With the new government tertiary education schemes it is desireable to allow enrolment in multi-semester units on a per semester basis. Research training degrees such as honours degrees and Master of Computer Science (minor thesis) incorporate a research thesis project that extends over multiple semesters. This group of units (CSE5351, CSE5352, CSE5353) allow the thesis project to be spread over multiple semesters but allow students to 'pay as they go', and especially for international students it allows them to maintain a government stipulated enrolment load.

The CSE535{1,2,3} group of units comprise an initial unit, CSE5351 (12 credit points), a final unit, CSE5353 (12 credit points), and optionally an intermediate unit, CSE5352 (12 credit points). This enables one to construct a 24 point thesis project by taking CSE5351 and CSE5353 in either the same semester or over two semesters. One can also construct a 36 point thesis project by taking CSE5351, CSE5352 and CSE5353 over two or three semesters.

To meet the requirement that students have adequate formal research training we incorporate the research methods training into the thesis project in much the same way as is currently done for Bachelor of Computer Science (honours) students. This is achieved by having the students attend research methods lectures and submit assessment such as literature reviews, research proposals etc. as part of CSE535{1,2,3}. Thus a separate research methods unit is not required as a prerequisite for CSE535{1,2,3}.

We argue through extensive experience with Bachelor of Computer Science (honours) students that tightly coupling the research methods teaching to the actual research project in this way is beneficial for technical disciplines such as computer science.

As outlined above, this breaking of the research project into 12 credit point components has various advantages for students and for administration of degrees.

The CSE535{1,2,3} group of units is intended to form the minor thesis component of the Master of Computer Science (minor thesis) degree and other technical degrees that require a research thesis project.

This group of units is an alternative to other faculty minor thesis or research project units.

This group of units is required for the Master of Computer Science (minor thesis), the recently introduced postgrduate computer science programme designed to increase Clayton based postgraduate coursework degree enrolments.

This unit forms the middle component of a multi-semester research project and minor thesis. The unit follows on from CSE5351 that introduced the student to independent individual research. After completing the research project (i.e. after completion of CSE5353) the student will have acquired a significant level of expertise in the chosen field of research, including knowledge of current state-of-the-art, open problems and research methods used in the respective field. He will have successfully addressed an open research question in the chosen field and reported these results.

In most projects the student will learn the skilled use of particular software packages that are relevant to his chosen research direction and will acquire a significantly higher level of competence in programming.

After completing the research project / minor thesis (ie. after completing CSE5353) the student will have developed a positive atttitude and appreciation of the value of research and the research methodology in dealing with challenging open problems.

On completion of the research project / minor thesis (i.e. after completing CSE5353) the student will have acquired general core research skills, inlcuing how to:

find and analyse current research literature;

critically evaluate research findings, including critical argument analysis and statistical analysis of experimental results;

identify open problems in current research;

identify promising new reearch directions based on previous results;

define feasible projects based on such problems;

set realistic timelines and intermediate deliverables for a medium-scale project;

conduct such a project, including time and resource management, intermediate evaluations of results and re-assessment of original aims;

Upon completion of the research project / minor thesis (i.e. after successfully completing CSE5353) the student will have the ability to communicate research results in a variety of forms, including informal oral presentations, written reports, seminar presentations, poster presentations and web sitres.

The student would also have learned to communicate and collaborate effectively in a small research team.

This group of units introduces the student to independent research. Most projects are software-oriented, although some projects may be purely theoretical and others may involve hardware work.

A research project covers the whole process from initial problem analysis in a current research topic of computer science, literature study and evaluation of existing research and proposal of a reseach plan, to carrying out the proposed research and presenting it in written and oral form. Where appropriate it includes the development of software and or hardware, from analysis through design to implementation, testing and documentation.

The research project is complemented by formal research training which is designed to improve the oral and written presentation skills and to teach the skills required for a critical analysis of current research. This component comprises lectures and seminars on presentation structuring, writing and editing, literature study, research methods, argument analysis, analysis of experiments, and design and delivery of presentations.

Appropriate reading will be dependent on the project taken. The supervisor will advise the student about appropriate material.

The research project is conducted by the student in close cooperation with one or more staff members (supervisors). The supervisor will initially lead the project, help to formulate the initial research question and guide the student thoughout the project. The supervisor will arrange meetings with the student (typically weekly) in which intermediate results are reported and analysed and further directions for the project are decided on. The student is expected to read the relevant literature and carefully analyse the problem posed, to formulate a solution or proposals for a solutiion, and where appropriate, to implement and prove, evaluate or test the validity of their results and proposals.

The formal research skills training comprises weekly lectures as well as supervised literature study. Individual consultation is offered additionally for the improvement of presentation skills. Students also attend and evaluate regular School research seminars.

The research project / minor thesis is assessed as specified here. Note however that while various components of the assessment are determined at various times throughout the project, the bulk of the assessment occurs on project completion, i.e. the successful completion of CSE5353. Given the research project is a single entity, results for CSE5351 and CSE5352 are formally withheld until CSE5353 is completed. At which stage the final result is returned for all component units. This facilitates grading of degrees such as Master of Computer Science (minor thesis) where the degree grade can then simply be an average of its component units.

Project Evaluation by supervisors and additional examiners based on deliverables, final thesis and final presentation (85%)

Written research skills assignment (5%)

Presentations (10%)

The presentatiion component comprises an initial research proposal (20%), a mid-project interim presentation (hurdle), a literature review (30%), a project presentation as a web site and/or poster (20%), and a final seminar presentation (30%).

12

The group of CSE535{1,2,3} units make up a project incorporating about 100 hours of formal research training. As well each CSE535{1,2,3} unit will involve about 250 hours of research work and attendance at meetings with supervisors, preparation of reports and presentations, supervised and unsupervised literature work, and preparation of hardware and software deliverables.

2 hours of lecture / seminar per week for the research methods training component. This will be shared where possible with Computer Science honours research methods training.

N/A.

Up to 200 hours per CSE535{1,2,3} unit as determined with the supervisor. This typically takes place in School laboratory facilities.

One supervisor per student plus a lecturer for formal research methods training.

• Software Title:
• Vendor:
• Version:
• OS: MS Windows XP ( ) and/or LINUX ( )
• License Details: (A valid software license certificate/s or Vendor permission must be available upon request if the software is to be installed for teaching)
• Are we currently licensed: Yes ( ) or No ( ) (If unsure, please check with your local IT support )
• If (Yes), who is the contact person for this software?:
• If (No), will the software license be arranged by: Staff member requesting the software ( ) or Technical Services* ( ) ? *If the latter is selected, please discuss your requirement/s with myself ASAP, prior to finalising your request, as there could be financial or resourcing implications.
• Is the software to be installed and accessed from a: Client/Workstation ( ), or Server ( ) ?
• Type of license: Site License ( ), Freeware ( ), FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) ( ), Shareware ( ), Lab based ( ) # of Licenses needed ____
• In what week will you commence using the software in class? Semester 1 (Week ___ ) and/or Semester 2 (Week ___ ):
• Nominated Staff For Acceptance Testing Software: (Name) (Phone) (Email)
• Additional Information: Special Requirements, Software Configuration/Installation Requirements, etc:

To be determined on an individual basis depending on research project.

As for Computer Science honours students. No specific library resources specified.

School of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

100% Faculty of Information Technology.

100% School of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

None