COIT20274 — Information Systems For Business Professionals
Assignment 1 & 2 – Task Sheet - Instructions
Assignment 1 – Due 8 pm Friday of Week 4
Assignment 2 – Due 8 pm Friday of Week 10
Assignments 1 and 2 are presented together as they are closely related. Note carefully their different due dates (refer to Academic Calendar for the current term).
These assignments require you to apply research skills and information systems theory to a case study. Read the “Case Study” first to get a general idea, then complete the tasks detailed for each assignment. Submit the reports specified by their due date.
Assignments Overview
In Assignment 1, you will undertake a literature search to gather appropriate references to support your answers, arguments and recommendations for the Case Study Questions. You must submit your proposed list of references in the prescribed report format. You must do this assignment on your own, not in a group.
Note that Assignment 1 is not a formal literature review, that is, you are not describing, summarising, evaluating, or clarifying the literature on the topic. You are only justifying the use of individual references for Assignment 2.
Assignment 1 will be assessed on the appropriateness of your choice of references and sources.
In Assignment 2, you will write a non-technical report in which you provide answers to the Case Study Questions in detail. You will use the references chosen previously, adjusted appropriately according to assessment feedback if applicable. You must submit your report in the prescribed format. You may do this assignment in a group – see Group Work Requirements document for rules about working in groups.
Assignment 2 will be assessed according to criteria listed in the downloadable marking criteria sheet.
The detailed assignment requirements (presentation, formatting etc) follow directly on from the Case, and the Case Study Questions.
Correct Referencing
For both assignments, use HARVARD referencing style for in-text referencing and for the References List. Check the course web site for links to help with referencing and the Harvard referencing guide.
Copy detection/plagiarism process
On submission, assignments are scanned by the copy detection software, Turnitin. Your assignment is checked against all submitted assignments from current and previous terms for this course and other courses as well. Any copying found in the process of running this software may be investigated. On investigation, marks can be deducted for any part of the work that is categorised as plagiarism, and further, any student identified in the copy detection process may be subject to penalties up to and including failing the course or expulsion from the University. Full details of the University’s plagiarism policies are available from the CQU website.
Assignment Requirements and Report structure details FOR ASSIGNMENT 1:
First, read the Case Study and the questions carefully. Next, you must identify a minimum of six unique references that will help you to answer the Case Study Questions in the next assignment. Your list of proposed references must include at least three academic (scholarly) references and at most three general references. This means you can use more academic references and fewer general references, but not vice versa.
Some websites are not acceptable as reference sources in research tasks. These include general encyclopaedic sites such as Wikipedia, and the numerous student study sites that publish papers in various school or university study categories. Likewise, general printed encyclopaedias, popular magazines and newspapers are not considered to be scholarly references.
Using multiple quotes or material from different pages in the same reference is only counted as one (1) reference. You may use your prescribed textbook as one reference so you can include this as one of your general references.
In the body of the report, in your own words, write a justification for each reference selected, describing how each reference is relevant to the Case Study. Use in-text referencing to support your explanations. Each justification would therefore include at least one in-text reference.
At least six credible references must be used and at least three of these must be from academic (scholarly) journals. The maximum three general references may be from industry magazines or books.
The references can be from printed or online sources and must be current (i.e., within the last five (5) years). You can use material from organisational web sites as an example to support your arguments but these will not be counted towards the references’ quota (i.e., 6 references).
The report must include the following sections in the order shown:
• Title page -- must include: assignment title, a suitable report title, your name and student number, course code and name, term and year, name of your tutor, due date, and the date submitted. Place title page on its own page.
• Introduction -- state the purpose of the report, and outline the content of the report.
• Annotated bibliography with each entry clearly indicating to which question it refers. Note that the bibliographic entry must be in Harvard referencing format.
• No separate References list is required in an annotated bibliography
Other formatting requirements
• Header (Assignment title, centred, and page number, right aligned)
• Footer (student ID and your last name, left aligned, and course code/term/year, right aligned) o Header and footer should start from the page containing ‘Introduction’ heading. Use section breaks to control this.
