GCO3800 Industry project , Unit Information Guide (Semester 1, 2006)

Students work in project groups (usually 3-5 people) on a system development project for a client who may be either internal or external to Monash. In general, projects involve all aspects of the system development lifecycle. Project management aspects of system development are stressed. The requirements of the subject are fulfilled by the team producing an identified set of deliverables, usually a project proposal, project plan, a system specification, user documentation and software. The team must perform software management activities to ensure that the project is delivered on time. Students are required to maintain a development log with a full record of all their project-related activities. Each member of the team must demonstrate a significant contribution to the team effort, a sense of responsibility for the project outcome and skills for interaction with the client. Internal students meet formally with the subject adviser each week for seminar presentations and tutorial sessions. In the case of external students an individual project or smaller project group (two or three people) may be permitted. Students admitted to the school's industry experience scheme fulfil the unit requirements by undertaking a project with their employer.

This unit builds on knowledge and understanding developed in core units throughout first and second level studies. Students will:

• understand all stages of the process of developing an information system;
• understand the roles and responsibilities of clients, system users and developers in a systems development project;
• understand how information systems are developed;

This subject aims to develop in students:

• the capacity to apply in a practical setting the theoretical work covered in their course
• the ability to develop a significant computing application, from the analysis and design stages, through coding and implementation to evaluation.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• work with clients and communicate effectively with them
• define a problem, and gather data, facts, opinions and information needed to analyse and solve it
• outline and evaluate alternative solutions to a system development problem
• perform a feasibility study that includes estimates of costs, time requirements, a schedule for the development, and the benefits expected from the system
• identify hardware and software requirements for a system
• document a system design using tools which include system flow charts and data flow diagrams
• implement a system, including testing and debugging
• evaluate a system, identifying any weakness or possible enhancements

This subject aims to develop in students:

• the ability to operate effectively as a member of a development team.

all second level core units, or equivalent, of your major.

GCO3700 is a core unit in the Multimedia Technology major of the Bachelor of Computing degree. You may not study this unit and FIT3025, GCO2819, GCO3819, GCO3800, GCO3900, SYS3030, SYS3550, SYS3500 in your degree.

GCO3800 is a core unit in the System Development and Network Technology majors of the Bachelor of Information Technology degree. You may not study this unit and FIT3025, GCO2819, GCO3819, GCO3700, GCO3900, SYS3030, SYS3550, SYS3500 in your degree.

GCO3900 is a core unit in the Business systems major of the Bachelor of Information Technology degree. You may not study this unit and FIT3025, GCO2819, GCO3819, GCO3700, GCO3800, SYS3030, SYS3550, SYS3500 in your degree.

Required text(s)

There is no prescribed text for this unit.

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Hardware requirements:

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 12 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Study resources for GCO3800 are:

A printed Unit Book containing information on the structure of this unit. It also contains the unit information outlining the administrative information for the unit.

The GCO3800 Website is on http://www.gscit.monash.edu.au/units/2006/fy/gco3800/ , where lecture slides, sample structure of assignments/reports and sample materials will be posted.

The timetable for on-campus classes for this unit can be viewed in Allocate+

There is no exam for this unit.

You will be assessed based on the following components:

• 4 assignments/reports (40%)
  
• 2 presentations (5%)
  
• collaboration learning (10%)
  
• End product (45%)
  

To pass this unit you must:

obtain at least 50% of the assessment marks.

Your score for the unit will be calculated by:

Assessment Requirements

Assignment specifications will be made available . Information about assignments will be published on the Unit's Notices Newsgroup.

The method to submit the assignments/reports is to be negotiated with the supervisor allocated to your project team.

Late submission of assignments

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 5% for every day after the due date.

Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

This policy is strict because comments or guidance will be given on assignments as they are returned, and sample solutions may also be published and distributed, after assignment marking or with the returned assignment. 

Extensions

It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. 

Requests for extensions must be made by email to the supervisor allocated to your project team, at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Grading of assessment

Assignments, and the unit, will be marked and allocated a grade according to the following scale:

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This feedback may be provided through your participation in tutorials and class discussions, as well as through your assignment submissions. It may come in the form of individual advice, marks and comments, or it may be provided as comment or reflection targeted at the group. It may be provided through personal interactions, such as interviews and on-line forums, or through other mechanisms such as on-line self-tests and publication of grade distributions.

You will be asked to provide feedback to the Faculty through a Unit Evaluation survey at the end of the semester. You may also be asked to complete surveys to help teaching staff improve the unit and unit delivery. Your input to such surveys is very important to the faculty and the teaching staff in maintaining relevant and high quality learning experiences for our students.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem with your study. The semester is short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Once a supervisor is allocated to a project team, he/she will be the main person to contact for any questions/issues related to the project.

For further advises, you can contact the unit advisor/coordinator using the newsgroups on the unit website.

If any personal issues (e.g. conflicts with supervisor), you can contact the unit advisor/coordinator.

Notices related to the unit during the semester will be placed on the Notices Newsgroup in the Unit Website. Check this regularly. Failure to read the Notices newsgroup is not regarded as grounds for special consideration.

Consultation Times

To be finalised with your supervisor.

If direct communication with your unit adviser/lecturer or tutor outside of consultation periods is needed you may contact the lecturer and/or tutors at:

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All email communication to you from your lecturer will occur through your Monash student email address. Please ensure that you read it regularly, or forward your email to your main address. Also check that your contact information registered with the University is up to date in My.Monash.