31265 Communication for IT Professionals
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 48230 Introduction to Engineering Projects
Description
This subject develops students' professional information technology practice skills within the context of a real-life technology project, through the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge. Students work in teams to create an appropriate design solution for a given problem as set out in the EWB Challenge Design Brief. While appreciating the central role of effective communication and teamwork in IT practice, students develop an understanding of the ethical, social, cultural, economic and environmental responsibilities of an IT professional. This subject is a starting point for students' ongoing professional development that they undertake throughout their studies and as an IT professional in their career.
The skills introduced include understanding and applying principles and theories of human communication; researching the various discipline areas that inform the development of a design solution; identifying, formulating and designing a solution to solve a problem while considering ethical and socio-technical issues; written and oral communication for IT contexts; expressing technology concepts through visual communication; and, leading and participating in team processes.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Demonstrate an awareness of Indigenous Australian cultural, historic, and contemporary contexts in order to inform work in a complex project. (A.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Identify stakeholder needs and ethical considerations through the empathise design stage. (B.1) |
| 3. | Apply a design thinking approach to meet stakeholder needs. (C.1) |
| 4. | Communicate an evidence-based design solution for an IT or engineering project. (E.1) |
| 5. | Explain how different experiences of a diverse team work together to achieve a design solution. (E.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Indigenous Professional Capability: FEIT graduates are culturally and historically well informed, able to co-design projects as respectful professionals when working in and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. (A.1)
- Socially Responsible: FEIT graduates identify, engage, interpret and analyse stakeholder needs and cultural perspectives, establish priorities and goals, and identify constraints, uncertainties and risks (social, ethical, cultural, legislative, environmental, economics etc.) to define the system requirements. (B.1)
- Design Oriented: FEIT graduates apply problem solving, design and decision-making methodologies to develop components, systems and processes to meet specified requirements. (C.1)
- Collaborative and Communicative: FEIT graduates work as an effective member or leader of diverse teams, communicating effectively and operating within cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural contexts in the workplace. (E.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
Each week students are expected to prepare for tutorials by completing a set of online tasks provided on Canvas. The tasks involve such activities as reading and notetaking, watching a video, completing a quiz, and other online exercises. Responses to the pre-class tasks are used in online classes to add depth to discussion and are an essential component to the concepts covered throughout the subject are used in-class to add depth to discussion and are an essential component to the concepts covered throughout the subject. In addition, students will go through the stages of writing a project report, culminating in a final report describing their proposal for the EWB project.
During online/ face to face tutorials, students will build on the pre-work to learn new skills. These skills will be practiced in class and are designed to be relevant to the tasks involved in the EWB challenge team project. Areas of learning in tutorial classes include problem solving, team building, exploring scenarios with a focus on ethics, project management, design and build, reflection and group discussion. Activities support acquisition of professional information technology skills in a small group setting under the supervision of a tutor; these skills relate directly to your major group EWB project.
OPELA: An aim of this subject is to help you develop academic and professional language and communication skills in order to succeed at university and in the workplace. To determine your current academic language proficiency, you are required to complete an online language screening task, OPELA. If you receive a Basic grade for OPELA, you must attend additional Language Development Tutorials (each week from weeks 3 to 12) in order to pass the subject. The development of these tutorials is a new university-wide initiative designed to provide personalised support and enhance students’ English language skills. They will focus on developing your communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) and your independent learning skills, which will help you to prepare for the subject assessment tasks and for professional workplace communication tasks.
Content (topics)
- Design process
- Finding, evaluating and referencing information
- Academic integrity
- Ethics relating to IT issues
- Consideration of indigenous stakeholders knowledge, culture and needs
- Effective written, visual and oral communication
- Teamwork processes and participation
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Individual Background Report
| Intent: | To develop report writing skills based on finding, evaluating and referencing information relevant to the team project and to develop understanding of the Indigenous Australian context of the project. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | 750 words (10% tolerance) excluding references |
Assessment task 2: EWB Challenge Team Report
| Intent: | To investigate a complex problem in an Indigenous Australian context and communicate an evidence-based design solution. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 45% |
| Length: | Final Report 5000 words (excluding title page, executive summary, table of contents, reference list and appendices). |
Assessment task 3: EWB Challenge Team Presentation
| Intent: | To investigate a complex problem in an Indigenous Australian context and present an evidence-based design solution |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Final Presentation 20-minutes with at least 3-minutes per speaker. |
Minimum requirements
In order to pass the subject, a student must achieve an overall mark of 50% or more.
Students are required to participate in the team forming activities in the Week 2 tutorial and self-allocate to a team by the end of Week 4. As per UTS Student Rule 3.8, Students who are not in a team by the end of Week 4 may be refused permission to attempt Assessment Tasks 2 and 3 and a fail will be recorded for the subject.
Assessment Tasks 2 and 3 are based on the same project work and thus present the same project in alternate ways, therefore, students are expected to significantly contribute to BOTH tasks. As it is unreasonable to present work that you did not contribute to students who do not meet the minimum standard for individual contribution to the project and/or Assessment Task 2 will be refused permission to attempt Assessment Task 3. As per UTS Student Rule 3.8 a fail will be recorded for both tasks and the subject.
It is a requirement of this subject that all students complete OPELA. Students who received a Basic grade in the OPELA test are required to attend 80% of the Language Development Tutorials in order to pass the subject. Please see the UTS Student Rules Section 3.8. Students who do not complete these requirements will have their grade withheld until such time as they complete them.
References
Some recommended readings for this subject and other readings, internet sites and resources will be listed on Canvas.
An important objective of this subject is to ensure that you are capable of finding and sharing relevant information on a variety of topics, so we will expect you to be resourceful (and ethical) in searching and retrieving information for your communication assignments.
Other resources
Canvas Canvas is a web-based communication package that can be accessed from most web browsers from inside or outside the university. All online materials and programs required to complete the subject are available under 31265 Communication for IT Professionals. Students will need to login using their UTS ID and password. Students will be expected to use Canvas to access:
- Weekly pre-class tasks and online materials
- Submission of assessment tasks
- Weekly announcements for the subject
- Self and peer evaluation software
- 'Learning resources' for in-class activities, team project, and self-study
- Information and marking guides (rubrics) for assessment tasks.