Finishing up

Quite a few folk have completed the work at this stage but there are still a number of people who haven't completed various bits and pieces. Some folk have done everything but not submitted a final version of their evaluation report for me. If you are not sure what you need to do, or are not sure whether you have completed the work or not, please get in touch. I have sent some reminders to Duncan, so he may be in touch with you individually.

Completing evaluation reports

Today most people were working on their evaluation reports for me. I gave some feedback on reports handed in last week.

I also reminded everyone that they need to check with me whether or not they have handed in all the necessary paperwork for the unit.

Once I have told you that you have passed the unit, then you are free to use our Thursday morning slot to work on the four reports that you need to do for Jacek.

I can give advice on the style and structure of your reports for Jacek but obviously I won’t be able to give advice on the content.

If you need to submit work to me you can do so by email: jerryoneill@stevenson.ac.uk

Thinking about reports

On Wednesday I met up with Jacek and we discussed what was required for your reports. Jacek will give you more detail on the content of the reports that he requires today (Friday).

What was agreed was a structure and format for your reports. I have made up a template and have saved that in the Working in A Project Team folder on the P drive under the filename "report template".

I also gave out a handout on reports which touch on issues to do with the purpose of reports; types of reports; sections; and style. This, too, can be found on the P drive ("Report writing handout").

Most of those who were in yesterday handed in their evaluation reports for me. I also received a couple by email. If you haven't sent those on to me, can you email to me as soon as you can. Thanks.

As I said, once you complete all the bits and pieces for your portfolio for my unit (some have already), then you can use the time on Thursday mornings to work on your reports for Jacek and use me as a resource on the style, rather than content, of the reports.

Evaluating the research project

After a long break, we started back today with the next stage of the unit: self-evaluation.

I gave out details (which you'll find on pages 22-25 of the student guide on the P drive) of an evaluation report which you are now required to write. The purpose of this report is to describe the short research project and process and, crucially, to evaluate your team and individual performance. I won't go into the details of this again - as I say you'll find details of that in the student guide.

I have asked for a copy of a first draft of that for next week.

Just to clarify, this report is not one of the ones that you need to do for your Building a Network PC unit.

Team presentations

Thanks to everyone who made it in today to share their research as a team with the rest of the class for the four tasks. Hopefully at this stage you will all have a good idea of what you know and, more importantly, need to know to get working on the various tasks.

The presentations were the climax of the team-work element on the course. You'll remember the purpose of each team was to work collectively to research and share information on the various tasks.

After Easter, we need to look towards how all of this research comes together in a report format.

I've collated a list of the websites that have been suggested for the various tasks and added them to the task descriptions on the right-hand side column of this blog. If anyone would like to suggest more sites, just give the details as a comment to this post and I'll add them on to the rest.

Preparing for group presentations

Today was, mostly, spent on teams working on the group presentation task for next week. Remember that the purpose of the group presentation (and this class in general) is to help each other with the research for the four Building a Network PC tasks.

I asked everyone to think about how the presentations would be structured and delivered. The obvious way to create a sense of a unified presentation is to use something like PowerPoint. The use of a common platform will help link the elements of your presentation.

I also handed back some feedback on the minutes. Remember that the structure of the minutes should reflect the structure of the agenda. You should always have a copy of the agenda when you are writing the minutes.

Minute writing and feedback

I started off today by giving some guidelines on minute-writing, directed you towards the template on the P drive and then let you get on with that.

I also gave feedback individually to everyone who took part in the meeting next week. Some folk finished the minutes and others, I presume, are on their way.

Next week you will work in your teams to organise your group presentation to the rest of the class.