Assessment 1: Mini-Project Proposal
DUE DATE(s):	Mini-Proposal: Week 6 (Friday, the 3rd of April 2020 by 11:59pm)
WEIGHTING:	20%
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:	1.	To develop a succinct document that clearly presents the scope, proposed goals and process of the project.
2.	To demonstrate a high level of proficiency in written communication.
DELIVERABLES:	Detailed mini-project plan of approximately 3000 words
SUBMISSION METHOD:	Submit to Blackboard as instructed


The project plan plays a very important role towards your project’s success. You must work towards a high-quality project plan from the inception of the project, and put the required hours needed (approximately 24 hrs a week) from the beginning of the semester. It is VITAL that you work closely with your unit facilitators, seek their input to the project plan from Week 1 onwards and integrate all feedback received prior to submission of the project plan in Week 6. You must also check the Marking Guide (CRA) (see Appendix A) to make sure you have addressed all expected aspects.

Note that your project should fall into one of the three project categories as specified below:

1.	A Literature review project- where the outcome will be a literature review paper using the content analysis approach. This type of project involves creating a comprehensive literature review on a topic of your choice. This is a special type of a research project, but the focus is only on reporting what you can find from the literature (there is no new primary data collection involved).

Requirements for the Mini-Project Proposal Submission (due in Week 6)
While each project will be unique, your project plan should include the following elements at a minimum. You should discuss other items for inclusion with the project’s facilitator.


Front matter
List your project title. Optionally, you can include the name of your facilitator.


Title
Should be concise and descriptive. Be precise enough to suggest the nature and scope of the project and concise enough to be referred to quickly and easily.


Introduction
-	Clearly describe the background and/or context of your proposed project.
-	Describe the Research/ Industry problem or opportunity you are trying to address.
-	Describe the aims and objectives.
-	Give a brief overview of the method(s) you plan to apply in the proposed work.
-	Describe the anticipated results and outcomes and be clear with what the scope of your project is.
-	Describe the anticipated significance (to both Practice and Research).

Some additional advice:
•	The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context of your project.
•	The introduction should be written in language that explains clearly and succinctly the problem to be investigated or the research question to be answered.
•	Remember your audience; avoid jargon or highly technical language that will not be accessible to the lay person.
•	Focus on the purpose of the project, its importance and the rationale for undertaking it.
•	Be succinct – you will expand on these later in the document. Indicate the possible audience for the project (e.g. who will be interested in what you have to say).
•	When describing the significance of the project, it needs to be described and supported with the knowledge gained from reading the relevant literature during the first four weeks of the project.  It should also give an indication for how it will make a contribution to the already existing body of knowledge or to current professional practice.


Project methodology
Describe how you will execute the project
•	Describe what methods have you considered and what method you will choose and why
•	Describe in sufficient depth the overall project approach including the data collection and analysis techniques you have elected to use. Justify and describe your selections.

Some additional advice:
•	Use graphical summaries (i.e. flow charts) to illustrate the phases and activities you propose to have.

Project management approach
•	You will be using a project management approach, which you must justify and describe in sufficient depth
•	Note: The task breakdown structure and weekly plan (see section below) should align to this approach


Task breakdown structure and weekly plan
Provide a detailed timeline for your project.  Note that the project methodology and the overall project management aspects (of the two sections above), should be well integrated across a detailed weekly plan. In this section you should:
•	Outline the activities and deliverables across each week and plot these on the timeline.
o	Your proposed tasks should cater to delivering all the target deliverables.
o	Consider interrelationships (especially dependencies) between different components of the project.

•	You must present your task breakdown structure and weekly timeline professionally using a Gantt chart Or an alternative mechanism that suits your selected project management approach. What is important to demonstrate here is that you have some plan of action to complete the work required for your project over the set period of time (across a 13 week semester, where only 8-9 weeks remain after the project plan is completed)

(Note: The more detailed your plan, the easier it will be for you to execute your project. This section of the project plan will become your roadmap for your project).



Potential project risks and risk mitigation strategies
You must identify potential project risks and determine mechanisms to avoid or manage these risks.
o	Consider the risks that could accompany the project, their likelihood and impact, and the measures you will take to minimize these risks. Think broadly about the term ‘risk’. For example, a very real risk for many students is ‘timeline slippage’, where the timeline may not be adhered to. Consider the likelihood that risks such as this will occur, and their potential impact, should they occur.
o	Provide a risk analysis matrix including mitigation strategies (consider using a summary table to present these)



References
List all the works that you have cited in your project plan using APA 6th reference style. It is recommended that a tool like ENDNOTE is used. See https://www.library.qut.edu.au/research/toolkit/referencing/ for further details. Please refer to QUT’s Citewrite http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/ as well for further details about Referencing.