109M          Winter 2001

Graded Assignment 4: The Collaborative Project

Overview: You are part of a team of Waterloo students assigned to prepare a case study in an area of concern to a group of stakeholders. Your team will define that audience and your objectives, carry out a program of research, discuss the results of that research, offer recommendations or solutions, and perhaps implement some of those recommendations in the form of the top level of a Web site or a pamphlet. You must follow a series of steps before you can prepare the final report and present it before an audience of stakeholders, among whom are your peers, your teachers, and other interested parties from the local community.

Research: The kind of research you perform depends on the nature of your case study. But you must use at least three different types of research:

·         Library

·         The Web

·         Surveys (you’ll have a chance to administer these to your peers in the lecture)

·         Interviews (you can arrange these yourself, or if the same individuals are identified by several groups, we will arrange the interview for you)

·         Empirical (i.e., observational or experimental; for example, an analysis of a computer program)

·         Web design (for the purposes of this assignment, we will consider the technical skills required to develop a quality Web site as “research”)

The Team Approach: Teams will be chosen according to the criteria established by your workshop instructor. Once your team is formed you need to decide on a name and, more importantly, a case study. Leadership for the team will rotate each week, and each member will have a chance to report on the team’s progress. In no case should responsibilities be designated to one person alone (e.g., no one person should be the team’s “editor,” “writer,” or “proofreader”). Each person is responsible for their own portion of the report, and the team as a whole should meet to decide layout, design, and editing issues. Work should be allocated in such a way that each member writes the same number of pages. Grades will be assigned based both on the team’s success as a whole as well as on your individual contribution.

Team Meetings: Your team will have opportunities to meet during the workshop period, but you must also schedule meetings outside of class on your own time. You should also establish an email distribution list so that you can exchange ideas and written work electronically. In the workshop following the one in which teams are formed, you will present your workshop instructor with a proposal (see below) that outlines your case study.

Case Study Topics:

Choose among the topic areas below. The research you propose may be based on but differ slightly from the approach that is suggested. In all cases, decide who are the readers and stakeholders of the report, what are your precise goals and “deliverables,” and how you will carry out the research needed to achieve those goals. A Web site or brochure supplement may be an option for any of these topics, although some topics seem better suited for this approach. Again, your proposal should explain and justify your strategy.

Career Options in Mathematics and Computer Science

As consultants to the Faculty of Mathematics and Career Services, your role is to research career options or potential co-op opportunities for students in the faculty. The goal of the report it to provide students with a close examination of career options as well as outlining the background students need for each of the job areas you choose to cover. Your report must include research into at least on industry in the Waterloo region and focus on three or more job areas, justifying in your report and presentation why you’ve chosen those areas to research.

Recreational Math

What is “recreational math” and what place does it have in the university context? As researchers your job is to explore the use of recreational math in the classroom as a teaching aid, for prompting interest in mathematics (in high school, for example), for demonstrating how it might lead to important mathematics discoveries  (both historically and speculatively), for fostering a sense of community in the math faculty, and so on. You may adapt the case to explore the notion of “recreational computer science” if you wish. Your report may make recommendations to the mathematics faculty to encourage the use of recreational math, or suggest the usefulness of a students’ guide to recreational math.” Stakeholders for this study might include mathematics students and faculty at the University of Waterloo, or high school curriculum designers.

International Students Web Site

International students coming to the math faculty have concerns that go beyond those of Canadian students. As consultants to the Faculty of Mathematics and the International Student Advisor, you must identify three or more areas of concern for international students and create a Web site that helps those students prepare for the University of Waterloo before they arrive, and cope with the first term in the Faculty of Mathematics. Your report and presentation must include the proposed design of the top level page of the site and justify the design and content of the site to the Director of First Year Studies and the International Students Advisor.

Resources for Students on Campus

Many students do not know what the university offers in terms of counseling for students in crisis, medical and public services, or help for students in areas such as time-management and study-skills. Research at least three student resources, justifying in your report why you have chosen them. This topic lends itself to pamphlet or Web site supplement.

Gender Issues in the Workplace or on Campus

Some people believe that the struggle for gender equality has been won: women are now accorded the same rights and privileges as men. Other people know better. Your task, as consultants to the Federation of Students, is to research and report on the current areas of concern for women in either the workplace or at the university. Your report will identify and explain the key problems and propose possible ways to promote awareness and understanding on the campus or in the workplace. Part of your solution could be to create a university-sponsored Web site or pamphlet dealing with the issues you’ve identified.

Race in the Workplace or on Campus

Similar to the above but with a focus on issues pertaining race and/or ethnicity.

The Future of Computing

What technologies just on the horizon may be the future of computing and information technology in the next decade? As consultants to a local firm, you and your team will research an emerging technology that the firm could develop in the hopes of getting in at the earliest stages. You will write a report that identifies a key technology, discusses its implications, and makes recommendations to the firm.

