum number of balls in the board. In particular, we performed three moves to end with one ball on the board. Please notice that in this representation, “.” (a period) denotes an empty hole, and “o” (small vowel o) a ball, and “#" (number sign) indicates a part of the board without a hole. For this question, you can safely assume that all the boards always have the same shape (5 × 9). For this question, your task is to develop an algorithm (i.e., a complete search one) that de- termines the minimum number of balls that remains in the board after applying (recursively) the above-mentioned movement. You will also need to report the minimum number of moves required to reach that number of balls. You will need to submit your A2_Q1. java source file to the Assignment 2 => Q1 - Complete Search lesson in Ed-Lessons. Please complete the func- tion game which receive a 2-D array of Strings representing a board (as the one shown in Figure 1). The function game must return an array of integers (int[]) of two positions, where the first position (i.e., index 0) reports the minimum number of balls that remains in the board and the second position (i.e., index 1) reports the minimum number of moves performed to reach that number of balls. Exercise 2 (50 points). Divide and Conquer Given the requirements for limiting contacts between students during the COVID pandemic, the University designed a new plan to design a seating plan at final exams. The goal was to ensure that students to only be in close contact with students whose ID number is relatively close to theirs. They proposed the following protocol that students arriving at the exam room should fol- low. When a student arrives at the exam room, they join the queue of students who arrived before them (i.e., they stand at the back of the queue). Once the queue is complete (i.e., all the Comp 251 students registered to take the course arrive to the queue), the University must guarantee that the students in the queue appear in increasing order based on their student ID. This ensures that students are only in close contact with other students with a similar ID number. However, the Department of Computer Science raised a concern about the efficiency of the proposed strategy. One instructor (yes, it was David) suggested that the efficiency of the strategy can be understood by computing the total number of successively swapping pairs of adjacent students in the queue. Furthermore, the instructor suggested that the Comp251 students will be more than happy (aren’t you?) to create a Java program (based on a divide and conquer approach) to compute this number. You will need to submit your A2_Q2. java source file to the Assignment 2 => Q2 - Divide and Conquer lesson in Ed-Lessons. Please complete the function num_swaps which receive a 1- D array of integers representing the queue of students. The function num_swaps must return a number representing the total number of successively swapping pairs of adjacent students in the queue to guarantee that the queue appear in increasing order based on their student ID. Let’s see one example to make sure that the exercise is clear. SAMPLE CALL 1: num_swaps([3,1,2]) SAMPLE OUTPUT 1: 2 NOTES CALL 1: Please notice that the numbers 3 and 1 (which are stored in the consecu- tive indexes of the array 0 and 1) need to be swapped. This swap will create the array {1, 3, 2}. Then, the numbers 3 and 2 (which are stored in the consecutive indexes of the array 1 and 2) need to be swapped to produce the array {1, 2, 3}. We required two swaps to produce a sorted array. Exercise 3 (60 points). Dynamic Programming During Winter’25, I (i.e., David) registered the Staff class called Learn to Run 2. This course is “designed for those who are at the beginning of their running journey or who are returning to running after an injury. This class is tailored for beginners who can currently run for 10 minutes consecutively but haven’t reached the 3-5km mark yet". The training in this class happens in the stairs of the Mt Royal mountain and it consists of a slow and gradual build-up of endurance with walk-climb intervals. In particular, we walk-climb a certain number of stairs steps, rests for ten seconds, then walk-climb again, rests for ten seconds again, and so on. We start our training at street level in the stairs close to the McMed building (where we have our Comp251 lectures). The coach (i.e., the instructor of the class) give us a sequence of numbers (s1 , s2, . . . , sm ) telling us how many stair steps we must take before the first break, before the second break and so on. We are allowed to decide if we want to climb up or climb down those stairs steps, but we will always guarantee that our training is legal. One training is legal if and only if: • The training starts and end at the street level. • We only use existing stairs steps (i.e., we can never be below the street level or above the number of stair steps in Mt Royal). Please notice that the stairs in Mt Royal (where we train) has a maximum of one thousand stair steps. Given that I have my Comp251 class in McMed just after my Learn to Run 2 training, and as a personal constraint, I also need to guarantee that I stay as close as possible (at any time of the training) to the street level. As a Comp251 student, you have been commissioned to help me determine when should I go