Assessment Document
Please Read Carefully
This Unit does not have a Final Exam but is based osdn your semester work and a final presentation at a subject symposium to be arranged at the end of the semester. The assessments will be based on a research question that you will develop throughout the semester. There will be several checkpoints throughout the semester, and each one of these will form a deliverable related to the research question and contribute towards your final grade. Because of the nature of the subject, there are several deliverables (assignments) outlined in Table 1 below. While this may seem a lot, please remember there is no exam, and the assessments are designed to keep you working consistently throughout the semester. Again, this is necessary given the nature of the Unit of Study.
*** As this is an introduction to a research subject there will be zero tolerance for plagiarism
The overall marks are to be allocated as follows (as per the Unit Descriptor)
| Assessment Component | Weighting | Hurdle |
| Research Proposal | 20% | |
| Research Report | 60% | Yes |
| Presentation | 20% | Yes |
The breakdown of the above components into deliverables and weeks are given in Table 1:
Table 1 Unit of Study Deliverables
| Component | Weight | Deliverable | Deliverable Weight | Week |
| Research Proposal | ||||
| Topic selection &Initial literature Review | 5 | Initial literature review /Research question | 10 | 3 |
| Research Question | 5 | |||
| Full Proposal | 10 | Full proposal | 10 | 5 |
| Research Paper | ||||
| Introduction and Literature Review | 10 | Introduction | 10 | 9 |
| Concept Map | 5 | |||
| 20 | Full Literature Review | 15 | ||
Methodology |
15 |
Methodology |
10 |
11 |
| Lab/Survey Setup | 5 | |||
| Full Submission | 15 | Full submission | 10 5 | 12 |
| Presentation | 20 | 20 | 13 |
Students will need to consider a research problem in Information Technology or Information Systems. The problem could arise from many different fields, for example, medical, business, science, engineering, hospitality, banking etc. … The selection of the research problem will need to take place early, in session 1 or 2 as the first deliverable is in session 3. This is necessary given the nature of the subject. All the remaining work throughout the semester will stem from the basic research problem. The idea is that this Unit of Study will mimic the research process and provide you with the understanding and tools to undertake future research. In the first session, we will extensively discuss finding research problems and from there formulating research questions. This then gives us the foundation for proceeding with the remainder of the unit.
Below is a brief explanation of each of the deliverables including submission guidelines and deadlines, though the deadlines have already been given in Table 1 above.
Topic Selection/Initial Literature Review/Research Question (10 Marks - Due session 3)
The research question lies at the heart of your research project. After considering a research problem (whatever the field of study) from there you will develop the research question. We will discuss formulating research questions in sessions one and two, but within the research problem, the research question focuses specifically on one aspect of the problem that you will undertake as part of the research programme.
Even if you have a good idea of your topic, you still need to read the existing literature to build background knowledge and narrow down your ideas. In sessions 1 and 2 we will discuss how to find research papers and identify the gaps in your selected area. You need to narrow down a broad topic to specific questions. There are many ways to present the research question, and these will be discussed during the sessions.
Submit your assignment in one document file by the due date and time to the assignment drop- box.
The full proposal is a document that contains your entire proposal for the research to be undertaken. These documents are normally required by academic departments before students are admitted to undertaking research degrees such as a master’s research degree or a PhD. This document will contain your research question from the previous submission but integrated into a coherent document along with other components that will be discussed in class. A selection of references that you will use in developing your research paper will also be included at this stage.
The format of the full proposal can be found in the example document (Proposal.doc). Use this document as a starting point to develop your full proposal and submit it by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
The Introduction of the research report contains a full introduction to the research you have undertaken. The Introduction normally contains a statement of the problem (including the initial research question, the Significance of the problem, some historical background. The purpose, or goal to be gained from a better understanding of the research question, statement of hypothesis, any assumptions, and limitations as well as any possible ethical considerations. Perhaps also a brief overview of the methodology.
The format of the Introduction can be found in the example document (Report Introduction.doc). Use this document as a starting point to develop your Introduction (add and delete sections as appropriate).
Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
The literature review gives the reader (and the examiner) the necessary background to understand the study by citing the investigations and findings of previous researchers and documents the researcher's knowledge and preparation to investigate the problem.
Studying the existing literature is one of the essential preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study. This enables you to acquaint yourself with the available body of knowledge in your specific area of research. “The literature review is an integral part of the research process and makes a valuable contribution to almost every operational step” (Kumar, R. Research Methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, 3rd ed, Sage 2011).
The literature review will be discussed in class and examples are given, the literature review would normally constitute Chapter 2 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter
2)
The submission for the Literature Review has been divided into several sections so the Unit lecturer can gauge the student’s progression on this important topic early.
Session 8 In-class Discussion – Concept Map
This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. The concept map is a graphical representation of your intended structure of the literature review. From the concept map, we should be able to discern the structure of the literature review and how you intend to proceed, including any thematic partitioning of the references.
Session 9 In-class Discussion – First Page
This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. This will be the first page of the Literature Review including any references cited on the first page.
Session 10 Submission – Full Literature Review
Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
In this section, you clearly outline what methodology you used in your research i.e. what you intend to do and how you intend to do it. It must be written clearly so that it would be easy for another researcher to duplicate your research if they wished. Most researchers will use one or more of many well documented and acceptable methods understood by the research community. We will discuss several research methodologies in different sessions, but there will be many others you can choose from. You will choose a type of research design (e.g. experimental, correlational, descriptive etc.) and the methods to conduct the research (experiment or survey etc.)
The structure of a methodology chapter will be discussed in class and examples given. The Methodology would normally constitute Chapter 3 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter 3).
Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
In this submission, you incorporate the previous three submissions into a final document and submit by the due date and time. This submission will incorporate the Introduction, The Literature Review, and the Methodology chapters into one document. This will give you a chance to take on board any comments given by your instructor in the previous submissions, make corrections and possibly recover some marks which may have been deducted in the previous submission.
Your submission also contains the full abstract. This is an extension of the initial abstract submitted with the proposal document and summarizes the report including the hypotheses, procedures, and major findings (you will not be conducting the research, so you won’t have any findings). The Full abstract should be no more than one page.
Submit this document by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
For this component, you will be required to give a 10 – 15 minute presentation on your research report and answer any questions from the audience. The presentations will be conducted in a symposium type setting after the end of the semester, typically in week 15. There is no submission for this component of assessment, you will be graded on your presentation and ability to answer any questions put to you. The structure of the presentation will be discussed during the semester and a suggested format for the presentation will be made available in a sample set of PowerPoint slides, see (presentation.ppt).
As this component is based on your presentation, you will need to present your work to get any grade for this component
All submissions are to be submitted through turn-it-in. Drop-boxes linked to turn-it-in will be set up in the Unit of Study Moodle site. Assignments not submitted through these drop-boxes will not be considered.
Submissions must be made by the due date and time (which will be in the session detailed above) and determined by your Unit coordinator. Submissions made after the due date and time will be penalized at the rate of 10% per day (including weekend days).
As previously stated, this is a research subject and required a significant effort from you. There will be a zero tolerance for plagiarism and the turn-it-in similarity score will be used in determining the level if any of plagiarism. Turn-it-in will check conference websites, Journal articles, the Web and your class members submissions for plagiarism. You can see your turn-it-in similarity score when you submit your assignment to the appropriate drop-box. If this is a concern you will have a chance to change your assignment and re-submit. However, re-submission is only allowed before the submission due date and time. After the due date and time have elapsed you cannot make re-submissions and you will have to live with the similarity score as there will be no chance for changing. Thus, plan early and submit early to take advantage of this feature. You can make multiple submissions, but please remember we only see the last submission, and the date and time you submitted will be taken from that submission.
