Outline

Overview

ENGG3112 will provide an opportunity for students to experience the interaction of different disciplines of engineering needed to deliver complex engineered systems. Students will work in multi-engineering-disciplinary teams to evaluate complex engineered systems in the context of contemporary global challenges, and put forward recommendations for change during semester-long project. The project will also have an emphasis on how engineering can contribute (positively and negatively) to complex global challenges.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Engineering
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	Minimum of 84cp of engineering foundation/project/stream table units
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	ENGG2111
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Benjy Marks, benjy.marks@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Benjy Marks, benjy.marks@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Stage 1: Ideation Individual report detailing initial idea generation	15%	Week 02 Due date: 05 Mar 2023 at 23:59	3 pages max.
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Stage 2: Concept evaluation and team skills analysis Team report	10%	Week 05 Due date: 26 Mar 2023 at 23:59	4 pages max
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Stage 3: System/concept design Presentation at a trade show week 8. Concept summary due Tuesday week 8.	15%	Week 08 Due date: 18 Apr 2023 at 23:59	2 hours.
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Peer Review of stage 3 Peer review of other teams' stage 3 submissions	10%	Week 09 Due date: 30 Apr 2023 at 23:59	500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Stage 4: Risk analysis and development plan Written report on plan to take concept to implementation	30%	Week 12 Due date: 21 May 2023 at 23:59	30 pages max + references/appendix
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Stage 5: Critical comparative review A structured comparative review of Stage 4 outcomes	20%	Week 13 Due date: 28 May 2023 at 23:59	3 pages
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

To pass this unit, students must:

Complete all assessment tasks. Failure to complete all assessment tasks will result in a maximum final result of 45 FA.
Satisfactorily complete the individual components of assessment overall. Failure to average of 40% or higher in individual assessments will result in a maximum final result of 45 FA.
Attend and actively participate in a minimum of 10 out of 12 tutorial classes. Each class involves a significant component of collaborative work, peer review, and team decision making. Absence from the class impacts your team and prevents you from demonstrating Learning outcomes 4 and 5 throughout the project. Failure to meet the attendance requirement will result in a maximum of 45% of the available marks in the group component of assessment.

Stage 1: Ideation (individual) - An individual report detailing your interpretation of the project brief and initial ideas for engineering solitions to the problems identified.

Stage 2: Concept evaluation and team skills analysis (group) - In Stage 2 you will form a team, collectively review the skills base that your team has and determine how this can be leveraged to address your selected project theme. You will illustrate this by critiquing ideas generated by individual team members in Stage 1 and determining the direction your project will take.

Stage 3: System/concept design (group, trade show) - Developing further the initial ideas generated by your team, you will put forward a concept design, system design, or policy/practice recommendation for external review in an online trade show event. Your design or recommendation will be reviewed by peers, staff and external contributors during the trade show. It should be supported by suitable short-form documentation (drawings, annotated diagrams, flow charts, presentation slides etc.), initial feasibility analysis, and preparedness among team members to address questions posed by staff and peers.

Stage 3 Peer Review: As part of the Stage 3 submission, you must peer review the documentation provided by 3 other teams. Your peer review will be marked by the tutor in accordance with the criteria below.

Stage 4: Risk analysis and development plan (group + individual) - Following feedback on your stage 3 submission you will have identified many of the limitations of your current ideas and have a better sense of what needs to be done next. In stage 4 you will develop a detailed written submission outlining a plan to take your proposal from concept to reality. This will involve timelines for work to be done, a detailed risk analysis, stakeholder management plans, and financial requirements.

Stage 5: Critical comparative review (individual) - A structured report critiquing your own team’s stage 4 submission by comparing it with those produced by other teams. The report will also include a personal reflection on how key concepts in the unit and skills you have learned elsewhere in your degree were implemented within your project.

Assessment criteria

See assessment rubrics in Canvas

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Late penalties: 1. Written work submitted electronically after 11.59 pm on the due date will be considered to have been submitted late. 2. For every calendar day up to and including ten calendar days after the due date, a penalty of 5% of the maximum awardable marks will be applied to late work. The penalty will be calculated by first marking the work, and then subtracting 5% of the maximum awardable mark for each calendar day after the due date. 3. For work submitted more than ten calendar days after the due date a mark of zero will be awarded. 4. In general there will be no late submissions allowed for Self and Peer Review of team contribution (SPARKPLUS assessments), class preparation tasks and in-class assessment activities.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Unit intro, project brief review, learning style and outlook	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 02	Defining and modelling the problem. Heuristics and ideation.	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 03	Data gathering and decision support	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 04	Researching context: Legal, policy, social, and environmental	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 05	Context analysis - working with qualitative data	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 06	Concept modeling and development, requirements analysis	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 07	Concept modeling and development (cont'd), trade show preparation	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 08	Trade show presentations	Presentation (4 hr)
Week 09	Project planning - timelines and cost estimation	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 10	Project planning - stakeholder management	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 11	Risk engineering	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 12	Risk engineering (cont'd)	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 13	Semester debriefing and peer review	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

All classes are designed to assist students with the project. You MUST attend a minimum of 10 out of 12 tutorial classes. Each class involves a significant component of collaborative work, peer review, and team decision making. Absence from the class impacts your team and prevents you from demonstrating Learning outcomes 4 and 5 throughout the project. Failure to meet the attendance requirement will result in a maximum of 45% of the available marks in the group component of assessment.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Independently identify and apply appropriate fundamental concepts and methods to develop an engineering solution.
LO2. Effectively manage complexity and uncertainty through basic data-driven modelling and analysis of engineered systems and/or operational contexts.
LO3. Exercise critical thinking and sound judgement in the development of engineering solutions, considering design context, stakeholder perspectives and multidisciplinary perspectives.
LO4. Demonstrate leadership through own disciplinary contribution to a multidisciplinary team.
LO5. Demonstrate respect, commitment and professionalism in contributing to a team.
LO6. Independently identify and align work to applicable regulatory frameworks, standards and community expectations.
LO7. Effectively adapt communication to convey engineering solutions in a range of contexts and audiences.
LO8. Use appropriate referencing systems and academic standards in formal written and oral communications.
LO9. Demonstrate capacity for independent learning, decision making and self management.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

The unit has been well received by students since implementation. We have continually monitored student engagement and feedback and have made the following adjustments to the unit over time which have resulted in a continued improvement in student feedback: 1) Moving concept development work earlier in semester. 2) Replacing the final exam with a final individual assignment which will be supported through learning activities in the final week of semester. 3) Introducing more guidance on the structure and format of assessment submissions to make content requirements clearer. 4) Introducing stricter engagement requirements to ensure all group members in student teams are present and actively contributing during tutorials. 5) Continuing with and refining the popular real-world project format and online trade shows. New for Semester 2, 2022 is the introduction of an explicit attendance requirement for tutorials. All students must attend at least 80% of tutorial classes to pass the group component of assessment. As each tutorial class involves a significant component of collaborative work, peer review, and team decision making, absence from class impacts both the individual and their team peers. It also prevents adequate assessment of Learning outcomes 4 and 5 throughout the project. Concerns over repeated non-attendances are shared by students and staff, and have featured in USS comments since 2021. We hope that introduction of this 80% rule encourages consistent engagement in team activities, but provides sufficient flexibility to accommodate unexpected interruptions such as illness or misadventure.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

ENGG3112: Interdisciplinary Engineering

Semester 1, 2023 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links