Unit Synopsis
This unit builds on responsive web design principles, equipping you with the knowledge and practical skills to design, develop, and test mobile web applications that support complex user interactions and data handling. You will explore the strengths and limitations of web apps versus native apps, with a focus on cross-platform functionality using tools like Apache Cordova. In this unit, you will develop full-stack hybrid mobile applications, building the front end with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and/or Node.js, while using Node.js or PHP for the back end and connecting to cloud databases for data storage. Emphasis will be placed on asynchronous programming to enhance performance, responsiveness, and overall user experience. You will also examine common web app vulnerabilities and strategies to mitigate them. Finally, the unit will guide you through the process of maintaining and deploying mobile web app code.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-Req: COIT20247 Database Design and Development, COIT20268 Responsive Web Design Anti-Req: COIT20231 Mobile Computing Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. In-class Test(s) | 30% |
| 2. Practical Assessment | 30% |
| 3. Project (applied) | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 19.35% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Unit Coordinator and Teaching Team Reflection
jQuery Mobile framework, popularity and usage have declined over the years. Alternative frameworks should be considered.
Explore a transition to a more widely adopted front-end development framework (for example React).
The possibility of adopting a widely accepted framework is being explored.
Source: Teaching Team's Reflection
Incorporating intuitive coding examples in lectures proves to be a valuable practice, aiding students in the development of their skills.
Continue providing intuitive coding examples in the lecture slides and tutorial materials.
The unit continues to offer intuitive coding examples through lecture slides and tutorial materials.
Source: Unit Coordinator
Weekly tutorials should adopt a guided approach, furnishing students with step-by-step instructions for completing the tasks.
Revise and enrich the tutorial with detailed, step-by-step guidance. This update will not only make the material more accessible but also foster a deeper understanding and more effective task execution by the students
Development of step-by-step instructions is in progress, and comprehensive explanations for the code examples are also being prepared.
Source: Unit Coordinator and Teaching Team
Split the unit into two distinct components: one focusing on front-end development and the other addressing backend and cloud aspects.
Restructure the unit by dividing it into two distinct components. The first component should focus exclusively on front-end development (for mobile web applications) and the second component should then address back-end development and cloud computing aspects.
The unit is already divided into two main parts. Front-end development is covered in Weeks 1–4, 8–9, and 11, while back-end development and cloud computing are addressed in Weeks 5–7, 10, and 12.
Source: Unit evaluation survey
The unit evaluation survey response rate is quite low.
Include examples in lectures of how feedback from students has led to unit improvements, and continuously encourage students to complete the survey.
In Progress
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
The practical assessment and project (applied) tasks are quite challenging.
Provide extra support and guidance to students in the final weeks, assisting them in navigating and overcoming any challenges they encounter.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Develop knowledge and skills in front-end and back-end development for mobile applications, incorporating asynchronous programming to enhance performance, responsiveness, and user experience
- Design, implement and test full-stack mobile web apps with the back end connected to cloud databases
- Convert mobile web apps into hybrid mobile apps using a cross-platform tool
- Deploy mobile web app code to cloud
- Assess vulnerabilities of mobile web apps and identify strategies to mitigate them.
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is adopted by organisations, governments and individuals in many countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles. ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile.
This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA 9 (the SFIA code is included):
- Software Design (SWDN)
- Software Development (PROG)
- Database Design (DBDS)
- Functional Testing (TEST)
- User Acceptance Testing (BPTS)
- Software Configuration (PORT)
- Vulnerability Assessment (VUAS)
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | |||
| 2 - Practical Assessment | • | • | |||
| 3 - Project (applied) | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | ||
| 5 - Self-management | • | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |