QUESTION

MNG00785 Assessment details

Assignment due dates and the suggested study timetable provided here apply to all students in all locations.

Assignment information

Please note that all assignments are to be submitted online via the assignment submission facility of the MySCU site for this unit. For information about how to submit assignments online please see the information in the ‘Assessment Help’ portal of your MySCU site. If after reading this information you are still uncertain about the submission process please contact the Student Support Team for clarification.

You must use the electronic Assignment Cover Sheet provided in the Assignments section of MySCU. Download this cover sheet, fill in your details and then make this sheet the first page of your assignment – do not send it as a separate document.

Your assignments must be submitted as Word documents with .doc or .docx extension, text documents with .rtf extension or as .pdf documents. If you wish to submit in any other file format please discuss this with your lecturer well before the assignment submission date.

As part of a University initiative to support the development of academic integrity, assessments may be checked for plagiarism, including through an electronic system, either internally or by a plagiarism checking service, and be held for future checking and matching purposes. In addition, sham referencing is considered academic misconduct, so all references must be relevant and discoverable. Students undertaking this unit should use the Harvard style that includes page numbers for in-text references – (Author Surname Year, page number) – see http://libguides.scu.edu.au/c.php?g=356711&p=2405627 .

Note that students are expected to use the following credible sources for all assessments:

1. the prescribed reading – Kloppenborg (2015);
2. readings under MyReadings on the learning site;
3. PMI documents including the PMBok and the PMI Code of Ethics.

Assignment rationale

The purpose of the assignment is to meet the following objectives of this unit:

• demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles of project management
• identify, interpret and apply the principles of project management to effectively manage a project
• critically analyse, interpret and apply the project management knowledge areas to the various phases of a project as appropriate
• identify, assess and evaluate all the phases associated with a project life cycle and demonstrate an understanding of the activities and interrelationships critical to the successful completion of a project.

Penalty for late assignments

• There is a penalty reduction of 10% of available marks for every day Assignment 1 or any component of Assignment 2 is uploaded to the MySCU site after the required due date. As such, no marks will be awarded where the upload is after 10 days from the due date however to be eligible for a passing grade, the assignment is still required to be uploaded to the MySCU site.

The Project

The key criteria to consider in choosing the project is not ‘what the project is’ but rather, is there sufficient scope to allow the project team to demonstrate the application of the wide range of tools and techniques introduced throughout each topic area. Project concepts with too narrow a Scope are difficult to expand upon in demonstrating a full range of tools and techniques. However, projects that are initially perceived as being too large or broad in Scope can typically be broken down to produce more than adequate scope for the purposes of this assignment.

It is imperative that students complete the Activity at the end of Topic 1.

MyProject and OurProject

For Assignment 1, students will individually complete a Charter for MyProject.

In Week 3 your local tutor will assign two (2) students to a group for the second Assignment.  Each group then repeats the Activities at the end of Topic 3 for the two MyProjects and will select one that will become OurProject.  For Assignment 2, the group of two students will collaboratively complete the OurProject Report.  Note that students must not use a project that is different from the projects used for Assignment 1.

Assignment 1: MyProject Charter

Due:                                         Sunday 11:00PM, 27/3/2016

Length:                                   1,500 words excluding appendix

Weighting:                            15%

MyProject Charter

The Project Charter should explain the background of the organisation where this project will be carried out, the objectives of the project and the importance of this project to the organisation. The Charter includes a Business Case, Milestone Schedule, as well as any major problems or anticipated Risks with this project if they are known at this stage. The textbook provides detailed examples of what needs to be included in the Project Charter.  These examples will assist in the development of the Project Charter for MyProject.

The project should be of commercial consequence which demands a Return-On-Investment (ROI) analysis, and could be from one of the following categories depending on the type of business a student is involved in:

• an organisational project that a student is involved in as the organisation’s main line of business – to manage projects for your organisation or on behalf of others
• an activity that a student is convinced would benefit from being handled as a project
• an activity in which a student was involved in the past that was not carried out as a project, but one which you believe would have been managed better as a project. If you use this option you should describe how you would execute this activity now using the knowledge gained through this unit.
  • The project should NOT be:

• a wedding event
• a project developing an App
• the implementation of a change management initiative
• a Not-For-Profit event
• the establishment of a restaurant
• a farewell event

Note 1:          Students undertaking this unit for a second time must use a completely different project than they used in their previous attempt.

