Masters Project 1

Unit Outline (Higher Education)

Level of Unit in Course

AQF Level(s) of Course

Level of Unit in Course

Introductory

Intermediate

Effective Term:

2024/05

Institute / School :

Institute of Innovation, Science & Sustainability

Unit Title:

Masters Project 1

Unit ID:

ITECH7416

Credit Points:

15.00

Prerequisite(s):

(ITECH7401)

Co-requisite(s):

Nil

Exclusion(s):

(ITECH7403 and ITECH7404 and ITECH7405 and ITECH7415 and ITECH7602)

ASCED:

029999

Other Change:

Brief description of the Unit

This is the first of two units that provide you with the opportunity to synthesise knowledge and skills you have gained so far in your program to work on either an industry or research project. You can work on an industry Information Technology (IT) or Information System (IS) related real-world business problem and/ or engage in research.

Your options are as follows:

(i) Industry Specialisation

You will work in teams on an IT/IS project with an industry client and an academic project supervisor. A project can be related to development of a new IT/IS solution(s) or review, assessment or recommendation of an existing IT/IS solution(s) to improve client`s existing business processes. Projects must be aligned with your study stream.

(ii) Research Specialisation

You will work on an individual research project across two units(ITECH7416 & ITECH7417). Students interested in the Masters Projects with a Research specialisation will need to contact an appropriate academic supervisor prior to the course commencement and have a research proposal approved. To attain Honours equivalence and possible entry into a Higher Degree by Research, students undertaking Research specialisation will need to complete an additional 30 credit point research project unit.

Grade Scheme:

Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF)

Work Experience Indicator:

No work experience

Placement Component:

Supplementary Assessment:No

Supplementary assessment is not available to students who gain a fail in this Unit.

Course Level:

Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge:

K1.	Analyse a business/research problem

K2.	Research state-of-the-art in a problem domain and investigate how similar problems were solved.

K3.	Relate theories and principles learned in other IT/IS courses to addressing or solving business/research problem.

K4.	Identify/Propose/Develop solution(s) to business/research problem.

K5.	Choose appropriate methodologies, tools and technologies for a project.

K6.	Manage legal, ethical, privacy and security issues related to a project

K7.	Analyse industry frameworks such as the Australian Computer Society`s (ACS) Core Body of Knowledge (CBOK) and Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) and how they relate to your project.

Skills:

S1.	Identify a gap in a research or industry context.

S2.	Lead specific aspects of a project.

S3.	Work as part of a collaborative team and maintain the professional relationship with team members, client and supervisor.

S4.	Demonstrate problem solving and critical thinking

S5.	Apply state-of-the-art industry standards, approaches and methods in a project.

S6.	Utilise a variety of project management, collaboration, modelling and analytical tools as required.

S7.	Critique contemporary IT industry practices/presentations related to industry or research projects, and relate them to professional standards and your own career aspirations

Application of knowledge and skills:

A1.	Propose/Develop a new state-of-the-art IT/IS solution(s) to address business/research problem.

A2.	Deliver appropriate, professional, industry level documentations and/or research reports.

Unit Content:

This course is designed to foster problem-based self learning and research. There will be minimal formal lectures.

Topics may include:

1. Requirements analysis and modelling.

2. Problem solving.

3. Research and literature review.

4. Creative and critical thinking.

5. Communication and reporting.

6. Project management.

7. Change and risk management.

8. Product Evaluation.

9. Business and data analysis.

10. System development methodologies.

11. Professional documentation.

12. Team building.

13. IT and related industry activity and research developments in the local community, and around the globe.

14. ACS’s CBOK, SFIA and their relationship with industry and Career pathways.

Graduate Attributes:

Learning Task and Assessment:

Students will engage in project activities that align with their enrolled study stream.

Assessment tasks are designed to measure the learning outcomes of the capstone project courses, however, successful projects will require application of additional project-dependent skills not explicitly listed in this course outline. If students study a specialised stream then these additional learning outcomes will align with the learning outcomes identified by the stream of study at the program level.

Each study specialisation stream identifies with the corresponding ACS CBoK knowledge areas and the SFIA skills that will be assessed (these are in addition to those identified in the ACS and SFIA sections of this outline) if students are enrolled in that study stream

Students will negotiate and complete a project in an area related to their stream specialisation/electives completed.
Wherever possible, assessment tasks are generic to all projects and will not be specific to individual projects.
Assessment in this course aims to replicate many of the types of scenarios that students would face in a professional setting, including writing appropriate documentation, giving presentations to technical and non-technical audiences, and critical self reflection.

Typically, if all team members have worked equally in the project, the same grade will be awarded to all team members for team submissions. In cases where it can be demonstrated that one or more team members have not participated equally, the supervisor and course coordinator will alter individual grades and/or request additional assessment tasks to be completed.

