COIT20249 Assessment Details
Assessment item 4—Portfolio
Due date: See page 2 for details about submission deadlines for each item. ASSESSMENT
Weighting: 30% 4
Length: Depends on each activity
Objectives
This assignment is designed to develop a portfolio of resources that you can use during your degree. The compilation of your Portfolio is progressive throughout the term. Please refer to the Unit Profile to see how this assessment item relates to the Unit Learning Outcomes.
These objectives will be measured by the ‘closeness of fit’ to meeting the assessment requirements and the marking criteria.
General Assessment Criteria
Assessments provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to achieve the required standard. To do this, assessment responses need to be both clear and easy to understand. If not, the University cannot determine that students have demonstrated their knowledge and skills. Assessments will, therefore, be marked accordingly including the potential for 0 (zero) marks where relevant.
All assessment items must focus on the topics given in the specifications for each item. Any assessment items outside the required topic may be awarded 0 (zero) marks.
All portfolio items require students to write about your views, reflections and/or experiences from a personal viewpoint. Therefore, all items must be written in first person unless other requirements are stated in a portfolio item. Various written communication conventions have been discussed in the Unit content and you should follow the writing styles appropriate for each assessment item. Do NOT simply write in ‘conversational’ style even when writing in ‘first person’ perspective.
The length of each submission must be within the recommended range. If the submission significantly exceeds the maximum word count or the page length the marker will stop marking.
If you use Track Changes when writing your submissions you must ensure that the submitted document is the final and correct version of the document. That is, if your submitted document contains Track Changes or Comments or any other editing marks it may be awarded 0 (zero) marks. It is your responsibility to submit the final and correct version of your Portfolio items.
Files that are auto-submitted will not be reverted to draft status except in extenuating circumstances. It is your responsibility not to leave draft assessments in Moodle at the due date and time if the files are not ready to be submitted for marking.
Academic Integrity
ALL assignments will be checked for plagiarism (material copied from other students and/or material copied from other sources) using TurnItIn. If you are found to have plagiarised material or if you have used someone else’s words without appropriate referencing, you will be penalised for plagiarism which could result in zero (0) marks for the whole assessment item NOT just the individual submission. In some circumstances a more severe penalty may be imposed.
The University’s Academic Misconduct Procedure is available in the policy portal https://www.cqu.edu.au/policy.
Useful information about academic integrity (avoiding plagiarism) can be found at:
CQUniversity referencing guides
https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life/services-and-facilities/referencing/cquniversity-referencing-guides
Note: You need to ensure that your portfolio submissions are free of any spelling, grammatical and typographical errors before submission.
Formatting and Structure:
Each portfolio item should demonstrate a logical flow of discussion, and be free from typographical, spelling and grammatical errors. They should be prepared in MS-Word (or equivalent) using 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing and margins of 2.54 cm. Check each assessment page for any other specific requirements.
Students may use separate title/cover pages for each submission. Cover/title pages are not considered as a part of the length.
Submission
Submit each file individually into Moodle using the appropriate Portfolio links in the Assessment block for Assessment item 4 on the Moodle Unit website. Please note there should be four (4) files submitted; one file for each portfolio item. Be sure to check that the correct file is submitted for each portfolio item.
The due date for this assignment is in different Weeks:
Portfolio_1 is due at 11.55pm on Friday of Week 7
Portfolios 2, 3 and 4 are due at 11.55pm on Friday of Week 12.
It is STRONGLY recommended that students complete the work during the term using the timeframe suggested in the Requirements section below.
All uploaded documents must be fully submitted for marking. At the due date of the assessment Moodle will auto-submit files that have been uploaded and left as a draft. However, any files uploaded after the due date must be manually submitted. This means that if you have been granted an extension or are uploading a late assessment (after the due date) you must complete the Moodle submission process. Further details on completing the submission process are available via the ‘Moodle Help for Students’ link in the Support block of your Moodle website.
If your report is left as a draft in Moodle after the due date it will accrue a late penalty. Late submissions will attract penalties at 5% per day of the total available mark for the individual assessment item. See details in the Assessment of Coursework procedure at http://policy.cqu.edu.au/Policy/policy_file.do?policyid=1242.
Portfolio Items
PORTFOLIO_1: Annotated Bibliographies for Assessment 3 – Report (10 marks)
Task:
Assessment 3 (COIT20249 Report) requires students to use at least 10 recent references. At least 6 of these must be academic references which are peer reviewed and/or textbooks. See Assessment 3 specifications for further details.
Use the ARE and Triple R framework you learnt in Weeks 2 and 3 to research and select 5 Academic references you would use for your Assessment 3 (Report) – do not use the references you used for PA 3 in Week 6. All references must be from the last 5 years (dated 2012 onwards) and must be selected using the Triple R framework.
