FIT4442 Honours thesis part 2 - Semester 2, 2013

This unit is a research unit and a core requirement for all FIT Honours degrees. Due to the nature of IT, a wide range of Honours project types can be offered to students. Some project components are of a practical nature and may involve some software development and/or experimentation, while other components are of a more theoretical nature.

Mode of Delivery

• Caulfield (Day)
• Clayton (Day)
• South Africa (Day)

Contact Hours

Regular meetings with supervisor(s) over the course of the semester.

Workload requirements

The workload in this unit is equivalent to a 6 credit point unit, i.e. 12 hours study per week.

Contact hours will consist of regular meetings with your supervisor.

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

CPE4000, CSE4000, IMS4000, FIT4126, FIT4186,FIT4246, FIT4606

Co-requisites

FIT4441

Prerequisites

Admission to an FIT Honours program or stream.

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will have:

• demonstrated knowledge and understanding in the area of their chosen research project;
• acquired necessary skills to plan and undertake rigorous independent research;
• acquired comprehensive research skills in the IT field;
• developed the capacity to engage in critical thinking and analysis;
• demonstrated the ability to communicate research activities and findings.

Developed attitudes that enable them to:

• have confidence in their ability to undertake independent and individual research;
• have confidence in their ability to plan and execute an individual research project.

Developed the skills to:

• find and analyse current research literature;
• critically evaluate research findings;
• identify open problems in current research;
• identify promising new research directions based on previous results;
• define feasible projects based on such problems;
• set realistic timelines and intermediate deliverables for a research project;
• communicate research results in a variety of forms, including informal oral presentations, written reports, seminar presentations and poster presentations.

Demonstrated the communication skills necessary to:

• communicate research ideas effectively in oral and written form;
• collaborate effectively with their supervisor.

Unit Schedule

Week	Activities	Assessment
0	Students will research an agreed thesis topic under the guidance of their supervisor and will receive feedback on their progress through regular meetings with their supervisor.	No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
	SWOT VAC	No formal assessment is 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 Summary

Research Proposal: 5%; Literature Review: 10%; Interim Presentation: hurdle; Final Presentation: 5%; Thesis (normally 10,000 - 20,000 words): 80%

Teaching Approach

Research activities

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

Hurdle Requirements

Non-assessable Hurdle - Interim Presentation (see Participation)

Participation

This unit forms part of the sequence of units comprising the Honours thesis in the Faculty of Information Technology.

Two exit points exist for the Honours thesis, FIT4444 - 24 cpts and FIT4448 - 18 cpts.

The 24 credit point exit point is applicable to:

• Honours degree of Bachelor of Business Information Systems,
• Honours degree of Bachelor of Computer Science,
• Honours degree of Bachelor of Computing and Information Sciences,
• Honours degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Systems.

The 18 credit point exit point is applicable to:

• Honours stream in the Bachelor of Software Engineering.

FIT4442 Honours Thesis Part 2 is a unit with an enrolled value of 6 cpts and 0 cpt achievable, taken over a single semester but forms the second part of a sequence of units that together allow a student to complete an Honours Thesis of 18 or 24 cpts. 

These units include:

• FIT4441 Honours Thesis Part 1
• FIT4442 Honours Thesis Part 2
• FIT4443 Honours Thesis Part 3
• FIT4444 Honours Thesis Final - 24 cpts or FIT4448Honours Thesis Final -18 cpts

At the completion of the requirements for the thesis the following components of assessment will be completed: 

• Research Proposal:(approximately 3000 words) 5%;
• Literature Review:(approximately 6000 words) 10%;
• Interim Presentation: hurdle;
• Final Presentation: 5%;
• Thesis (normally 10,000 - 20,000 words): 80%

These assessment tasks will be completed over the course of several units in the Honours program but the overall grade for the thesis will only be finalised on completion of either FIT4444 - 24 cpts or FIT4448 - 18 cpts.

Please refer the Unit Guides for FIT4441, FIT4444 and FIT4448 for a description of the assessment items to be completed over the course of the Honours Thesis.

Learning resources

Feedback to you

• Other: Supervisor meetings and seminar presentations.

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

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.

Other Information

Policies

Graduate Attributes Policy

Student services

Monash University Library

Disability Liaison Unit

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