TR2202 Group Projects FAQ

by Kwanghui Lim and Sarah Cheah

This FAQ is divided into three sections:

• Introduction
• Deadlines, Grading and other Guidelines
• Responses to Emails from Students

Introduction

Each group will be randomly assigned a project by the instructors. The group is responsible for investigating the topic assigned and writing a report. In addition, each group will be assigned one of the other projects to critique. The purpose of the critique is for you to learn from one another. It should contain constructive criticisms and additional insights.

• Each group will be graded on the report (15%), critique paper (10%) and individual peer-review by group members (5%).
• We will schedule groups with a spacing of at around 5 weeks between the report and critique. This means that groups writing reports earlier will write critiques later, and vice versa.

Scope

The report can be (a) an extension of the ideas discussed in class, (b) a case study, (c) an analysis of how the ideas discussed in class applies in a particular context, or (d) some combination of the above. We are pretty flexible concerning the scope, but it MUST be relevant to the topic you were assigned. Be creative! Use it as an opportunity to explore more deeply the topics covered in class.

Deadlines, Grading and other Guidelines

Basic guidelines

• The group report should not exceed 3000 words. The critique should not exceed 1500 words. Please adhere to the word limit or you will face a 1-2 point penalty. As an entrepreneur or manager, you must learn to get to the point! Don't write a long, boring report. Write a short, exciting report that everyone wants to read.
  • The word count includes everything from the "Introduction" to the "Conclusion" sections of your report, plus any Appendices/Annexes.
  • It excludes the front page, table of contents and list of references.
• Grades are assigned based on quality and thougtfulness, not quantity. The primary factor is the quality of your analysis. In addition we will consider the amount of effort put in (such as additional readings, research, surveys, etc) and creativity.
• Severe penalties exist for plagiarism (http://kwanghui.com/plagiarism.html).
• "a" groups will critique "b" groups; "b" groups will critique "a" groups.

Deadlines:

• The deadline for submitting group reports is 1 week after the topic is covered in class.
• The deadline for writing critiques is 2 weeks after the topic is taught, ie one week after the report to be critiqued is submitted.
• Each group is assigned a number (2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, etc.). Project topics and deadlines are based on this group number. See table below

  YOUR group	Write a paper on topics covered in this week	Project report due date	Write a critique on the report by this group	Critique submission date
  2a	week 2	week 3	group 7b	week 9
  2b	week 2	week 3	group 7a	week 9
  3a	week 3	week 4	group 8b	week 10
  3b	week 3	week 4	group 8a	week 10
  4a	week 4	week 5	group 9b	week 11
  4b	week 4	week 5	group 9a	week 11
  5a	week 5	week 6	group 10b	week 12
  5b	week 5	week 6	group 10a	week 12
  6a	week 6	midterm break	group 11b	week 13
  6b	week 6	midterm break	group 11a	week 13
  7a	week 7	week 8	group 12b	week 14
  7b	week 7	week 8	group 12a	week 14
  8a	week 8	week 9	group 2b	week 4
  8b	week 8	week 9	group 2a	week 4
  9a	week 9	week 10	group 3b	week 5
  9b	week 9	week 10	group 3a	week 5
  10a	week 10	week 11	group 4b	week 6
  10b	week 10	week 11	group 4a	week 6
  11a	week 11	week 12	group 5b	midterm break
  11b	week 11	week 12	group 5a	midterm break
  12a	week 12	week 13	group 6b	week 7 (just after midterm break)
  12b	week 12	week 13	group 6a	week 7 (just after midterm break)

Here it is again in words. If you need clarification ask the instructors.

If your deadline falls on a public holiday, contact the instructor to clarify any changes.

Responses to Emails from Students

Qn: Which group am I in?
Ans: Check the IVLE Project Section. You are randomly assigned to groups. This helps improve diversity and gives you an opportunity to interact with new students..

Qn: Can I switch groups?
Ans: No. In the past, we allowed students to choose their own groups. As a result, several groups had very little diversity. They ended up performing poorly. Besides, you should take this as an opportunity to meet a few more new people!

