Creative Computing BSc(Hons)/BA(Hons)

In your first year, everyone studies the same set of modules, learning together through shared projects and collaborative making. Designed for beginners, this stage builds your foundation in coding, data, digital creativity and physical computing through hands-on experimentation and teamwork. 

You will learn by making, exploring how technology can be expressive, sustainable and responsible, while developing the confidence and curiosity to continue your creative computing journey.

Modules

Principles of Computing

In this module, you’ll seek to develop a strong foundation for your creative practice by exploring the technical aspects of computing. You’ll experiment with core concepts such as representation and coding - learning how algorithms, logic and structure can be used to build, question and communicate ideas. Through hands-on tasks, you’ll develop problem-solving skills that balance analytical thinking with imagination, in areas such as media computation for sound and image. 

Alongside this practical work, you’ll examine the histories and cultures of computing, engaging with diverse voices and perspectives. You’ll consider how technologies reflect the values of those who create them and how awareness of bias, accessibility and ethics can inform more inclusive and responsible design. 

Digital Creativity

In this module, you’ll explore how creativity takes shape in digital form through text, image, sound and interaction. You’ll experiment playfully with existing media, reworking and transforming materials to create new meanings and experiences. By combining these artefacts with game technologies and interactive tools, you’ll learn how to make digital work that responds, invites and engages. 

Throughout, you’ll reflect on the ethics of digital making, examining authorship and ownership as well as the responsibilities that come with remix culture. You’ll develop an understanding of how creative practice in the digital age can be both expressive and conscientious, combining experimentation with respect for people, ideas and the wider cultural landscape.

Development Foundations

In this module, you’ll build the foundations for designing and developing digital products and services through hands-on, collaborative practice. Working in small teams, you’ll experiment with prototyping methods, explore creative approaches to problem-solving and learn how ideas grow from concept to working prototype. 

Along the way, you’ll develop essential project management and communication skills, shaping a studio culture that values inclusivity, curiosity and care. You’ll finish the module with a clearer sense of how to plan, pitch and collaborate effectively to create the groundwork for sustainable, imaginative and purposeful digital development. 

Data Fundamentals

In this module, you will explore data as both a creative material and a tool for understanding the world. You will learn the fundamentals of the data science life cycle, from asking meaningful questions and collecting or cleaning data to exploring, visualising and interpreting what you find. Through practical activities, you will experiment with how data can shape storytelling and how visualisation techniques can create compelling narratives. 

You will also consider the ethical dimensions of working with data, including privacy, consent and representation, developing an understanding of how data-driven work can be both imaginative and responsible.

Individual Programming Project

In this module, you will refine your approach to creative coding and physical computing. You will experiment with interactive systems, exploring how software and hardware can work together to create expressive and meaningful experiences. 

Through practical projects, you will build confidence with interfaces and components, develop your understanding of system design and learn how to plan, describe and refine your creative prototypes. You will also reflect on the ethics of making, considering safety, accessibility, sustainability and the broader impact of materials and supply chains.

Multidisciplinary Teamwork

In this module, you’ll work in a multidisciplinary team to design and build a creative digital project in response to a brief. Your group might create an interactive installation for a heritage space, a prototype for a game or film experience, or a digital element for a live performance. 

You’ll gain hands-on experience of the full development process, from concept to prototype, using agile methods and studio workflows. Along the way, you’ll learn how to plan, communicate and collaborate across different creative disciplines, producing a functional proof of concept that showcases your shared creativity and technical skills.

Year two is where you start to really specialise as a creative developer and solution designer. You’ll deepen your creative and technical practice through hands-on experimentation and interdisciplinary projects. You’ll explore ways to bring digital systems, interactive experiences and physical computing to life, combining making, coding and design to create engaging and responsive work. 

You’ll also develop critical understanding of how technology shapes society and culture, considering ethical, inclusive and sustainable approaches to design. Across the stage, you’ll strengthen your analytical and research skills, integrate theory with practice and collaborate with others to tackle complex creative challenges, preparing you for substantial projects in your final year. 