• Text formatting (Times New Roman, 12pt., single-spaced. You may also make use of appropriate emphasis such as bold, italics, and underscore)
• Paragraph formatting (left aligned, single spaced and 6 pt space after each paragraph) • Page formatting (should be in A4, portrait orientation, with 2.54cm margin all around)
• Do not number or bullet-point Headings and Sub-headings.
• Other report components such as Executive Summary, Abstract, Discussion, Recommendations, and Conclusions are NOT required for assignment 1.
Assignment Requirements and Report structure details FOR ASSIGNMENT 2:
As the consultant, your brief is to advise your clients on the possibilities that would best suit their requirements. You do this by writing a non-technical report that addresses the questions raised in the Case Study Questions and making full use of the references you identified in assignment 1 plus four more scholarly references, making a minimum total of ten references.
Note that your use of the references should fully incorporate any feedback received from assignment 1 assessment. For example, if a reference was marked as inappropriate in assignment 1, then that reference cannot be used in assignment 2. You must select a new reference to replace the inappropriate one. Assignment 1 will not be marked again so do not re-submit it – the replacement reference(s) will be marked on its merits in assignment 2 with no further opportunity to change it.
The four additional references required in assignment 2 must be scholarly references only, and must be selected to support your discussion in the same manner as those selected in the first assignment. You may use more references if you wish to do so, provided they are appropriate and appropriately used.
Use appropriate headings in your report, but do not present your discussion in question/answer format.
As stated in the first assignment, some websites are not acceptable as reference sources. These include general encyclopaedic sites such as Wikipedia, and the numerous student study sites that publish papers in various school or university study categories.
The report must include the following sections in the order shown:
• Title Page -- must include: assignment title, a suitable report title, your name and student number, course code and name, term and year, name of your tutor, due date, and the date submitted. Place title page on its own page. Place this on its own page.
• Executive Summary (state the purpose of the report, summarise your major findings, conclusions, and explicitly state your specific recommendations.) Place this on its own page.
• Introduction (identify the purpose of the report and what will happen in the report, no need to have further sub-headings within ‘Introduction’ heading).
• Discussion (This is where you will address the Case Questions, using your own words in a discussion style, but supported by your references. Use suitable headings and sub-headings.
• Summary and Recommendations (brief wrap-up of your major points, and then based on your discussion and analyses, state explicitly what your recommendations are).
• References (a complete reference list at the end of the report using Harvard referencing style – refer to the Harvard reference guide available from course website). Place this on its own page.
Other formatting details
• Headers (Assignment title, centred, and page number, right aligned)
• Footers (student ID and your last name, left aligned, and course code/term/year, right aligned)
• Text formatting (Times New Roman, 12pt., single-spaced. You may also make use of appropriate emphasis such as bold, italics, and underscore)
• Paragraph formatting (left aligned, single spaced and 6 pt space after each paragraph)
• Page formatting (should be in A4, portrait orientation, with 2.54cm margin all around).
• Header and footer should start from the page containing ‘Introduction’ heading. Use section breaks to control this.
• Headings and sub-headings should not be in number or bullet style.
Notes:
• The assignment will be marked on the criteria listed in the marking guides that can be found on the course website. Use these marking guides to ensure that you haven’t forgotten anything.
• Do not discuss hardware and software specifications, such as memory or response times etc. Remember you must focus on addressing the concerns of management as detailed in the Case Study Questions, in a way that is understandable by non-technical managers.
• Make any assumptions that you find necessary; however, be sure to state your assumptions within the report.
• There is no fixed “correct” solution for the report. It is possible for students to make different recommendations. What is crucial is that the argument presented is logical and consistent, and clearly addresses the questions that were raised.
• The work submitted must be in your own words. Lengthy quotes, even if referenced correctly, are not considered to be your own work. Direct quotes should not form more than 40% of the report.