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 (June 16ﾠto July 16, 2024). You will spendﾠappoximately four weeks at the Dalian Neusoft University of Information (DNUI). You will take part in an innovation and entrepreneurship program. This will include a series of lectures and learning activities on innovation, market and competition analysis, and business plan development.ﾠYou will work in a multi-cultural team to identify a market opportunity and to develop a prototype of an IT system to take advantage of the opportunity.ﾠThere will be lectures and learning activities on software development and AI topics to support your project work. You will visit start-up companies in the Dalian High Tech zone. During the course you will also participate in a stream of Chinese language and culture lectures and activities.ﾠThe 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 School of EECS Office at studentenquiries@eecs.uq.edu.au can advise you of your potential eligibility.) Support is available from the Australian government via a New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility grant. This grant will award $4000 Australian dollars to successful applicants who are Australian citizens. This money may be used for your travel expenses. 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 cash at DNUI.44
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 will be available for on-line consultation via the WeChat. A WeChat group will be created for this trip. A QR code to join the chat will be provided prior to departure.
Richard Thomas will be available for in-person consultation in Dalian from late June to July 12, as well as on the optional excursion to Beijing from July 13 to 16.
This course is offered in intensive mode at the Dalian Neusoft University of Information from June 17 to July 12. The trip includes an excursion to Beijing from July 13 to 16. 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 17 and may not depart Beijing until the morning of July 16 at the earliest. Accommodation may be available at the DNUI international student dormitory for a few days before the program. If you are arriving before June 16, please contact Richard Thomas to check on the availability of accommodation. If you are departing Beijing after July 16, 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.
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Communicate goals and expectations in a cross-cultural environment to negotiate project outcomes.
LO2.
Develop IT systems that deliver solutions that are suitable for a global audience.
LO3.
Work in a cross-cultural team to deliver an IT system.
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Code, Practical/ Demonstration, Presentation, Product/ Design, Project |
Initial Prototype Demonstration
|
Pass / Fail |
26/06/2024 - 4/07/2024
The prototype demonstration will take place within the scheduled class activities at DNUI. |
| Reflection |
Project Retrospective
|
Pass / Fail |
1/07/2024 4:00 pm |
| Computer Code, Presentation, Product/ Design, Project |
Final Demonstration and Business Case
|
Pass / Fail |
12/07/2024 |
| Participation/ Student contribution |
Team Collaboration
|
Must Pass |
17/06/2024 - 12/07/2024
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.
26/06/2024 - 4/07/2024
The prototype demonstration will take place within the scheduled class activities at DNUI.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1/07/2024 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 will give an informal oral report on these to the course coordinator.
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.
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.
As a pass / fail assessment, any late penalty will turn passing work to failing work.
12/07/2024
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.
The presentation will take place in a formal scheduled presentation session at DNUI. 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.
17/06/2024 - 12/07/2024
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 team work 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 | Cut off % | Description |
|---|---|---|
| P | 50 - 100 |
Course grade description: A student who 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 | 0 - 49 |
Course grade description: A student who does not engage in the process of developing an innovative software product in a multi-cultural team environment. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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 4 |
Team Based Learning |
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 learning activities take place on the DNUI campus. The activities occur daily throughout the program.
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: