CO1851 Practitioner Skills

CO1851 – Practitioner Skills - Assignment 2

Release date: 9th January 2018

Hand in dates:
Interim presentation/Proposal hand in sheet…...22 nd January 2018
Research results report....................…………….w/b 16th April 2018
Presentation of findings...................…………….w/b 16th April 2018
Legislative and Ethical report…………………….w/b 16th April 2018

This assignment accounts for 50% of the overall mark for this module.

Learning Outcomes assessed

Use information sources and available technology to research, prepare and present a
2
written and oral presentation.
4 Relate to and interact effectively with individuals and groups.

5 Discuss the legislation related to computer-based systems

6 Discuss the social and ethical implications of a range of situations

8 Communicate in a professional manner in a form suitable for the audience

Brief

You are to submit a research report and present a proposal about a form of research
you wish to conduct. Within this you will develop a hypothesis and carry out an
experiment to test your hypothesis in order to prove or disprove it.

Once you have undertaken your research you will then analyse the results of your
experiment, draw your conclusions, and communicate your findings via a research
paper.

Use a MINIMUM of 3 references in your research paper to back up your justifications,

more if necessary. Present your findings using an appropriate medium (e.g.
PowerPoint) to the group.

Accompanying your research paper you will also submit a report that discusses the
Legislation relating to computer based systems and the social and ethical implications
of a range of situations.

1
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

Deliverables and deadlines

Item Deliverables Deadline Marking Scheme

 Attendance at and participation in 1 power-point with 22/01/2018 No marks awarded but

the interim review notes page no progression onto next
stage and research
report marks capped if
no sources presented

 Research results – report on the Report w/b 16th April 50%

findings of research, including
how legislation impacts on the
research paper. Marks allocated
for methodology, results, analysis
and legislative impact, as well as
other information as indicated on
the assignment brief

 Final presentation of your findings Delivery of w/b 16th April 20%

in the form of an academic poster. presentation
Results and findings are to be
presented, together with how you
carried them out.

 Complete a report discussing Report w/b 16th April 30%

legislation and social and ethical
implications with reference topical
situations.

Assessment

This section gives details on how you will be assessed on your performance in the module at the end of
this assignment. The overall assessment is comprised of a number of assessed elements which are
explained below. If you do not understand how this relates to you after reading this section, you should
take advice from the module tutor at the earliest opportunity.

Assessment of Interim Presentation

This is an informal presentation of your proposal with your course tutor. It is advisable to present your
idea in the form of a brief PowerPoint presentation and you should have thought through a concise and
constructive case for your ideas as well as submitting the project proposal pro-formal. You must include
a minimum of 3 sources that you will be using to inform your work. At this interim review you will be
given formal permission to continue with this research project, failure to get this means that you will be
delayed starting the research part of the assignment and that you will have less time to complete it. It is
your responsibility to arrange another meeting with your tutor in order to obtain this permission. Failure
to gain formal permission to continue the research means your final research assignment will be capped
at 40%.

Assessment of Written Research results

This is a formal written report that should deliver the results of your findings. It should be typed in Arial
format using size 10 font for main text and size 12 for headings. All headings should be in bold but not
underlined. The text should be justified throughout the report. It should be professionally presented. A
guide to the contents of the report is given below

2
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

As a guide, the report should include, but is not limited to, the following headings:

 Title page
- this should include the title of the report
- the author’s name, module, course and the date

 Acknowledgements
- it is usual to acknowledge any special help that you have been given in collecting the
information for the report, eg outside companies etc

 Contents
- list all the main sections of the report in sequence with the page numbers they begin on
- if there are charts, diagrams and tables in your report, these should be included in a
separate “List of Illustrations”

 Abstract or summary
- A short paragraph summarising the main contents of the report
- This section should be concise, informative and independent of the main report
- This section would be written after the main body of the report

 Introduction
- should give the context and scope of the report (ie a statement of the brief in your own words
and a brief general background to the subject of the report and some indication of how the
report will develop)

 Methodology
- what methods were used to carry out the research/practical work/survey

 Results or findings
- present the findings in as simple and clear a way as possible, make it easy for the reader
(consider using charts/graphs if this makes the info clearer)

 Discussion/analysis
- in this section you can analyse and interpret the results, explain the significance of the
results and identify any important issues and try to present a balanced view

 Legislation
- Discuss the impacts of legislation within your project, what do you need to consider when
conducting your experiment

 Conclusion and recommendations

- in this section bring together the main points and draw a conclusion

 References
- a list of references to any quotes used in the rest of the report (see notes on referencing) –
use Word to create this list as endnotes as you type the report

 Bibliography
- this should be a list of all the texts, journal articles, and internet sites (see notes on
referencing), used in the creation of the report
- this will include all the texts noted in the references section plus any others that have been
referred to but not quoted from.
- Don’t include references for the sake of it – if the text hasn’t been useful don’t include it.
- The list should be in alphabetical order of the surname of the author (if there are multiple
authors then use then the first author listed would indicate its position in the order)
- In some cases the bibliography should give a brief indication of how that reference has
contributed to the work (eg survey results on a survey of 1000 people re their views on
censorship and the media)

3
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

 Appendices
- any additional related material which is not essential to be read but may be consulted if the
reader wishes, eg details of interviews, statistical data, glossary of terms etc

Assessment of Main Formal Presentation

This is formal presentation of your research experiment and the results. Presented as an academic
poster. Academic posters to be displayed and questions asked by peers and staff at the establishment to
question academic methodology and findings.

