This final project of the semester is a two-pronged one that will require you to develop two different documents on the same topic (as well as make a five-minute presentation to the class). In the work world, you might be expected to present the same material in two different ways, as this assignment asks you to do:
1) detailed written proposal intended to be carefully read and examined by decision-makers, in conjunction with…
2) oral presentation supported by slides that would allow decision-makers to hear your “pitch” and ask questions to clarify areas of concern or ambiguity.
1) Proposal
A proposal is an offer to carry out research or to provide a product or service. Whether a project is big or small, within your company or outside of it, it is likely to call for a proposal. For this assignment, you will propose a plan of work that might ultimately lead to a formal recommendation report or an improvement project. You will write a memo to me seeking my approval to proceed with the project.
When choosing a topic, you should look around you on the Penn State campus and in your various communities to see how you can improve them. Think small-scale when choosing problem or opportunity to address (e.g., dining hall improvements rather than saving the planet by stopping climate change).
When writing the proposal, think of me as someone who wants to be sure that you are identifying a worthwhile problem or opportunity that you are capable of handling well. In reading your memo, I will be looking for answers to the following questions:
• What problem or opportunity will your report address? How do you know it’s a problem? Have you clearly defined a conflict between a desired (ideal) situation and a current (problematic) situation for a specific audience (the audience of your feasibility report)?
• Whose problem is it? Who will read the report? In other words, who will be the “decision-maker” reading this report for decision-making? What is your position relative to your readers? Why is the problem significant for these readers? What is at stake?
• Do you have a handle on possible solutions to the problem? While you may have a single solution in mind, avoid presenting that solution as the only possible solution at this point. Rather, demonstrate to me that you are capable of conducting unbiased research and are willing to entertain all possibilities. Also, be sure to analyze what a good solution entails.
• What makes you qualified to carry out the project?
• What would it take to gather the necessary information and complete your analyses? Would you have these resources readily available to you?
Length and format: 3-4 pages, single-spaced, 1000-1200 words, memo format
Select your information and organize it in such a way that it is persuasive and accessible. Include:
• an introduction that tells me why you are writing and what the memo is about;
• a section on the problem, including an explicit and well-developed problem statement. You will need to do some digging and research to convince me that your audience is facing a tough and important problem or unrealized opportunity. This is heart of the project and the most important part;
• a section describing your plans for researching the problem and developing possible solutions. Convince me that you know what kind of information you will need and where to find it. Include an analysis of your readers and what information they will need to be persuaded by your solutions;
• a schedule. Convince me that you know what activities your research will require and how long those activities might take. (You will not end up carrying out this schedule, and this section is less important and more make-believe than the others, but give it a try);
• a discussion of your qualifications. Convince me that you have the background and resources necessary to conduct your research;
• a conclusion that formally requests permission to proceed.
Student samples (offered on ANGEL) give you a sense of what effective proposals in response to this assignment might look like. (Please note that some of these were written as precursors to an assignment to be completed in the same semester (a recommendation report). Obviously, you will not be required to complete this next step.)
2) Assertion-Evidence Slide Presentation
Use the instruction set offered in ANGEL for details of how to prepare an assertion-evidence slide presentation. Your slides will offer the essential information and arguments from your proposal.
For this assignment, you should expect to prepare between 7-12 slides. These slides should include:
• Title slide
• Mapping slide
• Body slides (5-10)
Your presentation of these slides should be about 4-6 minutes in length (aim for 5 minutes!). Practice presenting to make sure you can effectively deliver your proposal in this timeframe.
Opportunities for Teamwork on this Project
You are free to work with a team of 2-3 students for this project, or you are free to work on your own. Teamwork allows you to divide the load, play a role on the team based on your strengths, and learn from each other. For this project, I will provide some class time to coordinate with teammates (or work on your own).
Team projects do not need to be double or triple the length or effort. However, if you do work with a team, I will expect each team member to present at least 3 slides. Team presentations may be 6-8 minutes in length.
I will also ask each team member to write a paragraph that answers the following:
• What did you contribute to this project?
• What did your team member(s) contribute?
• Why did you assign the roles/work as you did?
• What difficulties, if any, did you encounter in your teamwork?
• Did working as a team help improve the outcome, in your opinion?