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http://www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/directions.html) and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning.

To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. The University’s Unit Evaluation policy (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/unit-evaluation-policy.html) requires that every unit offered is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to “have their say”. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Faculties have the option of administering the Unit Evaluation survey online through the my.monash portal or in class. Lecturers will inform students of the method being used for this unit towards the end of the semester.

Student Evaluations

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/unit-evaluations/

Improvements to this unit

1. Introduce methods before constructors

2. Use Moodle instead of Blackboard as the Learning Management System

3. Provide more information and exercises related plagiarism - aim to reduce plagiarised code.

4.  Redevelop some of the tutorial and laboratory exercises to incorporate more testing and debugging of programs;

5. Lecture slides are revised to include one or two thinking activities each week

6. Some of the lab questions are revised to focus more specifically on testing of classes/ methods/ code and group work

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Mr Shane Moore
Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 26716

Lecturer(s) :

Mr Shane Moore
Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 26716

Additional communication information

The primary means of communication about unit topics is through the online discussion forum. For personal matters, please e-mail the Unit Advisor.

Teaching and learning method

This unit is offered in off-campus learning mode. Students will use the study guides made available to them and through the on-line support provided. Communication will be maintained with the distance learning students mainly via the discussion forum and if necessary through the phone and fax communication. 

Off-campus distributed learning or flexible delivery

Off-Campus students should treat the Study Guides (consisting of 11 modules, 1 per week) as their primary source for self-directed study. The modules contain text which is directed to leading you through thelearning for each week. Please read the welcome message in the StudyGuide Book for further detail.

Online Discussion Forums are provided for the primary purpose of enabling off-campus students to engage with each other, on campus students, and the lecturer in Australia. The lecturer will expect all students to read these forums at least twice per week. In the forums, you may ask questions about the topics or exercises of each module, or to clarify interpretation of assignment tasks and marking criteria.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic Study guide Key dates
1 Unit Administration and Introduction 1  
2 Algorithms, Variables and Data Types 2  
3 Using objects and classes, Math Class, String Class, Random Class and I/O 3  
4 Selection 4 Assignment 1 (10%) due Thursday Evening
5 Repetition 5  
6 User Defined Methods 6 Mid semester test (10%)
Mid semester break
7 Classes and Objects 7  
8 Class Anatomy; Constructors, mutators and accessors 8  
9 Object References and Static Class members 9 Assignment 2 (10%) Due Thursday Evening
10 Arrays (Part I) 10  
11 Arrays (Part II) 11  
12 Using multiple classes 11 Assignment 3 Due Wed 8th Oct (10%)
13 Exam Revision    

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Lewis J., DePasquale P., and Chase J.,  JAVA Foundations., Pearson Education, 2008, ISBN 0-321-48678-1

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Other useful/alternative references for this unit are:

Malik D.S., Java Programming - From Analysis to Design., Thomson Learning 2006, ISBN 0619216085

Robertson LA, Simple Program Design, 5th ed., Thomson/Nelson, 2007, ISBN 017010704-3

For student with advanced/prior programming skills:

Arnold K., Gosling J. & Holmes D., The Java Programming Language, Fourth Edition,  Addison-Wesley, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2006.   ISBN  0-321-34980-6  (paperback)

Required software and/or hardware

Java Development Kit, JDK 6 (Update 12 or later), Sun Microsystems, Inc.

There are a number of Integrated Development Environments available, such as:

Jcreator - jcreator LE v4.5 is a powerful IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Java and is strongly recommended for use to do this unit. It can be downloaded from the Web Site:

http://www.jcreator.com/

You should download the freeware version. You have no need for the fuller facilities provided in JcreatorPro, and would have to pay for it as well. See the installation instructions in Moodle.

Alternatives to JCreator:

jEdit - Text editor written in Java which can auto indent and provides syntax highlighting for more than 130 languages.

http://www.jedit.org/

BlueJ, Version 2.1.2 Programming Development Environment. Although available on CD, version 2.1.3 can be downloaded from

http://www.bluej.org

Eclipse (latest version) downloaded from

http://eclipse.org

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 5 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

  • A MUSO unit web site where lecture slides, weekly tutorial and practical requirements, assignment specifications, and supplementary material will be available
  • Discussion groups via MUSO for Off-Campus Learning (OCL) students.  The OCL students will liaise with their lecturer via the discussion board for assistance.
  • An electronic Unit Book containing the Study Guide Modules for the unit
  • This Unit Information outlining the administrative information for the unit

Additionally, students studying by Off-Campus Learning mode will receive:

  • A CD-ROM sent at the start of the year, with some of the required software for their units
  • Access to an electronic version of the Unit Book containing the Study Guide Modules for the unit.

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching.  To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.

The Educational Library and Media Resources (LMR) is also a very resourceful place to visit at http://www.education.monash.edu.au/library/

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle. If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle (http://moodle.monash.edu.au) and can bookmark this link to access directly. In Moodle, from the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal: http://my.monash.edu.au

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.

In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example:

  • Blackboard supported browser
  • Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by phone : (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Assessment

Unit assessment policy

The unit is assessed with three assignments, a one hour mid-semester test and a three hour closed book examination. To pass the unit you must pass each individual hurdle: 

  • 40% or more in the unit's examination and
  • 40% or more in the unit's non-examination assessment
     and
  • an overall unit mark of 50% or more
If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination assessment then a mark of no greater than 44-N will be recorded for the unit.

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 1 - JAVA basics

    Description :

    This assignment will aim to help you to develop programs in Java using classes and objects that are able to read input from the user and format output.  You will also learn to use classes and their methods that are available from the Java library.

    Weighting : 10%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Detailed assessment criteria will be issued along with the assignment.   

    Due date : Thursday 26 March

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 2

    Description :

    This assignment will require students to use the selection and iteration control structures with an object oriented framework.

    Weighting : 10%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Detailed assessment criteria will be issued along with the assignment.  

    Due date : Thursday 7 May

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 3

    Description :

    This assignment will require students to design a class that uses an array.

    Weighting : 10%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Detailed assessment criteria will be issued along with the assignment.  

    Due date : Sunday 31 May

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Mid-Semester Test

    Description :

    This unit will have a mid-semester test in week 6. The test will include all topics covered in lectures in weeks 1-5.

    The test will be conducted online for all distance-education students (details on how to do it will be given closer to the date).

    Weighting : 10%

    Criteria for assessment :

    This is assessed in the same way that end-of-semester exams are assessed. You get awarded points for correct elements to problems or for stating particular words that were being expected in the answer.

    Due date : Week 6

Examinations

  • Examination 1

    Weighting : 60%

    Length : 3 hours

    Type ( open/closed book ) : Closed book


Assignment submission

Assignments will need to be uploaded into the assignment submission tool within Moodle. Details will be included on assignment specification documents.

Multiple uploads will be allowed. The latest version uploaded will contain the work that is marked.

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer of this unit at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 5% per day, including weekends. Assignments received later than one week (seven days) after the due date will not normally be accepted. In some cases, this period may be shorter if there is a need to release sample solutions.

This policy is strict because comments or guidance will be given on assignments as they are returned, and sample solutions may also be published and distributed, after assignment marking or with the returned assignment.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with the University Plagiarism policy and procedure (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-procedures.html) which applies to students detected plagiarising.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.

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