BSc route: You’ll additionally sharpen your knowledge of computational mathematics and cybersecurity.

BA route: You’ll additionally explore digitised cultural materials to help frame your creative practice. 

Modules

Immersive & Participatory Performance

In this module, you’ll create live, immersive, or participatory performances that explore storytelling, imagination and audience interaction. You’ll work in teams to experiment with interactive techniques, including projection mapping and other digital tools, to enhance and transform performance.

Through playful collaboration and creative exploration, you’ll learn how technology and performance can merge to spark new experiences. You’ll also consider ethical and inclusive approaches, ensuring your work is imaginative, engaging and socially aware. 

Computational Mathematics

(BSc programme only)

You’ll learn key mathematic principles, such as linear algebra, geometry, trigonometry, 3D transformation and calculus that underpins computing. You’ll then apply these principles to your own technical and/or creative working practices.   

You’ll also explore the relationship between computational mathematics and cybersecurity, learning to programme defensively and become familiar with security topics such as common threats and attack vectors, cryptography and steganography, certification and malware.  

Digital Humanities

(BA programme only)

In this module, you’ll explore how digital tools and methods can be used to investigate, interpret and present cultural, historical and artistic data.  

You’ll learn to work with digitised texts, images, audio and other cultural materials, experimenting with data visualisation, interactive storytelling and computational analysis to uncover patterns and insights. 

Digital Prototyping

In this module, you’ll develop your 3D CAD skills by creating digital prototypes using 3D printing and CNC milling. 

You’ll explore how CAD software supports collaborative design for remote teams and gain hands-on experience working with cloud-based tools and simulation technologies to bring your ideas to life. 

Responsible AI: Ethics and Society

In this module, you will explore artificial intelligence as both a technical tool and a cultural force shaping creativity, work and society. You will examine how AI systems are built and used and consider their wider impact on fairness, accountability and sustainability. 

Through case studies and creative inquiry, you will investigate issues such as bias, authorship and the environmental cost of computation, reflecting on how collaboration with intelligent systems is transforming what it means to create, make and act responsibly in a digital world.

Immersive and Interactive Audio

In this module, you’ll explore sound as a creative, interactive and immersive medium. You’ll experiment with techniques from game audio, immersive performance, interactive music and virtual or augmented reality to design experiences that engage and surprise audiences.

Through workshops, making sessions and your own research, you’ll respond to a co-created brief and develop projects that bring your ideas to life. You’ll also reflect on how sound can be used responsibly, considering sustainability, inclusivity and social or environmental impact, while discovering new ways to shape stories through audio.

Animatronics

In this module, you’ll bring objects and characters to life using mechanics and electronics.

You’ll experiment with motors, sensors and control systems, with opportunities to collaborate with costume designers on film, theatre and heritage projects.

Explore storytelling, interactivity and sustainable making through hands-on, playful projects that merge technology and imagination.

On this course, you’ll be encouraged to engage with industry. Between your second and final year of study, you have the opportunity to study a professional placement year within industry, putting what you’ve learnt into practice.

You can choose to take an optional professional placement year after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year.   

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the Employability team.   

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying.   

How you’ll study during your professional placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks.   

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

In your final year, you’ll start with Experience Design, experimenting with storytelling, interactivity and digital systems to craft engaging experiences. You’ll then take your ideas into Digital Innovation and the Major Collaboration modules. Working in multi-skilled teams, you’ll plan, design and develop a substantial project with real-world impact, exploring opportunities for employment, freelancing, or entrepreneurial ventures in contexts such as screen, theatre, or heritage. 

BSc route: You’ll focus on technical research, quantitative analysis, and creating a novel computing artefact, culminating in a dissertation. 

BA route: You’ll consolidate your creative practice, producing a major project that communicates your ideas to an audience while reflecting on ethical, social, and cultural considerations. 

Modules

Digital Innovation

In this module, you’ll explore how creativity and technology can shape new opportunities in the digital economy. You’ll experiment with ideas, form teams and develop innovative projects that combine imagination with practical enterprise skills.

