Edexcel hnd in computing assignments

HND Assignment Brief Session: February 2018

Programme title BTEC HND in Computing

Unit number and title 3 Professional Practice (L4)

Assignment number & title 1 of 1 Professional Practice (L4)

Unit Leader -

Assessor (s) Carlos Gomez

Issue Date 5 March 2018

Final assignment submission deadline 11–16 June 2018

Late submission deadline

18–23 June 2018 The learners are required to follow the strict deadline set by the College for submissions of assignments in accordance with the BTEC level 4 – 7 submission guidelines and College policy on submissions.

Resubmission deadline TBA

Feedback Formative feedback will be available in class during the semester. Final feedback will be available within 2 – 3 weeks of the assignment submission date.

General

Guidelines

• The work you submit must be in your own words. If you use a quote or an illustration from somewhere you must give the source.

• Include a list of references at the end of your document. You must give all your sources of information.

• Make sure your work is clearly presented and that you use readily understandable English.

• Wherever possible use a word processor and its “spell-checker”.

Internal verifier Reza Joadat

Signature (IV of the brief) * Joadat Date 2/03/2018

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ICON College of Technology and Management BTEC HND in Computing

Unit 3: Professional Practice (L4) Session: February 2018

Coursework Recommended word limit: 3,000

This Unit will be assessed by an Assignment. You are strongly advised to read “Preparation guidelines of the Coursework Document” before answering your assignment.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF AND GUIDANCE The submission is in the form of a completed individual portfolio folder, including the tasks set out in the Assignment Brief. This assignment involves group work but each student should submit an individual portfolio folder.

Part 1. Covers LO1 (P1, P2, M1, D1): Should include a set of examples of communication that you use during the planning and organisation of the event (emails, letters, etc.) and a training schedule (using project management software) for the two-day event and a training pack to include a range of activities, seminars, workshops, team-building activities and break-out sessions.

Part 2. Covers LO2 (P3, P4, M2, M3, D2): A report that demonstrate the use of different problem- solving techniques in the design, planning and delivery of the event and how you applied critical reasoning to their solutions. This report should include a short discussion of the importance of team dynamics and a written evaluation of your performance in the group task (part 3) and your contribution to the team. You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs, subsections and illustrations as appropriate, and all work must be supported with research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system. The recommended word limit is 500–1,000 words, although you will not be penalised for exceeding the total word limit.

Part 3. Covers LO3 (P5, P6, M4, D3): Ten-minute Microsoft® PowerPoint® style presentation on “Team dynamics” including interactive links to suitable sites and an activity sheet. The presentation slides for the findings should be submitted with speaker notes. You are required to make effective use of headings, bullet points and subsections as appropriate. Your research should be referenced using the Harvard referencing system. The recommended word limit is 500 words, including speaker notes, although you will not be penalised for exceeding the total word limit.

Part 4. Covers LO 4 (P7, P8, M5, D4): Write your complete CPD plan and include its relevance and contribution to your own learning.

CASE STUDY LO1, LO2 AND LO3: Planning a Training Event

You have been asked to support your training and development manager with the planning and implementation of a professional development event targeted at internal employees within the organisation that you work in. It is for a group of 40 employees. There is a large auditorium that will seat 60, and the outdoor centre can accommodate 15 at any one time for activities. In addition, there

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are three breakout rooms, one with computers for up to 20 and two other seminar rooms that seat up to 30.

The training event is scheduled over a two-day period at a nearby residential centre, and will include a number of workshops, coaching sessions and team-building activities. The centre requires a schedule of the types of activities proposed so that plans can be finalised. In addition, any guest speakers or motivational coaches will also require a minimum of three weeks’ notice for all bookings.

You have also been asked to design and deliver a workshop as part of the training event based on the dynamics of team working.

