COIT20249 | Assignment 2 Professional Skills in Information Communication Technology | Professional Skills

Requirements

Internal students

Internal students will be required to present a topic to their workshop groups. Presentations will be marked in class.Students will be required to work in small groups of two to four members. A list of suggestedtopic categoriesis provided below so the students can discuss possible topics that relate to these themes. Students may also suggest theirown topics to the local lecturer on other themes. The local lecturer will consider and approve the topic.All groups and their selected topic must be approvedby the local lecturer by the end of week 3.

Please note that all group members will be given the same mark unless there is a significant issue that is brought to the attention of the Unit Coordinator and Local Lecturer. Each presentation is to be a maximum of 10 minutes for the presentation. Up to five minutes will be allocated after the presentation for a question and answer session with the audience. This time frame will be strictly enforced due to time constraints.Your lecturer may terminate your presentation if your delivery exceeds 15 minutes. Marks will be allocated accordingly in that situation. Please plan your presentation carefully to avoid losing marks in the delivery criterion for exceeding the time limit.

A team charter template available from the Assessment 2 page is useful for groups to plan their contributions and minimise group conflict. Group members may consider outlining their contributions and submitting an adapted version of this team charter as a part of their presentation materials. This is strongly recommended for groups that comprise of members who have not worked together previously.

The coversheet/title page for the group presentations must outline the names and student IDs of all group members. All group members must submit the same presentationfile(s) on Moodle. If all group members do not submit the same presentation file(s), marks will not be allocated to any member of the group.

Please note that the presentations must proceed on the allocated day. Groups must be ready to present on the allocated day even if one of their members is absent. This will be taken into account when marking. If astudent does not present on the allotted day they will receive 0/20 unless they have an approved extension (supported by evidence, for example, a doctor’s certificate) or there is some other equally compelling reason for your absence. If an extension is approved, the student with an extension may have to research and present a different topic at a later date that must be mutually agreed with the local lecturer/unit coordinator.

                                                                                                 

Distance students

Distance students present as individuals due to the difficulties when working in a group across large distances.Students should contact the Unit Coordinator by the end of week 3 with their topic choice. The Unit Coordinator will liaise with each student to determine a suitable presentation method and due date. For example, presentations could be conducted live via Skype or Viber or Blackboard Collaborate, or recorda video of your presentation and upload into Moodle or a private channel on YouTube (the link would need to be uploaded into Moodle). Students will have to do their presentation at a mutually suitable time between weeks 5 and 9 of term.

Distance students who upload a recording of their video presentation (as opposed to doing it live via a videoconferencing platform)should demonstrate the facilitation of discussion by making sure that the end of their presentation includes at least two questions that could be posed by the audience. Answers should be provided for these questions.

All students

The main aim of these oral presentations is to demonstrate your presentation skills. A secondary aim is to help your fellow students by presenting a topic relevant to being a future ICT professional.Many students enrolled in this Unit are in their first year of study hence, they have not yet worked out where to find information or how to do certain tasks as a student at CQUni. However, any such topics have to bereally useful for students – not the type of topics that may be known to those students.All students must select a topic that will maintain interest of their audience, and contribute to obtaining good grades in the assessment. Provide the overall topic and a brief synopsis covering the scope of the presentation so your lecturer can assess the suitability in an expedient manner.

All students must present the topic approved by the lecturer. Any significant changes to the topic withoutpermission from the lecturer may result in 0 marks to the presentation. Please note that students who are repeating the unit must NOT use previous presentations or any topics closely resembling previous presentations.

Suggested topic categoriesinclude but not restricted to the following. Consider topics that are interesting.

• • New technologies introduced in the last two years;
  • Contemporary issues relevant to the ICT profession or for being good citizens;
  • Interesting travel destinations or cultural events from different countries of the world;
  • Challenges to new inventions;or
• Any other topic that does not breach any legal or ethical issues.

Note that the presentation need not be technology topics only. They can be on any topic as long as your local lecturer approves them as a suitable topic to be presented to your peers. If you have a passionate interest in a topic that you think would interest your colleagues feel free to discuss with your lecturer about presenting on that topic. For example, one of the groups presented on ‘cash in hand for working’ where the presentation focused on why students should work within legal requirements – this related to an actual experience of an international student.

