INFO1111 Computing 1A Professionalism
The Complete Exam Bible · S1 2026INFO1111 Overview
- Semester 1, 2026
- University of Sydney
- First-year computing core unit
- Three pass-or-fail hurdles
- Two-hour handwritten final exam
Computing 1A Professionalism is the first-year unit in the University of Sydney's Bachelor of Advanced Computing that builds the non-technical side of a computing career.
- How the grade works Pass all three foundation tasks to reach 50, then earn up to 50 more from three advanced tasks.
- Hardest step Applying the ACS Code to a scenario by citing the value and the lettered clause, not just naming a value.
- How to prepare Pass the knowledge quiz during semester, and keep your GitHub board and reports in step with each other.
How INFO1111 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Foundation Test · hurdle | Pass or fail hurdle task; in-class invigilated quiz of 15 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes, 12 correct to pass; sittings in Weeks 7, 9 and 11, with a further attempt in the final exam; AI prohibited | |
| Skills Foundation Assignment · hurdle | Pass or fail hurdle task; individual report on group work with matching tasks in the project GitHub; submissions in Weeks 7, 10 and 13, each followed by a secure 8-minute oral review; AI allowed in the report with acknowledgement | |
| Self-Learn Foundation Assignment · hurdle | Pass or fail hurdle task; individual learning plan referring to SFIA; same submission and oral review pattern | |
| Foundation result (all three hurdles satisfied) · hurdle | 50% | Satisfying all three foundation tasks gives a result of 50, the base the advanced marks are added to |
| Knowledge Advanced Test (final exam) | 30% | 30 marks, one attempt, in the 2-hour final exam in the formal exam period; in person, handwritten, AI prohibited |
| Skills Advanced Assignment | 10% | 10 marks added to the 50; managing the group's checking work in GitHub and reflecting on it; due end of Week 13, oral review in Week 13 or STUVAC |
| Self-Learn Advanced Assignment | 10% | 10 marks added to the 50; doing, evidencing and reflecting on the planned learning; same timing |
| Early feedback task (Weeks 1 to 3 participation) | 0% | Short tutorial quizzes that show participation and do not count towards the grade |
The grade is built in two stages. Each foundation task is pass or fail, and all three must reach a satisfactory level, which is an expected threshold rather than half the questions, to achieve a result of 50. The advanced tasks are optional, but marks above 50 come only from them: up to 30 from the Knowledge Advanced Test in the final exam and up to 10 from each advanced assignment, added once all three hurdles are satisfied. The University's unit page lists every task at 0% because no single task carries a percentage of its own; the 50, 30, 10 and 10 figures come from the unit's Canvas assessment overview and assignment briefs. Late foundation assignments lose 0.5 overall grade marks per day, advanced assignments follow the standard 5% per day policy, and no simple extension applies because repeat attempts are built in.
What INFO1111 covers
The chapters follow the lecture weeks. Weeks 1 and 2 cover the profession, careers and degree structure, ethical theories, the ACS Code of Professional Ethics, data and privacy cases and intellectual property. Week 3 covers problem solving, requirements, SFIA and self-directed learning. Week 4 covers teamwork frameworks and collaboration with Git, and Week 5 covers communication and writing.
The last chapter draws on the guest session about accessibility and working with people with different abilities.
The IT Profession, Professionalism and Careers
Profession, practice and professionalism, the ACS and its grades, career bands, degree core and the four majors02Ethical Theories for Computing Decisions
Morals and ethics, egoism, utilitarianism, duty-based reasoning, Ross's duties, contractarianism and pluralism03The ACS Code of Professional Ethics
Honesty, trustworthiness, respect for others and for the profession, lettered clauses, the 2014 Conduct code04Data, Privacy and Corporate Ethics Cases
Corporate social responsibility, the fourth bottom line, feed experiments, profiling, Toysmart and privacy requests05Intellectual Property and Software Licences
Trade secrets, copyright, patents, trade marks, who owns software, licences and fair dealing06Problem Solving and Requirements
Reframing problems, functional and non-functional requirements, testable rewrites, edge cases and common flaws07SFIA and Self-Directed Learning
SFIA levels, categories and generic attributes, placing a role, CPD, learning principles and self-learning plans08Teamwork Frameworks and Team Dynamics
Hackman, Salas's Big Five, Belbin roles, Theory X and Y, psychological safety and student teams09Collaboration, Git and Version Control
REVIEW criteria, referencing, academic integrity, Git commits and branches, merge conflicts, forks and boards10Professional Communication and Writing
Communication models, the 7Cs, SBAR, barriers in IT teams, professional writing and short presentations11Accessibility and Human-Centred Design
Interface failures, HCI, user experience, accessibility versus universal design and research ethicsOther units develop programming and systems knowledge; this one develops knowledge of the profession itself, its professional body, its codes of ethics and its kinds of work, together with general skills in communication, self-directed learning and group work.