PART 1

Working individually:

1. Demonstrate, using a range of different communication styles and formats, that you can design, organise and deliver the two-day training event [P1]

2. Produce a professional schedule (using project management software) that identifies planning

and resourcing prior to the two-day event. In addition, design a training pack to include a range of activities, seminars, workshops, team-building activities and breakout sessions. [P2]

To achieve M1 you must present your schedule in a professional way by using for example a Gantt chart to support the planning of an event, to include contingencies and justifications of time allocated.

To achieve D1 you must demonstrate you have applied interpersonal skills during the design and delivery of the training event and assess the effectiveness of this set of skills.

PART 2

Following the event, your training and development manager has asked you to provide some feedback.

3. In your report you should also demonstrates how you used or applied problem solving and discuss its importance in planning and running an event. [P3]

To achieve M2, you must demonstrate a good research and include a discussion of the theory of problem-solving by using a range of different techniques during the design and delivery of your event. Justify the solution methodologies used during your project

4. You should also give an example of the application of critical reasoning and your experiences of it when working on a solution [P4]

To achieve M3, you must explain a range of solution methodology and justify its use and application during the preparation of the event.

To achieve D2, you must give a detailed judgement of the process of applying critical reasoning to a given task or to the event in general.

PART 3

Working in small groups (3–4 per group):

One of the key activities during the event is a short presentation you have been asked to deliver.

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5. In this part, you are required to prepare and deliver a 10 minutes group presentation about ‘team dynamics’. You should include an activity sheet that will require delegates to take part in some form of team-building task. You should include in your report a short discussion of the importance of team dynamics in the success and/or failure of group work; [P5, P6]

To achieve M4, you must include in your report a detailed analysis of team dynamics, mentioning the roles group members played in the team and the effectiveness in terms of achieving the common goal. To achieve D3, you must include a critical evaluation of your performance and your contribution to the team you worked in. PART 4 LO4: Continuous Professional Development Having completed the two-day training event for the organisation, you now need to reflect on your experience and discuss the importance of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and its contribution to own learning. [P7] Consider your personal and/or career goals and identify your CPD needs and what actions would put you in a position to achieve these goals. Produce a development plan outlining your future goals and identifying how these can be realised. [P8]

To achieve M5, you could conduct some research into motivational theories and explain how they can be used to improve employee performance. Compare a number of theories and present your findings to your peers.

To achieve D4, you must explain the usage of CPD within organisations and evaluate a range of evidence criteria required to measure how effective this CPD is in helping employees achieve their goals while using their time and resources effectively.

Relevant Information To gain a Pass in a BTEC HND Unit, you must meet ALL the Pass criteria; to gain a Merit, you must meet ALL the Merit and Pass criteria; and to gain a Distinction, you must meet ALL the Distinction, Merit and Pass criteria.

1. Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria Pass Merit Distinction LO1 Demonstrate a range of interpersonal and transferable communication skills to a target audience P1 Demonstrate, using different communication styles and formats, that you can effectively design and deliver a training event for a given target audience. P2 Demonstrate that you have used effective time management skills in planning an event.

M1 Design a professional schedule to support the planning of an event, to include contingencies and justifications of time allocated.

D1 Evaluate the effectiveness and application of interpersonal skills during the design and delivery of a training event.

LO2 Apply critical reasoning and thinking to a range of problem-solving scenarios P3 Demonstrate the use of different problem-solving techniques in the design and delivery of an event.t

M2 Research the use of different problem-solving techniques used in the design and delivery of an event.

D2 Critique the process of applying critical reasoning to a given task/activity or

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P4 Demonstrate that critical reasoning has been applied to a given solution. t P4 Demonstrate that cri

M3 Justify the use and application of a range of solution methodologies.

event.

LO3 Discuss the importance and dynamics of working within a team and the impact of team working in different environments P5 Discuss the importance of team dynamics in the success and/or failure of group work. P6 Work within a team to achieve a defined goal.

M4 Analyse team dynamics, in terms of the roles group members play in a team and the effectiveness in terms of achieving shared goals.