Other students have successfully presented on various topics from new technologies such as flying cars and drones to telepathy and business/social topics. Some other recent presentations focused on Thanksgiving Day, Egyptian Pyramids, Valentine’s Day, Vertical Farming, Astronomy, and Human Psychology. One of the very useful presentations on diversity is available from the Week 10 study materials. Remember that some of the marking criteria relate to your audience, so tailor your presentation accordingly.

It is important to engage with the audience during your presentation. Presentations are a form of storytelling so the topic selection is very important – will your audience be interested in the story you will tell them?Ensure that you tell an interesting story about your topic and/or use innovative methods to convey your key messages. Select a topic where you could be creative and satisfy the marking criteria to a high level. However, while you can get ideas from the Internet or other sources, you must not use presentations available on the Internet in a manner that breaches the university’s academic misconduct procedures or referencing guidelines. It has been noted that some groups have overly relied on the Internet,resulting in plagiarism.

Please note that copying of materials from other websites or previous presentations without proper acknowledgement will result in academic misconduct charges. This will apply toall members of the group if you are in a group, not just to those students who copied from other sources.All materials selected must be correctly referenced, and presentation slides must be developed by the studentsthemselves and comply with referencing and paraphrasing requirements.To ensure that the presentation file(s) are free of any plagiarism you may choose to upload your assessment early and check the Turnitin Similarity Report.

Innovative presentations are welcome though students should discuss their ideas with the local lecturer at least one week before the presentation to find about the facilities available including the compatibility of technology.

Format

There is no recommended number of slides however you are required to stick to the 10 minute timeframe. A suggested structure for the slides in the presentation is outlined below:

• Title (should include title of presentation and names and student IDs of all group members)
• Presentation outline
• Introduction
• Slides outlining the key points of your presentation
• Conclusion
• Question and answer
• References

During the presentation, each group member should speak for approximately the same amount of time, that is, if there are four presenters you should each speak for about 2.5 minutes. The presentation can reflect the diversity of viewpoints of the presenters. At the start of the presentation, one team member must introduce the presentation and the rest of the team too. You are free to decide how you want to sequence the speaking responsibilities. Towards the end of the presentation, it is vital that the last presenter summarises the presentation at its conclusion and invites the audience to ask questions. This will be followed by the Question and answer session.

General Assessment Criteria

Assessments provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to achieve the required standard. To do this, assessment responses need to be both clear and easy to understand. If not, the University cannot determine that students have demonstrated their knowledge and skills. Assessments will, therefore, be marked accordingly including the potential for 0 (zero) marks where relevant.

You must ensure that the submitted file(s)are the finaland correctversion of your presentation. It is the responsibility of the students to submit the correct final versions of their assessment items.Students should provide a copy of their presentation files to their lecturer before their presentation. You should provide a print out or an electronic copy of the file before the beginning of the presentation. Distance students will get the requirements from the Unit Coordinator depending on the format of the presentation.

Marking criteria

The marking scheme and notes about the criteria are provided on the following pages.

All group members should familiarise yourselves with the marking criteria to ensure you have addressed the criteria when preparing and presenting your presentation. The presentation will be assessed according to the degree to which you demonstrate your capability in: Speaker appearance and other first impressions; Presentation structure; Referencing and paraphrasing; Coping with questions/facilitating the discussion; Delivery; Visual aids, activities and handouts; and Target and audience. See marking scheme at the end of this document for more information.

It is expected that some material for the presentation be supported by appropriate sources (including images and graphics). Thus, any information gathered through research must be referenced using the CQU APA referencing style. See the American Psychological Association (APA) abridged guide available from:

Distance students should demonstrate facilitation of discussion/questions by making sure at the end of their presentation that there are at least two questions that are designed to facilitate discussion. Your submission should also include a summary of your responses to those questions.