up and when down in my training. In particular, please complete the function directions in the A2_Q3. java source file. The function directions receives as parameter an array S = {s1 , s2, . . . , sm } of positive integers storing the number of stair steps that I have to walk in. directions must return a String made of the concatenation of two possible characters (“U” for up, and “D" for down), where the ith character indicates if I should climb up or down at the ith stage. Please return the String “IMPOSSIBLE" if no legal solution exists. Let’s see some examples to make sure that the exercise is clear. SAMPLE CALL 1: directions([20,20,20,20]) SAMPLE OUTPUT 1: “UDUD” NOTES CALL 1: If the number of stair steps are S = {20, 20, 20, 20}, I have two possible le- gal solutions. In the first one, I climb up 20, up 20, down 20, down 20(i.e., “UUDD"). In the second one, I climb up 20, down 20, up 20, down 20(i.e., “UDUD"). Both solutions are legal; however, the second one is better because it only goes 20 stair steps away from the starting point, whereas the first one goes 40 stair steps away from the starting point (please remember that I have class just after the training and I do not want to be too far from McMed building). SAMPLE CALL 2: directions([3,2,5,3,1,2]) SAMPLE OUTPUT 2: “UUDUDD’ SAMPLE CALL 3: directions([3,4,2,1,6,4,5]) SAMPLE OUTPUT 3: “IMPOSSIBLE’ Exercise 4 (30 points). Greedy In this exercise, you will plan your homework with a greedy algorithm. The input is a list of homework defined by two arrays: deadlines and weights (the relative importance of the homework towards your final grade). These arrays have the same size and they contain integers between 1 and 100. The index of each entry in the arrays represents a single homework, for example, Homework 2 is defined as a homework with deadline deadlines[2] and weight weights[2]. Each homework takes exactly one hour to complete. Your task is to output a homeworkPlan: an array of length equal to the last deadline. Each entry in the array represents a one-hour timeslot, starting at 0 and ending at ’last deadline - 1’. For each time slot, homeworkPlan indicates the homework which you plan to do during that slot. You can only complete a single homework in one 1-hour slot. The homeworks are due at the beginning of a time slot, in other words if an assignment’s deadline is x, then the last time slot when you can do it is x - 1. For example, if the homework is due at t=14, then you can complete it before or during the slot t=13. If your solution plans to do Homework 2 first, then you should have homeworkPlan[0]=2 in the output. Note that sometimes you will be given too much homework to complete in time, and that is okay. Your homework plan should maximize the sum of the weights of completed assignments. To organize your schedule, we give you a class HW_Sched. java, which defines an Assignment object, with a number (its index in the input array), a weight and a deadline. The input arrays are unsorted. As part of the greedy algorithm, the template we provide sorts the homeworks using Java’s Collections. sort(). This sort function uses Java’s compare() method, which takes two objects as input, compares them, and outputs the order they should appear in. The template will ask you to override this compare() method, which will alter the way in which Assignments will be ordered. You have to determine what comparison criterion you want to use. Given two assignments A1 and A2, the method should output: • 0, if the two items are equivalent • 1, if a1 should appear after a2 in the sorted list • -1, if a2 should appear after a1 in the sorted list The compare method (called by Collections. sort()) should be the only tool you use to re- organize lists and arrays in this problem. You will then implement the rest of the SelectAssignments() method. What To Submit? Attached to this assignment are java template files. You have to submit only this java files. Please DO NOT zip (or rar) your files, and do not submit any other files. Where To Submit? You need to submit your assignment in ed - Lessons. Please note that you do not need to submit anything to myCourses. When To Submit? Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your assignment. You never know what could go wrong during the last moment. Please also remember that you are allowed to have multiple submission. Then, submit your partial work early and you will be able to upload updated versions later (as far as they are submitted before the deadline). How will this assignment be graded? Each student will receive an overall score for this assignment. This score is the combination of the passed open and private test cases for the questions of this assignment. The open cases correspond to the examples given in this document plus other examples. These cases will be run with-in your submissions and you will receive automated test results (i.e., the autograder output) for them. You MUST guarantee that your code passes these cases. In general, the private test cases are inputs that you have not seen and they will test the correctness of your algorithm on those inputs once the deadline of the assignment is over; however, for this assignment you will have information about the status (i.e., if it passed or not) of your test. Please notice that not all the test cases have the same weight.
