Assessment (1) Individual submission

Overview

This individual assignment tests your essential research competencies needed to identify a knowledge gap or a problem in the context of project management discipline that warrants research. It primarily assesses your understanding and level of engagement with learning resources at an early stage of the inquiry process. The assignment MUST be your own piece of work. You must not plagiarise, collude or get help from others.

Assignment 1 (Critical Review Report) consists of two deliverables or parts:

1. Assignment 1A, 10%: Critical Review Report, due by end of week 3
2. Assignment 1B, 10%: In-class Peer Assessment, due during the scheduled tutorial in week 4

Note: Each part will receive a mark of ZERO if not completed by the given deadline to complete the work.

Tasks

Assessment 1A:

Assessment 1A requires you to prepare a critical review report using a given template. Your report must be relevant to the unit content and Moodle sources and must only be based upon your learning in this unit. You will choose an initial research topic using a supplied research topic generation tool. Next, you will conduct a literature search to identify a scholarly paper relevant to your chosen topic. You will provide a detailed overview of the identified scholarly article using your own words. You will provide an explanation of how the paper was identified and to what extent you think it is a credible paper. You will then identify and briefly summarise two relevant sources relevant to the main identified paper as explained in the specifications below. You must include a screenshot of the Turnitin similarity report showing the similarity percentage. Then, you will provide your personal reflection of your learning experience in this phase. The reflection should record your experiences, feelings and reactions during the learning experience in the last four weeks. This may include your commentary on Turnitin similarity percentage, evaluation of the adopted approaches, techniques or tutorial activities that have been helpful or unhelpful. You must also reflect on the consultation process you have had with your lecturer/tutor, peers and Moodle sources. Refer to Moodle site for the specifications and detailed requirements to complete this part.

Assessment 1B

Assessment 1B requires you to assess one report submitted by one of your peers as randomly assigned to you. On-campus students must complete the peer assessment in your tutorial class only as scheduled in week 4. On-campus students will not be given any mark for this part if they either fail to complete the peer assessment in class or opt to revise your peer assessment later on. You will conduct the assessment using a marking tool prepared based on the given assessment criteria. Peers will communicate the submissions and assessments double-blindly. You must provide constructive and adequate comments to your peer on each assessment criterion. You will receive ZERO marks if you fail to provide sufficient and meaningful feedback on the assigned submission. Your lecturer will monitor the peer assessment and pick a random sample of assessments for moderation to ensure that peer assessments are given as per requirements.

Part 1A:

Assessment will be done according to presentation, accuracy and coverage of the content for each part of the assignment 1A as set out under 'Specifications' section. The Turnitin similarity percentage must not exceed 10%. A marking tool will be available in Moodle to ease the assessment process. In particular, the following assessment aspects will be used to assess submissions:

• The research topic is relevant to PM, logical and concise. 10%
• The selected articles are credible and relevant to the chosen topic 10%
• The reviews are comprehensive, well-structured and concise with an acceptable Turnitin similarity rate. 20%
• The identified gap or problem is promising and worthwhile. 10%
• Personal reflection is relevant, critical and well-articulated in response to the assessment task. 20%
• The report content is substantially based upon the unit resources and lecture notes. 10%
• The report is fully compliant with the submission requirements. 10%
• Clarity and soundness of language, report format, presentation and referencing. 10%

Part 1B:

You will receive marks for the quality of assessing yourself and assessing the assigned submission. Moodle will compare your assessment with the reviewers’ assessment of the submission. Based on how close your assessment is to the faculty's assessment of the assigned submission for each assessment criterion, the system will calculate the score for the quality of your assessments. For the purpose of calculating the score, the faculty's assessment will be given a weight of 4 while your assessment will be given a weight of 1.

The maximum marks will be allocated as per the following table:

Assessment 2 (Group submission)

Overview:

This group assessment requires you to follow a systematic approach in order to eventually develop a viable research proposal of high academic standards. The proposal must address a research problem or gap that warrants research in the project management discipline. The proposal must be substantially based on the learning materials of this unit.

The assessment must be developed via a randomly formed group of 3-5 students. This range may vary depending on the number of students enroled in each class or setting. Online students may be allowed to do this assessment individually due to logistics constraints. Each group member must enrol in their group online by the given deadline. The group must select its group leader and negotiate group rules by completing a group charter template. Your group must meet on a regular basis and keep a record of group minutes of meetings until the end of the term. All group communications must be conducted through the private group forum in Moodle, CQU Google drive and CQU student emails. If a group decides to use an external platform, each member must keep a full record of all exchanged communications throughout the term for scrutiny by the faculty. Any dysfunctional member should be given a warning by the group leader and an opportunity to improve. In the case of no improvement, the group member must be reported to the tutor as well as the unit coordinator.