	Learning Outcomes Assessed	Assessment Tasks	Assessment Type	Weighting
1.	K1, K2, K3, K4, K7, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2	Project Initiation and Planning	Project Storyboard, Product Roadmap	10-30%
2.	S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7	Project Ownership Actively participate in and contribute to group collaboration, research, workshops, team work and/or professional communication/meetings.	Evidence of appropriate engagement - Attendance at Workshops, Stand-ups, Statements of individual contribution	10-30%
3.	K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, A1, A2	Project Execution & Delivery Develop, Propose, and(or) Recommend a solution to an IT business/research problem(s). Deliver professional product-specific industry/research documents specific to a negotiated project/research problem.	Product Demonstration; Project Write-up	40-60%
4.	K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, A1, A2	Project Monitoring Deliver professional product-specific industry/research documents specific to a negotiated project/research problem.	Assessments may include Sprint Reviews/Retrospectives,, and Evaluation of project execution by project supervisor/client.	20-40%

Adopted Reference Style:

Other (Nil)

Professional Standards / Competencies:

Standard / Competency

Australian Computer Society - Core Body of Knowledge: 2023 accreditation

Attribute			Assessed	Level
Core ICT Knowledge
	ICT Fundamentals
		Design thinking: methods and tools that are used for handling abstraction could vary a great deal with the branch of ICT, from circuit diagrams to data modelling tools to business process modelling	Yes	Intermediate
		Systems thinking: components and interactions between them, structure and function, emergent properties and functions, systems layers	Yes	Intermediate
	Information & Data Science and Engineering
		Database Management Systems and SQL, non-relational systems (blockchain, NoSQL, files)	Yes	Intermediate
	Computational Science and Engineering
		Programming: programming language constructs, coding methods, scripts and apps, interfaces	Yes	Intermediate
		Software Engineering: systematic practices of specification, development and testing to produce reliable, safe, maintainable computing systems, integrated development and configuration management environments	Yes	Intermediate
	Application Systems
		Analysis of human activity systems, ontological modelling, specifying organisational and external context of computing systems, impact and user experience analysis	Yes	Advanced
		User experience: interface design, physical and cognitive ergonomics	Yes	Intermediate
	ICT Projects
		Nature and types of projects: exploratory, prototype, agile, maintenance, construction and acquisition, etc	Yes	Advanced
		Project initiation: stakeholders, benefits specification, scope and requirements, quality and acceptance criteria, cost/benefit, risk and time budgets	Yes	Intermediate
		Project management: team management, estimation techniques, project scheduling, quality assurance, configuration management, project management tools, progress analysis, reporting and presentation techniques	Yes	Intermediate
	ICT Management and Governance
		Digital transformation and disruption, change management	Yes	Intermediate
Professionalism as it applied in ICT
	Professional ICT Ethics
		Professional ethics issues: general professional issues such as conflict of interest, confidentiality	Yes	Advanced
	Working Individually and in ICT development teams
		Team organisation, development and management, especially of multi-disciplinary, diverse ICT teams; collaboration, group dynamics, leadership styles, conflict resolution, groupware and virtual teams	Yes	Advanced
		Individual time management, workflow and information management	Yes	Advanced
		Working effectively within an organisational context	Yes	Advanced
	Professional Communication
		Communication with different audiences (technical, managerial, users and non-digitally orientated audiences) in different forums (meetings, presentations, networking)	Yes	Advanced
		Forms and styles of documentation - technical reports and specifications, progress reports	Yes	Advanced
	The Professional ICT Practitioner
		Continuing professional development, career upskilling, networking	Yes	Advanced

Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA): Version 8

Attribute			Assessed	Level
Strategy and architecture
	Strategy and planning
		INOV Innovation (Levels 5 - 7) Identifying, prioritising, incubating and exploiting opportunities provided by information, communication and digital technologies.	Yes	4
		EMRG Emerging technology monitoring (Levels 4 - 6) Identifying and assessing new and emerging technologies, products, services, methods and techniques.	Yes	4
		RSCH Research (Levels 2 - 6) Systematically creating new knowledge by data gathering, innovation, experimentation, evaluation and dissemination.	Yes	4
Change and transformation
	Change implementation
		PGMG Programme management (Levels 6 - 7) Identifying, planning and coordinating a set of related projects and activities in support of specific business strategies and objectives.	Yes	4
		PRMG Project management (Levels 4 - 7) Delivering agreed outcomes from projects using appropriate management techniques, collaboration, leadership and governance.	Yes	4
		PROF Portfolio, programme and project support (Levels 2 - 6) Providing support and guidance on portfolio, programme and project management processes, procedures, tools and techniques.	Yes	4
Relationships and engagement
	Sales and marketing
		MKTG Marketing (Levels 2 - 6) Researching, analysing and stimulating potential or existing markets for products and services.	Yes	3