Note 2:          Students are directed to the Activity to be completed at the end of Topic 1

Note 3:          The project must be undertaken in Australia and use Australian currency

The maximum word length for this part is 1,500 words excluding words used in any charts, templates, forms or diagrams that you have used to apply the knowledge areas.

Format for Assignment 1

The format of the formal assignment will be:

• SCU Cover Sheet
• Title page
• Letter to Sponsor
• Table of contents
• Introduction (use an Appendix for background if necessary – see below)
• Project Charter using appropriate headings (see Marking Criteria below)
• Reference list (Harvard referencing style is required)
• Appendix will only include a background of the organisation for your unit assessor. All forms, charts, tables and diagrams should be included under the relevant sections of the assignment.  The Appendix is NOT graded.
  • NOTE: As this is a piece of academic work, students are required to describe the purpose of each section of the Charter in paraphrased text, appropriately referenced to the prescribed textbook, the PMBoK, and/or readings on the learning site. Failure to do so will result in a reduction of marks for each marking criteria where this is not performed.

Plagiarism

As part of a University initiative to support the development of academic integrity, assessments may be checked for plagiarism, including through an electronic system, either internally or by a plagiarism checking service, and be held for future checking and matching purposes. In addition, sham referencing is considered academic misconduct, so all references must be relevant and discoverable. Students undertaking this unit should use the Harvard style that includes page numbers for in-text references – (Author Surname Year, page number) – see http://libguides.scu.edu.au/c.php?g=356711&p=2405627 .

Marking criteria

The following marking criteria will be used for Assignment 1 in conjunction with the specific requirements as set out above:

Assignment 2: OurProject Report

Due:                                         Sunday 11:00PM, 8/5/2016

Length:                                   4,000 words excluding appendices

Weighting:                            45%

OurProject report

In Week 3 your local tutor will assign students into groups of two students to permit the group to collaborate and upload Assignment 2 as a group.  To facilitate collaboration, a group wiki will be set up and must be used progressively to complete Assignment 2 (see wiki information below).

It is imperative that students complete the Activities at the end of Topic 3 in the Study Guide.

For Assignment 2, the project team is required to submit a report illustrating how the project team will apply the following knowledge areas that have been learned in this unit to OurProject.  The Project Report needs to address the following areas at a minimum:

• WBS
• RACI Chart
• Schedule – Gantt chart and AoN as well as resource levelling
• Budget
• Progress Reporting – 2 methods
• Risk Management
• Change Management
• Communication
• Project closure

Wiki:

In Week 3 your local tutor will assign students to a group.  A wiki will be set up within MySCU and access to each group wiki will be limited to the designated two students, the local tutor and the Unit Assessor.  No other student can access your group wiki.

The wiki must be used to progressively compile the required parts of Assignment 2 – OurProject Report aligned to the PMBoK knowledge areas.  It is required that students place material in the wiki on a set progressive basis.  That is, students will be required to place material for example a WBS in the week following the week that the topic is taught.  For example, WBS is presented in Topic 4 / Week 4, and therefore students have until the end of Week 5 (Saturday at midnight NSW time) to place material and a WBS into the wiki.  If this is not in your group wiki by the applicable Saturday at midnight NSW time, then a daily penalty reduction of 10% of available marks for this particular marking criteria will commence from that time.

It is noted that there are two marking criteria for some of the PMBoK knowledge areas.  It is suggested that each student take carriage of one of these elements in the wiki to ensure both are completed and placed in the wiki before the relevant time.

Just prior to the due date for Assignment 2, one student from each group should download all material from the wiki and compile these into the one single document to be uploaded via the A2 turn-it-in portal for grading.  There is no need for both students to upload as this will result in 100% match in the originality score.