Lectures in Weeks 1 to 5 carry the core knowledge: degree structure and majors, the profession and IT careers, ethical theories and the ACS Code of Professional Ethics, intellectual property, problem solving and requirements, the SFIA skills framework and professional development, teamwork and collaboration with Git, and communication.
Later weeks bring guest speakers who show professional practice in areas such as software development, cyber security and data science. The assessment is unusual. Instead of accumulating points across many tasks, students must first reach a satisfactory level on three foundation tasks, a knowledge quiz, a skills assignment and a self-learning assignment, each with several attempts.
Passing all three gives a result of 50. Marks above 50 then come from a knowledge test in the final exam and two advanced assignments. This guide follows the lecture topics in eleven chapters, applies each idea to original scenarios, and ends with quiz-style practice and a written exam rehearsal.
Worked example · free
Applying the ACS Code to a deadline shortcut
- +1Stakeholders: the client, its future users whose accounts are exposed, the team and the lead.
- +1Trustworthiness (h): develop systems that are robust and secure; the flaw breaches it directly.
- +1Honesty (b) and (c): presenting the app without mentioning a known flaw misrepresents it by omission, and staying silent is not allowed.
- +1Action: raise the flaw with the lead in writing, propose disclosing it in the demo with a fix date, and record the decision.
Key terms
- Professionalism
- How someone in a professional role is expected to conduct themselves and behave.
- Foundation Hurdle
- A pass-or-fail task that must reach a satisfactory level before marks above 50 can count.
- ACS Code of Professional Ethics
- The Australian Computer Society's 2023 code of four core values with lettered clauses.
- Utilitarianism
- The view that the right action produces the greatest good for the greatest number.
- Copyright
- An automatic right to reproduce, publish, adapt and communicate a work.
- Non-functional Requirement
- A required quality of a system, such as performance, usability or security.
- SFIA
- The Skills Framework for the Information Age, with seven levels of responsibility.
- Psychological Safety
- A team's shared belief that members can speak up and take risks without fear.
- Merge Conflict
- A stop in a Git merge when two branches changed the same lines.
- SBAR
- Situation, background, assessment and recommendation, a structure for reporting a problem.
INFO1111 FAQ
How is the final grade worked out in this unit?
Satisfying all three foundation tasks, the knowledge quiz, the skills assignment and the self-learning assignment, gives a result of 50. Marks above that come from the Knowledge Advanced Test in the final exam, worth up to 30, and two advanced assignments worth up to 10 each.
What happens if I do not pass a foundation task the first time?
Each foundation task has several attempts. The quiz runs in Weeks 7, 9 and 11 with one more chance in the final exam, and the assignments can be resubmitted in Weeks 7, 10 and 13, with feedback after each attempt.
What is on the knowledge quiz?
Fifteen multiple-choice questions from the Week 1 to 5 lectures and tutorials, answered in 30 minutes without notes; 12 correct is a pass. Expect to match a described situation to a concept, such as a value in the ACS Code.
What is the final exam like?
Two hours in the formal exam period, in person, with answers handwritten on paper unless you have special arrangements. It holds the Knowledge Advanced questions, plus a last foundation attempt for anyone who has not yet passed the quiz.
Can I use generative AI in this unit?
You may submit assignment material adapted from AI output if you mark which parts came from it and attach your prompts and the outputs. AI is not allowed in the knowledge quiz, the oral reviews or the final exam.
Is the Skills assignment marked as a group?
The work is discussed and planned as a group, but each student submits an individual report and is assessed individually, including in an oral review of about 8 minutes.
Do I need to memorise the ACS Code word for word?
No. You need to know its four values and their clauses well enough to recognise which applies to a scenario and to cite it by value and letter in a written answer.
How to study for the exam
Treat the unit as three tracks running in parallel. For the knowledge track, revise one lecture topic a week with active recall: close your notes and write the lists from memory, such as the four ACS values, the six requirement flaws, the seven SFIA levels and Salas's Big Five, then check what you missed. Practise matching short scenarios to concepts, because that is how the quiz asks.
Sit the quiz in Week 7 so later sittings are a safety net rather than a necessity. For the skills track, set up the GitHub board early and keep it identical to your report, and rehearse explaining every decision aloud, since each submission is followed by an oral review with no notes and no AI.
For the self-learning track, choose a topic that needs about a week of effort, tie it to a specific SFIA skill and level, and decide in advance what evidence will show you learned it. In the last weeks, rehearse handwritten answers that name a framework, cite a clause and end with an action.
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