Holmes Institute
Higher Education
Unit Outline

Staff Contact Details

*Other consultation times by appointment only.
Key Dates

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Unit Description
This capstone unit offers students an opportunity to engage in collaborative teamwork and apply the
knowledge they have acquired throughout the MIS course to a contemporary project. The project, tailored
to the student’s chosen specialisation, can take the form of a research-based investigation that yields best
practices and problem-solving recommendations, or an IS project that results in a functional solution such as
software or an online tool. By successfully completing this unit, students will acquire the necessary expertise
and understanding to undertake significant research and be able to devise theoretical or practical solutions.
The research group will be responsible for developing a research proposal, outlining research methods,
conducting a comprehensive literature analysis, deriving meaningful conclusions, and presenting a final
report or demonstrating a functional solution. As the project nears completion, each group member will
engage in self-reflection, evaluating their personal learning journey as well as their experience as a member
of the team.
Unit Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
1. Evaluate and apply theoretical and practical skills on issues relevant to the chosen area of practice
and operate effectively as a member of a team;
2. Identify research gaps, formulate problem statement, define system requirements and devise a
project plan;
3. Critically analyse relevant knowledge and be able to comment on the technical merits and
limitations of published work;
4. Develop a theoretical or practical solution, and present findings supported by evidence and sound
interpretation of results;
5. Evaluate, assess and communicate both personal and the team’s progress and learning to a diverse
range of audience;
Unit Learning Resources
Prescribed text
None
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Additional Learning
• Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D, 2023, Research Design – International Student Edition: Qualitative,
Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 6th ed, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
• Neuman, W. L. 2018. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 8th edition.
Pearson Education Limited.
• William, T., James, P. and Arora, K. 2017. Research Methods: The Essential Knowledge Base. Cengage
India.
• See the ‘Unit Resources’ section on Blackboard for more learning materials.
Recommended reading
Holmes Online Lecture Notes/Slides
PowerPoint slides in PDF format will be available on Blackboard in the relevant topic’s folder on Blackboard.
Holmes Online Readings/Tutorial Activities
These will also be available in the relevant topic’s folder on Blackboard.
Assessment Details
In order to pass this Unit, you must:
• Achieve an overall percentage of 50% of the assessments
ASSESSMENT 1: STATUS REPORTS

ASSESSMENT 1: DESCRIPTION
Purpose:
A number of status reports are required to be produced each group throughout the semester to document
progress. Each student is expected to assist the team to achieve its goals by accepting and completing a
reasonable share of the tasks and activities necessary to produce a functional project. Part of these
responsibilities includes actively contributing to the administration of the team. The group can only be
awarded marks for status reports if they: a) submit report on time, and b) discuss progress in class.
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ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL

ASSESSMENT 2: DESCRIPTION
Purpose:
The research team will develop a complete proposal in their chosen project including research question(s),
problem statement, research methods and project plan. While suggestions for projects will be provided by
Unit Coordinator, it is the responsibility of the students to determine the problem to be solved. All team
members must be actively involved in writing of the proposal. See the Assessment Document in Blackboard
for further information.
ASSESSMENT 3: FINAL REPORT

ASSESSMENT 3: DESCRIPTION
Purpose:
The final report provides detailed information on the conduct of research, research methods, literature
review, problem solution and analysis and interpretation of results. Students doing a research project will
produce best practice or recommendations in relation to their research problem, while students doing an IS
project will deliver and describe a working solution. See the Assessment Document in Blackboard for further
information.
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ASSESSMENT 4: PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION

ASSESSMENT 4: DESCRIPTION
Purpose:
Each team (including ALL students) will present their final solution. In a research-based project the group
will report on the conduct of the research, data collection and the analysis and interpretation of results.
Groups undertaking an IS project will be required to perform a demonstration of their solution as part of
the presentation. See the Assessment Document in Blackboard for further information.
ASSESSMENT 5: SELF-REFLECTION JOURNAL

