ITEC630 - Information Technology Masters Project Part A

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

ITEC627 Advanced Programming Concepts Or ITEC622 Data Analytics and Visualisation Or ITEC613 Introduction to Data Science and Machine Learning

Incompatible

ISYS630 Information Systems Project A

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

The Masters project (Parts A and B) extends across two semesters and is designed to promote the development of research including project management, communication and technical skills through the investigation of a particular area in information technology. It prepares students for research higher degree studies or transition from study to professional practice in industry. The objective of these two units is for students to show initiative, acquire new knowledge, develop basic skills in research, evaluating solutions, and disseminating results. The investigation includes the following phases: a) project identification, b) literature search and review, c) planning and management of the project, d) implementation of the project resulting in defensible results, e) development and presentation of seminars, and (f) production of a final thesis. Both units require students to integrate and consolidate knowledge, attitudes and capabilities acquired in other units of study.

The focus of Part A is to provide students with fundamental project management, communication and technical skills in the context of a particular information technology project, with an emphasis on investigation phases a) to c). It specifically covers the ACS (Australian Computer Society) code of ethics for the information technology profession as well as catholic social thought, for example, students may work on developing successful community and environmental stewardship projects such as digital identity for homeless people, marine pollution, carbon foot-print tracking. The project has both team and individual work elements. A team of students will work together on the project, while each team member, while also involved in overall team-oriented responsibilities, will contribute to their team by employing the specialist capabilities of their professional pathway.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate advanced understanding of research fundamentals and project management principles, and familiarity with recent developments for a particular area under investigation (GA4, GA5) 

LO2 - Critically reflect on and interpret existing knowledge, investigate alternatives, and synthesise diverse approaches to generate and evaluate new ideas, taking into account how the existing and new ideas benefit the common good (GA2, GA5) 

LO3 - Collaborate effectively to produce a coherent and consistent set of project documents embedding the principles of effective written communication skills (GA5, GA7) 

LO4 - Apply the knowledge and skills learned so far to demonstrate your understanding and achievement utilising relevant tools and technologies (GA5, GA10) 

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively

Content

Topics covered: 

• Project planning
• Literature review including relevance of the topic under investigation to the common good
• Project scope management
• Project schedule management
• Project quality management
• Project communications management
• Project people management
• Project stakeholder management
• Professional code of ethics

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit will be delivered in attendance mode over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period. These are: “Attendance” mode, “Blended” mode and “Online” mode. This unit is offered in three modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups. 

Students will have access to all primary learning materials online through LEO, along with formative and summative assessments, all of which will be available online, to provide a learning experience beyond the classroom. While there are no formal classroom lectures for this unit, students will be required to attend weekly three-hour workshops, which will include a seminar and specific tasks related to achievement of the unit learning outcomes.

Students should anticipate undertaking 150 hours of study for this unit, including class attendance, readings, online forum participation and assessment preparation.

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The first assessment is a project management plan. The aim of this assessment item is to test students’ critical ability to apply and synthesise their project management knowledge and skills in deeper levels. The second assessment is a literature review report, which details literature search process and techniques used, existing work and gaps, justification for new ideas, and ethical considerations. The aim of this assessment item is to test students’ literature review and critical thinking skills. The last assessment is a project proposal presentation where students will present their project design and demonstrate what has been achieved in Part A of the project. All the assessment items require group work as collaborative work is common in the information technology industry and the capstone project aims to provide authentic learning experience so that students are prepared to transit into professional workplace. Peer assessment of group work will be adopted so that students will be marked based on the contributions to the group project.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Summerville, I. 2015, Software Engineering, 10th edn, Pearson 

Schwalbe, K 2018, Information technology project management, 9th edn, Cengage Learning, USA