ITEC810 Initial Project Plans

This page explains the requirements for the Initial Project Plan that you are required to submit for ITEC808, ITEC809, ITEC810 and ITEC811.

1 Submission Requirements

No later than 12 noon on Friday 14th August, you should submit your Initial Project Plan, in the form of a presentation consisting of no more than five slides, via the class Moodle website. You will be given three minutes to present your slides in class.

2 The Aims of this Assignment

This assignment has the following aims.

1. It forces you to establish some key parameters regarding your project as early as possible.

2. It makes sure you get your first taste of stage fright over early in the semester.

3. It gives me an idea of your current level of ability and comfort in giving presentations, which in turn helps me plan what content I need to include in the classes on giving presentations.

Don't be deceived by the fact that the deliverable for this assignment is only a three-minute presentation: you are expected to put a significant amount of work into its preparation (the sample workload model suggests 10 hours), and you will be assessed on that basis. You need to demonstrate very clearly that you already have a very clear understanding of the problem you are addressing.

3 Presentation Format and Structure

Make sure your submission meets the following requirements.

1. Your presentation should be provided as a PowerPoint file or a PDF file consisting of no more than five slides.

2. Read the Hints and Tips on Giving Presentations document for a checklist of things to watch out for in preparing and presenting your slides.

3. Your first slide should be a title slide that gives the title of your project, your name, your student number and your supervisor's name.

4. Your second slide should communicate the key problem your project aims to solve; you should do this in two or three bullet points at most. Aim to be clear and concise.

5. Your third slide should indicate why your problem is an important one to solve. Again, aim to be clear and concise.

6. Your fourth slide should indicate the intended outcomes of your project. It is important here that you be as specific as possible without being wordy.

7. Your fifth slide should decompose the work involved in your project into a series of no more than half a dozen steps, thus providing a top level plan; this should be determined on the basis of discussion with your supervisor.

Please ensure that your slides are submitted with a filename that has the following format:

• ‹FamilyName_Givenname›_InitialPlan.ppt

• Dale_Robert_InitialPlan.ppt

If you prefer to submit a PDF file, the same instructions as above apply, except that the filename extension will be different.

4 Assessment

This presentation is worth 5 marks. The presentation will be assessed according to the following rubric; note that you will not be penalised for being nervous. The purpose of the assessment is to encourage you take on board the advice provided in the the Hints and Tips on Giving Presentations document. 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.

Assessment Attribute	Levels of Attainment
	Unsatisfactory	Functional	Proficient	Advanced
Presentation Structure	Didn't follow the specified structure for the five slides.	Followed specified structure, but too much content on each slide.	Followed specified structure; appropriate amount of content on each slide.	An exceptionally well-structured presentation; would serve as a great example for others to follow.
Communication of Content	Aims, motivation, intended outcomes or high-level plan muddled, vague or unclear.	Possible to get an idea of the aims, motivation, intended outcomes and high-level plan, but could be clearer.	Aims, motivation, intended outcomes and high-level plan presented clearly and at an appropriate level of detail and specificity.	Very clear presentation of aims, motivation, intended outcomes and high-level plan; would serve as a great example for others to follow.
Visual Aspects of the Presentation	Slides not well-presented: inconsistencies in formatting, no slide numbers, or other lack of attention to detail.	Appearance of slides generally okay, with minor lapses.	Slides formatted neatly and consistently.	Exceptionally well-presented; very professional.

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Please send comments or queries about this web site to Robert.Dale@mq.edu.au
Last Modified: 31st July 2009