FIT9004 Computer programming for business - Semester 1, 2009

Unit leader

Lecturer(s) :

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	Objectives, outline etc.	Microsoft Excel 2007, New Perspectives Series, Tutorials 1-5
2	More Excel: range names, working with Record Macro, data validation, if() function, protecting cells. ActiveX controls - using the Controls Toolbox Toolbar	Microsoft Excel 2007, New Perspectives Series, Lecture notes. Tutorials. Zak, Tutorial 1 (Concepts, Excel), Chap 1, 2, 3 and 4 Mansfeild
3	Object and string variables in Excel	Tutorial 2,3,4 Zak , Chap 5 Mansfield
4	Debugging tools.	Tutorial 5,6 from Zak, Chap 6, 7 and 8 Mansfield, Excel
5	Control structures:	Tutorial 7,8 from Zak, Chap 11 Mansfield, Excel
6	Control structures	Tutorial 9 and 10 Zak, Chap 12 Mansfield, Excel.
Mid semester break
7	Test	weeks 1-6	Class room test on 1-6 weeks material
8	Custom GUIs	Tutorial 12 and 13 Zak, Chap 14 Mansfield, Excel
9	Built In GUIs	Tutorial 11 Zak, Chap 13 Mansfield
10	Access, introduction to database concepts, rules for database design, creating a simple database, relationships. Simple queries, reports, forms. Redundancy. Referential integrity ? cascade updates, cascade deletes. The query design grid. Indexes. Compacting and repairing a database. Calculated queries. Access Object Model. Access macros, VBE in Access	Lecture notes
11	Access maintenance: More advanced queries, action queries, reports, forms. Referential integrity.	Lecture notes	Assignment due 22 May 2009 16:00hrs
12	Software Engineering	Lecture material
13	Revision	Lecture material.

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 2007, Richard Mansfield

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.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Zak, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, 0-619-00020-1

For Excel: Microsoft Excel 2007, New Perspectives Series, Parsons, Oja, Ageloff & Carey

For Access: Microsoft Access 2007, New Perspectives Series, Adamski and Finnegan

Required software and/or hardware

Microsoft OfficeXP 2007

Software may be:

• 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 n hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

For DE students: the FIT9004 web site on MUSO, where lecture slides, weekly tutorial requirements, assignment specifications, sample solutions and supplementary material will be posted.

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.

The Educational Library and Media Resources (LMR) is also a very resourceful place to visit at http://www.education.monash.edu.au/library/

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. If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle (http://moodle.monash.edu.au) and can bookmark this link to access directly. In Moodle, from the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

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

Unit assessment policy

The unit is assessed with one assignment, one test and a three hour closed book examination.
To pass the unit you must:

*attempt the assignment, test and the examination

and obtain:

*40% or more in the unit's examination

* no less that 40% overall in the non-examination assessment

* achieve no less than 50% overall from all assessments for the unit

Assignment tasks

• Assignment Task

  Title : Tutorial task - to be completed each week during class

  Description :

  A maximum of 10% is awarded for all the 12 weekly tutorials.

  Weighting : 10%

  Criteria for assessment :

  Assignment work in the unit is fully described, along with the assessment criteria, on the assignment page of the Moodle-based unit web site.

  Due date :

• Assignment Task

  Title : assignment

  Description :

  This is an individual assignment involving development of a system using the concepts and features of the unit content.

  Weighting : 20%

  Criteria for assessment :

  Assignment work in the unit is fully described, along with the assessment criteria, on the assignment page of the Moodle-based unit web site. A peer assessment form is also completed by all students to ensure fair  distribution of marks.

  Due date : 22/05/2009

• Assignment Task

  Title : test

  Description :

  A test based on the materials covered in Weeks 1-6 will be conducted in Week 7.

  Weighting : 10%

  Criteria for assessment :

  As given in the unit assessment policy above.

  Due date :

Examinations

• Examination 1

  Weighting : 60%

  Length : 2.5 hours

  Type ( open/closed book ) : Closed book

  
  

Assignment submission

All assignments will be submitted electronically via the Moodle-based unit web site.

Assignment coversheets

Electronic coversheets are to be submitted with your assignment. These can be obtained via the "Student assignment coversheets" ( http://infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/assignments/ ) page on the faculty website

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.

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.
Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer 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.

Late assignment

If you believe that your assignment will be delayed because of circumstances beyond your control such as illness you should apply for an extension before the due date. Medical certificates or certification supporting your application may be required. Assignments submitted after the due date may incur a penalty for lateness. An assignment submitted more than seven days after the due date may be given a score of zero. If you anticipate being late then discuss the situation with your unit lecturer as early as possible; your unit lecturer will decide how many marks you will be penalised for each day your assignment is late, and whether or not any extension is warranted.

Assignments received after the due date will normally be subject to a penaltyof 5% per day, including weekends. Assignments received later than oneweek (seven days) after the due date will not normally be accepted. Insome cases, this period may be shorter if there is a need to release sample solutions.

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.

All assignment feedback will be provided on-line using the Moodle-based unit web site. 

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 the University Plagiarism policy and procedure (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-procedures.html) which applies to students detected plagiarising.

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:

• Faculty of Information Technology Student Service staff, and / or
• your Unit Coordinator, or
• Disabilities Liaison Unit

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.