Qn: Isn't it unfair that some groups have more time than others because of the different deadlines?
Ans: Groups with early deadines for their project reports will have later deadlines for their critiques, and vice versa. If you get an early project deadline, it may seem that you have less time. But in practice this isn't so - every group has one week after the topic is taught to do their project. Later in the semester, other courses have increasingly heavier deliverables (papers, mid-term exams, etc). So if you finish your group project early, you will have more time to concentrate on those activities. The short answer is that every group will face some tradeoffs. Nobody gets a 'perfect' deadline. Live with it ;-)

Qn: How do i know the topics covered in each week?
Ans: They are listed on the course syllabus at http://kwanghui.com/tr2202.html#classplan. The "week" is shown in the left-most column.

Qn: We are in group 4a. Are we suppose to do a writeup on wk4's reading materials or are we suppose to research in topics relating this topic or u will assign us the topic?
Ans: Your group should propose a topic, and the instructor will give you a yes/no response on whether to proceed. Your team should provide value-added insight on topic "Profiting from Innovation", beyond what is covered in the readings and lecture. Given the word limit, your team may choose to focus and research on certain areas relevant to this topic (that are possibly introduced in lecture or readings but not covered in depth) for deeper analysis.

Qn: What are the contents that we are supposed to have? Or is it we design our project based on the reading materials?
Ans: Your report may comprise your objectives, literature review, discussion with examples/case studies/research findings of the relevant topics, to support your arguments.

Qn: If we are slated for week 3, does that mean we have to hand it in 1 week later during week 4? (i.e Wednesday)
Ans: Yes, you must submit your report 1 week after topic is taught. If you are assigned to week 3, your report deadline will be Wednesday of week 4. You must submit a hardcopy of your group report in week 4 to your instructor (before class commences) for grading. Moreover, you must post a softcopy to the IVLE Forum as an attachment for another group to critique.

Qn: When can we expect to receive the report that we are expected to critic?
Ans: You may access the report on the IVLE (as posted by the group you are critiquing) one week after the topic is taught.

Qn: Do we send the critique directly to you via email when we hand it up?
Ans: Please submit the critique in the same way as your group report. One hardcopy for your instructor for grading (submitted during the Wednesday session) and one softcopy to be posted to IVLE Forum for everyone in class.

Qn: Can you show me examples of prior reports?
Ans: Yes. Several previous group projects are posted in the IVLE Admin workbin. Please take a look, but do not be constrained by them. We reward students for being creative in their choice of topic and approach. We do not guarantee that the examples posted are 100% "right"..

Qn: As an individual, can I comment on specific group projects?
Ans: Yes, feel free to do so on the IVLE forum. These comments are not graded.

Qn: I would like to know a bit more about your expectations from us when we write our critiques of other groups' report. Could you kindly post some guidelines for us? Thanks.
Ans: Your critique should discuss (1) what you agree or disagree with in the report you are analyzing, (2) reasons and possibly examples to support your case, and (3) provide helpful feedback to the group you are critiquing. Whatever you write, please be constructive: refrain from using hurtful language or making personal attacks. It is fine to disagree with the other group's position, but please explain yourself clearly and courteously (you are supposed to critique, not criticise). Put yourself in the position of the group receiving your report - think about what would be helpful in terms of ideas and feedback from a critique.

Qn: Do I have to also bear the brunt for some other's sloppy work when in fact I myself have not plagiarised at all in my parts of the report (and I have my part of the report still lying with me as proof)? Our group had decided to split up sections of the report and I had done my section without copying a single word. And here I am, facing failure for the report because someone in the group decided to cut-paste in their section or in the final compilation. This is not really very fair.
Ans: As part of the team, you share in both the rewards and penalties. The group project is about teamwork, and your failure in working well as a team member is reflected in the overall result (it usually shows, even with or without the plagiarism penalty). You could have chosen a different distribution of tasks and -- more crucially -- if it had been that important to you, I would say you could have taken a more pro-active role to ensure that the rest of the team were doing things ethically. You are not a spectator here, but part of the team. If you are working in a company and it makes the wrong decision and goes bankrupt, can you say "Oh sorry it wasn't my part?".

Updated: 22 April 2005