FIT2003 IT professional practice - Summer semester, 2012

This unit provides a practical and theoretical introduction to what it means to be an IT professional today. Students will encounter a range of issues relevant to professional practice in the workplace, as well as an understanding of the wider responsibilities that professionals are called upon to uphold in society. Topics addressed include: organisational and professional communication; teamwork; the nature of the IT professions; the role of professional associations; problem solving and information use; cross-cultural awareness; personal and professional ethics and codes of practice.

Contact Hours

2hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs tutorials/wk, 1 hr meeting/wk

Workload

The above class contact hours are for the standard 12 week semester. For this summer offering over 6 weeks, there will be 4 hours of lectures per week, 4 hours of tutorials per week, and 1 hour of meetings per week (for Weeks 3 - 6).

Students will be expected to spend a total of 24 hours per week during semester on this unit as follows:

For on-campus students:

• Lectures: four hours per week
• Tutorials: four hours per week (requiring advance preparation)
• Meetings: one hour per week (when working on group projects)

and up to an additional 16 hours in some weeks for completing lab and project work, private study and revision.

[Off-campus students generally do not attend lecture and tutorial sessions, however, you should plan to spend equivalent time working through the relevant resources and participating in discussion groups each week. NOT APPLICABLE FOR SUMMER SEMESTER, ALL STUDENTS ON-CAMPUS.]

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

FIT2035

Prerequisites

Completion of 24 points of Information Technology units

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Tutors

Academic Overview

Outcomes

On completion of this unit, students will understand and demonstrate what it means to be an IT professional. They will:

• be familiar with the variety of roles available to IT professionals;
• understand the role and function of professional associations;
• demonstrate an understanding of the ACS code of ethics and the rights and responsibilities of IT professionals;
• identify and discuss the organisational and social impacts arising from the use of IT, and the ethical dimensions associated with IT-related decisions;
• be able to explain and demonstrate the elements of effective communication and interpersonal communication skills;
• be sensitive to and demonstrate understanding of cultural differences to improve intercultural communication;
• be able to select and use strategies for effective and efficient productive (speaking and writing) and receptive (reading and listening) communications;
• describe the purpose, protocols, roles and procedures for meetings and interviews;

understand the need to and demonstrate the ability to work co-operatively and manage conflict;

• demonstrate the ability to make effective use of technology in oral and written communication; and
• develop information gathering, critical evaluation (information and sources) and problem solving skills.

Graduate Attributes

Assessment Summary

Examination (3 hours): 25%; In-semester assessment: 75%

Assessment Task	Value	Due Date
eFolio	15%	Throughout semester, but finalised by Friday 11 January 2013, end of Week 5
Assignment 1 - Individual Presentation	10%	Week 3 (during tutorial class)
Assignment 1 - Individual Report	10%	Week 3, Friday 21 December 2012
Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Team Presentation	10%	Week 6 (during tutorial class)
Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Written Report	15%	Week 6, Friday 18 January 2013
Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Resource Kit Summary	5%	Week 6, Friday 18 January 2013
Tutorial preparation and participation	10%	Throughout semester
Examination 1	25%	To be advised

Teaching Approach

Lecture and tutorials or problem classes

Feedback

Our feedback to You

• Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes
• Graded assignments with comments
• Quiz results
• Other: Feedback during tutor and lecturer consultation sessions

Your feedback to Us

Previous Student Evaluations of this unit

Based on student feedback we are retaining the use of the Wiki for Assignment 2, but each tutorial group will have its own Wiki, which should make it easier to maintain each Wiki.

The Peerwise feedback system is no longer being used, instead we are using Moodle quizzes.

Required Resources

Students will be expected to make their assignment work available online (via Google Documents, or other such sites). 

Prescribed text(s)

Eunson, B. (2011). C21 Communicating in the 21st Century. (3rd) Wiley.

Recommended Resources

Teaching material will be provided on the unit Moodle site.

Recommended text(s)

Michael J. Quinn. (2011). Ethics for the Information Age. (4th) Addison-Wesley.

Examination material or equipment

No materials or equipment will be permitted in the examination room other than standard writing implements.

Dictionaries are allowed.

Unit Schedule

Week	Activities	Assessment
0		No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1	Introduction to FIT2003: Introduction to IT professions and practice; Interpersonal communications (TUTORIAL THIS WEEK)	Tutorial preparation and participation - (Assessment task 7) assessed throughout semester, also see Week 6 Assessment comments
2	Research and information gathering; Oral presentations	Assignment 1 - (Assessment tasks 2 and 3) handed out
3	Structured communications (e.g. meetings, interviews); Teams	Assignment 1 - (Assessment task 2) Individual Presentation due during tutorial class; (Assessment task 3) Individual Report due Friday 21 December 2012
4	Professional Issues: Professional bodies, codes of ethics; Legal Issues - IP and copyright	Assignment 2 - (Assessment tasks 4, 5 and 6) handed out
5	Communication in organisations; Written communcation: email, memo, cover letter, letter, proposal, and reports	eFolio - (Assessment task 1) throughout semester, but finalised by Friday 11 January 2013, end of Week 5
6	Written communication 3: blogs, wikis, Google sites; SMS, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn; Professional Issues 3: Privacy, IT security management. Overview of unit and exam information	Assignment 2 - (Assessment task 4) Team Presentation due during tutorial class; (Assessment task 5) Written Report due Friday 18 January 2013; (Assessment task 6) Resource Kit Summary due Friday 18 January 2013; Tutorial questions - (Assessment task 7) during Week 6 tutorial class
7
8
9
10
11
12
	SWOT VAC	No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in SWOT VAC
	Examination period	LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/ academic/education/assessment/ assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/unit-assessment-hurdles.html)

Academic Integrity - Please see the Demystifying Citing and Referencing tutorial at http://lib.monash.edu/tutorials/citing/

Assessment Tasks

Participation

Students will be assessed on preparation and participation in tutorial activities (10%).

