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Individual Project – Assignment Brief 1 Academic Year 2022/23
| 1. Module Code and Title: |
FDY3007- Individual Project | 4. Module Convener: |
Dr. Stephen Agyei |
| 2. Assignment No. and Type: |
Assignment 1 – Portfolio | 5. Assessment weighting per module: |
60% |
| 3. Submission Deadline: Time and Dates: *** Mandatory: All students must submit their assignment for formative feedback |
Formative Feedback Submission [Mandatory***]: Week 8 17/04/2023 Monday 23.59 Final Submission Due: Week 9 26/04/2023 Wednesday 23.59 |
6. Target feedback provisional moderated mark**: Time and Date: (**Note the LPTC’s working day feedback deadline and SMU’s moderation do not include bank holidays, weekends or periods when the college is closed) |
22/05/2023 |
| 7. CW1- Assignment task Aims | |
| Assignment 1 is a portfolio project that allows students to develop further the skills acquired in the first semester. It involves expanding their knowledge in an area of their choice by creating a portfolio of systematic enquiry into a topic of interest in real-life business management cases. The student’s engagement with a three-task portfolio [Proposal, Poster, and Video] will enable them to acquire creative skills of enquiring [doing research] and have real-life insights and appreciation of the business management field of study. |
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| 8. Assessed Learning Outcomes: (CW1 has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of a selection or all of the following module learning outcomes as designated below) |
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| Assignment 1 | LO1. Understand the requirements of successful independent study. LO2. Apply the skills of researching and critical thinking to a topic of their choice. LO3. Present their ideas in an academically rigorous but creative way, making effective use of their choice of presentation medium. |
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| 9. CW1 Task Requirements |
| As part of Assignment 1, you need to create an individual portfolio of content equivalent to 1500 words. Three tasks are included in this portfolio: a short proposal containing your project idea and plan (1000 words), a poster presenting your findings visually and textually (300 words), and a mobile video of 3 minutes in which you describe the challenges of collecting field data as a covert or overt researcher. (200 words in video text). Project Proposal – 1000 words – To be completed in Weeks 7-8 Write a short project proposal, including the following: 1. project title 2. project aim and question. 3. background research on your project 4. reasons (rationale) for choosing this project and its relevance to business management. Poster on project plan – 300 words – To be completed in Week 8 Prepare a One Slide PowerPoint Poster highlighting your project plan. If needed, you can use the speaker’s notes to make any additional notes, including the references. You need to include in the poster the following: 1. what needs to be completed 2. deadline dates 3. methods of completing tasks 4. methods of collecting and analysing data Short Video – 3 minutes long -To be completed in Week 8-9 or earlier As part of your project, you must prepare a live video from the field about the experience of being a covert or overt enquirer and the challenges of research fieldwork data collection. Your video should have written captions. You should use Canva [though any equivalent video editor would be fine] to edit your mobile video. Training on creating a Canva account and using the video editor will be provided by the lecturer and on Moodle. |
| 10. CW1 Format: Notes for Guidance |
| 1. You should present your work professionally and engagingly. 2. You should include a cover page with relevant identifiers (e.g., Module, Academic Year etc.) and a Table of Contents. 3. Your portfolio should include a short summary of its content, including the link to the video upload on Moodle. 4. The Poster Slide should be kept in its original PowerPoint Format and uploaded on Moodle; Note that other formats [e.g. pdf] are unacceptable. 5. The video recording should be recorded live in the fieldwork of data collection using mobile and has an mp4 format. 6. Using Canva, you are expected to place the edited video hyperlink in a separate section at the bottom of the written Proposal with a clear title, “Shared Canva Video Link on Challenges |
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| regarding “Fieldwork Data Collection”. This shared link enables the lecturer to access, assess and mark your video. 7. All submissions must be submitted on Moodle by the due date mentioned above in Item [3]. 8. The written part of the coursework should be in Word Document [e.g., MS Word), 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial Font [Unless instructed otherwise], with 2.0 line spacing with appropriate sectioned headings and page numbers. 9. A reference list with a minimum of four citations is expected. These must demonstrate that the student has deployed a range of literature sources, e.g., books, journals, articles, company documents, the internet, credible websites etc. |
| 11. Referencing and research requirements |
| Please cite your work using the Harvard style, which can be found at http://www.citethemrightonline.com.stmarys.idm.oclc.org/. This information is also available in book form: Pears, R., and Shields, G. (2016). Cite them right: the essential reference guide. 10th eds. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Copies are available via the University library. |
| 12. Submission details |
| All assignments must be on Moodle VLE and should be uploaded personally. Any other channels of assignment submission, such as emails, must be avoided. All your module instructors will ask you to upload your assignment for formative feedback before you turn in the full assignment by the deadline. This request will give you the tech skills you need to confidently upload your assignment by the due date. If you have a technical issue for any reason, you need to report the incident in advance and not after the deadline. The contact information for Moodle-related incidents and other enquiries is [email protected]. |
| 13- Academic Integrity |
| You are reminded of the SMU policy that stresses academic integrity and how important it is to avoid unfair practices and academic misconduct when doing your academic assignments. The University’s academic misconduct regulations can be viewed on the University website: https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/registry/policies/academic-misconduct.aspx. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations. |
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| 13- Marking Criteria-[How will your work be assessed] |