In Week 3, you learnt about Annotated Bibliographies. Using those skills, provide an annotation for each of the 5 references. See pp. 132 – 134 in your Textbook and refer to Week 3 materials on Annotated Bibliographies. Each reference must be formatted in APA style – see week 5 materials and CQU APA Referencing guidelines.
To achieve full marks, the submission must be:
• Focused on the correct task; selected 5 Academic References relevant to the Report topic, using the Triple R framework.
• Note that the rest of the annotation may not be graded if any of the references are:
o older than 5 years (before 2012 – see report requirements),
o not academic or
o do not relate to the report topic.
• The references must not include those provided for PA 3 (0 marks for those references if used).
• Grammatically correct annotation, and easy to read and understand,
• Well-structured annotation in a single paragraph for each reference,
• Each reference correctly formatted in APA style (does not include the references given for PA3); and
• Within the recommended length for each reference and submitted as an MS-Word file.
Marking criteria for each reference:
• Correctly formatted academic reference in APA style (0.4 marks),
• Summary of reference, in 1 or 2 sentences (0.4 marks)
• Evaluation author credentials/summary of key themes, in 1 or 2 sentences (0.4 marks)
• Explanation of how research was conducted, in 1 or 2 sentences (0.4 marks)
• Evaluation of the reference (using Triple R framework), in 1 or 2 sentences (0.4 marks).
Notes:
• Each reference should have a separate annotation; see example layout below. This should NOT be written in first person perspective. See example in the PPT on Annotated Bibliographies from Week 3.
• Each annotation should be approximately 150 – 200 words but comply with the requirements for the number of sentences.
E.g.:
Reference 1: (insert the reference, formatted in APA style)
Annotation written as a single paragraph – see requirements and marking criteria above.
Add the remaining references and annotations in the same format as for Reference 1.
PORTFOLIO_2: Reflective Writing (5 marks)
Task
All COIT20249 students complete their Presentations (Assessment 2) between weeks 5 and 9. Most of the students will complete the presentation as a Group while some of you (Distance students) will complete the presentation as an individual assessment. If you are an internal student, write reflectively about your group experience as a part of this assessment. If you completed the presentation as an individual assessment, reflect about the experience as an individual presentation; explain the reason for not being in a group if you are an internal student. Students discuss this portfolio item in Week 7 but will write it about two weeks later if you are not presenting before week 7. All students must plan to submit the assessment at the end of Week 12.
Reflect on your experience of completing your Presentation (Assessment 2 COIT20249 in Term 2, 2017) using the reflective writing technique you learnt in Week 7. See above paragraph to determine whether you should write about your group experience or your individual presentation experience.
Describe the experience including your contribution for the outcome. Demonstrate what you have learnt from the experience, describe how you would handle assignment presentation differently in the future, and evaluate the positives and negatives of the experience (e.g. reading and reflecting on developing and delivering a presentation. Reflect on the Group process if you are an internal student. If you are an internal student but did not present in a group for some reason, focus on why you presented individually and how you can be a group member in future. Distance students should write about their experience in developing and delivering online presentations. Discuss your options with your local lecturer if necessary.
Your submission should cover the three key points on reflective writing (see below). This should be approximately 450 words.
The key points to consider when writing reflectively are:
1. You need to demonstrate what you have learned from a particular experience not just describe what happened.
2. There is no right or wrong answer—reflective writing is about what you learned from the experience.
3. Ask yourself the following questions and give your responses in your writing: Why did X happen? What did I do in X situation? What were the positive and negative outcomes in the situation? How might I do things differently next time? What have I learnt and how does this knowledge contribute to my development?
(McCulloch & Reid, 2015, p. 131)
Note 1: You should re-read pages 130-132 of the textbook to ensure you know what is meant by reflective writing.
Note 2: This reflective writing is about evaluating yourself and your experience; it is NOT about evaluating the other members of your group or your workshop.
Marking Criteria
To achieve full marks the submission must be:
• Focused on the correct task to be considered for marking and feedback,
• Grammatically correct,
• Well-structured, easy to read and understand; and
• Within 400 – 500 words, submitted in an MS-Word file.
Your submission will be marked as follows. Write under the relevant headings (separate paragraph) per each section as given below.
1. Include a brief description of the experience relating to your Presentation (1 mark).
2. Reflect on how you contributed to the experience. Focus on group experience if you were in a group, or your own experience if you were not in a group. Include positive and/or negative contributions you made in this situation – this is not about what any others did but what you did (1 mark).
