You are required to complete and submit a RESEARCH-BASED essay describing and discussing the processes AND challenges involved in identifying and recovering digital evidence from a crime scene. This covers the theoretical part of the unit and should be based on the lecture/workshop material, this guide, the lecture notes and, most importantly your own research endeavours. In my experience, employers are looking for graduates who possess analytical, research and communication (writing) skills above and beyond the components of the degree.
The essay MUST contain the following:
- Introduction
§ Defining your scope of coverage of the essay.
- Content
§ To enhance your grades, you MUST include some description and discussion of the following in your essay:
• Describe digital evidence
• Explain the key principles of cyber forensics.
• Discuss investigation processes used to identify and recover evidence obtained from a computer for evidentiary purposes.
- Conclusion
§ This is where you summarise the facts described in the body of your essay and add your own conclusions based on what you have read. No new material should be added here.
Some important aspects of the essay are:
§ Grammar and spelling - spell check your drafts - get a friend or relative to proof-read your drafts prior to submission.
§ References that are cited in the essay - use EndNote, if you wish. This is available from the Library, free of charge. Post your draft to Turnitin (see separate instructions) to ensure that you have not inadvertently plagiarised the work of others.
§ Bibliography of other reference material that was used but not cited.
§ Use appropriate headings and sub-headings that relate to the chosen topic. The essay should include relevant quotations and examples to support discussion within the essay.
§ The quality and breadth of references used will be taken into account and credit will be given for evidence of wide reading on the topic and use of material from a variety of sources (i.e., Learning Guide, books, journals, websites, newspapers, etc).
§ You will also be assessed on the presentation of your essay, as well as the contents. Marks will not be awarded where correct referencing is not used and will also not be awarded where the above instructions are not followed. All assertions by other authors must be correctly referenced. Please restrict your own comments to observations about the work of authors you are quoting. Your own world view and statements of unsubstantiated facts (that are not referenced) do not earn marks.
§ Please see the Online Resources page on the unit MyLMS homepage. This will provide you with some links to help you with your essay preparation and writing.
§ The University uses software called Turnitin which checks for plagiarism. Please note that when assignments are submitted electronically to Turnitin by you or your Unit Coordinator, a copy of your work is retained on the database to check collusion and future plagiarism. The University has a legal agreement with Turnitin that it will not share or reproduce student work in any form.
§ For ICT248, Assignment 01, the Research Essay must be fully referenced where the assertions of other authors are being used and must first be submitted to Turnitin before it is submitted to LMS as a completed assignment. Advice on using Turnitin can be found at
https://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/