The information technology (IT) industry is globally interconnected. In many large software development projects work is distributed across sites in different countries. IT professionals are expected to be able to work collaboratively in team environments that have members from many different language and cultural backgrounds.
In this course students will gain experience of the work practices in another country. They will be exposed to work styles, ethics, language, and cultural issues that will help them to be more effective in global software development projects.
This course is offered on an occasional basis. The course availability, and details of the program, will be advertised to students early in the semester prior to the planned trip. Students will be required to submit an application for approval to enrol in this course. For information about how to enrol in this course, please email; studentenquiries@eecs.uq.edu.au
International Software Development provides an opportunity to travel to China during the winter break (22 June to 22 July 2025). You will spend approximately four weeks at the Dalian Neusoft University of Information (DNUI). You will take part in an innovation and entrepreneurship program. This includes a series of lectures and learning activities on innovation, market and competition analysis, and business plan development. You will work in a multi-cultural team to identify a market opportunity and develop a prototype of an IT system to take advantage of the opportunity. There will be lectures and learning activities on software development and AI topics to support your project work. During the program you will participate in a stream of Chinese language and culture lectures and activities. The language used throughout the program is English.
You will gain knowledge about, and experience in applying, innovation techniques and recognising opportunities. Through your innovation project, you will gain a greater awareness of how culture impacts on the nature of opportunities and on the practices employed in developing IT solutions. You will develop an in-depth understanding of Chinese culture and aspects of Chinese business practices.
There will be many opportunities for informal interaction with local Chinese students to gain a greater appreciation of Chinese culture and the Chinese education system.
You must pass a merit based competitive application process to be eligible to enrol in this course. (The course coordinator richard.thomas@uq.edu.au can advise you of your potential eligibility.) The program is supported by an Australian government New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility grant. The grant will award $4000 Australian dollars to successful applicants who are Australian citizens. This money may be used for your travel expenses. Students who are not Australian citizens are eligible to apply to participate in this program but are not eligible for any grant money.
You are to organise and pay for your flights to China and any internal travel you wish to make in China. Accommodation in Dalian will be in the international student dormitory at DNUI. Payment for accommodation and the program fees are to be made in person at DNUI.
Students enrolled in this course must have gone through the competitive application process. Those seeking funding through the New Colombo Plan (NCP) mobility grant, must satisfy the eligibility requirements of the grant guidelines.
Students are expected to have an interest in building innovative, practical software systems. Students are expected to be comfortable with programming and software development activities. Students are expected to be interested in cross-cultural experiences.
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
(CSSE1001 or ENGG1001) and Permission of Head of School
We recommend completing the following courses before enrolling in this one:
COMP2140 or CSSE2002 or DECO2300
Permission Head of School, contact the School for permission to enrol.
Richard Thomas may be contacted via WeChat. His WeChat id is AppleByter. A WeChat group will be created for this trip. A QR code to join the group will be provided prior to departure.
Richard Thomas will be available for on-line consultation via WeChat or in-person. Please contact him directly to arrange a consultation time.
Richard Thomas' mobile number in China is +86 189 4029 3473.
This course is offered in intensive mode at the Dalian Neusoft University of Information from June 23 to July 18. The trip includes an excursion to Shanghai from July 19 to 22. You are required to take part in all activities listed in the program schedule. This includes on-campus activities at DNUI and excursions.
Consequently, you must arrive in Dalian before June 23 and may not depart Shanghai until the morning of July 22. Accommodation may be available at the DNUI international student dormitory for a few days before the program. If you are arriving before June 22, please contact Richard Thomas to check on the availability of accommodation. If you are departing Shanghai after July 22, please let Richard Thomas know of your departure date.
This course aims to improve students’ ability to work in a multi-cultural environment through an intensive immersion in an overseas culture and working environment.
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Code, Practical/ Demonstration, Presentation, Product/ Design, Project |
Initial Prototype Demonstration
|
Pass / Fail |
3/07/2025 - 9/07/2025
The demonstration will be conducted in-person during class time. Your entire team should be at the presentation. Only one or two people are required to make the presentation, but any team member may be asked questions related to the project. |
| Reflection | Project Retrospective | Pass / Fail |
7/07/2025 4:00 pm |
| Computer Code, Presentation, Product/ Design, Project |
Final Demonstration and Business Case
|
Pass / Fail |
18/07/2025
The presentation will take place in a formal scheduled presentation session at DNUI. |
| Participation/ Student contribution |
Team Collaboration
|
Pass / Fail |
23/06/2025 - 18/07/2025
Assessed throughout the project. |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
3/07/2025 - 9/07/2025
The demonstration will be conducted in-person during class time. Your entire team should be at the presentation. Only one or two people are required to make the presentation, but any team member may be asked questions related to the project.
