Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this Unit, you must achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%. Please note that there are no hurdles in this Unit.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information. 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.  

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

• Quiz 1: NO, unless Special Consideration is granted  
• Quiz 2: NO, unless Special Consideration is granted  
• Assignment 1: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 
• Assignment 2: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable, and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in an Assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the Assessments in this Unit on time, please inform the Convenor and submit a Special Consideration Request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Technologies Used

• Cisco Packet Tracer
• Wireshark
• Cisco IoS - Hardware gear

Methods of Communication

Our primary means of communication will be through your university email and announcements on iLearn. It is crucial to consistently check your university email for important updates and information related to the course. Additionally, significant announcements will be posted on iLearn, a centralized platform for accessing vital details about the course. Should you have any queries or require assistance from the teaching staff, including the unit convenor, you have two communication channels. Firstly, you can post your queries on the iLearn discussion board, providing an interactive space for instructors and peers to engage in discussions. Alternatively, you may send emails to the corresponding addresses of the teaching staff using your university email address for official communication. Through these communication methods, we aim to ensure effective and timely dissemination of information and provide the necessary support throughout the course.

Lectures

A 2 hour Lecture would be delivered each week on campus. Students are highly encouraged to ask questions from the Lecturer(s) in a bid to clarify anything they might not be sure of. Students are also encouraged to engage in active discussion via the General Discussion Forum on iLearn.

Lecture Notes (Slide Decks) would be made available, however, they are not a substitute of the recommended Readings. Please note that Digital Recordings of the Lectures would be available via the Macquarie University's Echo360 Active Learning Platform. 

Workshops

The workshops aim to soliidify the concepts  discussed in the lectures by engaging students in hands-on and problem solving exercises.Students have the opportunity to practice their networking skills under the guidance of a demonstrator. There will be one 2-hour workshop session each week, starting in week 2 and each workshop exercise is worth 2 marks with an overall weighting of 10%. These sessions are conducted in a specially-equipped networking laboratory. There is no opportunity to conduct workshops outside of the assigned sessions.Weeks 12 and 13 are catchup weeks and provide an opportunity to do any workshop exercise(s) that were missed over the course of the semester (weeks 2-11). Each week, students receive exercises to work on. Keeping up with these exercises is crucial, as it aids in understanding the unit's content and prepares students for assignments. 

It's important to note that while workshops are structured in alignment with lecture content, there may not always be direct one-to-one correspondence. This is due to the necessity for workshops allowing students to familiarize themselves with new tools and devices. As a result, there are limitations on available time slots for experimenting with technologies discussed in certain lectures.

Please note that catch-up classes are intended for students who have missed a few labs due to genuine reasons. Special consideration approval is required for students who have missed more than two labs, up to a maximum of four labs. Students who have failed to attend any lab class during the semester are not allowed to use these sessions to make up for missed work.

Note: Workshops commence in Week 2. 

Assignments

Assignments would be made available on iLearn and would submitted online via Turnitin.

Assignment 1-Problem Solving: The problem-solving assignment serves the purpose of familiarizing students with addressing real-world problems or issues. Its design is intended to guide students in analyzing specific problems and identifying optimal solutions. This assignment aims to enhance the students' ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. Certain questions may necessitate thorough research, and arriving at an acceptable and reasonable answer will be a step-by-step process.

Assignment 2-Group based Assignment: In this assignment, students are expected to apply their understanding of mobile and wireless communication to conduct in-depth research and perform a critical analysis of pertinent literature within this field. They are then required to present their findings and conclusions. Furthermore, this assessment provides a valuable context for students to apply project management principles and tools, ensuring effective coordination, planning, and execution of their group project. This experience offers an opportunity for students to enhance their collaborative skills, professional communication, and the practical application of project management concepts.

Although this assignment is a group effort, it's important to emphasize that individual accountability remains a crucial aspect. Each team member is responsible for their own contributions and work within the group context.

Quizzes

There are two quizzes scheduled during the semester. Each quiz carries a weightage of 20%. These quizzes, short tests in nature, will draw upon your prior attempts at discussion questions and the content covered in previous lectures. They will be conducted online via iLearn during your workshop session, with the questions provided at the start of the session. The duration of each quiz will be 1 hour.

Recommended Text

It should be noted that no single Textbook addresses all Topics of this Unit. Accordingly, a large proportion of the Lecture Notes are drawn from the Research Papers, White Papers, and Standards' Documents. Students are, therefore, encouraged to read the recommended Reading List to gain a solid understanding of the Topics. Nevertheless, some suggested Books include:

Computer Networks and Internets, Global Edition, Sixth Edition (Author : Douglas E. Comer)

Computer Networking : A Top-Down Approach, Global Edition, Eight Edition (Authors : James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross)

Internetworking with TCP / IP : Principles, Protocols, and Architecture – Volume 1, Sixth Edition (Author : Douglas E. Comer)

Information Technology Project Management, 9th Edition, Kathy Schwalbe, ISBN-13: 978-1-337-10135-6

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your Macquarie University's Email or through Announcements on iLearn. Queries to Convenor can either be placed on the iLearn Discussion Board or sent to the teaching staff from your University Email Address.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie University's website, https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during the Semester. If there are any changes to this Unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

The project management component has been incorporated into the unit through assessments, accompanied by a lecture on project management.

Workshop exercises will be assessed and and workshop carries a weighting of 10%.

The unit no longer includes a final exam.

At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit

• Fail (F): does not provide evidence of attainment of all learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; and incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the discipline.
• Pass (P): provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the field of study; and communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
• Credit (Cr): provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; plus communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the discipline.
• Distinction (D): provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the discipline and the audience.
• High Distinction (HD): provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality and insight in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application.

In this unit, the final mark will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.

Note: There are no hurdles in this unit.

Concretely, in order to pass the unit, you must obtain an overall total mark of 50% or higher.

Students obtaining a higher grade than a pass in this unit will (in addition to the above)         

• • have a total mark of 85% or higher to obtain High Distinction;
  • have a total mark of 75% or higher to obtain Distinction;
  • have a total mark of 65% or higher  to obtain Credit.

Note:

You are encouraged to:

• set your personal deadline earlier than the actual one;
• keep backups of all important assessed tasks;.
• make sure no one else picks up your printouts.

All work submitted should be readable and well presented.

You should never commit plagiarism in any of your submitted work, including practical answers.