Overview
This unit equips you with the essential knowledge, skills and techniques for planning, designing, and conducting a research project in the context of project management discipline. This unit provides a systematic approach to the planning required during the initial stages of your research project. You will develop the necessary competencies to identify a research gap and articulate research questions. You will learn how to identify and review credible literature. You will consider qualitative and quantitative approaches, and justify the most appropriate method for your project with the final outcome of the unit being the development of a full research proposal. This unit helps you develop a detailed and rigorous research project plan for the investigative study that may be undertaken in the research stream.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: PPMP20007
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student evaluations
Mentimetre was one of the best approaches used in this unit. The use of Mentimeter and interactive quiz feature towards the end of each lecture was a good approach to make lectures more enjoyable and engaging. It allows students to understand more than the normal lectures. Going further with these new and innovative approaches would be helpful for every student.
Continue with current teaching and learning practice.
Feedback from Students informal meetings
Asana tool was user-friendly and effective in managing the project team and activities which polished student's competence in project management and better prepared students for the career. Asana should replace the private Moodle forum to make the assessment item less demanding.
Confine the requirements of group communication to be via Asana only and require groups to enrol their respective tutor in Asana for monitoring purposes.
- Apply project management processes, tools and techniques in articulating, designing and planning for the execution of a research project
- Develop and employ ethical practices that consider social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers
- Conduct a literature search to identify a problem that warrants research within the project management context
- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for solving the research problem
- Prepare a research proposal with necessary components that describe an organised, coherent and convincing statement of the research intent, significance and strategies to conduct the research.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- CQ university Library resourses for research
- EndNote Bibliographical application
- Mendeley Desktop
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
z.abunada@cqu.edu.au
l.castell@cqu.edu.au
s.skaik@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
- Framing research questions and objectives
- Important terms
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
- What is a literature review
- Sources of data
- Types of review
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 3
Module/Topic
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Enjoy your well deserved break! It is also an opportunity to go through all the online resources that you have not yet read.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 6
Assessment 1 (Individual Submission) Due: Week 6 Monday (20 Apr 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
- Questionnaire design
- Sampling
- Presenting evidence and data analysis
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 7
Module/Topic
- Preparation for writing
- Creating a research paper
- Editing the paper and writing the abstract
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 8
Module/Topic
- Elements of a research proposal
- Basic principles and pitfalls
- Evaluation and improving a proposal
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 9
Module/Topic
- What are research ethics
- Ethics in conducting research
- Ethics in publications
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 10
Module/Topic
- Projects and project characteristics
- Managing your research project
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
- Review of the unit
- CQU PM research stream
- Executing the research
Chapter
Review the online resources within the relevant section of this week in Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial for Week 12
Assessment 2 (Group Submission) Due: Week 12 Friday (5 June 2020) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Overview
This assignment requires you to identify and provide preliminary information to support a future research proposal and draws on information taught in weeks 1-5. A template will be provided that must be used in completing this assignment. You are required to choose a topic area from a given list, identify a specific gap in the published research relating to your chosen topic area and then complete each of the sections in the provided template.
The template requires you to provide a rationale for your proposed research, write a basic literature review to show your understanding of the research area, identify and describe the research question/s and objective/s for your research and explain, with reasons, whether you will use a quantitative, qualitative or mixed methodology approach in your research design. Your ability to demonstrate understanding of these processes will determine the marks you are given.
Word count between 2000 and 2500 words (excluding references).
The Unit Profile states the general referencing style for this unit is Harvard (Author-Date). However, for this assessment you MUST use the EndNote Harvard-CQU referencing style (see library webpage for instructions on how to upload this style into EndNote)
Learning outcomes assessed for Assessment 1:
3- Conduct a literature search to identify a problem that warrants research within the project management context
4- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for solving the research problem
Please refer to the Assessment 1 document available in your Moodle Assessment 1 tab for complete instructions and requirements of this assessment. Assessment 1 will be released in Week 3 (Monday, 23 March 2020, 9:00 am AEST).
Week 6 Monday (20 Apr 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Two weeks after due date
Your assignment will be assessed on the extent and quality to which it meets each of the following criteria:
Aspect 1 - 6 marks
Aspect 2 - 16 marks
Aspect 3 - 4 marks
Aspect 4 - 6 marks
Aspect 5 - 8 marks
Each of the above aspects will be clearly explained in the assessment document which will be given to you in Week 3 (Monday, 23 March 2020, 9:00 am AEST).
- Conduct a literature search to identify a problem that warrants research within the project management context
- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for solving the research problem
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
2 Written Assessment
This assessment is to be done in GROUPS (3-4 students)
For each group, the assignment that scored the highest in Assessment 1 (within the group members) will be used as the basis for the group’s further work and submission for Assessment 2.