The assessment comprises 80% of the total mark of this unit. You must achieve a minimum score of 50% of the available marks of this assignment task to pass this unit. The assessment consists of four deliverables or parts:

1. Part 2A, 10%: Outline Proposal and Group Presentations, due in week 8
2. Part 2B, 20%: Draft research proposal and oral examinations, due in week 10
3. Part 2C, 40%: Final Research Proposal, due in week 12
4. Part 2D, 10%: Group Member Performance Evaluation, due in week 12

Assessment Tasks:

Part 2A: Outline Proposal and Group Presentations (10%)

This is the first deliverable of your group that will be due by in week 8. The task requires your group to submit two documents (e.g. outline proposal and presentation slides) and make an oral presentation. You will develop and present the outline proposal of your intended research project. Both of the outline proposal and oral presentation must essentially outline the what, why and how of the group research project. Your group should prioritise projects initiated in assessment 1 and eventually agree upon the group research topic for further adoption in assessment 2. The group topic must be relevant to project management discipline using the research topic generation tool or selected by your tutor. Your documents and presentation must include the following components.

• A description of the group research topic and overall aim.
• Background of the research project.
• Evidence of the research gap or problem from the literature
• Significance of intended research.
• Research questions or hypothesis(es)
• Research approach, data collection method and sampling plan
• Expected research findings and their implication.
• A list of main scholarly papers relating to your topic (a minimum of 3 sources).

The outline proposal must not exceed 1500 words. In developing the outline, you are expected to consult the guidelines within the given research proposal template. Presentations will take place during tutorial sessions in week 8 for on-campus students and via Zoom for online students. Each group will present its project to the respective tutor and peers. Each group will have a strict 10 minutes of presentation time plus 5 minutes of Q&A and feedback time (10+5=15 mins). Each group member is required to present part of the work and be ready to answer any question relating to the presentation. Exceeding the time limits for presentation will encounter mark deductions; therefore, you are encouraged to have adequate rehearsal in advance.

Important Note: Group members who are not available during for presentations will receive zero marks. A group member who fails to enrol in their groups in Moodle will not be allowed to present and will receive zero marks for this part.

Submission requirements:

• Submit the outline research proposal used to develop the slides in doc or docx format.
• Submit the power point presentation slides in ppt or pptx format.
  

Part 2B: Draft Research Report & Oral examination (20%)

This part involves a compulsory submission of the draft research proposal followed by an oral examination of each group member by the respective tutor. You must carefully review the assessment criteria of this part as it includes specific hurdle requirements.

The Draft:

This part aims to help your group improve the final submission and increase your chances of achieving higher marks. In developing your draft proposal, you must adopt the supplied research proposal template which includes sufficient guidelines to complete each section. The proposal content must be relevant to the lecture notes and unit learning sources in Moodle. The draft must substantially include all sections outlined in the template excluding the ‘Project Management Section’ and ‘Appendices’ which must be included in the final proposal (part 2C). Groups who fail to present all digital records including team communications and earlier draft versions to the satisfaction of the tutor will receive zero marks. The tutor will also report any suspicious submission that had likely breached the academic integrity policies for further investigation by the university.

The Oral Examination

This part aims to verify that the group has made a genuine attempt to complete the draft. Each group must attend ‘one to one’ interview with their respective tutor during the tutorial in Week 10. Interviews via Zoom will be arranged with online students as well as on-campus groups who could not complete the interviews during the scheduled tutorial. Your group must bring and make available to your respective tutor, all previous digital archives of group communications, endnote library, downloaded papers, as well as ALL earlier drafts or edited versions of the draft. Each group member must also be prepared to explain the content of the draft proposal. The group is responsible for audio recording the oral examination session and emailing the recording file to the respective tutor and the Unit Coordinator immediately after the session. The tutor will first investigate the available records to verify the genuine contribution of each group member by engaging with the group and undertaking the wp. The tutor will then ask questions to each group member around the development of the draft detailed research proposal to verify the level of contribution in the project, identify any error or misunderstanding, detect misconceptions and probe the depth of understanding of research project substance and process. Each member will receive an individual mark based on the quality of their contributions and performance during the interview.

Part 2C: Final Detailed Research Proposal (40%)

Developing a final detailed research proposal is the third and most important deliverable of the assignment. You will continue improving your draft proposal submitted in response to assessment (part 2C). In addition, you must complete the project management section as well as all required appendices. You must comply with the given feedback on previous assessment tasks to improve your research proposal. You should think of your detailed proposal as a document that should be detailed enough so anyone else can use your plan to execute the project if they enrol in the research stream units (PPMP20019 and PPMP2016). You must familiarise your self with the scope of work in the research stream units by reviewing the unit profiles and prepare your execution plan accordingly.

