FIT2001 is a core unit first introduced as part of the common core for second year undergraduates in the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) for 2006.

The unit was changed significantly after the 2009-2010 Common Core Review and renamed from "Analysis and Design" to "Systems Development" as a result of that review.

January 2017 : Exam duration is changed to 2 hours to align with recent exam duration requirements to be a maximum of 2 hours. Prescribed textbook is updated to the latest edition, i.e. 7th Edition, 2016.

Sept 2015: Minor redevelopment required for Monash Course Architecture Initiative 2014

November 2014: Unit objectives and synopsis changed to remove detail to provide flexibility in adapting to current industry practice. Exam/Practical assessment ratio changed from 60/40 to 50/50 to suit the more practical nature of the unit. An additional timetabled meeting hour added to ensure that students are able to meet for all assessed group work.

Rationale for the request for the additional timetabled hour for FIT2001:

As part of the team that taught the IE project unit for many years, it was apparent that students were not adequately prepared to work in teams in a sustained way. In most instances their only experience of working in a team was for a particular assignment in certain units, where they may or may not have participated, and may or may not have suffered the consequences for this lack of participation.

We were keen to address this issue, so when I took over as CE of FIT2001, a pre-requisite for the IE unit, I instituted group work for all tutorial work and the 2 unit assignments. I believed that this would help prepare students for IE and enhance their employability, as it is how systems development is most commonly practised in industry.

In the first offering, we had 2 assignments and students were assigned to the same group for both assignments so that they had the opportunity to reflect on their performance in the team and improve. While this worked reasonably, many groups did not meet often enough, many used the 'divide and conquer' approach to get the assignment done, and most did it in the few days before the assignment was due.

In the second offering, to help address these issues, the 2 assignments were divided into 6 assignments, spread across the semester due either weekly or fortnightly. The smaller assignments helped with time management, and helped address the 'divide and conquer' issue. Students were forced to meet to collaborate on a regular basis, and the multiple components gave them many opportunities to improve based on feedback from their peers and tutors. Unfortunately, many groups had difficulty finding a time that they could meet, due to timetable and work restrictions, and it was a significant issue for the students.

The inclusion of a timetabled meeting time straight after the tutorial will address this issue. As it will be a timetabled hour, students will not have any timetable restrictions, and because it is on the timetable they are more likely to organise their outside work around it. A room resource is not required as students can meet wherever they like on campus. However, if room resources are available, then ideally we would like the additional hour to be in the studio eg. book the studio for 3 hours.

I understand that concerns have been raised that if many units wanted this type of arrangement it would cause timetable problems. To the best of my knowledge FIT2001 is one of a few subjects to have multiple assessment components all done in groups, which require students to meet their group members regularly throughout the semester. This differentiates it from most other Faculty units which may have one component of group work so do not require this type of arrangement. If the Faculty does receive multiple requests of this nature then we can deal with the issue by taking a course perspective, allowing this arrangement for key units.

September 2013: Remove transition co-requisite arrangements as these are no longer required.

Changes have been made to the unit as result of the 2009-2010 Common Core Review and are effective as of semester 1 2011.

19/9/2019: Admin - updating exam duration to include additional 10 minutes as per University requirement.

10/10/2019: Contact hours is changed because the contents of this unit will be redeveloped to take advantages of the innovation spaces and tools available in the Woodside Building. Such a change takes place from Semester 1 2020

4/5/2020: As the MSA course 4307 Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences is in teach-out, the MSA offering of this unit has been re-coded to FZA2001 effective Semester 1, 2021. These units will be managed by South Africa and therefore no separate Monatar entries will be made

17/09/2020 Admin: Update to include new assessment and teaching approach fields as per Handbook requirements.

16/02/2021: Admin - Adding 'Reasons for change' - CE modified Assessment/Summary to ensure flexibility in terms of marks breakdown of in-semester assessment, the broader 50% in-semester model has been followed, so we can modify the detailed assessment breakdown as required each semester based on review and feedback.

This unit is part of the common core for second year FIT undergraduate students and will be an "alternate" core for students in the Bachelor of Information Technology (with FIT2099) from 2016. It is core in the Business Information Systems and Software development majors on the BInfotech.Its key objectives are to prepare students so that they will:

FIT2001 offers theoretical knowledge and practical application of systems analysis and systems design within the framework of a contemporary development method. This will enable students to be competitive and informed in their further study or future employment.

At the completion of this unit students should be able to:

• describe and analyse a range of system development methodologies and be able to assess when to use a particular approach;
• describe key activities required for systems development;
• apply problem solving techniques at different levels of abstraction;
• select suitable techniques and methods to conduct analysis, design and implementation activities;
• apply analysis and design techniques to a practical system development problem within a contemporary development methodology framework;
• demonstrate an understanding of the professional skills required for effective systems development practice.

020305

The unit introduces students to systems analysis and design as a problem solving activity, within the framework of a selected methodology. It will focus on contemporary industry practice; investigating understanding and documenting system requirements; a range of design and implementation activities; and professional skills required for systems development.

Recommended resources

Technological requirements

Students will also require access to standard personal productivity tools (word processing, graphics and presentation). These are available in the tutorial rooms.

On-campus and Off-Campus Learning (OCL)

* Seminars and Tutorials - This teaching and learning approach provides facilitated learning, practical exploration and peer learning. Tutorials involve hands-on learning where students interact with each other in a collaborative environment.

Examination (2 hours and 10 minutes): 50%; In-semester assessment: 50%

In Semester assessment (50%) consists of:

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

(b.) Study schedule for off-campus students:

(c.) Additional requirements (all students):

FIT

The subject will be supported (both on and off campus modes) by a web site that will allow students to access teaching and assignment materials. These resources will include video and audio resources.

24 points of FIT units