ASSESSMENT GUIDE

ICT801
Advanced Research Topics in
Information Technology

Semester 1, 2025

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Victorian Institute of Technology www.vit.edu.au CRICOS Provider No. 02044E, RTO No: 20829
 Assessment Overview

Assessment tasks Learning Outcome Mapping

Assessment ID Assessment Item When due Weighting ULO# CLO# for
MITS
1
Research Proposal Sessions 3, 5 20% 1, 2

2
*Research Paper Session 7, 10, 12, 13 60% 1, 3, 4, 5

3
*Viva Voce Session 14 20% 1, 2, 3, 4

Note: * denotes ‘Hurdle Assessment Item’ that students must achieve at least 40% in this item to pass the unit.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 1: This individual assignment will be delivered in two parts. In Part A, you will be required to first select a research topic aligning with your
chosen specialisation in the course and then develop a research question after initial literature review. In Part B, you will develop a full research proposal.
ASSESSMENT ITEM 2: This individual assessment will have multiple deliverables. You will be required to write a mock research paper and a self-reflective journal
in the report. The research paper will include an abstract, literature review and a brief description of methodology that you have proposed to adopt in your
research topic.
ASSESSMENT ITEM 3: In this individual assessment, you will be required to give a 10-minute presentation to fellow class members as well as a panel of
academics. There is no physical submission, you will be solely graded on your presentation and ability to answer questions from the panel.

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Victorian Institute of Technology www.vit.edu.au CRICOS Provider No. 02044E, RTO No: 20829
 Referencing guides
You must reference all the sources of information you have used in your assessments. Please use the
IEEE referencing style when referencing in your assessments in this unit. Refer to the library’s
referencing guides for more information.

• https://elearning.vit.edu.au/pluginfile.php/473840/block_html/content/VIT%20Library%20Refer
encing%20-%20IEEE%20-%2007042020.pdf

Academic misconduct
VIT enforces that the integrity of its students’ academic studies follows an acceptable level of
excellence. VIT will adhere to its VIT Policies, Procedures and Forms where it explains the importance of
staff and student honesty in relation to academic work. It outlines the kinds of behaviors that are
"academic misconduct", including plagiarism.

Late submissions
In cases where there are no accepted mitigating circumstances as determined through VIT Policies,
Procedures and Forms, late submission of assessments will lead automatically to the imposition of a
penalty. Penalties will be applied as soon as the deadline is reached.

Short extensions and special consideration

Special Consideration is a request for:

• Extensions of the due date for an assessment, other than an examination (e.g. assignment
extension).
• Special Consideration (Special Consideration in relation to a Completed assessment, including
an end-of-unit Examination).

Students wishing to request Special Consideration in relation to an assessment the due date of which
has not yet passed must engage in written emails to the teaching team to Request for Special
Consideration as early as possible and prior to start time of the assessment due date, along with any
accompanying documents, such as medical certificates.

For more information, visit VIT Policies, Procedures and Forms.

Inclusive and equitable assessment

Reasonable adjustment in assessment methods will be made to accommodate students with a
documented disability or impairment. Contact the unit teaching team for more information.

Contract Cheating
Contract cheating usually involves the purchase of an assignment or piece of research from another
party. This may be facilitated by a fellow student, friend or purchased on a website. Other forms of
contract cheating include paying another person to sit an exam in the student's place.

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Victorian Institute of Technology www.vit.edu.au CRICOS Provider No. 02044E, RTO No: 20829
 Contract cheating warning:

• By paying someone else to complete your academic work, you don’t learn as much as youcould have if you did the work yourself.
• You are not prepared for the demands of your future employment.
• You could be found guilty of academic misconduct.
• Many of for pay contract cheating companies recycle assignments despite guarantees of“original, plagiarism-free work” so similarity is easily
detected by TurnitIn.
• Penalties for academic misconduct include suspension and exclusion.
• Students in some disciplines are required to disclose any findings of guilt for academicmisconduct before being accepted into certain professions
(e.g., law).
• You might disclose your personal and financial information in an unsafe way, leaving yourselfopen to many risks including possible identity theft.
• You also leave yourself open to blackmail - if you pay someone else to do an assignment foryou, they know you have engaged in fraudulent
behaviour and can always blackmail you.

