Assessment Tasks Submission/Completion Process

The assessments of this unit consist of three online quizzes, three assignments and a final exam. The solutions to the three assignments should be submitted via iLearn by the due date. The quizzes will be released and submitted via iLearn. The final examination will be conducted in the form and date/ time to be announced later in the semester.

Late Submission Policy

In general, no extensions on assignments will be granted without an approved application for Special Consideration. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late. For example, 25 hours late in submission for an assignment worth 10 marks – 20% penalty or 2 marks deducted from the total.  No submission of assignment will be accepted more than three days after the due date. No replacement quiz will be available for students missing any quiz. If special consideration is granted to a student for a missing quiz, or for a request of extension of more than three days in case of an assignment, the mark for that assessment task will be based on that student's aggregated performance in the Final Examination. For instance, if a student is granted special consideration for Assignment 2 (weight 10%) for more than 3 days extension, and that student obtained 35 out of 50 in the Final Exam, then the mark of that student for Assignment 2 will be taken to be 7 (out of 10).

Assessment Standards

COMP2350 will be assessed and graded according to the University assessment and grading policies.

The following general standards of achievement will be used to assess each of the assessment tasks with respect to the letter grades. 

Pass: Can demonstrate a broad knowledge of database concepts but with limited understanding. Can design and develop functional database with documentation. Is familiar with tools and interactive development environments, and comfortable with database programming. 

Credit/Distinction: As for Pass plus: Exhibits breadth and depth of understanding of concepts. Can demonstrate critical analysis skills in fundamental database concepts. Able to design and develop functional and highly maintainable database, with documentation. Very familiar with tools and interactive development environments with good ability to solve database problems. Very familiar with database programming and quite able to implement solutions to database problems.

High Distinction: As for Credit/Distinction plus: Is aware of the context in which the concepts are developed and their limitations. Has demonstrated critical analysis skills in fundamental database concepts who also has exceptional analytical and critical thinking capability. Able to design and develop functional and highly maintainable database, with documentation and familiarity with tools and interactive development environments, and has exceptional ability to solve challenging database problems. Very familiar with tools and interactive development environments, and has exceptional ability to solve challenging database problems. Has exceptional database programming skills and  able to implement maintainable solutions to challenging database problems. 

Assessment Process

These assessment standards will be used to give a numeric mark to each assessment submission during marking. The mark will correspond to an appropriate letter grade when relevantly weighted. The final mark for the unit will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.

Supplementary Exam

In general, if you receive Special Consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled after the normal exam period, following the release of marks. By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available for a resit during the supplementary examination period and will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

Classes

Each week during the semester you should set aside two hours for lectures, one hour for a tutorial class and one hour for a practical session. For details of days and times consult the timetables webpage at https://timetables.mq.edu.au/2021/. More specific information will be announced via the unit webpage on iLearn. Students are urged to actively participate in the tutorials; this helps enhancing the understanding by students.

Note that practicals and tutorials commence in week 2. You should have selected a practical session and a tutorial session during enrolment. You should attend the sessions you are enrolled in. 

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

Textbook

The textbook listed below cover much of the required material  that will be used in preparation of lectures and/or assignments and/or practicals.

• Thomas Connolly and Carolyn Begg. Database Systems. A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management, Sixth Edition, Pearson, 2015.

For some parts of learning, other necessary material will be made available on the unit iLearn site.

Unit Webpage and Technology Used and Required

Digital recordings of lectures will be available on iLearn via tools such as Echo360 and Zoom.

Websites

The web page for this unit can be found at http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

Technology

In this unit you will be exposed to the following technology and tools

• MySQL - Database Management System
• MySQL Workbench - Data Modeling Software Tool

Discussion Boards

The unit will make use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn. Please post questions there, they will be monitored by the staff on the unit regularly.

The number of quizzes has been reduced from four to three. This aligns better with the three assignments, is likely preferable from students' point of view.

The number of hours dedicated to lectures has been reduced from three top two as per university instructions.