Robert Dale: Teaching Activities: ITEC810: Assessment: Project Proposals

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ITEC810 Project Proposals

This page outlines the requirements for project proposals. Note that this is a piece of work that is expected to take you around 1-2 days of effort, and is the result of you spending some time looking deeply into what is required to carry out your project.

Irrespective of whether you are doing ITEC808, 809, 810 or 811, the project proposal requirements are the same. The aim here is to get you to get the important information together in 2-3 pages.

1 Submission Requirements

No later than 12 noon on Friday 13th March (Week 3), you should submit via the class Moodle website a 2-3 page project proposal that outlines the background to and objectives of your project, and lays out a plan for how you will achieve these objectives. This should be provided either as a Word document or a PDF document.

You should also provide a set of four PowerPoint slides (including your title slide), or a PDF file containing the same, whose structure and content are as discussed in Class 1 and described further below. You will use these slides to present your project to the rest of the class.

2 The Aims of this Assignment

This assignment has a number of aims.

It ensures you get a head start on your project early in the semester.
It forces you to learn enough about your topic to be able to develop a plan for how you will approach the problem.
It forces you to think about your project in terms of a plan with specific steps and deliverables, and a clearly specified outcome.
It provides me with a first example of what your writing is like, so I can determine particular areas of weakness that need to be addressed.
It provides me with a first example of your current abilities at presenting in front of a group, again so I can determine any areas of weakness that need to be addressed.

3 Proposal Format and Structure

See the resources on the Moodle website for an example of a project proposal, as discussed in Class 1. Make sure your submission meets the following requirements.

Your proposal should have a cover page containing the title of your project, your name, yout student ID, and your supervisor's name.
The document should begin with an abstract or summary of 100-150 words in length that is able to stand alone as a concise and comprehensive description of your project.
Section 1 of your document should be entitled Project Description. This has two subsections:
- a 'Background' section of around half a page in length, which sketches the background to the project, providing a context against which the significance of your project and its aims can be assessed; and
- an 'Aims, Significance and Expected Outcomes' section of around one page in length, which clearly states the aims of your project, why it is important, and what the specific expected outcomes of the project are; you can use distinct subsubsections for each of these three topics if you feel this helps you structure your material.
Section 2 of your document should be entitled 'Methodology and Plan'. Again, this consists of two subsections:
- an 'Approach' or 'Methodology' section of around half a page that outlines how you intend to go about solving the problem that your project addresses; and
- a 'Task Plan' section of around half a page that lays out the sequence of steps involved; see below for further notes on your Task Plan.
You may also add a reference list or bibliography that contains full details of any materials cited in your project proposal text.

In terms of general formatting requirements:

Don't use a point size smaller than 11 point.
Make sure your pages and sections are numbered.
Make sure you thoroughly spell and grammar check your document before submitting it.

4 Task Plans

In many ways the Task Plan is the heart of your proposal: it's an explicit commitment to what you intend to do and when. For that reason, it needs to be very specific in a number of regards:

Each task should be given a number and a short descriptive name.
Each element in the task plan should have a clear descriptive paragraph so it is easy to see what is involved and what is not involved.
Each task should have a clearly specified deliverable, so that it is easy to determine when the task is completed. This might be a document or major part of a document, or a piece of working code, for example.
Each task should have a clearly specified delivery deadline. At most these should be two weeks apart, coinciding with the dates on which you have deliverables due for the unit; but it's probably better to plan on the basis of weekly deliverables. You may have tasks that contain subtasks, particularly if a task corresponds to several deliverable items; the bottom line is that you should make everything as srtucturally explicit as possible, so the correspondences between tasks, timeline, expected effort and specific outcomes is absolutely clear. Bear in mind that each elapsed week on your project is assumed to correspond to around nine hours of work.

You should factor in the project-related assessable items for the unit---your review of sources, your workshop paper draft and final version, and your final report---as project deliverables, but obviously these should not be the only deliverables.