Important Note: You must familiarise yourself with the assessment criteria of this part as it is linked with Part 2D so each group member may receive a different mark to reflect their actual performance in undertaking the group work.

Note to Distance students (not in groups):

Distance students who did the work individually are exempted from submitting evidence of using Asana or the record of project communications.

Part 2D: Group Member Performance Evaluation (10%)

Evaluation of group members is the fourth and last deliverable of the assignment. In week 12, each group member will receive an email from the Unit Coordinator inviting you to respond to a compulsory survey. You must respond by the given deadline, mentioned in that email. The survey includes five closed-ended questions and one open-ended question. The survey aims to evaluate the performance of each group member regarding leadership, attendance of group meetings, timely action, cooperation, quality of contribution, etc. You must self-rate your performance and rate each member of your group against the given criteria. You must also provide short feedback of not less than 30 words about the level of contribution, the reliability of contributions and performance of each group member by answering the sixth question.

Important Notes: Failing to provide appropriate qualitative feedback about each group member will encounter 5 marks deductions from the available marks of this part. You must respond to the survey independently and privately. You must be objective and honest in your assessment as you will be penalised by awarding ZERO marks for this part if your assessment is found to lack objectivity. To ensure the objectivity of your evaluation, the unit coordinator or a delegated staff member may request groups with suspicious evaluations to attend another an interview and provide evidence of the given assessment to their peers such as communications history, minutes of meetings, earlier drafts and the like.

Note to Distance students:

Distance students who did the work individually are not required to participate in this part (2D) and they will receive a mark agiasnt this part will be adjusted based on their performance in part 2C.

Part 2A: Outline Proposal and Group Presentation

This part will be assessed based on the following criteria:

1. The outline proposal includes sufficient, relevant and accurate information (30%).
2. The ability of the presenters to demonstrate an understanding of the presented content (30%).
3. Clear alignment between rationale, research questions and methodology (20%).
4. Length of presentation is within the assigned time limits (10%).
5. The overall quality of the presentation (10%).

Part 2B: Draft Research Proposal & Oral Examination

This part will be assessed based on the tutor’s evaluation of each student in terms of their genuine contribution, quality of the submission, understanding and familiarity with the entire research project as wells as research concepts. It is devised to ensure each group member genuinely participated in the development of the research proposal. This assessment includes hurdle requirements that must be met in order for you to receive a mark for this part. Failure to comply with the following hurdle requirements will result in awarding ZERO marks for this part:

1. Submission of the draft within at least 2 days prior to the scheduled oral examination to allow time for review by faculty.
2. Substantial completion of all required sections in the draft
3. Attendance of the oral examination.
4. Availability of evidence of regular communications and engagement of each group member in developing the draft.

The tutor will firstly ensure that the above hurdle requirements are met then proceed with the oral examinations. The following assessment criteria will be used for evaluating each group member:

1. Soundness, rigour and duality of the draft (30%)
2. The alignment of the draft content with what was taught in the unit (20%)
3. The group member demonstrates a satisfactory level of understanding of research concepts and submitted work (30%)
4. The group member demonstrates a satisfactory level of genuine and fair contribution in developing the draft. (20%)

Part 2C: Detailed Research Proposal.

The below rubric will be used for marking this part. This part will be marked simultaneously with Part 2D. This is because the group mark in Part 2C may be further reduced for each group member to reflect their actual performance based on the group evaluation via Part 2C. For example, if the group mark for Part 2C is 80% (32 out of 40) and group evaluation of a member is 60% (6 out of 10), the maximum individual mark for Part 2C will be reduced accordingly and a student will only receive 60% (24 out of 40) for Part 2C. However, no additional marks will be awarded for individuals if they receive a better mark in the individual evaluation (Part 2D) than the mark received for Part 2C.

Part 2D: Group Member Performance Evaluation

This part will reflect the level of your engagement as a group member, your leadership, teamwork, participation in group meetings, timely action, academic integrity, reliability, cooperation, quality of contribution, etc. You will receive zero marks if you do not complete the survey by the deadline. You will also lose marks if you do not answer all rating questions and any deductions will be calculated based on the percentage completion of rating questions. You will lose 50% of the available marks of this part (e.g. 5 marks) if you fail to complete the open-ended question in the survey. You must respond to the survey independently and privately. You must be objective and honest in your assessment as you will be penalised by awarding ZERO marks for this part if your assessment is found to lack objectivity.