Monash University Handbook 2010 Undergraduate - Unit

Synopsis

This unit introduces the student to independent research. Most projects are software-oriented, although some projects may be purely theoretical and others may involve hardware work.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit students will have:

• acquired a significant level of expertise in the chosen field of research, including knowledge of current state-of-the-art, open problems and research methods used in the respective field;
• successfully addressed an open research question in the chosen field and reported these results;
• learned the skilled use of particular software packages that are relevant to the chosen research direction and/or acquires a significantly higher level of competence in programming.

• find and analyse current research literature;
• critically evaluate research findings, including critical argument analysis and statistical analysis of experimental results;
• 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 medium-scale project;
• conduct such a project, including time and resource management, intermediate evaluations of results and re-assessment of original aims;
• communicate research results in a variety of forms, including informal oral presentations, written reports, seminar presentations, poster presentations and web sites;
• collaborate effectively in a (small) research team.

Assessment

Research Proposal (5%), Literature Review (10%), mid-year interim presentation (Hurdle), Final report & presentation (85%)

Prerequisites

Entry to the Bachelor of Software Engineering Honours stream. By invitation only.

Prohibitions

FIT4003, FIT4126, FIT4186, FIT4246, FIT4606

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/fit4013/