Today’s plan:
- Reviewing the Research and Proposal Project
- Potential Projects
- Making Graphs
- Making a Gantt Chart
Report / Proposal Assignment
Let’s review the work from last week.
Report Structure/Deliverables
- Summary
- Report
- Methods: Here is where you write up the methodology of our job analysis research. I am testing you on how well you can elaborate a complex research protocol into concise, easy-to-follow instructions. The methods section of a research article should enable another researcher to recreate your work. What does that person need to know?
- Data / Findings: For each of the following, I want to know at least the 3 highest coded attributes. I want to see a graph that tells me in what percentage each attribute appeared. We will learn how to make a simple graph in Google Slides next Wednesday.
- Tools and Tech
- Professional Competencies
- Personal Characteristics
- Discussion / Conclusions: If you’ve ever read any science research, then you will be familiar with the genre–first, the research shows you the numbers, next they tell you what it means. What number is surprising, most significant. How do the numbers compare to previous research (hint: Brumberger and Lauer). I also expect you to identify how this research resonates with YOU. For instance, last semester we found a high expectations for familiarity with social media and CMS. Many students indicated that they already had some level of experience with social media (though there was a wide discrepancy between personal and professional use). But far fewer students had experience with a CMS. So even though more more jobs called for SM, many of the student proposals focused on learning a CMS.
- Proposal
- Rationale / Problem / Goal: This section of the proposal concisely reiterates the discussion section above. Then it moves to propose (like a mini-introduction) what you will do over the next three weeks
- Costs / Materials:
Includes a review of possibilities and a justification for why you are using what you are using. If, for instance, you focus on a CMS, then tell me what CMS you will use and why you picked it (I recommend either Squarespace–if you are willing to spend money–or Google Sites if you are looking for a free alternative. There is also Weebly and Wix, though I find their interfaces kind of annoying). Do some research and make an argument for what tool you will use. ALSO, tell me about the research process you used to identify a meaningful tutorial. If you tell me that you just selected the top Google hit, then I will think less of you. Be better. Be smart. - Deliverables:What you plan on giving me as a final product
- Gantt chart [timeline]: We will work on this next Wednesday, essentially, it is a calendar. Make your own syllabus
A complete draft of this proposal report will be due in class next Friday. A final version of this project will be due Sunday, February 3rd at 11:59pm. Length will vary, but I expect a report between 800 and 1200 words (and 1000 is an absolute ceiling, I’ll knock a letter grade off the paper if you go above 1200).
I have office hours on Tuesday from 12:30-3:00. I will also make myself available next Thursday (tomorrow) from 2:00-3:00.
Gantt Charts
I’ve asked that the proposal portion of your Project One contain a gantt chart visualizing what you plan on doing for the second project. For instance, you might come up with the following:
- Do tutorial one for InDesign
- Do tutorial two for InDesign
- Send Santos tutorial results
- Meet with church volunteers
- Take photographs for flyer
- Design flyer for upcoming bake sale
- Send flyer to volunteer coordinator
In the proposal I expect to have links to specific tutorials. And perhaps you cannot find a real world client–that’s fine. But you get my point: I want you to lay out a 3 week project. Include at least two days that you will send me a short 200-300 word memo updating me on your progress.
Today we are going to learn how to take a list like the one above, input it into Excel, and use a simple algorithm to produce a visualization.
We are going to use Ablebits’ tutorial for making a gantt chart in Excel. I expect this to take 15-25 minutes (though it might take longer).
Homework
Please remember that we are peer-reviewing drafts of your proposals Tuesday. I’d like you to have a complete proposal (see our Project One workspace for more information). In short, the proposal should be business formatted (single-spaced, block paragraphs, written in active-voice) and contain at least four sections:
- An Overview or Summary
- A Job Research section that includes job postings data presented in tables and a discussion of the results
- A Proposal section that
- Argues, based on the previous research discussion, for what you want to learn/document
- Identifies what Deliverables will be produced
- Includes a gantt chart mapping out progress milestones
I will leave it to you to figure out how to take the chart out of Excel and insert it in your document. There’s a few ways to do this. If you are struggling, then think path of least resistance (take a screen grab, crop it, viola).
In constructing your Gantt chart, please remember that we are working on Project Two for 3 weeks–from Monday February 4th to Friday February 22nd . During that time period, I will assign minimal homework (most of which will be reading an essay a week as we have been doing). I am giving you an opportunity to write your own syllabus. Let me know if you need help finding quality tutorials or are unsure what you could produce as a deliverable! These are great questions for office hours tomorrow (from 2:00-3:00 in Ross 1180D).