IMPORTANT:

1. Students must create the presentation materials themselves. You may be asked to prove that you have written the presentation yourself or in a team. You should keep copies of early drafts of your presentation.
2. ALL students in each groupMUST upload a copy of their presentation and/or any handouts to Moodle before their presentation. Submission by all students in the group (if a group submission) must be completed by8am on the day of the presentation or as advised by the local lecturer.This rule applies to any distance students who are planning a live online presentation.
3. Failure to submit the PPT before the beginning of the workshopmay result in 0 marks for Sections 2 and 3, and also Section 6 in the marking criteria (see presentation marking scheme). Submitted files cannot be changed after the presentation.
4. Though presentations will be marked during the class the results will NOT be released to the students until they have been moderated by the Unit Coordinator.
5. If it comes to the attention of the Unit Coordinator that a student has NOT worked with their group they will be removed from the group and awarded 0/20 for their presentation.

ALL assignments will be checked for plagiarism (includes material copied from other students and/or material copied from other sources and self-plagiarism) using TurnItIn. If your submission is found to have plagiarised material or if you have used someone else’s words without appropriate referencing, you and the entire group (in group presentations) will be penalised for plagiarism which could result in zero marks for the whole assignment. In some circumstances a more severe penalty such as an academic misconduct charge may result.

The University’s Academic Misconduct Procedure is available in the policy portal

Useful information about academic integrity (avoiding plagiarism) can be found in the ALC resources on the Moodle Unit website and at:

Self-referencing guidelines are available on the COIT20249Moodle Unit website.

Assessment item 2 – Presentation marking scheme

Group Members (student name and number):                                                Date:     /     /

Criteria	No	Yes	Excellent	Your Mark
1. Speaker appearance and other first impressions: §  Appropriate standard of dress for the occasion (tidy and free of distracting features) §  First impression was one of confidence and poise §  Speakers attracted audience’s attention from the outset §  Little or no fidgeting and few distracting mannerisms (1.5Marks)
2. Presentation structure (presenting the topic approved by the lecturer) -          Introduction, § Title/topic made clear/introduced the team (team presentations) § Purpose and the outline of the presentation § Unusual terms defined adequately -          Body of presentation, § Main points stated clearly § Sufficient information and detail provided as key points § Appropriate and adequate use of examples/anecdotes § Content complies with introductory framework § Discussion flowed logically; brief summaries after each section -          Conclusion, -     Ending of presentation signalled adequately -     Main points summarised adequately/ideas brought to fruition -     Conclusion linked to opening -     Final message is clear and easy to remember -          References (see next criterion for details) (5Marks)
3. Referencing and paraphrasing §  Complying with CQU APA referencing guidelines and Academic Misconduct Procedures §  Variety of references, all relevant to the topic §  References are cited (acknowledged) in presentation slides and in other materials for any key points, images and for any direct quotations §  Correct APA formatting used in citations andin the reference list (2 Marks)
4. Coping with questions/facilitating the discussion §  Invited audience to ask questions §  Whole audience searched for questions §  Ability to listen §  Questions answered in order §  Questions handled adeptly §  Full audience addressed with answers §  Speaker maintained control of discussion (2 Marks)
5. Delivery §  Speech clear and audible to entire audience §  Suitable vocabulary (few clichés, little jargon and repetition) §  Interesting variety in tone of voice §  Clarity and quality of pronunciation §  Short comprehensible sentences §  Presentation directed to all parts of audience §  Appropriate level of eye contact held with audience throughout the presentation §  Meaningful gestures appropriately used §  Full text not read from notes or slides §  Speaker kept to time limit (start on time and finish within the time frame – maximum 15 minutes) §  Good use of time without rushing at the end §  Pace neither too fast or too slow §  Showed enthusiasm §  Audience rapport (e.g. approachable) (4 Marks)
6. Visual aids, activities and handouts (use of technology and tools) §  Visual aids clearly visible to entire audience §  Overhead/slide projector/computer etc. operated correctly §  Speaker familiar with own visual aids (e.g. OHPs, blackboard diagrams) §  Visual aids and/or activities well-prepared to suit presentation topic requirements §  Effective use of handouts and/or visual aids (i.e. integrated into the presentation) §  Handouts to the audience well-prepared and useful (4 Marks)
7. Target and audience §  Greet the audience courteously, and maintained their interest §  Presentation met level of knowledge and needs of audience §  Acknowledgment of variations in audience understanding §  Presentation met need for knowledge of audience (1.5Marks)