| Research [JISC 2015, Deneen, C 2015, Husain, S. et al. 2018] has shown that assessment literacy, including the marking rubric, will empower students to achieve higher scores and grade results. Your work will be graded based on how well it shows that you’ve met the stated learning outcomes for the designated assignment (see above) and against other criteria and performance indicators as presented in the Assessment Rubric for Level 3. You are expected to be familiar with the Marking Assessment Criteria related to the module, and the lecturer will advise you on optimising your effort and achievement accordingly. This assignment will be marked, adapted and mapped in line with SMU’s grading descriptors for Foundation Year Level 3. Please check the assessment criteria or marking grid below and on Moodle [Moodle Link to be added]. |
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| Please note: |
| This Assignment Brief is expected to be used in conjunction with relevant information provided to you on Moodle and in the contact sessions with module instructor (s). |
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| Assessment Criteria+A2:E23 |
Module Assessment Criteria |
Performance Descriptor | Performance Levels | Marking Bands |
| Knowledge and understanding |
Knowledge, understanding, and coverage relevance (20%) |
There is clear evidence of appropriate understanding of the conceptual underpinnings and research requirements of the enquiry project in the form of independent study, demonstrating knowledge of relevant elements of the researching processes and frameworks, contextualised in a discipline-related topic in business and/or management, and conveying an understanding of the of developing a problem-idea to an appropriate project proposal to meet the learning outcomes of an independent study, consisting of clear aim, question and rationale, backed up with a background supporting the endeavour of enquiring in the area of research interest. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 18.25-20.0 |
| Competent & Proficient | 16.25-18.24 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 13.25-16.24 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 10.25-13.24 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 8.25-10.24 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 5.25-8.24 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-5.24 | |||
| Intellectual Skills: |
Critical deliberation and analysis (20%) |
There is a demonstration of using the enquiry process to go beyond the reality of the “appearance” of the topic of interest through the development of an analytical understanding of the idea-problem as a case of enquiry, which would involve formulating the right question, insightful scholarly and diversified background, and convincing enquiry rationale and its relevance to business management, which all together assist in delving into a deeper understanding of the issue at hand. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 18.25-20.0 |
| Competent & Proficient | 16.25-18.24 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 13.25-16.24 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 10.25-13.24 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 8.25-10.24 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 5.25-8.24 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-5.24 | |||
| Critical Evaluation (20%) |
There is evidence of evaluating the experience of conducting fieldwork as a method of collecting primary data, presenting through real-live and audio-visual recording an indicative awareness of one’s role as a type of enquirer and emerging challenges that one would have in the field of enquiry. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 18.25-20.0 | |
| Competent & Proficient | 16.25-18.24 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 13.25-16.24 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 10.25-13.24 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 8.25-10.24 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 5.25-8.24 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-5.24 | |||
| Scholarly practice: Use of sources and supervisory guidelines (15%) |
There is evidence of utilising relevant discipline-related primary and secondary sources of information and following the supervisory guidelines, also showing an ability to integrate them into the individual project’s sections as needed to support description, development, analysis and/or fieldwork evaluation, and allowing the student to meet the outcome of acquiring scholarly and academic researching skills; referencing in the SMU version of Harvard has been employed accurately. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 12.25-15.0 | |
| Competent & Proficient | 10.25-12.24 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 8.25-10.24 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 6.25-8.24 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 4.25-6.24 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 2.25-4.24 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-2.24 | |||
| Professional and Life Skills |
Communication, academic writing (10%) |
The development of ideas and their connections in the portfolio is written coherently and in a structured way, demonstrating an appropriate ability to maintain the relevancy of the points utilised and their role in supporting a focused enquiry and showcasing the student being an effective communicator about her/his researching development with minimal language errors which have no impact on the clarity of expression; there is also evidence that the written part and the audio-visual design and production are within the -/+10% of either the word or minutes count. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 8.0-10.0 |
| Competent & Proficient | 7.0-7.9 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 6.0-6.9 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 5.0-5.9 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 4.0-4.9 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 3.0-3.9 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-2.9 | |||
| Planning and Digital Skills (15%) |
There is a showcased capability to do project planning for an academic enquiring activity with evidence of considering the tasks to be carried out, deadline dates, completion methods and data collection and analysis methods; as well, there is evidence of utilising digital skills (e.g., video mobile and Canva) to record and present a dimension of the enquiry experience convincingly. |
Accomplished & Exemplary | 12.25-15.0 | |
| Competent & Proficient | 10.25-12.24 | |||
| Developing and Growing | 8.25-10.24 | |||
| Emerging & Satisfactory | 6.25-8.24 | |||
| Beginning & Up to Par | 4.25-6.24 | |||
| Unsatisfactory | 2.25-4.24 | |||
| Substandard | 0.0-2.24 |