5 Your Presentation

You will have three minutes maximum to present your project to the class. Your set of slides should be as discussed in Class 1:

A title slide with your project title, your name and student ID, and your supervisor's name; also indicate on this slide which unit (ITEC808, 809, 810 or 811) you are enrolled in.
A slide that uses two or three bullet points to sketch the nature of the problem you are addressing.
A slide that uses two or three bullet points to sketch the nature of the solution you intend to develop.
A slide that summarises the constituent tasks and the corresponding timeline.

You will not be assessed on the presentation; its purpose is to give me some idea of where you are starting from in terms of presentation skills.

It is essential that you rehearse well to ensure that you can communicate the essence of your project in three minutes, and so that you do not run out of time. You should use the 'Hints and Tips on Giving Presentations' document available from the Moodle class website as a checklist of things to watch out for in preparing and presenting your contribution.

6 Assessment

Only the written project proposal is assessed. It is worth 5 marks. Proposals will be assessed by the unit convenor according to the following rubric:

Assessment
Attribute Levels of Attainment

Unsatisfactory Functional Proficient Advanced

Evidence of Effort No evidence that substantial thought has been put into the exercise. Evidence of having thought through the problem and what is involved, but with some weaknesses and gaps. Evidence of having thought hard about the problem and of having identified all the major issues that will be faced. Evidence of a thorough command of what is involved and what needs to be done to achieve a high quality outcome.

Exposition of Content Difficult to make sense of the background and approach to be taken. The presentation of the background and approach to be taken are understandable, if a little muddled. Background and approach clearly presented, so that a technically-literate reader will understands why the project is important, what outcomes will be achieved, and what methods will be used. High quality exposition; makes a compelling case for thr problem and its proposed solution, with clearly argued logic.

Quality and Depth of Planning No evidence that any careful thought has been put into determining the steps involved in achieving the project's goals. Some evidence of having though through what is involved, but not a very detailed level. Evidence of the application of careful thought to identifying the distinct steps involved in the project and the effort they require. Evidence of a high degree of ability in specifying tasks precisely and in making realistic estimates about the work involved.

Format and Presentation No obvious care given to the quality of presentation of the report. Technically meets the stated requirements for presentation format. Meets technical requirements and is also aesthetically pleasing. Exceptionally well presented.

Quality of Writing Very poor; problems with coherent presentation of ideas. Understandable, but with some problems in grammar, style and spelling. Grammar and style of an acceptable standard; could be safely given to an external party with only minor editing. High quality prose; well written; could comfortably be made available via a corporate website.

Assessment Attribute	Levels of Attainment
Unsatisfactory	Functional	Proficient	Advanced
Evidence of Effort	No evidence that substantial thought has been put into the exercise.	Evidence of having thought through the problem and what is involved, but with some weaknesses and gaps.	Evidence of having thought hard about the problem and of having identified all the major issues that will be faced.	Evidence of a thorough command of what is involved and what needs to be done to achieve a high quality outcome.
Exposition of Content	Difficult to make sense of the background and approach to be taken.	The presentation of the background and approach to be taken are understandable, if a little muddled.	Background and approach clearly presented, so that a technically-literate reader will understands why the project is important, what outcomes will be achieved, and what methods will be used.	High quality exposition; makes a compelling case for thr problem and its proposed solution, with clearly argued logic.
Quality and Depth of Planning	No evidence that any careful thought has been put into determining the steps involved in achieving the project's goals.	Some evidence of having though through what is involved, but not a very detailed level.	Evidence of the application of careful thought to identifying the distinct steps involved in the project and the effort they require.	Evidence of a high degree of ability in specifying tasks precisely and in making realistic estimates about the work involved.
Format and Presentation	No obvious care given to the quality of presentation of the report.	Technically meets the stated requirements for presentation format.	Meets technical requirements and is also aesthetically pleasing.	Exceptionally well presented.
Quality of Writing	Very poor; problems with coherent presentation of ideas.	Understandable, but with some problems in grammar, style and spelling.	Grammar and style of an acceptable standard; could be safely given to an external party with only minor editing.	High quality prose; well written; could comfortably be made available via a corporate website.