Unit Outline

This unit is concerned with the development of applications for mobile and ubiquitous computing platforms. Android, iOS, and cross-platform apps will be used as a basis for teaching programming techniques and design patterns related to the development of mobile and ubiquitous applications. Emphasis is placed on the processes, tools, and frameworks required to develop applications for current mobile devices. Students will work at all stages of the software development life-cycle from inception through to implementation and testing. Students will be required to consider the impact of usability, device capabilities, networking infrastructure and the deployment environment, in order to develop applications that suit the requirements of users and industry.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Explain the individual characteristics of mobile application development in comparison to traditional software design and development processes.
2.	Create device-specific and cross-platform mobile applications using best practice mobile design and development processes.
3.	Design and evaluate user interfaces suitable for mobile devices by applying usability design principles.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	KIT205 or KIT206 or KIT207 or KIT208

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Nil.

Teaching arrangements


ATTENDANCE MODE	TEACHING TYPE	LEARNING ACTIVITY	CONTACT HOURS	FREQUENCY
On Campus	Lecture (Online)	A real-time (i.e. synchronous) interactive activity involving the whole class whose primary purpose is the presentation and structuring of information/ideas/skills to facilitate student learning. All students are expected to attend.	2	Weekly
	Computer Laboratory	A structured real-time (i.e. synchronous) computer-based activity in a small-group setting where the primary purpose is the clarification, exploration or reinforcement of subject content presented or accessed at another time or place (e.g. lecture, preparatory work). It is teacher supported and may involve student-teacher and/or student-student interaction and dialogue for achievement of its learning outcomes. The students enrolled in the class are expected to attend.	2	StudyPeriod 12 times
	Independent Learning	Involving reading, listening to audio, watching video, and/or completing exercises and/or quizzes, self-study is individual work undertaken when the student chooses (i.e. asynchronous), most likely through engagement with MyLO. The content is examinable, and may need to be completed prior to attending classes and/or attempting assessment tasks.	1	Weekly

Attendance / engagement expectations

If your unit is offered On campus, it is expected that you will attend all on-campus and onsite learning activities. This is to support your own learning and the development of a learning community within the unit. If you are unable to attend regularly, please discuss the situation with your course coordinator and/or our UConnect support team.

If your unit is offered Online, it is expected you will engage in all those activities as indicated in the Unit Outline, including any self-directed learning.

If you miss a learning activity for a legitimate reason (e.g., illness, carer responsibilities) teaching staff will attempt to provide alternative activities (e.g., make up readings) where it is possible.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Prototype Application	Week 3	15 %	LO1, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Android Application	Week 8	20 %	LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	iOS Application	Week 12	20 %	LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 4:	Cross-Platform Application	Week 15	20 %	LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 5:	Tutorial Completion	Refer to Assessment Description	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 6:	In-semester Quizzes	Refer to Assessment Description	15 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Prototype Application

Task Description:

Using appropriate low-cost prototyping techniques, students are tasked with developing a prototype which communicates the design and user interaction flow of an application of a given them (examples in the past: Shopping List, Journal, Raffle Manager). Students will be required to apply knowledge of basic mobile design principles in their prototype.

A report component of this assignment will require students to do basic research on the given problem space, explain and reflect on their design process, and to justify the design decisions made in their prototype.

Assignment will serve as an opportunity to receive feedback on design, and as a blueprint for the fully-realized application developed in later assignments. Assignment will be released in week 1 of semester, with basic prototyping started in tutorials, before completing finalized design and report in own time.

Task Length:

6 page report plus prototype with approximately 6 screens

Due Date:

Week 3

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Articulate a thorough understanding of the given problem space and the design considerations	LO1
2	Explain the individual characteristics of the mobile application design and how they interrelate	LO1
3	Explain why and how the characteristics of mobile application development should be considered in the design	LO1
4	Design interfaces that comply with best practice in mobile and ubiquitous computing system design.	LO3
5	Prototype a user interface that makes appropriate use of common mobile application design principles	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Android Application

Task Description:

Building upon practical knowledge from the Android tutorials, students will be tasked with realizing the application they paper-prototyped in the previous assignment using the Kotlin programming language. The developed application should not only function properly, but follow common Android design principles, and demonstrate the students understanding of usability needs of mobile devices.

Task Length:

Android Application with approximately 6 core features, depending on assignment theme.

Due Date:

Week 8

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop an application in Kotlin which contains the specified functionality, using standard Android software-development patterns.	LO2
2	Develop an application in Kotlin which applies best practice Android design principles, and appropriately meets the usability demands of mobile devices.	LO3

Assessment Task 3: iOS Application

Task Description:

Building upon practical knowledge from the iOS tutorials, students will be tasked with realizing the application they paper-prototyped in the previous assignment using the Swift programming language. The developed application should not only function properly, but follow common iOS design principles, and demonstrate the students understanding of usability needs of mobile devices.

Task Length:

iOS Application with approximately 6 core features, depending on assignment theme.

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop an application in Swift which contains the specified functionality, using standard iOS software-development patterns.	LO2
2	Develop an application in Swift which applies best practice iOS design principles, and appropriately meets the usability demands of mobile devices.	LO3

Assessment Task 4: Cross-Platform Application

Task Description:

Building upon practical knowledge from the cross-platform tutorials, students will be tasked with realizing the application they paper-prototyped in the previous assignment using the Flutter or Xamarin development environments. The developed application should not only function properly, but follow common design principles, and demonstrate the students understanding of usability needs of mobile devices. Application will further be scrutinized on its capacity to work on both Android and iOS platforms from a single code-base.

Task Length:

Flutter Application with approximately 6 core features, depending on assignment theme.

Due Date:

Week 15

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop an application in Flutter which contains the specified functionality, using best practice reactive software-development patterns.	LO2
2	Develop an application in Flutter which applies best practice mobile design principles, and appropriately meets the usability demands of mobile devices on both Android and iOS.	LO3

Assessment Task 5: Tutorial Completion

Task Description:

Students will be tasked with completing the practical exercises presented at the end of each weekly tutorial, and answering the theoretical questions, also presented at the end of each weekly tutorial. Completion of the practical exercises and ability to answer the theoretical questions requires previously completing the guided tutorial content.

Task Length:

10 x 2hr tutorials, with expectation of work completed outside of class time

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply best practice techniques to develop device-specific and cross-platform mobile applications	LO2
2	Apply best practice design processes to create and evaluate user interfaces	LO3
3	Explain how the individual characteristics of mobile and ubiquitous computing interrelate	LO1
4	Explain why and how the characteristics of mobile applications should be considered in the design, development, and evaluation of computing technologies.	LO1

Assessment Task 6: In-semester Quizzes

Task Description:

Quizzes will be delivered at the conclusion of each core component of the unit (Android Development, iOS Development, Cross-Platform Development, and Design Principles). Questions will be of both a practical and theoretical nature and in short-answer format. Questions will assess your ability to apply your knowledge to new problems.

Task Length:

4x quizzes, 60 minutes allowed each (but reasonably expect to complete within 30 minutes)

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply theoretical and practical knowledge of Android, iOS, and Cross-Platform development to solve a given problem.	LO2
2	Identify and apply appropriate design and usability testing techniques to solve a given problem.	LO3
3	Explain opinions and choices for application distribution, application development and ubiquitous computing	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

N/A