Teams will present the current state of their prototype at the end of the first development sprint. The presentation will include a demonstration of the prototype's current functionality. The presentation should highlight the value delivered at this stage and what you plan to deliver by the end of the next sprint. All project artefacts that make up the prototype need to be committed and pushed to your repository. The commit of the work demonstrated is to be tagged as "prototype" in your repository.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT)
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst you may use AI and MT technologies in developing your prototype, successful completion of assessment in this course will require you to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which AI will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. You must include in your repository a file AI.md that indicates the AI and MT tools that you used and the extent of their use. (e.g. All code was written by providing copilot with class descriptions and then revising the generated code. Classes A and B were produced by the following prompts to ChatGPT and were then adapted to work in the assignment's context.)
To pass this assessment you will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of your submitted project artefacts, independent of AI and MT tools.
Submission of prototype artefacts is through the project source repository created for your team. You must have given the course coordinator access to your repository.
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment. All presentations are scheduled around class activities. In the context of an intensive-mode course, an extension for the demonstration may have significant negative impacts on other students in the team.
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
As a pass / fail assessment, any late penalty will turn passing work to failing work. All presentations are scheduled around class activities. In the context of an intensive-mode course, late delivery of the demonstration may have significant negative impacts on other students in the team.
7/07/2025 4:00 pm
You will conduct a retrospective with your project team. You are to identify issues in your current development process and practices. You should determine which of the processes or practices need to be changed during the next sprint in order to successfully deliver your intended prototype. You need to decide on concrete, practical actions you will do during the next sprint to deliver the improvements.
You should not be overly ambitious in what you decide to change in your process or practices. You are expected to identify more issues than you can resolve in the next sprint. You should focus on those changes that will provide the greatest improvement to how your team works together.
Machine Translation (MT) may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of MT in each instance.
Use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this task is prohibited.
A failure to reference MT use and / or the use of generative AI may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission via the link provided on BlackBoard.
The retrospective document should be less than 500 words in length. About half of the document should identify issues that you have identified. The other half of the document should outline specific plans for improvement for one to three significant issues you have identified.
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
The retrospective identifies issues to improve within your team. A late submission of your retrospective, in the context of an intensive-mode course, means that you will not be able to implement the identified changes.
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
Assessment items received after a one-hour grace period will receive a failing grade.
18/07/2025
The presentation will take place in a formal scheduled presentation session at DNUI.
Teams will give a formal presentation of the business case for their enterprise. The business case is to be presented as a pitch to potential angel investors. The presentation should include a demonstration of your product prototype, with an emphasis on convincing investors of its value. You do not have time to provide an extended demonstration of your prototype or a detailed explanation of all its features. You need to make the demonstration a story that demonstrates the key value delivered by the product and why your target audience would want to use it.
In accordance with UQ assessment policy, your presentation will be recorded.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT)
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst you may use AI and MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require you to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which AI will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. You must include in your repository a file AI.md that indicates the AI and MT tools that you used and the extent of their use. (e.g. All code was written by providing copilot with class descriptions and then revising the generated code. Classes A and B were produced by the following prompts to ChatGPT and were then adapted to work in the assignment's context.)
To pass this assessment you will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of your project and its business case, independent of AI and MT tools.
The presentation will be made to an assessment panel and other students. The presentation may be lived streamed.
All project artefacts that make up the final prototype need to be committed and pushed to your repository. This should include a links.md file that contains links to any large artefacts (e.g. videos). The commit of the work demonstrated is to be tagged as "final" in your repository.
Presentation resources (e.g. slide show and/or videos) should be uploaded to the link provided on BlackBoard.
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
The presentation takes place at a fixed time to a panel of experts. It is not possible to make the presentation at another time.
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
The presentation takes place at a fixed time to a panel of experts. It is not possible to make a late presentation.
23/06/2025 - 18/07/2025
Assessed throughout the project.
