3349 - Master of Information Technology (Honours)

The Master of Information Technology (Honours) is part of a program comprising three degrees: Master of Information Technology, Master of Information Technology Professional and Master of Information Technology (Honours).

The Master of Information Technology is a broad, flexible program for students who have a first qualification in a technical information technology field. Nine specialisations are offered within the degrees, although not all specialisations may be offered in any one year.

The Honours degree prepares students for doctoral level studies through study in research methods and a research project leading to a minor thesis in information technology.

The normal entry requirement is successful completion of a degree that is equivalent to an Australian bachelors degree in IT such as computing, computer science or a technical information technology field, and with a distinction average in third-year level IT units.

Grading

MIT (Hons) graduates will be awarded an overall honours grade for the degree (H1, H2A, H2B or H3).

The objectives of the Master of Information Technology (Honours) are to:

• provide students with knowledge and understanding of fundamental principles in the disciplinary areas that underpin the information technology field
• provide students with knowledge, understanding and experiences that transcend technologies and are robust over time so that students are well placed to deal with ongoing, rapid changes in the information technology field
• develop students' understanding of significant areas of information technology to a level of depth and sophistication consistent with senior professional practice
• enable students to complement their detailed studies of significant areas of information technology with elective study from a wide range of disciplines
• and prepare students for PhD study through research methods training and research leading to a minor thesis in information technology.

This course consists of 12 approved masters level units (72 points), plus a minor research thesis.

Areas of study

Students have the option of taking one or more specialisations in:

• data management
• digital communication*
• distributed and mobile systems
• intelligent systems
• internet and web application development
• multimedia systems*
• network computing
• security
• software engineering.

* Specialisation not available in 2009.

Students complete:

(i.) at least eight, level-five MIT units (48 points) chosen from the list below

(ii.) FIT4005 IT Research methods (6 points)

(iii.) a minor thesis (24 points)

(iv.) up to three elective units (18 points) approved by the course coordinator.

MIT units and specialisations

Students can choose units from all specialisations listed below to meet the course requirement. The transcripts will indicate students' specialisation(s) if they meet the requirement of the specialisation(s). All units are six points, unless otherwise specified.

Data management

• FIT5043 Distributed database
• FIT5059 Advanced programming for database applications
• FIT5166 Information retrieval systems
• FIT5168 Object and semi-structured database

Digital communication**

• ECE5012 Applied digital signal processing
• FIT5012 Data compression techniques
• FIT5162 Digital communications software
• FIT5173 Digital communications technology and protocols

Distributed and mobile systems

• FIT5031 Mobile software agents
• FIT5046 Mobile and distributed computing systems
• FIT5164 GRID computing
• FIT5170 Programming for distributed, parallel and mobile systems

Intelligent systems

• FIT5045 Knowledge discovery and data mining
• FIT5047 Intelligent systems
• FIT5167 Natural computation for intelligent systems
• FIT5169 Probabilistic expert systems

Internet and web application development

• FIT5030 Web services and service oriented computing
• FIT5032 Internet applications development
• FIT5041 Component technology for internet applications
• FIT5042 Enterprise application development for the web

Multimedia systems**

• FIT5012 Data compression techniques
• FIT5015 Advanced programming for multimedia entertainment
• FIT5084 Multimedia authoring and animation
• FIT5165 Human-computer interaction for multimedia applications

Network computing

• FIT5010 Advanced internet protocols and applications
• FIT5011 Advanced network design and performance
• FIT5034 Network administration and management
• FIT5083 Wireless networks

Security

• FIT5044 Network security
• FIT5163 Information and computer security

and any two from the following:

• FIT5003 Software security
• FIT5027 Virtual private network
• FIT5037 Advanced network security
• FIT5110 Information system security
• FIT5172 Computer forensics

Software engineering

• FIT5030 Web services and service oriented computing
• FIT5164 GRID computing
• FIT5171 System validation and verification, quality and standards
• FIT5174 Parallel and distributed systems

All units are offered on-campus.

** Specialisation not available in 2009.

MIT elective units

Enrolment in electives in the MIT program requires the approval of the course coordinator. Electives may be taken from postgraduate level units offered by the Faculty of Information Technology or from any other faculty of the University.

MIT (Honours) students must complete a minor thesis and will be awarded an overall course grade. Graduates of the MIT (Hons) with a H1 or H2A result may progress to PhD study.

This course has been designed for accreditation by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) as meeting the standard of knowledge for professional-level membership.

Students wishing to exit the Master of Information Technology (Honours) early may apply to graduate with the:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Information Technology after successful completion of 24 points of study
• Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology after successful completion of 48 points of study

provided they have satisfied the requirements for these awards.

Master of Information Technology (Honours)