FIT5551 Minor thesis part 1 - Semester 2, 2015 (Information Technology)

This unit is a research/thesis unit for FIT Masters (Honours) degrees, taken in the final stage of the Masters (Honours) course.

Before enrolling in the unit, students need to have reached agreement with a potential supervisor about a research area/feasible research topic for their Minor Thesis project.

Mode of Delivery

Caulfield (Day)

Workload Requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week. Students will be expected to hold regular meetings with supervisor(s) over the course of the semester.

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

FIT5014, FIT5016, FIT5017, FIT5018

Co-requisites

FIT4005 or FIT5185

Prerequisites

Students must be enrolled in a Faculty of IT Masters (Honours) degree.

Chief Examiner

Dr David Albrecht

Campus Lecturer

Caulfield

Dr Pari Delir Haghighi

Your feedback to Us

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For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:

www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the Masters thesis units, students should be able to:

design a rigorous Masters level research project and develop project proposal;
critically review research literature, research design and reported findings;
evaluate and select research methods and techniques of data collection and analysis appropriate to particular research designs, projects and disciplines;
conduct ethical research;
communicate research findings in written and oral form in research and industry settings.

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.	Thesis Topic selection
1
2
3
4
5
6		Research Proposal 5% of the 24 cpt thesis. Due 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday)
7
8
9
10
11
12		Literature Review worth 10% due Week 14 **, 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday). Interim Presentation (hurdle) due Week 14 in the first semester of candidature at a time to be scheduled
	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.

Teaching Approach

Research activities

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.

Assessment Summary

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

Research Proposal: 5%; Literature Review: 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 Minor Thesis program but the overall grade for the thesis will only be finalised on completion of FIT5554 (24pts).

Assessment Task	Value	Due Date
Research Proposal	5% of the 24 cpt thesis	Week 6, 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday)
Literature Review	10% of the 24 cpt thesis	Week 14 , 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday) ( Students who are enrolled in a full time load but in only one 6 cpt thesis unit in the first semester of their Honours program may apply for an extension of up to 3 weeks to the submission date of this assessment task.)
Interim Presentation	This is a non assessable hurdle requirement	Week 14 in the first semester of candidature at a time to be scheduled.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

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

Academic Integrity - Please see resources and tutorials at http://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/academic-integrity/

Assessment Tasks

Hurdle Requirements

Non-assessable Hurdle - Interim Presentation (see Participation)

Participation

This unit forms part of the sequence of units comprising the Minor Thesis in the Faculty of Information Technology.

The exit point for the Minor Thesis is FIT5554 - 24 cpts and is applicable to:

Master of Information Technology (Honours),
Master of Information Technology Professional,
Master of Business Information Systems (Honours).

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 Minor Thesis program but the overall grade for the thesis will only be finalised on completion of FIT5554 - 24 cpts.

Please refer to the Unit Guides for FIT5551, and FIT5554 for a description of the assessment items to be completed over the course of the Minor Thesis.

The following components will be assessed during the course of this unit:

Research Proposal: 5%; Literature Review: 10%; Interim Presentation: hurdle.

Assessment task 1
Title:

Research Proposal

Description:

Learning Outcome 1. Create a research proposal (approximately 3000 words) that clearly identifies the agreed research topic, identifies the problem being studied, and justifies the aims and significance of the project. The proposal should include a discussion of the research context and background, the proposed methodology, the research design and deliverables.
The proposal should also be presented professionally with a standard of written expression appropriate to research publications in the field.

Weighting:

5% of the 24 cpt thesis

Criteria for assessment:
Criteria for assessment are:
1. Content of the proposal
2. Organisation of the proposal
3. Quality of writing
4. Quality of presentation
5. Accuracy of the bibliographical details
Due date:

Week 6, 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday)

Assessment task 2
Title:

Literature Review

Description:

Learning Outcome 2. Create a literature review (approximately 6000 words) based on the agreed topic, which provides a critical review of the key literature in the content area. The argument constructed should be coherent and supported by an adequate number of relevant and correctly formatted references. The review should be structured in an appropriate scientific format, and it should be clearly and concisely expressed. The presentation should be of a professional standard and include a title page, table of contents, page numbering and references.

Weighting:

10% of the 24 cpt thesis

Criteria for assessment:
Criteria for assessment are:
1. Depth of analysis of the chosen articles and their sources
2. Organisation of report
3. Quality of writing (including spelling and grammar)
4. Quality of presentation
5. Appropriate citation of sources
Due date:

Week 14 **, 3pm Friday in the first semester of candidature (or the first available week day previous to this date if the Friday falls on a University holiday) (** Students who are enrolled in a full time load but in only one 6 cpt thesis unit in the first semester of their Honours program may apply for an extension of up to 3 weeks to the submission date of this assessment task.)

Assessment task 3
Title:

Interim Presentation

Description:

Learning Outcomes: 1,2,3,4,5. Provide a 20 minute (usually 15 mins present + 5 mins questions) summary of the current progress of your research project to your peers. The seminar will be scheduled in week 14 of semester.

Weighting:

This is a non assessable hurdle requirement

Criteria for assessment:
Criteria for assessment are:
1. Selection and organisation of content
2. Voice and language
3. Timing
4. Non-verbal communication (e.g., body language, eye contact)
5. Quality of visual aids
Participation in a 20 minute seminar on the current progress of the research project is a hurdle requirement.
Due date:

Week 14 in the first semester of candidature at a time to be scheduled.

Learning resources

Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Feedback to you

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

Other: Supervisor meetings and seminar presentations.

Extensions and penalties

Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced.

You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html

Returning assignments

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

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an electronic submission). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.

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

Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html

Faculty resources and policies

Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/

Website: http://www.monash.edu/equity-diversity/disability/index.html
Telephone: 03 9905 5704 to book an appointment with a DLO; or contact the Student Advisor, Student Commuity Services at 03 55146018 at Malaysia
Email: dlu@monash.edu
Drop In: Equity and Diversity Centre, Level 1, Building 55, Clayton Campus, or Student Community Services Department, Level 2, Building 2, Monash University, Malaysia Campus

FIT5551 Minor thesis part 1 - Semester 2, 2015