FIT4186 is an 18 point unit introduced for administrative purposes to create flexible enrolment for the Honours Thesis which is a core unit of the Honours degrees in the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) for 2006.

This unit has been updated as part of a 2009 review and comparison of data with current Handbook, Syllabus + and Callista data.

This research unit is a compulsory unit for all FIT Honours degrees. The unit builds on the knowledge gained in FIT4005 Research methods and provides students with the opportunity to acquire advanced knowledge of a selected area in IT and develop research skills needed to undertake a higher degree.

At the completion of this unit students will have:

• demonstrated knowledge and understanding in the area of their chosen research project.
• acquired necessary skills to plan and undertake rigorous independent research.
• acquired comprehensive research skills in the IT field.
• developed the capacity to engage in critical thinking and analysis.
• demonstrated the ability to communicate research activities and findings.

Developed attitudes that enable them to:

• have confidence in their ability to undertake independent and individual research.
• have confidence in their ability to plan and execute an individual research project.

Developed the skills to:

• find and analyse current research literature;
• critically evaluate research findings;
• Identify open problems in current research;
• Identify promising new research directions based on previous results;
• Define feasible projects based on such problems;
• Set realistic timelines and intermediate deliverables for a research project;
• Communicate research results in a variety of forms, including informal oral presentations, written reports, seminar presentations and poster presentations.

Demonstrated the communication skills necessary to:

• communicate research ideas effectively in oral and written form;
• collaborate effectively with their supervisor.

029999

This unit is a research unit and a requirement for the FIT Honours degrees. Due to the nature of IT, a wide range of Honours project types can be offered to students. Some project components are of a practical nature and may involve some software development and/or experimentation, while other components are of a more theoretical nature.

Research Proposal: 5%; Literature Review: 10%; Interim Presentation: hurdle; Final Presentation: 5%; Thesis (normally 10,000 - 20,000 words): 80%

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Regular meetings with supervisor(s) over the course of the unit enrolment

FIT

Jon McCormack