Grades
We determine your grades to the following Grading Scheme:
Grade Percentage

A 80% – 100%

B 70% – 79%

C 60% – 69%

D 50% – 59%

F 0% – 49%

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Victorian Institute of Technology www.vit.edu.au CRICOS Provider No. 02044E, RTO No: 20829
Assessment Details for Assessment Item 1:
Overview

Assessment tasks Learning Outcome

Mapping
Assessment ID Assessment Item When due Weighting ULO# CLO#
for
MITS
1
Research Proposal Sessions 3, 5 20% 1, 2

Introduction
Students will need to consider a research problem in Information Technology or Information
Systems. The problem could arise from many different fields, for example, medical, business,
science, engineering, hospitality, banking etc. … The selection of the research problem will need
to take place early, in session 1 or 2 as the first deliverable is in session 3. This is necessary given
the nature of the subject. All the remaining work throughout the semester will stem from the basic
research problem. The idea is that this Unit of Study will mimic the research process and provide
you with the understanding and tools to undertake future research. In the first session, we will
extensively discuss finding research problems and from there formulating research questions. This
then gives us the foundation for proceeding with the remainder of the unit.

Deliverables

Below is a brief explanation of each of the deliverables including submission guidelines and
deadlines, though the deadlines have already been given in Table 1 above.

Topic Selection/Initial Literature Review/Research Question (10 Marks - Due session 3)

The research question lies at the heart of your research project. After considering a research
problem (whatever the field of study) from there you will develop the research question. We will
discuss formulating research questions in sessions one and two, but within the research problem,
the research question focuses specifically on one aspect of the problem that you will undertake as
part of the research programme.

Even if you have a good idea of your topic, you still need to read the existing literature to build
background knowledge and narrow down your ideas. In sessions 1 and 2 we will discuss how to
find research papers and identify the gaps in your selected area. You need to narrow down a broad
topic to specific questions. There are many ways to present the research question, and these will
be discussed during the sessions. Submit your assignment in one document file by the due date
and time to the assignment drop- box.

Full Proposal ( 10 Marks - Due session 5)

The full proposal is a document that contains your entire proposal for the research to be undertaken.
These documents are normally required by academic departments before students are admitted to
undertaking research degrees such as a master’s research degree or a PhD. This document will
contain your research question from the previous submission but integrated into a coherent
document along with other components that will be discussed in class. A selection of references
that you will use in developing your research paper will also be included at this stage.

The format of the full proposal can be found in the example document (Proposal.doc). Use this
document as a starting point to develop your full proposal and submit it by the due date and time
to the assignment drop-box.
Assessment Details for Assessment Item 2:
Overview

Assessment tasks Learning Outcome

Mapping
Assessment ID Assessment Item When due Weighting ULO# CLO#
for
MITS
2
*Research Paper Session 7, 10, 12, 13 60% 1, 3, 4, 5

Introduction
Introduction (10 Marks)

The Introduction of the research report contains a full introduction to the research you have
undertaken. The Introduction normally contains a statement of the problem (including the initial
research question, the Significance of the problem, some historical background. The purpose, or
goal to be gained from a better understanding of the research question, statement of hypothesis,
any assumptions, and limitations as well as any possible ethical considerations. Perhaps also a
brief overview of the methodology.

The format of the Introduction can be found in the example document (Report Introduction.doc).
Use this document as a starting point to develop your Introduction (add and delete sections as
appropriate).

Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Literature Review (20 Marks)

The literature review gives the reader (and the examiner) the necessary background to understand
the study by citing the investigations and findings of previous researchers and documents the
researcher's knowledge and preparation to investigate the problem. Studying the existing
literature is one of the essential preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study. This
enables you to acquaint yourself with the available body of knowledge in your specific area of
research. “The literature review is an integral part of the research process and makes a valuable
contribution to almost every operational step” (Kumar, R. Research Methodology: a step-by-step
guide for beginners, 3rd ed, Sage 2011). The literature review will be discussed in class and
examples are given, the literature review would normally constitute Chapter 2 in a research report,
see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter
2).
The submission for the Literature Review has been divided into several sections so the Unit lecturer
can gauge the student’s progression on this important topic early.

