Welcome
The research project is carried out under the supervision of a member of academic staff with an appropriate
research track record over two academic semesters. The student is responsible for selecting an appropriate topic,
and obtaining the agreement of a staff member to act as supervisor. A list of suggested project topics with
supervisors will be provided although the student is strongly advised to take a proactive approach and approach a
member of staff with a proposal. The student is expected to meet regularly (generally once a week) with the staff
supervisor. The supervisor provides mentoring on both method and body of knowledge as contextually appropriate
to the individual project.
Course Teaching Staff
* Please refer to your Course homepage for the most up to date list of course teaching staff.
Contact Details
Course Overview
Prerequisite(s)
COMP 4030 ITMS Honours Minor Thesis 1
Corequisite(s)
There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.
Course Objectives
On completion of this course, students should be able to:
CO1. Identify specific research questions and plan a research project to answer the research questions
CO2. Critique existing research and place it in the context of current work
CO3. Determine research methodologies to be used, including data collection methods and analysis techniques
CO4. Apply project management skills and autonomously manage research thesis
CO5. Demonstrate high quality professional communication skills through the preparation of a research thesis and a presentation justifying the methodology and research results
Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:
CO1 | | • | • | | • | | |
CO2 | • | • | | | | • | • |
CO3 | | • | | | | | |
CO4 | | | | • | | | |
CO5 | | | | | | • | |
Graduate Qualities
A graduate of UniSA:
GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice
GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice
GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems
GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional
GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen
GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community
GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen
Course Content
Production of Minor Thesis on a research topic. Presentation of research project to peers.
Teaching and Learning Arrangements
Lecture | 2 hours x 1 week |
Directed Study | 13 weeks |
Unit Value
9 units
Additional assessment requirements
Final assessment in Honours Computing Minor Thesis 1 and 2 is given on completion of the thesis based on the assessment of the research report as a minor thesis. The minor thesis is examined by two assessors, one of which is external to the University and the other not being the supervisor or associate supervisor, in accordance with University policy A-42 Honours Programs. The overall thesis is thereby assigned a mark under the moderation of the Course Coordinator.
Learning Resources
Textbook(s)
There are no textbooks listed for this course.
Materials to be accessed online
learnonline course site
All other course related materials can be accessed through your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.
myUniSA
All study related materials can be accessed through:
https://my.unisa.edu.au
Assessment
Assessment Details
Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.
If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the
learnonline student help and in myUniSA.
Assessment Summary
1 | Presentation of a research seminar | N/A | 20 minutes | 5% | TBA | To be announced | CO2, CO3, CO5 |
2 | Research proposal | N/A | 5 minutes | 10% | tba | To be announced. | CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4 |
3 | Research report as a minor thesis | 80 - 120 page thesis | N/A | 85% | tba | Wiki page | CO2, CO4, CO5 |
Feedback proformas
The feedback proforma is available on your course site.
Assessments
Presentation of a research seminar
Seminar Presentation in the Second Semester of The Thesis.
Research proposal
Research Proposal Submitted to Academic Supervisor For Marking.
Research Proposal Should Contain At Least
-Abstract
-Introduction
-Literature Review
-Methodology
-Project Plan (Including Timeline)
Research report as a minor thesis
The minor thesis (or "dissertation") is a defining aspect of your participation in the course, and should be one of the major milestones in your academic (and
professional) life. The objective of the thesis is two-fold: (a) it gives you the opportunity to develop a depth of understanding on a topic agreed to between
yourself and your thesis supervisor; and (b) it is the vehicle for substantial research training (i.e., you learn to be a researcher through the exercise of supervised
research and writing for the thesis).
A minor thesis constitutes half of the student's work for one academic year on a full time basis. The basic requirements of a minor thesis are as follows:
To show how a phenomenon or problem can be understood or explained, a problem solved, research questions answered, or an idea developed.
A sound argument with relevant supporting evidences should be presented to support assertions made. Essentially a thesis is a reasoned argument supporting statements made by the student on some significant issues or problem; and
Comprehensive coverage of relevant literature, a convincing account, with good structure, and evidence of independent enquiry or thought, reasonable judgment, and logic presentation.
