School of Information Systems & Technology
Faculty of Informatics
BUSS945 – Information Systems Project
Subject Outline
Autumn Session 2007
Head of School –Associate Professor Peter Hyland, Student Resource Centre, Tel: (02) 4221 3606
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Subject Coordinator |
Dr Ghassan Beydoun |
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Telephone Number: |
42214037 |
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Email: |
beydoun@uow.edu.au |
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Location: |
40.238 |
Dr Beydoun’s Consultation Times During Session
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Day |
Time |
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Thursday |
9:30-11:30 |
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Friday |
9:30-11:30 |
Subject Organisation
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Session: |
Annual subject, Wollongong Campus |
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Credit Points |
12 credit points |
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Contact hours per week: |
To be specified with the project supervisor |
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Tutorial Day, Time and Location can be found at: |
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All students taking this subject must meet with the subject coordinator in Week 1. This meeting will be to give an overview of the subject and how they should select their project topics. A list of projects and their descriptions will be provided in this meeting. After the meeting students will be asked to discuss those topics in which they are interested with the lecturers offering them during the consultation time of the respective lecturer. They then write down their selection of topics in order of preference and hand it in to the BUSS945 subject coordinator. The subject coordinator will then allocate topics on the basis of student preference and staff recommendations and post this list on the co-ordinator’s door in week 3. Students should consult this list and make direct contact with the lecturer to which they have been allocated (their supervisor) and begin work on the allocated project without delay.
As far as possible students will be allocated to a project in which they have expressed their greatest interest. However, on occasions it is not possible to match the student choices with staff allocations exactly and a compromise has to be reached. This may result in a student not getting their choice. It is possible for students to propose their own project. In this case, their project must be approved by the subject lecturer and the student must be able to find a member of staff (with the assistance of the lecturer) who is willing to supervise that project. This would have to be finalised with the subject coordinator.
Students should regularly consult the notice board on the coordinator’s door (40.238) as important notices regarding BUSS945 will be posted there from time to time. Note also that this is an annual (12 cps) subject and is normally completed over two sessions.
Students should check the subject’s web site regularly as important information, including details of unavoidable changes in assessment requirements will be posted from time to time. Any information posted to the web site is deemed to have been notified to all students.
The aim of this subject is to provide students with the opportunity to study a topic of research interest either within a staff research group in the Information Systems Discipline. The project will be completed under staff supervision and culminates in the production of a substantial written report plus other products such as computer software as appropriate to the project. The subject aims to provide students with the opportunity under staff guidance to investigate/research an area or topic of interest in-depth in the IS Discipline; gain experience in the use of one or more methods, techniques and/or tools of one or more applicable research paradigms; gain experience in organising and using their time and efforts within specified constraints to produce a major piece of work in the form of a final report.
On successful completion of this subject students should be able to: find information pertinent to the project from a variety of sources; analyse information collected in light of the aims of the project; summarise and critically evaluate the information collected and apply this knowledge to their chosen topic; produce a well structured report describing their project
Attendance Requirements
Student must attend the meeting with the subject coordinator in week 1 and regular meetings with their assigned supervisor. There will be no lectures in this subject.
The following criteria must be met throughout the duration of this project:
(a) For a 12 credit points 1 year project,
i. students must meet with their supervisor at least 6 times in a session and at least 12 times throughout the duration of the one year project. The supervisor will need to record the date and duration of the meeting and sign on a Project Progress Report Form which is kept by the student, and this Project Progress Record Form will need to be submitted together with the final report.
ii. students must submit a progress report in Week 8 of the first session, a second progress report in Week 2 of the second session and the first draft of the final report by Week 9 of the second session. On submitting each progress report and the first draft of the final report, the supervisor will need to sign and date on the Project Progress Record Form.
(b) For a 12 credit points 1 session project,
i. students must meet with their supervisor at least 8 times during the session. The supervisor will need to record the date and duration of the meeting and sign on a Project Progress Report Form which is kept by the student, and the Project Progress Record Form will need to be submitted together with the final report.
ii. students must submit a progress report in Week 6 of the session and the first draft of the final report in Week 10 of the session. On submitting the progress report and the first draft of the final report, the supervisor will need to sign and date on the Project Progress Record Form.
Failure to meet the above criteria may result in a FAIL grade, regardless of the final mark of your report, unless the student is given special permission by the supervisor.
A Project Progress Record Form and a Project Assessment Form will be provided to you by the coordinator.
There are no lectures as such for this subject. It is conducted via regular meetings with your supervisor, normally over two sessions. During those meetings you will be given instructions relating to the most appropriate method of undertaking the project. Students are required to consult with their supervisor on a regular basis. It is expected that students meet with their supervisor for at least one hour per week throughout the duration of the project.