This assignment involves completing a research proposal and is based on information taught in weeks 1-12. A research proposal template will be provided. Groups must use this template in completing the assignment. You must complete all sections and provide all required appendices. The completed template will require the group to provide: an abstract of their research project, a rationale for and significance of the proposed research, a detailed literature review to show understanding of the research area, the proposed research question/s and objective/s, a detailed explanation of your research design, the completed project management components (as detailed in the template), references and all appendices. Your ability to demonstrate understanding of these processes will determine the marks you are given.
Whilst some of the sections in the research proposal template coincide with sections completed in Assignment 1, all those sections will be remarked as part of the overall marking for Assessment 2. Group members must, therefore, reflect on and revise the content of any of those sections that they believe require enhancing before becoming part of their Assignment 2 submission, including providing a detailed description of all components of their proposed research design in the relevant section.
Word count between 3000 and 3500 words (excluding references and any required appendices)
The Unit Profile states the general referencing style for this unit is Harvard (Author-Date). However, for this assessment you MUST use the EndNote Harvard-CQU referencing style (see library webpage for instructions on how to upload this style into EndNote)
Learning outcomes assessed for Assessment 2
1- Apply project management processes, tools and techniques in articulating, designing and planning for the
execution of a research project
2- Develop and employ ethical practices that consider social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers:
3- Conduct a literature search to identify a problem that warrants research within the project management context
4- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for solving the research problem
5- Prepare a research proposal with necessary components that describe an organised, coherent and convincing statement of the research intent, significance and strategies to conduct the research.
Please refer to the Assessment 2 document available in your Moodle Assessment 2 tab for complete instructions and requirements of this assessment. Assessment 2 will be released in Week 7 (Monday, 27 April 2020, 9 am AEST).
Week 12 Friday (5 June 2020) 11:59 pm AEST
After grade certification date
Your assignment will be assessed on the extent and quality to which it meets each of the following criteria:
Aspect 1 - 4 marks
Aspect 2 - 12 marks
Aspect 3 - 4 marks
Aspect 4 - 8 marks
Aspect 5 - 8 marks
Aspect 6 - 4 marks
Each of the above aspects will be clearly explained in the assessment document which will be given to you in Week 7 (Monday, 27 April 2020, 9:00 am AEST).
- Apply project management processes, tools and techniques in articulating, designing and planning for the execution of a research project
- Develop and employ ethical practices that consider social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers
- Prepare a research proposal with necessary components that describe an organised, coherent and convincing statement of the research intent, significance and strategies to conduct the research.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
3 Online Quiz(zes)
You will be required to complete a set of multiple-choice quiz questions related to the learning outcomes in this unit.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this assessment item is to help you to understand the processes required in undertaking a research project. The secondary purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis and critical thinking skills.
Notes:
The quiz will be based on the learning from lectures Week 1 - 12. In order for you to complete the quiz, it is necessary for you to complete all learning activities prescribed in the unit.
Learning outcomes assessed for Assessment 3:
1- Apply project management processes, tools and techniques in articulating, designing and planning for the
execution of a research project
2- Develop and employ ethical practices that consider social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers:
5- Prepare a research proposal with necessary components that describe an organised, coherent and convincing statement of the research intent, significance and strategies to conduct the research.
Important Information:
1. The quiz will ONLY be available during the following time period:
Start: 0900 hrs Tuesday, 09 June 2020
End: 2359 hrs Wednesday, 10 June 2020
2. ONE ATTEMPT ONLY. MUST BE completed latest by 2359 hrs Wednesday, 10 June 2020
3. The quiz is an OPEN BOOK test. You may refer to the unit materials (lectures slides, your own notes etc).
4. When you attempt the quiz, 40 questions will be selected and displayed in RANDOM ORDER. It is very unlikely that two students will see the same questions.
5. The link for the quiz is now added to your PPMP20015 Moodle assessment tab and will become active on 0900hrs Tuesday, 9 June 2020. The quiz will terminate at 2359 hrs on Wednesday 10 June 2020. Please plan to complete the quiz within this timeframe.
6. There will be 40 questions to be answered in 50 minutes. Questions will be:
- Multiple choice
- True / False
1
Other
Review/Exam Week Wednesday (10 June 2020) 11:59 pm AEST
This assignment will be marked by the Moodle computer program upon submission. Marks will only be released AFTER THE QUIZ IS CLOSED.
- The percentage of correct answers
- No penalty deduction for wrong answers
- Apply project management processes, tools and techniques in articulating, designing and planning for the execution of a research project
- Develop and employ ethical practices that consider social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers
- Conduct a literature search to identify a problem that warrants research within the project management context
- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for solving the research problem
- Prepare a research proposal with necessary components that describe an organised, coherent and convincing statement of the research intent, significance and strategies to conduct the research.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