The originality is significantly less expected from a minor thesis than for a (research) Master’s or PhD thesis. At this university a Research Master’s thesis is expected to make ‘a contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge’, and PhD thesis is expected to make ‘a significant original contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge’. Neither is expected of a minor thesis. A certain degree of novelty is only expected for the First Class students. However, students are advised to learn to argue their contributions even though they are trivial.
The length of a minor thesis is around 15,000 words excluding references and appendices.
Exam arrangements
Supplementary Assessment
Supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for this course.
Important information about all assessment
All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.
Students with disabilities or medical conditions
Student with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements. See Section 7 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual (APPM) at: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp
Students can register for an Access Plan with UniSA Disability Service. It is important to make contact early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. See the Disability Hub for more information:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students
Students are advised there is a deadline to finalise Access Plan arrangements for examinations. Further information is available at:
http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/
Deferred Assessment or Examination
Deferred assessment or examination is not available for this course.
Special Consideration
Special consideration is not available for this course.
Variations to assessment tasks
Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines may be provided in:
Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation may be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 - 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.
Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).
Extra time in exams (ENTEXT) and the use of a dictionary may be available to some students (for example, Indigenous Australian students and those of non-English speaking background) as follows:
- extra time for reading or writing. This will be an extra ten minutes per hour for every hour of standard examination time, and
- the use of an English language or bilingual print dictionary (without annotations). (APPM 7.2.2)
More information about variation to assessment is available in section 7.2 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (section 7)
Marking process
MARKING PROCESS
The thesis marking process will be as follows:
1. The student’s supervisor is to nominate two examiners of the thesis, one being external to UniSA. It is expected
that these examiners be appropriate to mark the thesis and any concerns regarding this may be raised by the
course coordinator.
2. The thesis is sent to both examiners and within 3 weeks, a result with feedback will be sent to the course
coordinator.
3. The feedback of the examination will then be sent to the student’s supervisor for comment.
4. The course coordinator will take these comments into consideration and then award a grade based upon the
two examination marks. If however the grade from the examiners varies beyond 1 grade, consultation with School
Research and Education Executive Committee will be sought.
5. The grade will be finalised only when the thesis has been modified according to the assessors' feedback and
has been uploaded at Wiki Page.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.
An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.
The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin
http://www.turnitin.com.
More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM):
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp. The Academic Integrity Module explains in more detail how students can work with integrity at the University:
https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142
Submission and return of assessment tasks
See above under Assessment details.
Action from previous evaluations
Every time a course is delivered UniSA Policy A-35A requires it must have some form of evaluation. Courses delivered by the School of Computer and Information Science conduct this evaluation via a Course Evaluation Instrument (CEI) and a Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET).
The CEI/SET can be administered online and results are available to the individual course coordinator, relevant program directors, applicable heads of school, applicable Deans: Teaching and Learning, applicable Division PVCs and the PVC: Access and Learning Support. An online CEI/SET is automatically activated every time a course is delivered and remains available to students 2 weeks prior to and 2 weeks after the course close date listed in the Medici database. In some courses, these CEI/SET may be administered manually which involves a non-academic staff member distributing and collecting the paper based survey forms in class towards the end of the study period.
Further Assessment Information
Please note that no late submissions of the minor thesis or presentation is permitted without medical certificate or support from the learning teaching unit.
Course Calendar
| 10 - 16 July | Pre-teaching | |
| 17 - 23 July | Pre-teaching | |
1 | 24 - 30 July | | |
2 | 31 July - 6 August | | |
3 | 07 - 13 August | | |
4 | 14 - 20 August | | |
5 | 21 - 27 August | | |
6 | 28 August - 3 September | | |
7 | 04 - 10 September | | |
8 | 11 - 17 September | | |
9 | 18 - 24 September | | |
10 | 25 September - 1 October | | |
11 | 02 - 8 October | | |
12 | 09 - 15 October | | |
13 | 16 - 22 October | | |
14 | 23 - 29 October | | |
15 | 30 October - 5 November | | |
16 | 06 - 12 November | | |
17 | 13 - 19 November | | |
18 | 20 - 26 November | | |