Every student will need to work on a project assignment provided by participating companies' guest speakers and write a project report. The individual project you have chosen to do must be different from the group project you are doing --- i.e. if your group has chosen to do a project assignment for Company A, you must NOT choose company A again for your individual project.

The maximum length of the project report is 3000 words (excluding bibliography). A separate guide on how to write individual (and group) project report will be uploaded to iLearn and will be discussed in classes.

Students are encouraged to discuss their choice of topic with their lecturer/tutor and seek advice on how to write up their individual reports not just with proposed solutions or recommendations but more importantly with supporting analysis and logical and convincing arguments.

Although there will be no requirement for presentation on individual projects, there will be a public display of students projects (individual and/or group) during the conference series part of the unit program from week 10 to 13. During these weeks' lectures, selected students (individual and/or group) will present their projects to client partners for feedback and may be subsequently referred to the partner companies with the option of further development. Selection of projects for showcase presentations in conference series (i.e. lectures) and referral for further development with the client partners will be done by academic leaders of the PACE unit, in consultation with the partner companies. Selection will be in line with the priorities which the partner companies wish to pursue and in line with the material ability of the partners to involve students. Students wish to showcase their projects in the conference series should discuss their projects with the lecturer/tutor before mid-session break.

 Statement on Late Assessment

Research and Practice



The assessment task requires students to conduct original research, which involves the collection and analysis of information from a range of sources and the recommendation of solutions for clients.

The unit provides students opportunities to manage and participate in a group project over an extended timeframe on behalf of a client organization. Students will work in teams of 5 or 6 to complete a research project that addresses real-world business issues/problems/challenges prescribed by industry speakers from client partners. Groups will be formed in week 2 tutorials and by week 7 tutorial all groups must decide which industry speaker’s topic they wish to choose as their group projects. Groups should consult with their lecture/tutor on their choice of topic and report to their tutor on their final decision on such a choice in week 7 tutorial.

Note that group project topic must be chosen from one of the guest lecture topics delivered by industry speakers on 5 August, 12 August, 19 August, 26 August and 2 September. Please note this list of choices is subject to change depending on the availablility of our guest speakers. Please pay attention to any update on the list of choices during the session.

Group project encourages students to experience the partner organizations and the international business issues they face, and to assist the client companies in achieving the partner’s strategic purposes. Group members should work closely with each other to research, analyse, interpret and assess data and information from various sources, and to draw connections across fields of knowledge they learned in the university, in order to develop solutions and/or recommendations for the identified issues faced by client partners.

Group projects engage students in the challenges of interpersonal communications, task allocation, coordination and control, an important graduate capability of Macquarie University. An essential skill to develop during your university education is the ability to learn and work in a group setting. Apart from meeting the requirements for assessment, students should seek to develop ability to work in a group setting. It is completely up to group members to determine the ways through which your group work is coordinated and your group problems solved. If the problems become ‘unresolvable’ among the group members, students should discuss the matter with the lecturer/tutor as early as possible.

The assessment of the group project is composed of two parts: a group presentation on project progress (10%) and a final group project report (30%). NOTE that the prestnation and the report are on the same topic of your choice.

Group presentation on project progress (10%): due in tutorials (week 8-13)

• Note that your presentation is a report on your work-in-progress, with the purpose of seeking feedback and advice from client partners (where possible), teaching staff, and other students before you complete your projects and finalize your project reports. It is NOT a presentation of your completed project and hence you do not need to cover the details of what you are going to write down in your project report. Instead, your presentation should provide an overview of your plan on how to organize your team, how to search information, and how you might draw upon academic learning to develop and complete your project. The marking criteria of the presentation will be discussed in the lecture and uploaded to iLearn.

Group project report (30%): due 4 pm 8 November

• Your group project report is a formal and professional written piece of work that provides solutions or recommendations to the client partners on the issues defined by client partners’ speakers. Your report should be a discrete international business proposal with supporting analysis and arguments built upon your creative and innovative application of knowledge and skills learned in the previous units. Students should apply critical and integrative thinking and innovation capabilities to develop appropriate and realistic business proposals in a professional and multi-disciplinary fashion.

• Throughout the session, you tutor will provide ongoing support and advice for your projects during the Mentoring and Reflection series (i.e. tutorials). Students are also encouraged to consult teaching staff in developing and completing their projects outside the classes. Your oral presentation during the tutoial will provide you an additional opportunity to seek feedback and advice before you complete and submit the group report. The maximum lenght of your report should be 3,000 words (excluding bibliography). A separate guide on how to write group and individual project report will be uploaded to iLearn and will be discussed in classes.



Statement on Late Assessment

• EXTENSIONS ON PROJECT REPORT WILL NOT BE GRANTED EXCEPT WHERE THERE ARE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES SUPPORTED BY MEDICAL EVIDENCE OR IN INSTANCES WHERE PRIOR AGREEMENT HAS BEEN MADE WITH THE LECTURER.THIS MUST BE AGREED ON IN ADVANCE OF THE DUE DATE.

• STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED THE PROJECT REPORTS PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE WILL BE AWARDED A MARK OF ZERO FOR THE ASSESSMENT TASK.



Research and Practice

The assessment task requires students to conduct original research, which involves the collection and analysis of information from a range of sources and the recommendation of solutions for clients.



As a participation unit, the success of the course depends heavily on students' active participation in and critical reflection on the course. That's why we have designed a mentoring and reflection series (i.e. tutorials) to give students an opportunity to reflect on their learning through seminar series (i.e. lectures). It is important that students take advantage of the opportunity to actively participate in the reflection series and contribute to the class discussion.

In each week's tutorial class, you tutor will keep a record of your attendance and keep a note on your participation in the class discussion. Please note it is not merely your attendance in the tutorials but more importantly your active participation in the discussion and critical reflection on the seminar topics that will be assessed upon.

 Statement about late assessment

Students who cannot attend the tutorial classes due to medical conditions must provide doctor's certificate. 

 Your participation in the Seminar and Conference series (i.e. lectures) will be assessed (weighted 10% out of the total mark of 100). At the beginning of each week's lecture from week 2, your lecturer will distribute a class participation sheet for you to fill out. This sheet serves the purpose of keeping a record of students’ participation in the Seminar and Conference series (i.e. lectures) as well as collecting students’ feedback and reflections on the weekly lecture project/topic. You must return this sheet to your lecturer/tutor at the end of every week’s (except for week 1) lectures. Failing to do so will be treated as absence from the lecture. You must also sign your name.

Your lecturer/tutor will collate every week’s class participation sheet for each student and give a mark at the end of the semester, based primarily on your participation record with consideration to the quality of your comments and reflections.

Class participation sheets are used for keeping a record of your participation in lectures and will not be returned to students. You may wish to keep a separate personal learning journal for your weekly reflective thoughts and ideas.

Note this is a separate assessment from the tutorial participation, which is explained in the tutorial participation section.

Statement about late assessment

NO late submission of class participation sheet will be accepted. Do NOT forget to hand over the signed class participation sheet to your lecturer/tutor at the end of each week's lecture (i.e. do not forget to 'check out' before you leave the lecture theatre), failing to do so will be treated as 'no show'.