31265 Communication for IT Professionals: Assignment Sheet

Assessment 4
Research Report
Marks:
Length:
Due Date:

40%

2,200 2,500 words

Draft Report due in class in Week 13

Time Management Report due in Week 14 5th June 11:59pm

Final Research Report due Week 14 5th June 11:59pm
Submission: Bring Draft Report to Week 13 workshop to be marked. Submit Final
Report & attached signed scanned cover sheet as PDF to A4:
Research Report, submit Appendices as PDF to A4: Appendices,
and submit Time Management Report as PDF to A4: Time
Management Report. Join PDFs where necessary.
Objectives: Assesses objectives 1-6.

Feedback: Assignments will be returned 3 weeks after submission of all elements.

Aims: To develop your skills in researching, critiquing, synthesising and organising

information into a report, and in arguing and justifying a point of view derived from
your research.
Task In this assignment, you will:
Conduct more extensive research on the issue or topic established in
Assessment Task 2. The topic may be altered with the approval of the workshop
lecturer or tutor. The topic should be based on your groups general topic area,
but may be

Select a minimum of 6 journal articles, conference papers or books relevant to

the issue or topic. (Website articles or blogs do not count towards this total but
may still be used).

Identify the main points that relate to your specific topic, position and argument.

Organise, synthesise and critique the main points to develop an argument.

Present your argument, fully justified, in an appropriate report format.

Structure of Draft Report:

In Week 13 students will be required to bring to their workshop a hard copy of their
draft report in order to obtain feedback from their lecturer or tutor and have it
marked. It is expected that a draft report will be approximately 2000 words. This
must include the following: the complete main points completely fleshed out in
draft form, the Introduction and conclusion, the complete Reference List using
Harvard Referencing. Your draft must be edited by all other group members - (use
word with track changes, Adobe Reader annotation tools, pages on mac, or an
equivalent editing system).

Format of Time Management Report

The time management report should be automatically created as the time
management system is used over the course of the semester as per instruction in
class. The time management report therefore will be a printout of the evidence of
the usage of the time management system. Students may substitute the
recommended time management system for their own system if they wish, but their
documentation of their time management must still satisfy the assessment criteria.
Note that, writing a time management report in a Word Processor cannot satisfy the
assessment criteria, so submissions written in word documents will attract 0 marks
for this section.

31265 Communication for IT Professionals: Assignment Sheet

Structure of Final Research Report
A signed and scanned cover sheet for each student must be attached. The
assignment should be typed with 1.5 spacing and should follow this outline:

TITLE PAGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Briefly summarize the contents of the report.

INTRODUCTION

Identify and define chosen issue or topic; Set parameters or scope of topic;
Indicate overall findings; Establish your own focus and point of view (your
position); Briefly indicate the organization of the report.

SYNTHESIS OF SELECTED TEXTS (Replace this heading with heading/s more suitable to your topic)

Synthesize the relevant information around 2-5 main points (probably 3). Organize
these points into logical paragraphs that develop your ethical argument. Draw on
at least 6 sources to support and justify your argument.

Incorporates 1 visual presentation youve created from data obtained from articles
or surveys

CONCLUSION

Summarize your argument and restate your position.

REFERENCE LIST

List the articles or books you cite in your report, arranged alphabetically by
authors surname using Harvard UTS Referencing style. Note - none of these
references should be a single URL.

APPENDIX

A copy of either the first page, or the entirety of each article you cite (or the title
and reverse title page of any book cited), highlighted to show the source.
Assessment 4 Marking Criteria (40% weighting)
TIME
MANAGEMENT
DIARY (2/40)

Evidence of advance planning and completion of tasks

Documented breakdown of assignment project into individual
systematically categorized tasks
Evidence of planning and drafting

DRAFT (3/40
marks)

Evidence of group member editing and proof-reading

Reference list in correct Harvard UTS format
Complete, succinct executive summary
Clear introduction and conclusion, content organisation supports argument
Selection of appropriate texts and evidence of wide reading

CONTENT

(20/40 marks)

Awareness of ethical theories and application to ethical question

Main points formed from synthesis of evidence
Quality, elegance and relevance of data visualisation
Correct English grammar and vocabulary
Elegance of paragraph structure

STRUCTURE

Cohesion of text (organization of paragraphs & sections headings, etc.)

(15/40 marks)

Appropriate academic style and expression

Correct Harvard UTS citation in text
Reference list in correct Harvard UTS format

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