3. Demonstrate what you learned from the experience (1 mark).
4. Describe how you would handle the experience differently in the future or why you may not have to do anything different (1 mark)
5. Evaluate the positives and negatives of your presentation/group experience in COIT20249 (1 mark).
Use the three key points listed above to check that you have written reflectively about your experience. Ensure that you have addressed all 5 points.
PORTFOLIO_3: Responding to an Ethical Scenario (5 marks)
Task
In week 9 you learnt about making decisions in various ethical situations. Understanding who you are and how you relate to others in both your personal and work life can make you aware of the values that are important to you as well as the values that you may need to work on to improve your professional standing. This portfolio item is designed to make you think about how to respond to an ethical scenario as a good ICT professional. As you are training to be an ICT professional you should refer to the ACS Code of Ethics and/or ACS Code of Professional Conduct in your response. It should be approximately 400 words.
Scenario:
You are currently working as a trainee database administrator in the same organisation where you are studying for a qualification. You are working hard to pay your fees and study expenses while managing your personal finances as well with an annual income below the average wage in Australia. A few weeks ago, you were undertaking some maintenance work in the student and finance databases of your organisation. While doing that you found that your organisation has given a lucrative scholarship to a student who you do not think as having the required level of academic performance to receive that scholarship. You have access to the marks of the students undertaking the same study units as this student and yourself. The scholarship guidelines clearly state that eligibility for the Scholarship is based on academic performance. Some of you think that the parents of the student who has received the scholarship may know some senior staff in your organisation. You are not happy that you and the other high performing students who also have financial concerns have lost the opportunity to lighten your financial burdens that impact on your studies while you believe that a potentially less deserving student has benefited due to personal links. You can do nothing and continue with your maintenance work as required, or report your concerns to your supervisor, or inform the other students about what you uncovered and even go public with this information. You are clearly unhappy with the situation as you believe your employer has not done the right thing but wondering what to do since you work in that organisation.
Write about 400 words (in 2 – 3 paragraphs) outlining how you will respond to this ethical dilemma – do not explain the situation again. Consider your options in this hypothetical scenario. What will you do in this situation? Will you tell your friends and/or go public with this information, or will you inform your manager about your dilemma and ask for advice? Or will you take any other actions? Explain what you will do and the reasons for your actions, referring to the ACS Code of Ethics and/or the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. You must correctly reference the document/s in APA style.
Marking Criteria
To achieve full marks the submission must be:
• Focused on the correct task to be considered for marking and feedback,
• Grammatically correct,
• Well-structured, and easy to read and understand; and
• Within the recommended length (350 – 450 words) and submitted as an MS-Word file.
Your response should include:
1. What would you do in this situation and why? (2 marks)
2. What elements from the ACS document/s would you consider as reasons for your actions? Indicate the particular element/s in the document/s you are referencing. (1 mark)
3. Referencing – cited the relevant ACS document/s as per the requirements; and correct citation and reference list formatting according to APA referencing style (2 marks)
PORTFOLIO_4: Successful Completion of COIT20249 (10 marks)
Task
This portfolio item requires you to justify that you have successfully achieved the Unit Learning Outcomes and to provide feedback about your experiences with the Unit. The response should have two parts and should not be longer than 2 A4 pages.
Part A – Justification
The Unit Profile provides a list of Learning Outcomes you are expected to have achieved after completing this Unit.
From the Unit Profile:
On successful completion of this Unit, you will be able to:
1. Describe the basic principles and importance of effective interpersonal communication, active listening and reading for meaning.
2. Demonstrate teamwork skills.
3. Communicate ideas effectively both verbally and in written form using appropriate language.
4. Create and deliver effective oral presentations.
5. Argue the importance of ethics, codes of behaviour, and societal, privacy and legal issues within the ICT industry.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of common work practices and values operating in the Australian workplace.
7. Assess how ICT can be used to improve organisational processes.
8. Evaluate the application of emerging technologies to communication and collaboration.
Write a reflective analysis that demonstrates you have satisfied all eight (8) learning outcomes that are listed in the Unit Profile for COIT20249 Professional Skills in ICT (they are listed above). Justify how the work you have completed this term has satisfied all eight (8) Unit Learning Outcomes. Please note it is important that you JUSTIFY how you have satisfied the Unit Learning Outcomes with examples. Do NOT just summarise the Unit content and/or assessment items OR define the Unit Learning Outcomes.
In short paragraphs, respond under the following themes (use relevant headings) and refer to relevant Learning Outcome/s from the above list. Use examples from the assessments you have completed in this Unit and/or the competencies you have achieved after completing the Unit. You might refer to some Unit Learning Outcomes more than once in your response. This part should be 1 to 1.5 A4 pages (approximate guideline).
1. Describe an example where you used interpersonal skills along with listening and verbal communication skills effectively (1 mark).