In genera,l there are two broad styles of project that are appropriate:
Activity based
Literature based
In both of these styles of project, students should be expected to carry out an initial literature review. This initial review should take approximately 10-12 weeks of consistent effort and result in the production of the first part of the report in the form of an annotated bibliography. This part should contain enough commentary by the student to demonstrate that they have been actively engaged in the review.
Students involved in the Activity based project will then proceed in the second part of the report to describe/report/analyse/etc the activity they were engaged in.
Students involved in the Literature based projects need to extend the initial literature review, focusing on some specific and perhaps narrow aspect of the problem domain critically analysing both the initial literature review and supplementary (specific) readings from this perspective.
It is important to note that this subject involves the writing of a significant report (10,000 - 12,500 words) in English. If you feel that your written English language skills are not sufficient you should seek help from the Learning Resource Centre (Rm 19.G102) which conducts a free academic skills program. More information can be gained about the centre by accessing their web page at
http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/
This should be done in consultation with your supervisor and be organised early (i.e. during the first session).
This subject has the following assessment components.
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Assessment Items & Format |
Percentage of Final Mark |
Due Date |
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project final report + project progress record |
100% |
Friday prior to the commencement of the University's examination period in session 2, 2007 |
Project Submission
The project final report and the Project Progress Record Form along with any other accompanying products must be completed and submitted to your supervisor by the Friday prior to the commencement of the University's examination period in session 2, 2007.
Please note that there is no mechanism provided in this subject for the late submission of the final project report. Normal provisions for submission of late assignments as apply in other subjects (see Discipline web site) do not apply in this subject. If through illness or other serious circumstances beyond your control you are unable to submit your final report on or before the final deadline, you must make a formal written application for Special Consideration. Both your supervisor and the coordinator must be informed at the earliest possible time of any problems which may affect the completion of your project on time.
Length and Format of the Project Report
While it is recognised that different report styles have different requirements for length and format the following guidelines apply. Project reports should be between 10,000-12,000 words in length and must not exceed 15,000 words in length.
Two copies of the report must be submitted. One of these copies is retained by the Department and the other is returned to the student with comments by your supervisor. Projects must be word processed on A4 paper with double line spacing. The report should be "spirex" bound with appropriate protective covers.
The submitted report must include:
1. A cover sheet with the following details
Title of Project
Student Name and Number
Supervisor's Name
The statement:
"This project is submitted as part of the course requirements for the Master of Information Systems. The work contained herein is my own except where due acknowledgment is given"
2. An abstract of about 200 words for the project
3. A table of contents for the report
4. The body of the report organised into chapters
5. Appendices (if any)
6. A bibliography/reference list as per the faculty guidelines for citations
A Project Progress Record Form and a Project Assessment Form will be provided to you by the coordinator.
Students must refer to the Faculty Handbook or online references which contains a range of policies on educational issues and student matters.
Plagiarism
When you submit an assessment task, you are declaring the following
1. It is your own work and you did not collaborate with or copy from others.
2. You have read and understand your responsibilities under the University of Wollongong's policy on plagiarism.
3. You have not plagiarised from published work (including the internet). Where you have used the work from others, you have referenced it in the text and provided a reference list at the end ot the assignment.
4. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
5. Students are responsible for submitting original work for assessment, without plagiarising or cheating, abiding by the University’s policies on Plagiarism as set out in the Calendar under University Policies, and in Faculty handbooks and subject guides. Plagiarism has led to the expulsion from the University.
This outline should be read in conjunction with the following documents:
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Code of Practice - Teaching and Assessment http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/teaching_code.html |
Key Dates |
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Code of Practice - Students http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/cop_students.html |
Information Literacies Introduction Program |
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Acknowledgement Practice Plagiarism will not be tolerated |
Student Academic Grievance Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/cop_supervision.html#8 |
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Special Consideration Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/courserules/specialconsideration.html |
Code of Practice-Honours |
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Non-Discriminatory Language Practice and Presentation |
Intellectual Property Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/research/researchmanagement/1998IP.html |
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Occupational Health and Safety http://staff.uow.edu.au/ohs/commitment/OHS039-ohspolicy.pdf |
SISAT Internet Access & Student Resource Centre http://www.sitacs.uow.edu.au/info/current/internet_access_and_resource.shtml |
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SISAT Computer Usage Rules http://www.itacs.uow.edu.au/info/current/support/labs/rules.shtml |
SISAT Style Guide for Footnotes, Documentation, Essay and Report Writing |
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SISAT Student Guide |
Informatics Faculty Librarian, Ms Annette Meldrum, phone: 4221 4637,ameldrum@uow.edu.au |
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SISAT Subject Outlines |
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