The unit content will be presented in lectures and mixed sessions. There are many books and online publications that can be consulted for reference material. Where available, limited numbers of hard-copy versions of textbooks listed below have been placed in the reserve section of the Macquarie University Library. Students will be able to access these versions for short periods of time, but may not be able to borrow them for extended periods of time (which would restrict access to other students). Access to the textbooks is certainly beneficial to review or further explore concepts covered in the course. 

Primary textbooks being used for the 2017 offering of ITEC800

• (SE): Software Engineering, Somerville. I, Latest Edition (10th Edition, 2016) Pearson;
• (BF): Systems Engineering and Analysis, Blanchard. B. S, Fabrycky. W. J, Latest International Edition (5th Edition, 2013), Pearson.

​Classes:

Classes for ITEC800 this semester are in a 4 hour block on Thursday evenings from 6:00pm until 10:00pm. The breakdown of each scheduled class has a lecture component (from 6:00pm to 8:00pm) and a mixed-mode session (from 8:10pm to 10:00pm). 

Be prepared to participate in discussions, ask and answer questions, and provide perspectives from your own background and workplaces. Lectures will be informative but also exploratory in nature, and so it is certainly recommended that a high participation and attendance level be maintained throughout the course.

Note: There are no clashes with public holidays in ITEC800 for this semester.

Other resources:

Lecture material, assignment specifications and extra readings not listed above will be provided through the iLearn web page for ITEC800.

Submission methods for assessment tasks:

All soft copy assignment submissions / marks will be done through the ITEC800 page on iLearn. This will be the official form of assignment submission accepted for this course unless otherwise stated in the specification or through the discussion process of an extension (see below).

Late submission:

No late submissions for any deliverables will be accepted. This is mainly because feedback cycles to students will be affected. Extensions (see below) with no penalty applied may be granted subject to the conditions stated in the "extensions" section below.

Late submissions of group based assignments are not permitted unless under exceptional circumstances with documentary evidence provided to the unit convenor, which may include medical certificates as per the Department of Computing policy. One person being sick does not mean the group cannot submit work. Students are urged to have backup plans for group based submissions. Early submissions are encouraged, and can always be updated multiple times before the deadline.

Extensions:

Extensions without a grade penalty may be provided to groups or individuals who contact the unit convenor BEFORE the deadline (unless exceptional circumstances apply) and can provide documentary evidence of illness or other misadventure. If approved, a new submission timeline and submission method will be discussed on a case by case basis.

Students are strongly advised to contact the unit convenor as early as possible if there are any issues that will not make an on-time submission possible.

Exam:

The final exam will focus on content covered in the classes throughout the semester. The final exam is a hurdle requirement. That means that the hurdle must be met in order to pass the unit. See the assessment tasks section for details.

Disruption to studies for the final exam:

If you apply for Disruption to Study for your final examination, you must make yourself available for the week of July 24 – 28, 2017.  If you are not available at that time, there is no guarantee an additional examination time will be offered. Specific examination dates and times will be determined at a later date.

Second-chance hurdle examinations will also be offered in the week of July 24 - 28, 2017.  Results will be released on July 13.  You will be notified shortly after that date of your eligibility for a hurdle retry and you must also make yourself available during that week to take advantage of this opportunity.

Website and access to unit material:

The web page and content for this unit can be found at iLearn: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/. Note that the unit content is not publicly available and requires a login to access the content and discussions. If you are having trouble accessing the material, get in contact with the unit convenor.

Updated learning outcomes and some topic areas. Assessment structure remains the same, however, the group project will be finalised upon discussion with the cohort in week 1 to better work around student workloads.

For ITEC800, the final mark is calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary which total up to 100. In order to pass the unit, a student must obtain:

• a mark of 50 or above out of 100 for the total of all assessments; AND,
• a mark of 40% or higher in the final exam. This is a hurdle requirement.

Students can obtain a higher grade than a Pass (P) by meeting the above requirements and:

• obtain a mark of 65 - 74 out of 100 to receive a Credit (Cr)
• obtain a mark of 75 - 84 out of 100 to receive a Distinction (D)
• obtain a mark of 85 - 100 out of 100 to receive a High Distinction (HD)

ITEC800 is a unit where continued levels of engagement throughout the semester are hugely beneficial. This is reflected in the assessment tasks as 70% of the unit assessment happens before the final exam. Students are encouraged to manage their workload, engage in discussion in classes, and be active in their own learning and exploration of concepts.

Plagiarism cases (see the policy section) can potentially affect an individual grade, the student's overall grade, or even the eligibility for a student to continue their degree. Details about assessment policies can be found int he policies and procedures section.