IFN712 Research in IT Practice
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | IFN712 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | Completion of 96cp from (IN20 or IN27) or (Admission to IN23 and Completion of 48cp) |
| Antirequisite(s): | IFN701 |
| Credit points: | 24 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $2,328 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $7,632 |
| International unit fee | $10,704 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2025, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | IFN712 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 24 |
| Pre-requisite: | Completion of 96cp from (IN20 or IN27) or (Admission to IN23 and Completion of 48cp) |
| Anti-requisite: | IFN701 |
| Coordinator: | Yanming Feng | y.feng@qut.edu.au |
Overview
As a professional, regardless of your discipline or context, you will be required to gather the best available evidence to make decisions, solve problems, and establish best practice, as well as innovate and develop. This unit will develop your understanding and higher order thinking related to the key concepts, principles, methodologies regarding research and provide the skills required in to perform research within professional settings and professional practice.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Evaluate the quality and significance of current research in the discipline of Information Communications Technology.
- Design a robust research proposal and plan aligned to the research process to ethically investigate a properly targeted research problem facing the ICT disciplines.
- Critically analyse current research publications relevant to problems or issues requiring research.
- Appraise different research approaches and methods and apply the most appropriate to an IT project.
- Integrate advanced problem solving, analysis and design skills to conduct a research project in an IT-related context.
- Communicate research findings using advanced technical writing and oral communication skills.
Content
This unit has been designed to provide conceptual knowledge about what research is, together with associated skills in order to undertake research in professional settings.
Major topics include:
- the research design process, including identifying and justifying a targeted research problem, deriving one or more clearly answerable research questions, selecting appropriate methods to address the problems and research questions, and how to undertake data collection and analysis
- performing research, including applying research methods, collecting data, performing experiments and data analysis in order to answer research questions, interpreting the results of the analysis
- critically analysing relevant research publications relevant to problems or issues requiring research
- research integrity and ethical issues in professional settings
- oral and written communication skills to clearly, concisely, coherently and convincingly convey the design and execution of the research and present the research findings.
Learning Approaches
This unit takes a practice-based approach to understanding what research is, how to perform research and why it is important. Practical activities address these concepts within a socio-technical context.
The primary approach to learning will be through interactive workshops that support the development of skills required to design, execute and communicate research. The workshops will introduce you to relevant concepts related to the design and conduct of research. They will feature structured practical activities to acquire skills such as how to read research articles, how to communicate a compelling argument, how to search for and critically analyse research literature, how to identify a research problem, how to develop clearly answerable research questions, how to apply research methods, how to collect and analyse data, and how to interpret and appropriately communicate research results.
Teaching will be delivered by a team with expertise that covers different IT research disciplines, approaches and methods.
Assessment is considered to be an integral part of the learning in the unit and provides continual opportunities for formative feedback.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Advice and assistance will be provided by the teaching staff during workshop sessions. You will receive formative feedback on your progress in this unit during these sessions.
Guidelines and objectives will be provided for each piece of assessment to help you assess your progress.
Oral and written feedback will be provided on items of assessment.
Consultation times, allowing individual contact between staff and students will be specified.
Assessment
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Research Process
A critical part of successfully completing a research project is undertaking appropriate research activities. Initially these activities include reviewing relevant literature, scoping a research problem, developing research questions, selecting appropriate research methods, and producing a research plan. Later in the process research requires the execution of a research plan, and the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and structuring the research paper. This assessment item guides you through the process of undertaking research, and outcomes from this process form the basis for your portfolio.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: Research Project
In this assessment item you are required to undertake the planned research and produce a research paper and presentation that demonstrates the outcomes of the research. You will be required to establish that you have addressed the scoped ICT research problem, describe the design of the research, report on your findings, and outline the value of your outcomes. You are required to present this material clearly, concisely, coherently and in a professional style in both a written and oral format.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: Online Ethics Module Part 3
In this self contained online Ethics module (Part 3) you will learn about the different methods of ethical analysis, a model of reflective practice and strategies for recovering from ethical failures. You will then need to pass an online quiz to test your knowledge of the topics covered. You must pass the quiz in order to pass this unit, however you may attempt the quiz an unlimited number of times until you pass.
This Ethics Module Part 3 has as a prerequisite Ethics Module Parts 1 and 2 which you will normally have completed as part of earlier units at QUT (IFN558 for Part 1 and IFN711 for Part 2). However, if you haven't already completed those Modules, you will need to complete them first before completing Part 3.
Threshold Assessment:
As an IT professional you will be legally bound by a code of ethics and professional conduct. Knowledge of these codes is therefore essential for all IT graduates. You must pass this Online Ethics Module in order to pass this unit, i.e. regardless of how well you do in the other assessment items, you cannot pass this unit if you fail this assessment item. You may however attempt this assessment items an unlimited number of times until you pass.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.