The learning outcomes for this course are developed and demonstrated through your team's project work. Your effectiveness as a team member will have a direct impact on what you learn and achieve in this course. Your individual contribution to the teamwork and processes will be assessed to determine if you have achieved the course outcomes of communicating and working effectively in a cross-cultural environment to deliver an innovative IT system.
You will be assessed by observation of the teaching team.
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Assessment is of your participation in the project, which has a fixed deadline with no extension. It is not possible to extend the submission of your participation in the project.
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
Assessment is of your participation in the project, which has a fixed deadline with no extension. It is not possible to make a late contribution to the project.
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Pass/Fails | Description |
|---|---|
| P |
Course grade description: Engages in the process of developing a software system in a multi-cultural team environment. Demonstrates professional communication skills in a multi-culture team environment, communicating goals and expectations, and negotiating project outcomes. Demonstrates the ability to build a software system that meets key project goals. Demonstrates adequate understanding and application of the fundamental concepts of the field of study; develops routine arguments or decisions and provides acceptable justification; communicates information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. Students must pass the team collaboration assessment and at least two of the group assessments to achieve a passing grade for the course. |
| F |
Course grade description: A student who does not engage in the process of developing a software system in a multi-cultural team environment. Or, a student who does not demonstrate professional communication skills in a multi-culture team environment, and who is unable to communicate goals, expectations or negotiate project outcomes. Or a student who does not demonstrate the ability to build a software system that meets key project goals. Or a student who fails to demonstrate most or all of the basic requirements of the course or does not attend or participate in the scheduled activities of the course. Or a student who demonstrates clear deficiencies in understanding and applying fundamental concepts; communicates information or ideas in ways that are frequently incomplete or confusing and gives little attention to the conventions of the discipline. Or a student who demonstrates superficial or partial or faulty understanding of the fundamental concepts of the field of study and limited ability to apply these concepts; presents undeveloped or inappropriate or unsupported arguments; communicates information or ideas with lack of clarity and inconsistent adherence to the conventions of the discipline. |
Supplementary assessment is not available for this course.
All learning objectives relate to working in a multi-cultural team environment. It is not possible to assess these learning objectives on an individual basis outside of the course activities.
If you have any concerns during the NCP program, please raise these with Richard Thomas (richard.thomas@uq.edu.au). Please make use of the course WeChat group and the local DNUI students for help in China. If you have any concerns about the course, please raise these in the first instance with Richard Thomas, or with the Director of Teaching & Learning for EECS (director-tl@eecs.uq.edu.au).
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Students are expected to be self-sufficient learners who will discover resources that are appropriate for their project context. They can ask for help from the course teaching team and other students.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
Program Fee |
A fee of either 14,000 or 15,000 RMB will be paid to directly to DNUI to cover the cost of administering this program, conducting classes and workshops, providing cultural activities and tours, and your accommodation for the duration of the program. The fee of 14,000 RMB is for twin share accommodation in Dalian. The fee of 15,000 RMB is for single room accommodation in Dalian. Students who have an NCP Mobility grant may make use of their grant to pay this fee. |
Flights |
You must organise and pay for your flights from Brisbane to Dalian and from Shanghai to Brisbane, to take part in this program. Students who have an NCP Mobility grant may make use of the remainder of their grant to pay for their flights. |
Meals |
You are responsible for organising and paying for all meals during the program, aside from meals that are part of an activity in the program. Students who have an NCP Mobility grant may make use of the remainder of their grant to cover the cost of meals. |
Incidentals |
You are responsible for paying for all incidental costs that you incur during the program. (e.g. taxi or public transport fees, tour fees, souvenirs, ...) Students who have an NCP Mobility grant may make use of the remainder of their grant to cover these costs. |
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 5 |
Applied Class |
Program Orientation Start-up China Program This is an intensive program to develop your ability to work in a multi-cultural team to deliver an innovative software product. Program activities and their times are indicated in the provided program schedule. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
All project activities take place on the DNUI campus. Some cultural activities will take place off campus. The activities occur daily throughout the program, including most Saturdays.
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
You'll also need to be aware of the following policies and procedures while completing this course:
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course:
As an intensive mode course, continuous engagement in the learning activities is required to pass the course. If any issues are impacting on your ability to participate in some learning activities, it is critical that you discuss these issues with the course coordinator as soon as possible.