MITS6011 Assessments
Assessment Rubric:
| Marking Criteria | Excellent | Very Good | Good | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory |
| Initial Literature Review | Identifies a range of exceptional quality sources. demonstrates excellent understanding of their significance to the research topic | Identifies high quality sources; demonstrates a high degree of understanding of their significance to the research topic | Identifies quality sources; demonstrates a good understanding of their significance to the research topic | Identifies the correct number of sources but of varying quality and range; demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of their significance to the research project | Identifies too few sources, or sources of insufficient quality, reflecting a lack of understanding of what will be required to support the thesis statement; and/or descriptions do not adequately explain significance |
| Researchproblem andquestion | Exceptionally appropriate, clear and concise framingof the research problem and questions; if answered well in the final essay,the questions are likely to fully supportthe thesis statement | Highly appropriate, clear and concise framing of the research problem and questions; if answered well in the final essay, the questions are likely to strongly support the thesis statement | Generally appropriate, clear and concise framing of the research problem and questions; if answered well in the final essay, the questions are likely to support the thesis statement | Rudimentary formulation of research problem; attempt at formulation of question/s; may lack clarity and/or concision; even if answered well in the final essay, the research question/s will provide only bare support for the thesisstatement | Inadequate, with lack of clarity and concision. Even if answered well in the final essay, research question/s will not support the thesis statement |
| Research Proposal | Exceptionally logical, comprehensive, and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance and organisation | Highly logical, comprehensive and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance structure and organisation | Generally logical, comprehensive and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance and organisation | Describes the research’s structure, significance and organisation but may be unclear and/or incomplete in places | Inadequate description ofthe research’s structure, significance and organisation, with lack of logic, completeness and/or coherence. |
| Timeline | Exceptionally thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates all necessary tasks for research completion | Highly thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates almost all necessary tasks for research completion | Thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates most necessary tasks for research completion | Rudimentary timeline; incorporates some necessary tasks for research completion but with less detail and/or unrealistic timeframes | Inadequately developed timeline that does not reflect the necessary tasks or timelines for theircompletion |
| Literature Review | Exceptional identification of a wide rangeof appropriate and authoritative sources. Exceptional analysis demonstrating an excellent grasp of logic, critical thinking and engagement with sources | Very good identification of a range of appropriate and authoritative sources. Highly effective analysis demonstrating a strong grasp of logical, critical thinking and engagement with sources | Good identification of mainly appropriate and authoritative sources. Analysis demonstrated sound logic and some degree of critical thinking and engagement with sources | Identifies some generally appropriate and authoritative sources. Rudimentary analysiswith some deficiencies of logic; passable demonstration of critical thinking; some engagement with sources | Poor identification of sources. Inadequate and/or illogical analysis withlittle or no demonstration of critical thinking and/or engagement withsources |
| Methodology | Excellent methodology foraddressing the identified researchproblem and supporting the research statement | Very good methodology for addressing the identified research problem and supporting theresearch statement | Sound methodology for addressing the identified research problem and supporting the research statement | Methodology goes some way towards addressing the identified research problem and supporting theresearch statement | Selected methodology does not satisfactorily address the identified research problemand/or support theresearch statement |
| Conclusion | Fully persuades the reader of the research statement | Strongly persuades the reader of the research statement | Persuades thereader that there is some meritto the research | Supports theresearch statement, though mayleave the readerless | insufficiently supports the research statement |
| statement | than persuaded | ||||
| Structure | Exceptionally effective, clear and conciseresearch work and structure which enabled the reader to easily understand the work | Highly effective, clear and concise research work and structure which enabled the reader to understand the work | Generally effective, clear and conciseresearch work and structure which enabled the reader to mostly understand the work | Satisfactory work and structure thoughwith deficiencies that sometimes obscured the work’s meaning. | Inadequate explanation of the matter,with lack of clarity and concision. |
| Referencing | Excellent compliance withthe Australian Guideto Legal Citation throughout footnotes and bibliography using IEEE referencing style | Very good compliance with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation throughout footnotes and bibliography using IEEEreferencing style | Good compliance with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation throughout footnotes and bibliography using IEEE referencing style | Satisfactory compliance with the Australian Guideto Legal Citation throughout footnotes and bibliography using IEEEreferencing style | Insufficient compliance with the Australian Guideto Legal Citation throughout footnotes and bibliography using IEEEreferencing style |
Get original papers written according to your instructions and save time for what matters most.
