This unit covers problems with paper-based and on-line documentation; types of technical documentation used in software engineering; the role of various different forms of technical documentation in the software development process; document specifications; the context of technical writing; the writing process (analysis, planning, generation, testing, revision and maintenance of written texts); document publication techniques (such SGML, LaTeX, and/or XML); the role of hypertext, hypermedia and markup languages in technical documentation; small-volume and large-volume hypertext; collaborative hypertext; intelligent hypertext.
Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:
(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:
(b.) Additional requirements (all students):
CSE1305, CSE1402
Robyn McNamara
Consultation hours: The lab classes and the Moodle discussion forum are the primary places for communication. Other consultation time will be announced on Moodle.
Andre Oboler
Resmi Hasankolli
Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.
For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:
www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html
This year the unit will be updated to cover modern web documentation standards such as CSS2.
If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp
| Week | Activities | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0 | |
| 1 | Introduction to Technical Documentation | |
| 2 | Register, tone, and audience: understanding the context of writing | |
| 3 | Documentation standards | |
| 4 | Documenting the software development process | |
| 5 | Introduction to XML and XSLT | |
| 6 | Single-source document production | Assignment 1 |
| 7 | Documenting requirements: elicitation, analysis, and traceability | |
| 8 | Documenting software design and architecture | |
| 9 | Documenting implementation: writing for your peers | Assignment 2 |
| 10 | Documentation and quality assurance | |
| 11 | Writing for technical and nontechnical audiences | |
| 12 | Working with technical writers | Assignment 3 |
| SWOT VAC | No formal assessment is undertaken in SWOT VAC | |
| Examination period | LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/ academic/education/assessment/ assessment-in-coursework-policy.html |
*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.
Examination (2 hours): 50%; In-semester assessment: 50%
| Assessment Task | Value | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | 15% | Friday of Week 6 |
| Assignment 2 | 15% | Friday of Week 8 |
| Assignment 3 | 20% | Friday of Week 12 |
| Examination 1 | 50% | To be advised |
Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/assessment-hurdles.html)
Academic Integrity - Please see resources and tutorials at http://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/academic-integrity/
Work will be assessed for:
Students will work in small teams or pairs, and will be expected to keep track of the amount of work done by each team member. Each team member will achieve the same mark unless the evidence presented shows a substantial disparity in effort or achievement.
Work will be assessed for:
Students will work in small teams or pairs, and will be expected to keep track of the amount of work done by each team member. Each team member will achieve the same mark unless the evidence presented shows a substantial disparity in effort or achievement.
Students will be expected to apply the policies and practices outlined in their team's Project Management Plan, unless they have the consent of the lecturer.
Work will be assessed for:
Students will work in small teams or pairs, and will be expected to keep track of the amount of work done by each team member. Each team member will achieve the same mark unless the evidence presented shows a substantial disparity in effort or achievement.
Students will be expected to apply the policies and practices outlined in their team's Project Management Plan, unless they have the consent of the lecturer.
Roger S. Pressman and David Lowe, Web Engineering - A Practitioner's approach, McGraw-Hill, 2009Cowan C., XML in Technical Communication, ISTC Books, 2008.
Ebner M., XML-driven Technical Documentation - Advantages of XML-Centered Information Handling, VDM Verlag, 2008.
Glushko R.J. & McGrath T. Document Engineering, MIT Press, 2008.
Carey P. New Perspectives on creating web pages with HTML, XHTML, and XML, 3rd Ed., Cengage Learning Australia.
Holzner S., XML - Go beyond basics with Ajax, XHTML, XPath 2.0, XSLT 2.0 & XQuery, McGraw-Hill, 2009.
Fowler M. UML Distilled, 3rd Ed., Pearson Education, 2003.
Technical Communication in the 21st Century, Prentice Hall.
W Strunk & EB White (2000) Elements of Style. Longman.HW Fowler, Modern English Usage. (Editions up to 1933, but not after.)
William Knowlton Zinsser (2001) On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction. Quill Press
George Orwell (2003) Politics and the English Language, in Shooting an Elephant: And Other Essays. Penguin Books Ltd.
Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html
Faculty of Information Technology Style Guide
Examination/other end-of-semester assessment feedback may take the form of feedback classes, provision of sample answers or other group feedback after official results have been published. Please check with your lecturer on the feedback provided and take advantage of this prior to requesting individual consultations with staff. If your unit has an examination, you may request to view your examination script booklet, see http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/procedures/request-to-view-exam-scripts.html
Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:
Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced.
You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html
Assigments cannot be resubmitted.
All sources used must be referenced using either the Chicago or the Harvard citation convention.
See Monash link for Citing and Referencing: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/
It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an online quiz). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.
If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.
Please check with your lecturer before purchasing any Required Resources. Limited copies of prescribed texts are available for you to borrow in the library, and prescribed software is available in student labs.
Software:
The software required will be available in the University computer labs, including: LaTeX, Texmaker, Firefox, SVN, and text editors.
Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html
Key educational policies include:
Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/
The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need advice and see the range of services available at http://www.monash.edu.au/students. For Malaysia see http://www.monash.edu.my/Student-services, and for South Africa see http://www.monash.ac.za/current/.
The Monash University Library provides a range of services, resources and programs that enable you to save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to www.lib.monash.edu.au or the library tab in my.monash portal for more information. At Malaysia, visit the Library and Learning Commons at http://www.lib.monash.edu.my/. At South Africa visit http://www.lib.monash.ac.za/.