SIT728 - Blockchain Technologies and Real-World Applications
Unit details
| Year | 2027 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes | Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Online |
| Credit point(s) | 1 |
| EFTSL value | 0.125 |
| Unit chair | Trimester 2: Shantanu Pal |
| Prerequisite | SIT774. |
| Corequisite | Nil |
| Incompatible with | Nil |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment | 2 x 1 hour online lectures per week, 1 x 2 hour practical experience (workshop) per week. |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment | Online independent and collaborative learning including 2 x 1 hour online lectures per week (recordings provided), 1 x 2 hour online practical experience (workshop) per week. |
| Typical study commitment | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Content
Blockchain is regarded as the ongoing revolution of the Internet by enabling us to build trust into software solutions without any central authority. At its core, the distributed ledger structure preserves all changes to the data, thereby greatly improving the transparency and trustworthiness of its operations. Moreover, there have been recent developments to improve efficiency and scalability. The effectiveness of blockchain is not only limited to its well-known cryptocurrency applications such as Bitcoin but can also be extended to various interdisciplinary sectors ranging from digital voting, medical record-keeping, energy trading for Internet-of-Things (IoT) to traceability and provenance in supply-chain management. This unit focuses on developing basic knowledge of blockchain technologies and learning how they can be used in real-world scenarios. Students will gain understanding of blockchain concepts, Ethereum, state-of-the-art techniques and a broad landscape in evaluating blockchain-based solutions in terms of consensus, security vulnerabilities, and smart contracts. This unit also explores emerging technical issues with blockchain such as transaction speed, throughput, and scalability.
Learning outcomes
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Use scripting languages to implement blockchain-based solutions with relevance to real-world systems in healthcare, supply chain, and other industries. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Evaluate the architecture of a blockchain system with the considerations of technical and business requirements. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO3 | Analyse blockchain solutions with respect to performance and security and explain trade-offs and benefits for associated with given implementations. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO4 | Explain key concepts of blockchain technologies such as consensus, transactions, wallets, accounts, smart contracts, mining, double-spending, proof-of-work, and other contemporary topics relevant to distributed ledgers and blockchain to a range of audiences. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
Note – From 2026, Deakin commenced introducing Graduate Attributes (GAs), which define the distinctive characteristics of a Deakin graduate. You may notice some units still refer to Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) during this transition period.
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learning portfolio | Portfolio consisting of a number of artefacts including scripts, decentralised applications, reports and evaluation results, along with critique and reflections. | 100% | Week 12 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Hurdle requirements
To be eligible to obtain a pass in this unit, students must meet certain milestones as part of the Learning portfolio.
Learning resource
The texts and reading list for SIT728 can be found via the University Library.
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
To fully engage with Deakin's learning experiences, students must be able to access and use internet-connected devices as outlined in computing requirements at Deakin.
To support student success at Deakin, we have a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) learning environment that acknowledges that students and educators bring with them the digital tools they regularly use to complete academic tasks. These tools stay with you beyond the classroom, helping you to keep learning, explore ideas more deeply, and connect with knowledge in ways that matter to you.
Students requiring a loan device should visit our Loan Laptop webpage or students requiring longer-term assistance should visit our Student Financial Assistance webpage.
Unit fee information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.