Methodology (15 Marks)

In this section, you clearly outline what methodology you used in your research i.e. what you
intend to do and how you intend to do it. It must be written clearly so that it would be easy for
another researcher to duplicate your research if they wished. Most researchers will use one or more
of many well documented and acceptable methods understood by the research community. We
will discuss several research methodologies in different sessions, but there will be many others
you can choose from. You will choose a type of research design (e.g. experimental, correlational,
descriptive etc.) and the methods to conduct the research (experiment or survey etc.)

The structure of a methodology chapter will be discussed in class and examples given. The
Methodology would normally constitute Chapter 3 in a research report, see suggested guidelines
in (report.doc, chapter 3).

Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.
Full Research Paper (15 Marks)

In this submission, you incorporate the previous three submissions into a final document and
submit by the due date and time. This submission will incorporate the Introduction, The Literature
Review, and the Methodology chapters into one document. This will give you a chance to take on
board any comments given by your instructor in the previous submissions, make corrections and
possibly recover some marks which may have been deducted in the previous submission.

Your submission also contains the full abstract. This is an extension of the initial abstract submitted
with the proposal document and summarizes the report including the hypotheses, procedures, and
major findings (you will not be conducting the research, so you won’t have any findings). The Full
abstract should be no more than one page.

Submit this document by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Copyright © 2023 VIT, All Rights Reserved. 9

Assessment Details for Assessment Item 3:
Overview

Assessment tasks Learning Outcome

Mapping
Assessment ID Assessment Item When due Weighting ULO# CLO#
for
MITS
3
*Viva Voce Session 14 20% 1, 2, 3, 4

Introduction

Presentation ( 20 Marks)

For this component, you will be required to give a 10 – 15 minute presentation on your research
report and answer any questions from the audience. The presentations will be conducted in a
symposium type setting after the end of the semester, typically in week 15. There is no submission
for this component of assessment, you will be graded on your presentation and ability to answer
any questions put to you. The structure of the presentation will be discussed during the semester
and a suggested format for the presentation will be made available in a sample set of PowerPoint
slides, see (presentation.ppt).

As this component is based on your presentation, you will need to present your work to get any
grade for this component

Submission guidelines

All submissions are to be submitted through turn-it-in. Drop-boxes linked to turn-it-in will be set
up in the Unit of Study Moodle site. Assignments not submitted through these drop-boxes will not
be considered.

Submissions must be made by the due date and time (which will be in the session detailed above)
and determined by your Unit coordinator. Submissions made after the due date and time will be
penalized at the rate of 10% per day (including weekend days).

Copyright © 2023 VIT, All Rights Reserved. 10

As previously stated, this is a research subject and required a significant effort from you. There
will be a zero tolerance for plagiarism and the turn-it-in similarity score will be used in determining
the level if any of plagiarism. Turn-it-in will check conference websites, Journal articles, the
Web and your class members submissions for plagiarism. You can see your turn-it-in similarity
score when you submit your assignment to the appropriate drop-box. If this is a concern you will
have a chance to change your assignment and re-submit. However, re-submission is only allowed
before the submission due date and time. After the due date and time have elapsed you cannot
make re-submissions and you will have to live with the similarity score as there will be no chance
for changing. Thus, plan early and submit early to take advantage of this feature. You can make
multiple submissions, but please remember we only see the last submission, and the date and time
you submitted will be taken from that submission.

