| Unit name | Financial Technology Group Project |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SEMTM0029 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Wang |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
Why is this unit important?
Blockchain technology and distributed ledgers have the potential to disrupt many areas of finance and underpin many fintech startups. In this unit, students will learn to create, test, and deploy smart contracts on blockchain and build decentralised applications (DApps).
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This unit builds on the content covered in the TB-1 unit SEMTM0031 “Introduction to Financial Technology”, which becomes foundational assumed knowledge for this unit. While SEMTM0031 was designed to give you a broad understanding of modern financial technology, this unit is designed to provide industry-relevant experience in developing blockchain applications as part of a team. Teamwork is a particularly valuable skill required by industry and this unit provides the programme-level learning outcome for successful teamwork.
An overview of content
Through lectures, practical lab sessions and online tutorials, students will:
Working in small groups, students will then design, develop, test, and demonstrate a decentralised fintech application with a real-world client or market segment in mind. The application must take account of customer or market needs and fulfil commercial, financial and technological constraints. Students will require efficient division and management of work within each team to achieve a workable solution.
During the group application development, students will have weekly meetings with a supervisor.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Students will gain confidence working in teams on large projects that they would be unable to complete on their own. This skill will be particularly valuable when pursuing careers in industry.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Unit delivery will be blended, problem-based, and reflective.
Unit content will be provided as a series of short pre-recorded online video lectures, organised into topics, for students to watch asynchronously. Each topic will have associated links for additional reading, formative online exercises, and practical lab sessions (online or physical) for support.
During group application development, students will be expected to meet regularly (once a week) with their supervisor during lab sessions.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Students will undertake a series of weekly formative lab assessments on fundamentals of blockchain technology, smart contract development, and full-stack DApp development.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Individual: Students will submit a short report and solidity code to demonstrate conceptual and technical understanding of blockchain, solidity, and smart contracts (30%; ILO1).
Groupwork: In small groups, students are required to develop a fintech application using blockchain technology. The outputs will be a group oral presentation/demonstration (20%; ILO 1, 2) and a written report including code as an appendix and/or viewable in an online repository (50%; ILO 1, 2, 3). The assessment criteria will include technical and business merit, communication of the solution, team contribution, and individual achievement. Students must also demonstrate continuous engagement with the group project, which will be assessed through the weekly lab sessions and through a compulsory reflective self-evaluation exercise. These will be used to assign an individual moderated mark to each student for the group project.
When assessment does not go to plan
If a student does not successfully complete the unit, reassessment will be required in any component that was not successfully completed as described below
Individual: Reassessment will take the same form as the original summative assessment.
Groupwork: If a student does not successfully complete the group report and presentation but has adequately demonstrated their teamwork skills (ILO3) during weekly lab sessions, then the reassessment will be an individual assignment to develop a distributed application (ILO1,2). However, if a student has not adequately demonstrated teamwork (ILO3) during weekly lab sessions, then reassessment is only possible as part of a supplementary year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SEMTM0029).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