2. How did you use reading skills to effectively develop an academic document? Provide an example (1 mark).
3. Provide an example of using your teamwork skills during your presentation. Provide specific examples of what you did and which teamwork skills used. What other skills from the above list did you use in this situation? (1 mark).
4. Provide an example of an assessment where you discussed the importance of ethical behaviours, and social, privacy and legal aspects within the ICT domain. Explain how this task helped you to understand ethical behaviours, and social, privacy and legal aspects within the ICT domain. (1 mark).
5. Discuss how you learnt the skills to work with staff and/or students from different cultures and demonstrate the knowledge of cultural diversity. Use example/s from COIT20249 (1 mark).
6. Describe how you learnt to evaluate ICT technologies to improve organisational processes. Give an example of an assignment/topic and the technology from COIT20249 (1 mark).
7. Describe two examples of communication and collaboration technologies you learnt after completing this Unit. Briefly explain how each of these technologies could be used in an organisation and their potential benefits (2 marks).
Part B – Feedback
Write two things you liked about this Unit and provide the reason or reasons you liked them. Also describe two suggested improvements to the Unit and justify why they would improve the Unit. This could be around half an A4 page in length (guideline only) (2 marks).
Upload the Successful Completion document into Moodle.
Marking Criteria
To achieve full marks the submission must be:
• Focused on the correct task to be considered for marking and feedback,
• Grammatically correct,
• Well-structured, and easy to read and understand;
• Within the recommended overall length and submitted as an MS-Word file.
Justification:
Justify with examples from COIT20249 that you have successfully achieved all eight (8) Unit Learning Outcomes (1 mark per each of the first 6 points and 2 marks for the last one). Please note that a summary of the Unit content and/or assessment items or defining the Unit Learning Outcomes will receive ONE mark only for the entire section as you will not have addressed the assessment criteria.
Feedback:
1. Two things you liked about this Unit plus reasons (1 mark).
2. Two suggested improvements to the Unit plus justification (1 mark).
Note:
If you are a repeating student who may need to use any previous assessment materials, you will need to follow self-referencing guidelines in some sections of this assessments. However, repeating students are encouraged to use new assessment and/or topic examples where possible to avoid self-plagiarism issues.
Assessment Task case study
Students are required to write an academic report as per the format outlined in chapter 5 of the textbook. The report must follow the CQU APA referencing style. See the American Psychological Association (APA) abridged guide updated Term 2 2016 available from: https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life/services-and-facilities/referencing/cquniversity-referencing-guides. Please note that the prescribed textbook uses APA referencing guidelines. See also the Referencing Style subsection below.
The report is to be based on the following case study scenario about network and information security technologies.
Almost all businesses use the Internet these days to offer various services to their customers. Some of these activities require collecting user/customer information including commercial transactions and exchange personal and/or sensitive information. While the internet is a very convenient option for both businesses and for customers, there are also risks associated in using the internet. Some of these risks are related to the potential for unauthorised access of information of customers; ranging from personal details and financial records to their online login details. Recently, there have been numerous incidents where hackers have accessed user information which have then been used for various purposes. There have been instances of ransomware and other malware attacks, and even publishing confidential client details leading to highly difficult situations for customers of some organisations. As a result, information and network security is becoming more and more important for organisations though improved security means additional costs for small organisations which do not command big budgets.
You have recently completed your postgraduate degree in the information systems/technology field of an Australian University. You are now working as the Research and Technology Assistant to the ICT manager of a small software organisation based in Melbourne. Your organisation was established less than 5 years ago. It develops and customises applications specialising in information and network security area. The clients of your organisation are mostly in the major cities of Australia and range from small to medium size organisations. At present, your organisation undertakes projects to develop applications in-house or to customise off-the shelf software in agreement with larger vendors. Your organisation’s current business scope is limited to that of development of applications. It is now exploring options to expand the business in the next five years to other branches within ICT, and to all parts of Australia and even overseas if possible.
One future option is to diversify the business into providing ongoing information and network security services to businesses that have an online presence. That will require managing the online security of those organisations; security of their websites and client databases. However, the Business Development Manager of your organisation has revealed that the potential client organisations for this new line of business could include online gambling organisations as well as small pharmaceutical and hospitality industry organisations.
There are some concerns among your executive management team that not all the potential client organisations may be engaging in socially acceptable ethical businesses. Yet, there is another school of thought within the management that your organisation must be more concerned about the bottom line (economic aspects) rather than the triple-bottom line aspects (social, environment and economic) aspects at this point in your organisation’s business life cycle.
Your ICT Manager has been asked by the CEO of your organisation to investigate the possibility of this expansion. He (your ICT Manager) has requested you to undertake preliminary research and draft a report that he can finalise and submit to the next Executive Management meeting.
