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MMS3402 Entertainment and interactive technologies - Semester 1 , 2008

Unit leader :

Kirsten Ellis

Lecturer(s) :

Berwick

  • Kirsten Ellis
  • Kirsten Ellis

Introduction

Unit synopsis

This subject aims to provide students with a more advanced coverage of technologies, hardware and software tools with a special emphasis on those that are being used within the entertainment and interactive environments. As multimedia industry is still at its infancy, many of its supporting methodologies and technologies need to be defined, and tools and techniques are ever-evolving. To survive in such an ever changing industry, the ability to conduct research and the capability of identifying radical innovations, their future directions and their impacts on the industry are essential skills. The secondary objective of the unit is, therefore, to improve the participants ability to conduct research so that they can, in the future, be able to gain access to the latest information about the concepts, issues, trends and technologies in this emerging field.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

 

  • knowledge of hardware and software tools as they relate to advanced, leading edge multimedia systems
  • an understanding of recent developments in the New Media area and their likely impact on the multimedia industry
  • knowledge of the application of 3D in New Digital Media systems
  • an understanding of research methodologies and their application within the New Digital Media
  • a synthesis of research techniques and developmental skills

 

Attitudes, Values and Beliefs

 

  • an appreciation of the role of 3D applications in New Digital Media Systems
  • an appreciation of the importance of research methods and an awareness of the benefits of research for product creation
  • an appreciation of the inter-relationships amongst technologies supporting New Digital Media Systems

 

Practical Skills

 

  • demonstrate research and retrieval skills
  • demonstrate presentation skills

 

Relationships, Communication and TeamWork

 

  • improved communication and presentation skills for the presentation of ideas and peer feedback
  • develop group skills in research and develop time management skills that emulate professional time schedule.

 

Workload

This Unit will have a four hour seminar each week rather than a lecture and tutorial

Unit relationships

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed MMS2402 or equivalent.

Relationships

MMS3402 is a core unit in the Multimedia Stream of the Bachelor of Information Technology. Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed MMS2402, or equivalent.

Continuous improvement

Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education' and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning. To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Two of the formal ways that you are invited to provide feedback are through Unit Evaluations and through Monquest Teaching Evaluations.

One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. It is Monash policy for every unit offered to be evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to "have their say". The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Student Evaluations

The Faculty of IT administers the Unit Evaluation surveys online through the my.monash portal, although for some smaller classes there may be alternative evaluations conducted in class.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.monash.edu.au/unit-evaluation-reports/

Over the past few years the Faculty of Information Technology has made a number of improvements to its courses as a result of unit evaluation feedback. Some of these include systematic analysis and planning of unit improvements, and consistent assignment return guidelines.

Monquest Teaching Evaluation surveys may be used by some of your academic staff this semester. They are administered by the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and may be completed in class with a facilitator or on-line through the my.monash portal. The data provided to lecturers is completely anonymous. Monquest surveys provide academic staff with evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching and identify areas for improvement. Individual Monquest reports are confidential, however, you can see the summary results of Monquest evaluations for 2006 at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/monquest/profiles/index.html

Improvements to this unit

This unit is now conducted as a four hour seminar with significant student input rather than as a 2 hour lecture and a 2 hour tutorial. The student now have significantly more choice over their major project for the unit

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Mrs Kirsten Ellis
Lecturer Part-time
Phone +61 3 990 47132
Fax +61 3 990 47125

Lecturer(s) :

Mrs Kirsten Ellis
Lecturer Part-time
Phone +61 3 990 47132
Fax +61 3 990 47125

Contact hours : Tuesday - Thursday

Teaching and learning method

Studentwill need to participate in class discussions and complete required readings prior to classes. Research skill will be taught via class exercises.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are 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.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic References/Readings Key dates
1 Subject Overview and Introduction. Formation of Topics and Groups    
2 Cinema is Obsolete - Finding References Cinema  
3 Actors and Avatars - Summarising Articles Actors and Avatars Topic for Presentation Due
4 Virtual Reality - Referencing Virtual Reality  
Mid semester break
5 Wearable technology - Writing Wearable Technology Negotiated project contract due
6 Children's Technology - Student Presentations Children's Technology Assignment 2 presentation
7 Equity Issues - Student Presentations Equity Issues Assignment 1 Due. Assignment 2 presentation
8 Assistance with projects - Student Presentations   Assignment 2 presentation
9 Assistance with projects - Student Presentations   Assignment 2 presentation
10 Assistance with projects - Student Presentations   Assignment 2 presentation
11 Assistance with projects - Student Presentations    
12 Presentation of Negotiated projects   Assignment 3: Negotiated Project Due
13 No Lecture    

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

None

Recommended text(s) and readings

See the Reading List in Muso

Required software and/or hardware

Microsoft Office or equivalent

You may find Endnote Useful

Software may be:

  • downloaded from http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/endnote/
  • purchased at academic price at good software retailers

Equipment and consumables required or provided

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 2 hours per week for use of a computer.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

The MMS3402 web site on MUSO, where readings, weekly tutorial requirements, assignment specifications, and supplementary material will be posted.

http://muso.monash.edu.au

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle.

You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal (http://my.monash.edu.au).

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.

In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example :

  • Blackboard supported browser
  • Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site:

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle at http://moodle.med.monash.edu.au.
From the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

Assessment

Unit assessment policy

This unit is assessed by assignments only. It is possible to fail one assignment and still pass the subject. Complete assignments and achieve no less than 50% of possible marks

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 1: Research Skills

    Description :

    A series of exercised designed to develop research skills

    Weighting : 20%

    Criteria for assessment :

    See Muso for details

    Due date : Monday 14 April, 11am

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 2: Tutorial Presentation

    Description :

    A presentation given during class on an approved topic

    Weighting : 30%

    Criteria for assessment :

    See Muso for More Detail

    Due date : Allocated by tutors

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 3: Negotiated contract

    Description :

    A project that is developed by the student and approved by the tutor with the specifications made in a written form.

    Weighting : 50%

    Criteria for assessment :

    See Muso for More Detail

    Due date : Monday 19 May, 11am

Assignment submission

Student must hand in hard copies assignment 1 to their tutors or in the assignment boxes near the Berwick school of IT offices.

Student must make their presentation in their allocated tutorial

Students will present their negotiated project as specified in their learning plan

Assignment coversheets

Available on Muso

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. 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. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 10% per day for the research exercises and negotiated project. Late group presentations will not be accepted but for the most exceptional circumstances.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

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

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

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 (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) 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.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.