Digital Culture

Your team will research and report on a significant issue involving online/electronic culture. You might look at the culture of video games, chat rooms, virtual spaces, legal issues, censorship, or another related area of interest. Your goal is to provide a report (and perhaps a complementary Web site) to alert interested parties (such as educators in high schools and parents) to aspects of digital culture with which they may not have familiarity, but which may have wider social implications. One possibility might be the dangers of online materials and communities to children; the report and website could act as an information source to unwary parents.

History of Women in Mathematics and Computer Science

Most students coming from high school into the Faculty of Mathematics are unaware of the role women have played in the fields of mathematics and computer science. As consultants to the Faculty of Mathematics at Waterloo, your job is to design a Web site that fills this gap, and would act as a useful research tool for mathematics students at both the high school and undergraduate university level. Your report and presentation must include the proposed design of the top level of the site and one sample page. You must justify the design and content of the site to your stakeholders in the Faculty of Mathematics and the Women in Mathematics Committee.

Great Moments or People in Mathematics and Computer Science

Your role is to research the life and times of a mathematician or computer scientist or research a particular event relevant to first year math and computer science students at Waterloo. Your report will justify the need for a Web page to inform stakeholders about the particular importance of the person or event. You may design a Web site that covers the person or event, cultural context of the person or event, and that person’s influence on math and computer science into the 21^st century. As in other case studies you must employ at least three types of research methods. If you choose to do the Web site, it should contain the top level page of the site and at least one page of content.

Mathematics Endowment Fund

This recommendation report will advocate for funds for something useful for the faculty and students that would enhance the profile of Mathematics and Computer Science. The recommendations must meet MEF guidelines for funding, and be based on a realistic project or goal that is worthy of consideration at the next MEF meeting. Your team should take into account the amount of funding available to MEF and be prepared to answer question about MEF, as well, as their recommendations, during the question period of the presentation. Your appendices should include analyses of the your target audience(s).

Changing Costs of University Education

The cost of higher education for students has increased markedly in recent years. Your goal is to investigate and report on ways students can help meet those costs. Your team can approach this topic in a number of ways. Perhaps you could study scholarships and bursaries, and propose to develop a Web site for math faculty students that acts as a clearinghouse for information about such sources of aid. Taking a broader approach, you might propose to perform a cost/benefit analysis of increased student support at the provincial or federal level. Whatever you do, determine the stakeholders and propose a project that will speak to their concerns.

Graded Components of the Project:

Case Study Proposal (1 – 2 pages)
Due: Week of February 5

Value: 5%

After choosing among the possible case studies from above, your team must develop a proposal that clearly defines your objectives and audience, states your research program, and establishes responsibilities for team members. Written as a memo to the main stakeholders who will “fund” your study, your instructor will let you know how to submit this document. The proposal should include:

·         The case study you have chosen and the research approach you will take

·         Your team name—something catchy that reflects the content of the case you’ve chosen. It should not be offensive (connoting violence, sexism, or anything else that will ruin your team’s credibility with your stakeholders)

·         The names of all team members along with their email addresses

·         The kinds of research you will use if you have decided upon them

Status reports (3-4 minute oral and 1.5 page written submission)

Due: Weekly beginning week of February 12

Value: 5%

Team leadership rotates each week. Each week, a different member of the group will gave a three minute oral status report in the workshop. That person is also responsibility for administering the project in the week leading up to their status report. They must ensure that team members are working on schedule, determine meeting times and chair the meeting, gather information from each member about the progress of the individual sections, and announce this progress in the workshop. Within 48 hours of the oral report, the team leader for that week must present a one page written status report to the workshop leader.

Team Report (5 pages per team member or 3 pages per member for those projects which involve a Web site or other supplement)

Due: Week of March 19

Value: 20% (10% team grade and 10% for individual section)

The report will follow all the generic conventions for the goals and audience of the case study. These include table of contents, executive summary, appendices, etc. (which are not to be included in the per person page totals). If you have chosen to design a pamphlet of Web site to complement your report, include the pamphlet or hard copy of the site in an appendix.  Each team member must perform a part of the research, and word process and format his or her portion of the report. The team should meet to ensure coherence and consistency across the document. Any team that assigns research, writing, typing, editing of proofreading to a single team member will receive a failing grade. Two copies of the report will be handed in during workshop in the second last week of the term. If your report contains colour illustrations, only one colour version needs to be handed in; the other copy may be in black and white.

Team Presentation:

Due: Week of March 26

Value: 15% (10% team grade and 5% for individual portion)

Details about the presentation will be provided later.

Team and Self-Assessment:

Due: by email, within 24 hours of your final presentation

Value: 5%

The self-assessment provides an opportunity to analyze your contribution to the team, as well as the contribution of the team’s other members.

Collaborative Project At-A-Glance