Assessment Description:
Students are required to write a Reflective Journal in which they reflect on unit content and learning experiences between weeks 1 and 11. In this assignment you should describe an interesting or important aspect of each week’s content/experiences, analyse this aspect of the week critically by incorporating and discussing academic or professional sources, and then discuss your personal learning outcomes.
The document structure is as follows (2500 words):
1. Title page
Database Fundamentals
2. Introduction
a. Introduce the focus of the unit and the importance of the unit to your chosen professional area. Provide a preview of the main experiences and outcomes you discuss in the body of the assignment.
3. Body:
Reflective paragraphs for each week from week 1 to week 11 (1 paragraph per week, ~200 words per paragraph). In each reflective paragraph:
a. Description : Describe the week
• Generally, what was the focus of this week’s lecture and tutorial?
• What is one specific aspect of the week’s learning content that was interesting for you? (e.g. a theory, a task, a tool, a concept, a principle, a strategy, an experience etc.)?
Describe it and explain why you chose to focus on it in this paragraph. (*Note: a lecture slide is not an acceptable choice, but an idea or concept on it is)
b. Analysis : Analyse one experience from the week
• Analyse the one specific aspect of the week you identified above.
• How did you feel or react when you experienced it? Explain.
• What do other academic publications or professional resources that you find in your own research say about this? (include at least 1 reliable academic or professional source from your own research). Critically analyse your experience in the context of these sources.
c. Outcomes : Identify your own personal learning outcomes
• What have you learned about this aspect of the unit?
• What have you learned about yourself?
• What do you still need to learn or get better at?
• Do you have any questions that still need to be answered?
• How can you use this experience in the future when you become a professional?
4. Conclusion :
Summarise the most important learning outcomes you experienced in this unit and how you will apply them professionally or academically in the future.
5. Reference List
Your report must include:
• At least 10 references, 5 of which must be academic resources, 5 of which can be reliable, high-quality professional resources.
• Use Harvard referencing for any sources you use.
• Refer to the Academic Learning Support student guide on Reflective Writing and how to structure reflective paragraphs.
Unit Learning Outcomes addressed:
a) Describe the key aspects and critically evaluate uses of database technology and database management.
b) Apply transaction processing and concurrency in multi-user database systems.
c) Be knowledgeable about issues relating to data access and retrieval, storage, ethics and privacy.
Assessment Task:
Students are required to analyse the weekly lecture material of weeks 1 to 11 by creating concise summaries of the theoretical concepts contained in the course lecture slides and providing their own reflections over it.
Assessment Submission:
This assignment should be submitted online in Moodle through Turnitin. The assignment MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other formats may not be readable by markers. Please be aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose marks until it is presented in Word. For assistance please speak to our Academic Learning Skills Coordinators, in Sydney or in Melbourne. They can help you with understanding the task, draft checking, structure, referencing and other assignment-related matters.