Copyright © 2023 VIT, All Rights Reserved. 11

Assessment Rubric:
Marking Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Criteria
Initial Identifies a range of Identifies high quality Identifies quality sources; Identifies the correct Identifies too few
Literature exceptional quality sources; demonstrates a demonstrates a good number of sources but of sources, or
Review sources. high degree of understanding of their varying quality and sources of insufficient
demonstrates excellent understanding of their significance to the range; demonstrates a quality, reflecting a lack
understanding of their significance to the research satisfactory of understanding of what
significance to the research topic understanding of their will be
research topic significance to the required to support the
topic research project thesis
statement; and/or
descriptions do not
adequately explain
significance
Research Exceptionally Highly appropriate, clear Generally appropriate, Rudimentary formulation Inadequate, with lack of
problem and appropriate, clear and and concise framing of clear and concise framing of clarity and concision.
question concise framing of the the research problem of the research problem research problem; Even if answered well in
research problem and and questions; if and questions; if attempt at the final essay, research
questions; if answered answered well in the final answered formulation of question/s will not
well in the final essay, the essay, the questions are well in the final essay, question/s; support the thesis
questions are likely to likely to strongly support the may lack clarity and/or statement
fully support the thesis the thesis statement questions are likely to concision; even if
statement support the thesis answered
statement well in the final essay,
the
research question/s will
provide only bare
support for
the thesis statement
 Research Exceptionally logical, Highly logical, Generally logical, Describes the research’s Inadequate description
Proposal comprehensive, and comprehensive and comprehensive and structure, significance of the research’s
coherent description of coherent description of coherent description of and organisation but may structure, significance
the research’s structure, the research’s structure, the research’s structure, be unclear and/or and organisation, with
significance and significance structure significance and incomplete in places lack of logic,
organisation and organisation organisation completeness and/or
coherence.
Timeline Exceptionally thoughtful Highly thoughtful and Thoughtful and realistic Rudimentary timeline; Inadequately developed
and realistic timeline; realistic timeline; timeline; incorporates incorporates some timeline that does not
incorporates all necessary incorporates almost all most necessary tasks for necessary tasks for reflect the necessary
tasks for research necessary tasks for research completion research completion but tasks or timelines for
completion research completion with less detail and/or their completion
unrealistic timeframes
Literature Exceptional identification Very good identification Good identification of Identifies some generally Poor identification of
Review of a wide range of of a range of appropriate mainly appropriate and appropriate and sources.
appropriate and and authoritative authoritative sources. authoritative sources. Inadequate and/or
authoritative sources. sources. Analysis demonstrated Rudimentary analysis illogical analysis with
Exceptional analysis Highly effective analysis sound logic and some with some deficiencies of little or no
demonstrating an demonstrating a strong degree of critical thinking logic; passable demonstration of critical
excellent grasp of logical, critical and engagement with demonstration of critical thinking and/or
grasp of logic, critical thinking and engagement sources thinking; some engagement with sources
thinking and with sources engagement with sources
engagement
with sources
Methodology Excellent methodology Very good methodology Sound methodology for Methodology goes some Selected methodology
for addressing the for addressing the addressing the identified way towards addressing does not satisfactorily
identified research identified research research problem and the identified research address the identified
problem and supporting problem and supporting supporting the research problem and supporting research problem and/or
the research statement the research statement statement the research statement support the research
statement
Conclusion Fully persuades the Strongly persuades the Persuades the reader Supports the research insufficiently supports
reader of the research reader of the research that there is some merit statement, though may the research statement
statement statement to the research leave the reader less

Copyright © 2022 VIT, All Rights Reserved. 9

 statement than persuaded
Structure Exceptionally effective, Highly effective, clear and Generally effective, clear Satisfactory work and Inadequate explanation
clear and concise concise research work and concise research structure though with of the matter, with lack of
research work and and structure which work and structure which deficiencies that clarity and concision.
structure which enabled enabled the reader to enabled the reader to sometimes obscured the
the reader to easily understand the work mostly understand the work’s meaning.
understand the work work
Referencing Excellent compliance with Very good compliance Good compliance with Satisfactory compliance Insufficient compliance
the Australian Guide to with the Australian Guide the Australian Guide to with the Australian Guide with the Australian Guide
Legal Citation throughout to Legal Citation Legal Citation throughout to Legal Citation to Legal Citation
footnotes and throughout footnotes footnotes and throughout footnotes throughout footnotes
bibliography using IEEE and bibliography using bibliography using IEEE and bibliography using and bibliography using
referencing style IEEE referencing style referencing style IEEE referencing style IEEE referencing style

Copyright © 2022 VIT, All Rights Reserved. 10