ASSESSMENT 5: DESCRIPTION
Purpose:
Each student will submit a journal that documents, reviews, and evaluates their contribution and
experiences in being a part of the project team.
Assessment Submission
• All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover
Page.
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, 1.5 spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four
sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference
list, all using Harvard referencing style.
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Ensure the report is checked for plagiarism using SafeAssign. Please read the academic integrity statement
included in this document. Consult your lecturer if you are unsure or you require clarification about
academic integrity.
Extensions and Special Consideration
If circumstances beyond your control will prevent you from submitting an assignment by the due date or
your performance has been impacted by circumstances outside your control, then you should apply for
Special Consideration through Student Services as soon as you become aware of the problem. You may be
allowed to do the task at another time or may give you an extension of up to two weeks or have yours marks
adjusted.
Assignment Extensions are normally only approved when students apply before the due date. Student
Services may ask you to supply supporting documentation about the difficulties you are facing, and evidence
of the work you have completed so far.
Note that work that is submitted late without an approved extension will be subject to a marking penalty, or
may not be marked at all. Details of the penalties can be found in the Higher Education Student Handbook at
https://www.holmes.edu.au/pages/about/policies
Academic Integrity
Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic Integrity is integral
to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates. Accordingly, all assessment tasks
need to comply with academic integrity guidelines. Table 1 identifies the six categories of Academic Integrity
breaches. If you have any questions about Academic Integrity issues related to your assessment tasks, please
consult your lecturer or tutor for relevant referencing guidelines and support resources. Many of these
resources can also be found through the Study Sills link on Blackboard.
Academic Integrity breaches are a serious offence punishable by penalties that may range from deduction of
marks, failure of the assessment task or unit involved, suspension of course enrolment, or cancellation of
course enrolment.
Table 1: Six categories of Academic Integrity Breaches

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Source: INQAAHE, 2020
Holmes Institute Academic Integrity and Conduct Policy can be found at
https://www.holmes.edu.au/pages/about/policies
Supplementary Assessment
Supplementary Assessment is available to students in this module if a student who has met each of the
following conditions:
1. The student has achieved a minimum grade of 40% and less than 50% in the unit involved in the
supplementary assessment application;
2. The student’s name has not been recorded in the Academic Misconduct Register in relation to the unit
of the supplementary assessment for which they are currently enrolled;
3. The student will be informed by Faculty of a supplementary assessment within ten (10) working days
of results being released;
4. A supplementary assessment cannot be deferred unless there are compelling and compassionate
circumstances; and
5. A student who attempts a supplementary assessment will not be able receive a total mark higher than
50% for that unit.
More details can be found in the Assessment Policy and Procedure – Higher Education at
https://www.holmes.edu.au/pages/about/policies.
Assessment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing
Holmes will be implementing a revised Harvard approach to referencing. The following rules apply:
1. Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources that provide full-text access to the
source’s content for lecturers and markers.
2. The reference list must be located on a separate page at the end of the essay and titled:
“References”.
3. The reference list must include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged A-Z
alphabetically by author surname with each reference numbered (1 to 10, etc.) and each
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reference MUST include a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference source. For
example:
4. All assignments must include in-text citations to the listed references. These must include
the surname of the author/s or name of the authoring body, year of publication, page
number of the content, and paragraph where the content can be found. For example, “The
company decided to implement an enterprise-wide data warehouse business intelligence
strategies (Hawking et al., 2004, p3(4)).”
Non-Adherence to Referencing Rules
Where students do not follow the above rules:
1. For students who submit assignments that do not comply with the rules, a 10% penalty will
be applied.
2. As per the Student Handbook, late penalties will apply each day after the student/s has been
notified of the resubmission requirements.
3. Students who comply with rules and the citations are “fake” will be reported for academic
misconduct.
1. Hawking, P., McCarthy, B. & Stein, A. 2004. Second Wave ERP Education, Journal of
Information Systems Education, Fall, http://jise.org/Volume15/n3/JISEv15n3p327.pdf
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Unit Calendar
Please note, the sequence of some topics may change due to staff availability, resourcing, or due to unforeseen circumstances.

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