Through hands-on pre-production work, you’ll design concepts, plan milestones and prepare your projects as if for real-world release. Along the way, you’ll explore branding, intellectual property and business planning, finishing with a professional pitch that showcases your creativity, vision and entrepreneurial thinking.

Major Collaboration

In this module, you’ll bring together your skills and experience to deliver a substantial, collaborative project. Working in multi-skilled teams, you’ll design and develop an innovative product or experience, with opportunities to focus on screen, performance, or heritage contexts. 

Projects may build on your previous work or respond to new briefs from the University, industry partners, or external stakeholders. You’ll explore ethically-informed approaches while creating interactive installations, games, apps, immersive experiences, or other digital solutions that combine creativity, technology and real-world impact.

Experience Design

In this module, you’ll be challenged to design and create an interactive experience that showcases your skills and imagination. 

You might develop a new media project, craft animation or graphical assets, design for user interaction, or build a short, novel digital story. You’ll experiment with how people engage with technology, exploring creative, playful and thoughtful ways to shape memorable experiences. 

Experimental Creativity: Framing

(BA programme only)

In this module, you’ll bring together research and practical work to drive individual experimentation.

You’ll develop a framing statement that defines your creative intentions, setting the direction for a major project and preparing for a future exhibition.

Experimental Creativity: Exhibition

(BA programme only) 

In this module, you’ll take your creative experimentation and turn it into a creative piece for a public exhibition. You’ll explore ways to share your ideas and discoveries through your work, using practical making, storytelling and design to communicate your process and thinking. This is your chance to show how research can inspire, inform and shape imaginative projects for an audience.

Research & Development: Proposal

(BSc programme only)

In this module, you’ll plan and commence an individual ‘major’ research and development project in computing. You can choose to conduct primary research centred on or supported by a novel computing artefact, or practice-based research with significant technical depth.

The development of your written proposal will include identifying an opportunity, critically reviewing relevant literature, setting a hypothesis and designing a mode of data collection, while considering all ethical implications, as well as prototyping a novel and substantial computing artefact.

Research & Development: Dissertation

(BSc programme only)

On this module, you’ll continue your individual ‘major’ research and development project. Building upon the proposal you submitted, you’ll further develop your prototype computing artefact into a potentially deployable solution. In doing so, you’ll deepen your knowledge of software engineering, the use of advanced research tools, technical writing and academic conventions, as well as the interpretation and visualisation of results from statistical analyses of quantitative data.  

Under the supervision of a subject-matter expert, you will: realise a novel and substantial computing artefact; execute your research and development; and critically analyse your results, disseminating your findings through a written academic dissertation. You’ll also present your insights to peers alongside a demonstration of the final computing artefact, referring to the potential impact of your project, any ethical concerns and potential future work. 

If you choose the Integrated Foundation Year pathway, you'll study five core modules in your foundation year. These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of your subject. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

By the time you progress into year one of your degree, you'll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, and develop a practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen subject.

Modules

Explore

You'll begin your foundation year by working collaboratively with others to explore themes of the future. You'll take risks, experiment through play and be supported to break through barriers.

Technique

You'll take subject-specific workshops and develop essential technical and practical skills in your area of study. You'll also enhance your analytical and organisational abilities.

Apply

You'll work with your peer group to think beyond discipline by addressing a societal or global issue. You'll then showcase your work to your peers and deliver and accompanying evaluation of your process.

Industry

You'll enhance your creative and practical skills in your subject specialism by responding to typical industry briefs, underpinned by focused research and experiments. You'll also gain industry insights through guest lectures and workshops.

Launch

You'll develop your unique identity in your specialism through the production of a self-initiated body of work. Your final project will be the bridge to your next year, fully supported by evaluative reviews and critical analysis of the work you have created.

If you apply for and enrol onto a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year, you’ll have the option to switch onto a five-year version including a placement year. That means you’ll complete the first three years of your course before completing a placement in industry in your fourth year and returning to Falmouth for the fifth year of your programme.