Task Description
Assignment Overview
In this unit you are required to complete a weekly portfolio. A portfolio provides evidence of previous and current experience and presents a dynamic record of your growth and professional learning over the duration of this unit. Your portfolio will provide an account of your learning based on your practice and your critical reflection.
Task
Your task is to write a weekly portfolio reflecting upon your learnings from the prior week. In your portfolio you will identify: the learning outcomes and module/topic of the unit, a description of your experience, including reading samples or records, your learning from your experiences, and any supporting documentation of prior or current learning.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this assessment item is to help you to develop skills for undertaking research and translating, via your technical and creative skills, underpinning concepts about project and portfolio management information systems. The secondary purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis, critical thinking and written communication skills. Developing a portfolio, as a result, makes your learning more explicit as you translate your workplace and personal experiences into documented evidence. You can then learn to critically examine the nature of your learning on this unit in relation to specific experiences in your project management practice and demonstrate that you have learned from those experiences and how you have achieved or maintained your professional competence as a result.
The assignment will also give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis and written communication skills; particularly in the areas of rigorous structured assignment writing.
Structure
You will be provided on the Moodle web site with a portfolio template. You should use this template and upload a weekly portfolio to the Moodle web site. At the end of this unit you will consolidate your portfolio into a single document and upload an overall consolidated portfolio submission. Your portfolio should contain a coherent, but necessarily restricted review of the academic literature related to the project management topics for each week. You should also include a weekly reference list formatted in the prescribed style. You are also encouraged to include a bibliography. This assessment item involves researching the topics to enhance your understanding of each concept through an utilisation of academic literature and secondary sources. Whilst you must use the recommended textbooks and web links, you should also refer to other sources on the Moodle web site and additional relevant peer reviewed academic journal articles of your choosing.
Weekly Portfolio
Your weekly portfolio can be as long or as short as you want it to be. It is your portfolio and shows your development of understanding during the unit. Naturally, this will make the portfolio different for everyone. Each student’s background, education, current and past work experiences is what makes it different.
Each student’s personal researches will be different. What you need to do is to give yourself enough time to reflect and show how you have thought and come to grips with the ideas that address the learning outcomes of the unit. The amount of time you should be allocating to the unit is 12 hours per week. So there should be a fair bit of time for you to make the reflections and reach a depth of insight that will make the portfolio meaningful.
With each weeks portfolio that you submit you do not include the writing that you made for a prior week. Instead you use the same portfolio template using only the section for the week you are writing about. In other words each week’s portfolio is a reflection upon that week. You should however, revisit the whole of the unit learning outcomes each week. The portfolio for any previous week is a reflection of your insights and thoughts for that week. Once you upload the portfolio then leave it for that week. Over the duration of the unit you will find that there is a development and change of your ideas as you study the material. You will then have opportunity at the end of the unit to consolidate everything and show how you have gained the insights that the unit is seeking to provide. At the end of the unit you should review your weekly portfolios and consolidate them into a single submission. You should make a personal reflection in this submission. This is the assessment that gets marked.
It is to your benefit to have the personal discipline to make sure that you do not get behind. If you are allocating 12 hours per week for the unit then there is plenty of time for the portfolio. If you find that one week you slip then ok, but the unit is fundamentally planned so that you need to allocate 12 hours each week.
The unit is straight forward, but there are lots of web sites to visit and material to download. The text books are only part of the story and you won’t be able to do the unit with just the text books. Unfortunately, much of the material is written from a North American perspective. You will need to consider other industry sectors and also to be able to translate the learning outcomes into an Australian or other cultural perspective. Therefore, you will need to download other files and visit web sites to be able to gather the material you need in your portfolio.
There are no bonus points for getting the portfolio perfect from the first week! Understanding and familiarity will only develop over time. As you do the portfolios’ each week and keep revisiting the learning outcomes and adding the unit material then you will gain insights required. Unless you do that on a weekly basis you won’t have the appropriate perspective to make the journey and reach the destination by the end of the unit.
Consolidated Portfolio
You will be provided with a template for the consolidated portfolio due at the end of the unit. Since you’ll have made your own journey studying during the unit then the material that you will want to include in this portfolio will be unique for you. Your final portfolio will explain how you have developed your understanding of the learning outcomes and the topics with each week’s study.
