COMP Matters - August 14th-18th, 2023
Due to lower then anticipated interest in this program COMP Matters has been cancelled for the Summer of 2023. Thank you for your interest and sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. If you are still looking for other opportunities to prepare for the upcoming fall semester we highly encourage you to check out the SSSC’s other summer programs MATH Matters, CHEM Matters, and Summer Matchup.
COMP Matters is a week-long course that is designed to help prepare students coming into a Computer Science program in the Faculty of Science. The course helps student prepare for university level programming while reviewing two main components needed for success in computer science: problem solving skills and computational thinking. In addition to a foundation in programming these two skills are the underlying core skills needed for all computer science courses. Starting a computer science degree with these skills will ensure that students feel confident to participate and succeed in their computer science studies. COMP Matters is coordinated by the Science Student Success Centre in the Faculty of Science.
Dates and Fees
*Registration for COMP Matters 2023 is now closed*
COMP Matters runs from August 14th-18th 2023. Registration for COMP Matters will open in early July with your time ticket. The fee for COMP Matters is $150 including HST.
Is COMP Matters for you?
Generally, COMP Matters aims to introduce students to basic programming and problem solving skills that they will need for first-year and future COMP courses. The course will focus on the main components of problem solving in the context of computation thinking. The components of computational thinking will be introduced by way of example problems. Solutions to the problems will be created using the Python programming language and with programming skills explored throughout the program
No prior programming experience is needed or expected of any student in the course.
We suggest that you consider registering for COMP Matters if your high school computer science grade was below 80% or you did not take computer science in high school, and you are starting in a computer science program this fall.
Additional small topics will also be introduced to broaden the students' technical skill sets. These are practical skills that students will find useful as they progress in their program.
During the course, students will have the opportunity to meet and interact with new people that are also starting out in computer science this fall, learn from a current senior Computer Science student and a Computer Science Instructor, and get tips and strategies for success in studying computer science.
The computer science program does not expect incoming students to have programming experience. However, some students may lose some of the confidence starting the program when they see other students coming in with this experience. If you do not have any programming experience and want to gain some experience before starting school, then you should consider this course.
COMP Matters will be instructed by a Computer Science Instructor, Dr. Jason Hinek and an upper year Computer Science student. This program is designed to provide students with a mix of lecture material, step-by-step tutorials, and online activities. This format will ideally let students listen to material, see it being used and demonstrated, and then finally be able to apply this knowledge to problem-solving situations.
Listen to the COMP Matters Instructor, Dr. Jason Hinek talk about the program
Dr. Hinek is a first year Computer Science Instructor and therefore the perfect person to provide advice about what first year will be like. He has catered this refresher course for beginners and is looking forward to meeting you this August!