The maximum word length for this assignment is 4,000 words excluding words used in any charts, templates, forms or diagrams that the project team have used to apply the knowledge areas. If the project team opt to use words to explain how the team have applied a knowledge area you should limit them to one page per knowledge area.

A soft copy of many useful forms will be made available to you on MySCU that project teams can modify and use for the assignment. However a project team can and should design your own forms or use standard forms that are used by an organisation and adapt these to suit your project. The soft copy is provided for the benefit of those students who are not adept at designing forms using a computer. Hand drawn forms can be used as well but they must be neatly drawn.

You are also required to provide a list of references listing all the sources you have referred to in preparing this assignment.

Format for Assignment 2

The format of the formal assignment will be:

• SCU Cover Sheet
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• WBS
• RACI Chart
• Schedule
• Budget
• Progress Reporting
• Risk Management
• Change Management
• Communication with Stakeholders
• Project Closure
• Reference list (Harvard referencing style is required)
• Appendix will only include a copy of the first assignment for your grader. All forms, charts, tables and diagrams should be included under the relevant sections of the assignment.  The Appendix is NOT graded.
  • NOTE: As this is a piece of academic work, students are required to describe the purpose of each section of the Charter in paraphrased text, appropriately referenced to the prescribed textbook, the PMBoK, and/or readings on the learning site. Failure to do so will result in a reduction of marks for each marking criteria where this is not performed.

Plagiarism

As part of a University initiative to support the development of academic integrity, assessments may be checked for plagiarism, including through an electronic system, either internally or by a plagiarism checking service, and be held for future checking and matching purposes. In addition, sham referencing is considered academic misconduct, so all references must be relevant and discoverable. Students undertaking this unit should use the Harvard style that includes page numbers for in-text references – (Author Surname Year, page number) – see http://libguides.scu.edu.au/c.php?g=356711&p=2405627 .

Marking criteria

The following marking criteria will be used for Assignment 2:

Final examination

Exam period:                        1 – 11 June,  2016

Weighting:                            40%

The final examination is scheduled for the end of the study period. Students will be advised as to when the exam will be held and the format it will take. The exam will be closed book. Students will be allowed to bring one (1) A4 size, double-sided page of word processed, typed or hand written notes to the examination.

Note: Students are permitted to take a hard copy standard English translation dictionary into the examination. Electronic translation dictionaries are not permitted. Mobile phones are not permitted into the examination.  Furthermore students are NOT permitted to take anything (including their own single A4 page of notes) out of the examination room.

To pass this unit

To achieve a passing grade in this unit, all assessment tasks must be submitted, and an overall mark of 50% or more must be obtained from the combined three (3) assessment pieces.

Grades

Students who complete a unit will receive one of the following grades:

• Fail
• Absent Fail
• Satisfied Requirements (where used)
• Pass
• Credit
• Distinction
• High Distinction.

Student grades are determined by applying the following grading standards in combination with specific marking criteria for each assessment item.

Note: Marks may be subject to moderating adjustments.

Grading standards

Fail: The student’s performance fails to satisfy the learning requirements specified.

Absent Fail: The student fails to submit all assessment items and is deemed to have abandoned studies.

Satisfied Requirements (where used): The student’s performance satisfies all of the basic learning requirements specified.

Pass: The student’s performance satisfies all of the basic learning requirements specified and provides a sound basis for proceeding to higher-level studies in the subject area. The student’s performance could be described as satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the learning requirements specified.

Credit: The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements specified, demonstrates insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts. The student’s performance could be described as better than satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the learning requirements specified.

Distinction: The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements, demonstrates distinctive insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts, and shows a well-developed ability to synthesise, integrate and evaluate knowledge. The student’s performance could be described as distinguished in relation to the learning requirements specified.

High Distinction: The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements, demonstrates distinctive insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts, and shows exceptional ability to synthesise, integrate and evaluate knowledge. The student’s performance could be described as outstanding in relation to the learning requirements specified.

Related Samples