- You final portfolio MUST be made as a single submission. i.e. merge all your weekly submissions into one file and submit a single big file
You must NOT use an index and numbering system to identify material from prior week’s leaving each portfolio on the unit web site.
The final portfolio is the important one! It’s important that you make it clear to the marker what your consolidated portfolio refers to otherwise you may not get the marks you expect.
An analogy for the final portfolio is that you can imagine that you are going before an examination board at the end of the unit and presenting to them a complete portfolio of your journey through the unit. You will hand each board member a package that they should then be able to read and from it appreciate everything that you have done and learned during your work life and the unit.
Referencing
Ensuring you have accurate references is important and will allow the marker to easily identify where your portfolio maps to the unit or other peer reviewed material. Also you need to show how you have made critical reflection on the material and added your own unique insights.
Referencing should be made according to CQU’s APA referencing guide. To locate the guide then Google “CQU APA referencing” and download the PDF file for the current year.
It is as a consequence of your references and academic proficiency with critical analysis that you will be able to gain MAXIMUM MARKS.
Assessment Due Dat
Return Date to Students
Feedback on each weekly portfolio will be provided in the week following submission.
Assessment Criteria
Your assignment will be assessed on the extent and quality to which it meets each of the following criteria.
- Evidence in regular weekly portfolios of meeting the graduate attributes? (20%)
- Qualitative reflections of each of the unit learning outcomes? (40%)
- Quantitative achievement of the unit topics? (20%)
- Clarity of expression, grammar and spelling? (5%)
- Strict conformity to CQUniversity Australia APA Referencing Guide (author-date)? (5%)
- Document clarity and presentation format? (10%)
Referencing Style
Submission
Online
Submission Instructions
To be submitted as weekly Microsoft WORD document files then a final consolidated Microsoft WORD file.
Learning Outcomes Assessed
- Explain the relevance of systems thinking to the project, program and portfolio manager.
- Identify different systems thinking tools and techniques to aid project managers solve project problems.
- Assess the relevance of systems engineering to project cases.
- Describe how systems engineering concepts and methodologies can help a project, program and portfolio managers organise a project.
- Explain the importance of appropriate selection of project management (PM) application systems in regards to meeting the internal and external objectives of a project.
- Describe how the use of project management (PM) application systems can lead to effective PM knowledge management and decision making.
- Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of different manual and electronic project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems within each PPPM knowledge area over the life cycle of a project, program or portfolio.
- Propose appropriate project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems to support successful project, program and portfolio execution in different industry domains.
- Discuss contemporary developments in the use of project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems.
Graduate Attributes
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
2 Written Assessment
Assessment Title
Essay
Task Description
Task
Your task is to consider the contents of:-
- Kerzner (2013)
- AS/NZS 15288 Systems engineering – Systems life cycle processes
- Full Final Report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
- Chapter 5: Overarching Failures of Management of the Chief Counsel’s report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
- Other material as you feel appropriate
Then you must write an essay describing how these contents address the questions they pose and that explain the relevance of systems thinking to a project and an organisation by using the theories and ideas related to:-
- General systems management
- Organisational structures, forms and culture
- Engineering risk, risk management,
- Portfolio alignment
- Business value
- Portfolio management process cycle
- Organisational maturity.
You should illustrate your arguments by identifying what different systems thinking tools and techniques might aid project managers solve project problems, such as what occurred with Texas City and Deepwater Horizon.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this assessment item is to help you to be able to define systems thinking and classify the tools and techniques related systems thinking. The secondary purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis, critical thinking and written communication skills; particularly in the areas of argument development and essay writing.
Structure
Your essay should be a properly constructed academic essay of 2,000 words.
It should contain an effective introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction should introduce the essay and include your argument. The body should present the evidence you have collected to support your argument, and the conclusion should restate your argument, summarise the evidence and make a conclusion regarding your argument. The essay should contain a coherent, but necessarily restricted review of the academic literature on the topics in question. The literature review should be integrated into the essay, not a separate section. Do not include an executive summary or an abstract. A reference list formatted in the prescribed APA style is compulsory. Do not include a bibliography.
