ITEC631 - Information Technology Masters Project Part B (Software Engineering)

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

ITEC630 Information Technology Masters Project Part A (Project Management)

Incompatible

ISYS631 Information Systems Project B

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.

While Part A provides 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), Part B is focused on implementation of the project and dissemination of the results, covering phases d) to f). The principal product of each project is a Master thesis, which documents the aim, literature study, process, major outcomes of the project. It also includes project successes, difficulties faced in different project phases, performance analysis and recommendations to signal improvement in project delivery for the future, as well as how the outcomes benefit the common good.

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 - Synthesise advanced understanding of the open research issues in a given area of investigation and their relevance to the common good (GA2, GA5); 

LO2 - Develop analytical and critical thinking skills appropriate to research and technical skills relevant to the given area of investigation (GA4, GA5) 

LO3 - Prepare a comprehensive final project thesis summarising the project outcomes and justifying and interpreting complex ideas by demonstrating maturity, sophistication and teamwork skills (GA5, GA7) 

LO4 - Develop and effectively deliver clear and coherent oral presentations and written communications to both specialist and non-specialist audiences. (GA5, GA9) 

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 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics covered:

• Principles of software engineering
• Overview of software processes
• Software requirement engineering
• Software design and modelling
• Software architectural design
• Software implementation
• Software testing
• Software evolution
• Software configuration management
• Software reuse
• Distributed software engineering
• Service oriented software engineering

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. Workshops facilitate learning by doing, which is particularly effective for information technology units as technical skills can be better learned through hands on practices.

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 item is the project progress presentation to demonstrate what has been achieved in the first half of Part B. This assessment allows students to apply their knowledge and technical skills as well as their project management and communication skills at higher levels. The second assessment item is the project final presentation where students will demonstrate the final version of their project, reflect on their project journey, and evaluate their acquired skills throughout this project against the SFIA framework. The final assessment is the project thesis, which requires students to systematically document the project including all software processes involved, specification, design, testing and evaluation reports, and ethical considerations and/or social impacts of this project. The purpose of this assessment is to retrospect the journey of this capstone project, report methods and processes involved, and reflect on the gains and pains as well as on job-ready skills. 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 

Leedy P. L. and Ormrod J. E. 2015, Practical Research: Planning and Design, Global Edition, 10th edn, Pearson

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