Preparation will be assessed in terms of thoroughness. Participation will be assessed in terms of attendance with contributions to group discussions and level of engagement in tutorial activities, as well as questions produced in Week 12 tutorial. Tutorial activities will also contribute to the eFolio part of the assessment tasks.

As such, there is an expectation that attendance will exceed 70% and as such, attendance will be taken at tutorials. Failure to do so may result in difficulties with passing the unit. For applying for special consideration refer to the link provided under 'Extensions and penalties' at the end of this section.

• Assessment task 1

  Title:

  eFolio

  Description:

  Students must produce a range of written documents from tutorial activities. These will be collected in a Google Documents folder that will form an "eFolio".

  Weighting:

  15%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Criteria for assessing the folio are:

  1. Inclusion of all specified documents
  2. Appropriateness of contents
  3. Quality of writing
  4. Quality of presentation

  Due date:

  Throughout semester, but finalised by Friday 11 January 2013, end of Week 5

  Remarks:

  Students should complete this throughout the semester after the relevant tutorial activities. They may also seek feedback during the semester on drafts at the scheduled tutor sessions.

• Assessment task 2

  Title:

  Assignment 1 - Individual Presentation

  Description:

  Students must analyse and verify an article in the media on an IT related topic, then give a 5 minute oral presentation to their tutorial class, supported by a visual presentation.

  Weighting:

  10%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Criteria for assessment are:

  1. Selection and organisation of content
  2. Voice (e.g., audibility, intonation, variation)
  3. Use of language (e.g., vocabulary, appropriate level, use of jargon)
  4. Timing
  5. Non-verbal communication (e.g., body language, eye contact)
  6. Quality of visual aids

  Due date:

  Week 3 (during tutorial class)

  Remarks:

  Students will also be expected to fill in feedback forms on other students' presentations.

• Assessment task 3

  Title:

  Assignment 1 - Individual Report

  Description:

  The students must produce a written report (500 words) on the IT article they have researched and presented for the first part of this assignment.

  Weighting:

  10%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Criteria for assessment are:

  1. Depth of analysis of the chosen article and its sources
  2. Extent of research done to verify articles content (i.e. own sources)
  3. Organisation of report
  4. Quality of writing (including spelling and grammar)
  5. Quality of presentation
  6. Appropriate citation of sources

  Due date:

  Week 3, Friday 21 December 2012

• Assessment task 4

  Title:

  Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Team Presentation

  Description:

  Students will present a 15 minute team research project on a topic related to the Professional Issues aspects of this unit.

  Weighting:

  10%

  Criteria for assessment:

  All students in a team will get the same mark for the following assessment criteria:

  1. Selection and organisation of content 
  2. Co-ordination of multiple speakers
  3. Quality of visual aids
  4. Timing

  Each student will receive an individual mark for the following assessment criteria:

  1. Voice (audibility, intonation, variation)
  2. Use of language (e.g., vocabulary, appropriate level, use of jargon)
  3. Non-verbal communication (e.g., body language, eye contact)

  Due date:

  Week 6 (during tutorial class)

• Assessment task 5

  Title:

  Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Written Report

  Description:

  Students must produce a 2000 word written report on the resources they have contributed to the Resource Kit team project.

  Weighting:

  15%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Each student in a team will write an individual report, so this component of the project does not involve any assessment of the team project as a whole.

  Criteria for assessment are:

  1. Appropriateness of resources selected
  2. Content of report (e.g. analysis of resources, reflections on team dynamics)
  3. Organisation of report
  4. Quality of writing
  5. Quality of presentation
  6. Accuracy of the bibliographical details

  Due date:

  Week 6, Friday 18 January 2013

  Remarks:

  Students must also submit the assignment to Damocles, the plagiarism detection software.

• Assessment task 6

  Title:

  Assignment 2 - Organisational and Social Impacts of Information Technology - Resource Kit Summary

  Description:

  Each team should produce an online summary (on the Moodle Wiki for their tutorial group) of the resource kit they have compiled on the nominated topic related to IT Professional practice, as well as an email announcement. There is no specific word requirement for this assessment.

  Weighting:

  5%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Criteria for assessment are:

  1. Selection of resources (e.g. complementary, no duplication)
  2. Organisation and presentation of summary
  3. Quality of the email, in terms of content, layout, tone and grammar

  All team members will receive the same group mark for this component.

  Due date:

  Week 6, Friday 18 January 2013

• Assessment task 7

  Title:

  Tutorial preparation and participation

  Description:

  Students will be assessed on preparation and participation in tutorial activities, including the questions to be given in the final 2 hours of the Week 6 tutorial.

  Weighting:

  10%

  Criteria for assessment:

  Criteria for assessment are:

  1. Preparation will be assessed in terms of thoroughness
  2. Participation will be assessed in terms of contributions to group discussions and level of engagement in tutorial activities
  3. Relevance and quality of submitted questions from the Week 6 tutorial

  Due date:

  Throughout semester

Examinations

• Examination 1

  Weighting:

  25%

  Length:

  3 hours

  Type (open/closed book):

  Closed book

  Electronic devices allowed in the exam:

  None

  Remarks:

  Dictionaries are allowed.

Assignment submission

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

Resubmission of assignments

No resubmissions allowed.

Referencing requirements

In line with Faculty policy students must follow the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Guide: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/apa.html

Other Information

Policies

Student services