This assessment item involves researching your assigned topic to enhance your understanding of project management concepts and utilisation of academic literature. Whilst you use the recommended textbooks you may also refer to relevant peer reviewed, academic journal articles. You will be expected to present information and evidence from, and cite, at least twenty (20) times from the prescribed unit material and you also are encouraged to use other PEER REVIEWED sources. The assessment submission must be made online through the unit web site.
Assessment Due Date
Assessment Criteria
Your assignment will be assessed on the extent and quality to which it meets each of the following criteria.
- A description of the theories and ideas specific to general systems management, organisational structures, forms and culture, value management, engineering risk, risk management, systems engineering and an assessment of the linkages between these? (30%)
- A demonstration of thorough knowledge and application of relevant project and portfolio management principles, concepts, methods and theories in a systems context? (20%)
- Appropriate and well structured, concise and clear expression of systems engineering arguments in response to the assessment task? (10%)
- A clear flow of thought throughout the paper with a clear purpose described in the introduction and a comprehensive conclusion? (10%)
- A critical review and integration of relevant academic and professional literature (cited at least twenty (20) times from six (6) separate reference sources)? (15%)
- Clarity of expression, grammar and spelling? (5%)
- Strict conformity to CQUniversity Australia APA Referencing Guide? (5%)
- Appropriate presentation format and presented within (±10%) of the word limit: 2,000 words? (5%)
Referencing Style
Submission Instructions
Learning Outcomes Assessed
- Identify different systems thinking tools and techniques to aid project managers solve project problems.
- Assess the relevance of systems engineering to project cases.
- Describe how systems engineering concepts and methodologies can help a project, program and portfolio managers organise a project.
- Explain the importance of appropriate selection of project management (PM) application systems in regards to meeting the internal and external objectives of a project.
- Describe how the use of project management (PM) application systems can lead to effective PM knowledge management and decision making.
- Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of different manual and electronic project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems within each PPPM knowledge area over the life cycle of a project, program or portfolio.
- Propose appropriate project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems to support successful project, program and portfolio execution in different industry domains.
- Discuss contemporary developments in the use of project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems.
Graduate Attributes
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
Assessment Title
Task Description
Assignment
You will be required to complete a series of multiple choice quiz questions related to the material and topics covered in the first 6 weeks of this unit. The quiz is open book.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this assessment item is to help you to identify factors associated with systems thinking for project, program and portfolio management.
The secondary purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis and critical thinking skills.
Notes
The quiz will be discussed during the tutorials before week 6.
In order for you to complete the quiz it is necessary for you to complete all learning activities prescribed in Weeks 1 to 6.
The quiz will be available in Week 7 in Moodle
The quiz is graded in Moodle
Assessment Due Date
Return Date to Students
Assessment Criteria
The following criteria will be used to grade your assignments:
- The percentage of correct answers
- The time taken to complete the quiz.
You are encouraged to read the program materials to complete the assessment.
Referencing Style
Learning Outcomes Assessed
- Describe how systems engineering concepts and methodologies can help a project, program and portfolio managers organise a project.
- Describe how the use of project management (PM) application systems can lead to effective PM knowledge management and decision making.
- Identify how project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems can assist project managers to monitor performance and manage changes within a project.
Graduate Attributes
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
Assessment Title
Task Description
This assessment is an online test and is open book.
- The test will be conducted during the Review/Exam week on Moodle. It will be scheduled and time released.
- The test will contain 10 short answer questions in which only 5 need to be attempted (students choose the 5 questions to attempt)
- The online test will have a 2 hour time limit
Assessment Due Date
Return Date to Students
Assessment Criteria
The following criteria will be used to grade your online test:
- The percentage of correct answers
- The time taken to complete the test
Referencing Style
Learning Outcomes Assessed
- Describe how systems engineering concepts and methodologies can help a project, program and portfolio managers organise a project.
- Explain the importance of appropriate selection of project management (PM) application systems in regards to meeting the internal and external objectives of a project.
- Describe how the use of project management (PM) application systems can lead to effective PM knowledge management and decision making.
- Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of different manual and electronic project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems within each PPPM knowledge area over the life cycle of a project, program or portfolio.
- Identify how project, program and portfolio (PPPM) application systems can assist project managers to monitor performance and manage changes within a project.
Graduate Attributes
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
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