D3 Provide a critical evaluation of your own role and contribution to a group scenario.

LO4 Examine the need for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and its role within the workplace and for higher level learning P7 Discuss the importance of CPD and its contribution to own learning. P8 Produce a development plan that outlines responsibilities, performance objectives and required skills, knowledge and learning for own future goals.

M5 Compare and contrast different motivational theories and the impact they can have on performance within the workplace.

D4 Evaluate a range of evidence criteria that is used as a measure for effective CPD.

2. Preparation guidelines of the Coursework Document

a) All coursework must be word processed. b) Document margins must not be more than 2.54 cm (1 inch) or less than 1.9cm (3/4 inch). c) Font size must be within the range of 10 point to 14 point including the headings and body text. d) Standard and commonly used type face such as Times new Roman or Arial etc should be used. e) All figures, graphs and tables must be numbered. f) Material taken from external sources must be properly refereed and cited within the text using Harvard

standard g) Do not use Wikipedia as a reference. h) Word limit must be strictly followed.

3. Plagiarism and Collusion a) Any act of plagiarism or collusion will be seriously dealt with according to the regulations. In this context

the definition and scope of plagiarism and collusion are presented below:

b) Plagiarism is presenting somebody else’s work as your own. It includes copying information directly from the Web or books without referencing the material; submitting joint coursework as an individual effort.

c) Collusion is copying another student’s coursework; stealing coursework from another student and submitting it as your own work.

d) Suspected plagiarism or collusion will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with according to the college procedure. (For details on Plagiarism & Collusion please see the student hand book)

4. Submission e) Initial submission of coursework to the tutors is compulsory in each unit of the course.

f) Student must check their assignments on ICON VLE with plagiarism software TurnItIn to make sure the similarity index for their assignment stays within the College approved level. A student can check the similarity index of their assignment three times in the Draft Assignment submission point located in the home page of the ICON VLE.

g) All Final coursework must be submitted to the Final submission point into the unit (not to the Tutor). A student would be allowed to submit only once and that is the final submission.

h) Any computer files generated such as program code (software), graphic files that form part of the coursework must be submitted as an attachment to the assignment with all documentation.

i) The student must attach a tutor’s comment in between the cover page and the answer sheets in the case of Resubmission.

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5. Good practice j) Make backup of your work in different media (hard disk, floppy disk, memory stick etc) to avoid distress

for loss or damage of your original copy

6. Extension and Late Submission a) If you need an extension for a valid reason, you must request one using an extenuating circumstances

request form available from the college exam office and ICON VLE. Please note that the lecturers do not have the authority to extend the coursework deadlines and therefore do not ask them to award a coursework extension. The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick

b) Late submission will be accepted and marked according to the college procedure. It is noted that late submission may result in grading from PASS.

7. Submission deadlines Formative feedback Week 12 Final submission 11 - 16 June 2018 Late Submission 18 – 25 June 2018 Submit to: Online to the ICON VLE only Glossary: Analyse: Break an issue or topic into smaller parts by looking in depth at each part. Support each part with arguments and evidence for and against (Pros and cons).

Critically Evaluate/Analyse: When you critically evaluate you look at the arguments for and against an issue. You look at the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments. This could be from an article you read in a journal or from a text book. Discuss: When you discuss you look at both sides of a discussion. You look at both sides of the arguments. Then you look at the reason why it is important (for) then you look at the reason why it is important (against). Explain: When you explain you must say why it is important or not important. Evaluate: When you evaluate you look at the arguments for and against an issue. Describe: When you give an account or representation of in words. Identify: When you identify you look at the most important points. Define: State or describe the nature, scope or meaning.

Implement: Put into action/use/effect

Compare: Identify similarities and differences Explore: To find out about Recommend: Suggest/put forward as being appropriate, with reasons why

Part 4. Covers LO 4 (P7, P8, M5, D4): Write your complete CPD plan and include its relevance and contribution to your own learning.