Report discussing the impact of legislation and social & ethical implications
You will need to complete a report, for inclusion with your Research Results documentation which
discusses the legislation related to computer systems and also the social and ethical implications of a
range of situations. Your discussion of legislation should also include reference to topical articles from
the media in connection with the associated piece of legislation

Please feel free to contact your tutor regarding this assessment

4
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

Grading Criteria

Marking Scheme

To obtain a PASS assignment (40%), you must have:

o submitted a research proposal which includes a minimum of 3 sources of
information
o submitted summary of research results
o written-up research experiment in a report format
o shown knowledge and understanding of research in Computing
o applied a methodical approach to your hypothesis
o the ability to produce satisfactory results from a research experiment
o analyse the data available
o presented your findings
o shown an awareness of the legislative and social & ethical implications

To obtain a MERIT assignment (60%), you must have (in addition to the above):

o clear evidence of the potential to undertake research evidence of some creativity,

originality and independence of thought
o the ability to assemble information from different sources to produce well organised
and insightful answers
o analyse data critically
o flexibility of thought, and the ability to solve complex, though not entirely original
problems
o produced documentation of good quality, with appropriate references using the
Harvard Referencing System
o delivered the findings with suitably professional support documentation-Academic
poster
o Your report will discuss how legislative and Social & ethical implications apply to
various situations.

To obtain a DISTINCTION assignment (70%), you must have (in addition to the above):

o shown outstanding research potential

o produced documentation of publishable quality according to guidelines provided
o given details of the ability to plan, organise and execute independently a research
project to the highest professional standards
o illustrated exceptional degree of creativity, originality and independence of thought
o demonstrated that you can make informed judgements, develop original insights,
and construct productive hypotheses in the absence of complete data
o Your report will be written, structured and presented in a clear and coherent
manner, and will be appropriately referenced using the Harvard Referencing
System.

5
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

Referencing summary

In the body of the In the References

work
One author Brown (2000, p. 27) Brown, P. (2000) ‘New directions in leadership
development…..’
Two authors Bennis and O’Toole Bennis, W.G. and J. O’Toole (2005). ‘How Business
(2005, p. 3) Schools Lost Their Way…..’
Three authors MacLean, MacIntosh MacLean, D., R. MacIntosh and S. Grant (2002). ‘Mode 2
and Grant (2002) Management Research’. European Journal of…..’
suggest…
More than three Gibbons et al. (1994) Gibbons, M.L., C. Limoges, H. Nootney, S. Schwartman, P.
authors Scott and M. Trow (1994). The New Production of
Knowledge…..
Authors quoting Smith and Span You must provide the appropriate full references for Kotler
other authors (2004), cited in Kotler and should also reference Smith and Span.
(2005, p. 37) found
that….
or-
Kotler (2005, p. 37)
gives an extensive
commentary on the
work of Smith and
Span (2004) in which
he……
More than one Tsoukas (1994a) Tsoukas, H. (1994a). ‘From Social Engineering to
work by the Reflective
same author(s) Tsoukas (1994b) Action in Organizational Behaviour’. In: H. Tsoukas (ed.),
in the same year. New Thinking in Organizational Behavior, pp. 1–22.
Butterworth-
Heinemann, London.
Tsoukas, H. (1994b). ‘What is Management? An Outline of
a
Metatheory’, British Journal of Management, 5, pp. 289–
301.
When no author Use the name of the
is shown publishing source
e.g. The Observer (2007). ‘Red tape strikes fear into small
Many institutions are businesses’.
struggling with 18 December, 2007.
governmental red
tape (The Observer, In the References
18 March, 2007, p.
When no author 47) and finding it BBC News Online (2004). ‘Company secrets leak via e-
is shown (cont’d) difficult to…… mail’, 15 June. Available at:
In the body of the http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/
work 3809025.stm.

…15% admitting
having sent
confidential
information by
mistake (BBC News
Online, 2004).

6
 CO1851 Practitioner Skills

When no date is Hass (nd) also states Hass, J. (nd). ‘Some Results on Bubbles’. Available at:
shown that… http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/_hass/bubbles.html.
Accessed
5 July 2004.
Referencing Author(s) as above, Ritzer, G. (2004). The Globalization of Nothing. Pine Forge
books year of publication in Press, Thousand Oaks, CA.
parentheses, page
number of the
specific reference.
Referencing Author(s) as above, Tsoukas, H. (1994b). ‘What is Management? An Outline of
journal articles year of publication in a
parentheses, page Metatheory’, British Journal of Management, 5, pp. 289–
number of the 301.
specific reference.
Referencing Author(s) as above, Shenhav, Y. (2003). ‘The Historical and Epistemological
chapters in year of publication in Foundations of Organization Theory. Fusing Sociological
edited books parentheses, page Theory with Engineering Discourse’. In: H. Tsoukas and C.
number of the Knudsen (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Organization
specific reference. Theory, pp. 183–209. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Referencing Author(s) as above, Burgoyne, J. (1998). ‘Management Learning: Form, History

conference year of publication in and Prospects’, Proceedings of the Emerging Fields in
papers parentheses, page Management: Connecting Learning and Critique
number of the Conference,
specific reference. Leeds, July.