Proposal Plan Memo
The Proposal Plan Memo is the first assignment of the course you will be required to work in a group. It is not a choice and there is no way of finishing the project on your own. You need to work with your group and discuss the project with them regularly. It is a good idea to find out what they plan to get out of the class. Do they have any strengths that might help during the course of the project? Are there any natural leaders in the group? My group was fun and talkative. We really got a long with each other. In fact, we probably got along to well. Some of the times, we ended up goofing off instead of working on the project during in class work time.
Every member of your group wrote an email to Dr. Art prior to this assignment. They should have their own proposal in mind for the project. As a group, you should discuss each of the topics. Look at which project would be easiest and the least time consuming. Ask your self questions to determine the best proposal:
- How much research is needed to complete the report?
- Who is the audience of the proposal?
- What is the goal of the proposal?
- What is the solution for the proposal?
- Could you write ten pages on the subject?
Choose the topic as a group. If one member of the group chooses the topic, then the other members are less likely to contribute during the rest of the project. From this point on, it would be a good idea to bring your stuff with you to class. There will be lots of time after the presentations everyday during class to work with your group on the current assignment. This is wasted time if you do not work on the project during this time. My group accomplished almost the entire project during free class time.
The proposal that you choose can be used for this assignment. Most of the elements the person wrote about can be used in this assignment. Using their memo as a rough draft will make writing this assignment quick and easy. Two to four pages may sound like a lot to write, but with a group it is easy. If every member writes something, the minimum length should be easily met.
With the group assignments, you should take them to Dr. Art during his office hours to be edited. This will become increasingly important during this project. Every member in the group will receive the same grade regardless of the amount of work completed. If you rotate members that go to his office, then every member will share the responsibility.
Below is my groups Proposal Memo. We picked the topic and wrote the entirety of the memo during in class time. At this point during the project, we were ahead of schedule and could have turned in assignments early. We did not take advantage of turning in the assignments, but we did get a head start on the upcoming assignments.
