BUSN20019 - Professional Project Term 2 - 2017 Profile information current as at 24-Jul-2017 09:51 All details in this unit profile for BUSN20019 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student). The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile. This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term. To see alignment of learning outcomes, assessment and graduate attributes in a previous term, see previous unit profile. Assessment Tasks 1 Practical and Written Assessment Assessment Title Project context and proposal Task Description Unit assessment overview: During this unit, you will complete an individual professional project that contains a number of cumulative components, and Assessment 2 will build on the components assembled in Assessment 1. You will be given significant feedback and feed-forward during and after Assessment 1, which you must use to develop Assessment 2. In this unit, you will demonstrate a synthesis of the knowledge, learning, business research methodologies, and professional skills that you have acquired and practiced throughout your Masters course. In particular, this unit builds upon your previous work in the unit Research in Business, however, this time you will actually do a research project. The analysis component of the Professional Project will be based SOLELY on secondary data and it is important that you familiarise yourself early in the unit on the meaning of 'secondary data'. You will work independently (although within a structure) to plan, carry out and report on an investigation that addresses an issue or problem in business relevant to your future profession. This will be one of the following: marketing, accounting or management/human resource management. Throughout the term, your independent study will be supported by Moodle resources (particularly for external students) and interactions with a campus tutor/lecturer, who will provide guidance. Assessment 1: Project context and proposal (40%) This assessment will be completed in two steps. Step 1, worth 15% of total unit marks. This assignment requires you to submit, by the end of week 4, a single page project plan. This project plan will contain three components: A] A ‘field of research’ which pertains to your understanding of your profession. This short statement will include how this field relates to the work of your profession and an industry. B] A source of secondary data linked to their chosen field of research. Students will be required to either include a website with a link to a publicly available secondary data set, or a short description of how you will use publicly available sources as secondary data. C] A research question or questions that can be answered with the secondary data set you identified, including a clear expression of the variables you will be using, and the relationships between these variables you plan to explore. Alternatively, a broader, but still clearly defined exploratory research aim will be acceptable.D] The search terms you propose to use in Google Scholar to identify literature in the field of the research question. E] You will be asked to pick five articles that arise from the result of your search that you will think be suitable sources to write a literature review in the area of your field of research. You will be asked to write two sentences that combine at least three of these sources (referenced correctly) and provide the (at least three) sources in a reference list. Step 2, worth 25% of total unit marks. For this assignment you will be asked to prepare a short literature review that places your project within the context of your profession and industry, and ends with a focused field of study or research aim, and at least one research question. You will be asked to clearly describe your research plan, including your proposed method of analysis. Submission of the final Assignment 1 will be at end of week 6. Assessment Due Date Word document; electronic submission via Moodle Return Date to Students Results and feedback will be available in Moodle within 10 business days (2 weeks, excluding university vacation). Weighting 40% Assessment Criteria As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice", and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”. Each unit in your Masters program has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, demonstrate an ability to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level course, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit. You should ensure that you understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if you merely meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research. Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following eight criteria, with the weighting given on the Moodle site: Professional presentation and accuracy of work Quality and appropriateness of references, and accuracy of referencing Feasibility of project within time-frame Aim and objectives/research questions Preliminary critical literature review Organisation of the project Written communication Evidence of tutor/lecturer engagement Referencing Style American Psychological Association (APA) Submission OnlineLearning Outcomes Assessed 1. Develop an understanding of your profession and its role in business and industry 2. Identify a problem or issue in your profession and/or the roles normally undertaken by such professionals in business or industry 3. Articulate the research questions that address the issue thus identified 4. Evaluate and analyse national and international literature and secondary data related to your research questions 5. Develop appropriate solutions and recommendations to your applied research questions 6. Communicate key findings and outline recommendations for your profession. Graduate Attributes 1. Knowledge 2. Communication 4. Research 5. Self-management 2 Practical Assessment Assessment Title Project Report Task Description This is an individual, written assessment, to be completed in report format. You are required to write around 3,000 words (excluding title page, preliminaries, tables, figures, reference list and appendices). The report requires in-text referencing and a full reference list in APA style, with evidence that you have critically read and integrated a minimum of 20 suitable scholarly references. The purpose of this assessment is to present the final report of the Professional Project you proposed in Assignment 1. This report should build upon your assessment 1 and it should address the campus tutor/lecturer or unit co-ordinator (for external students) feedback. In order to successfully complete Assessment 2, you are required to carry out the investigation you have proposed in Assessment 1 and produce a professional research report that shows how you have followed through from finding a research question to answering that question and developing recommendations that arise from your findings. Assessment Due Date Week 12 Friday (06-Oct-2017) 11:45 AM AEST Word document; electronic submission via Moodle Return Date to Students Results and feedback will be available in Moodle on certification day. Weighting 60% Assessment Criteria As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.Each unit in the MBA has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level course, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit. Students should insure that they understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if they meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research. Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following nine criteria, with the weighting given on the Moodle site: Title, background, definitions; Justification, aim and objectives/research questions Quality and coherence of introduction and conclusion Critical literature review Methodology Findings and analysis Discussion Written communication Quality and appropriateness of references, and accuracy of referencing Referencing Style American Psychological Association (APA) Submission Online Learning Outcomes Assessed 1. Develop an understanding of your profession and its role in business and industry 2. Identify a problem or issue in your profession and/or the roles normally undertaken by such professionals in business or industry 3. Articulate the research questions that address the issue thus identified 4. Evaluate and analyse national and international literature and secondary data related to your research questions 5. Develop appropriate solutions and recommendations to your applied research questions 6. Communicate key findings and outline recommendations for your profession. Graduate Attributes 1. Knowledge 2. Communication 3. Cognitive, technical and creative skills 4. Research 5. Self-management