English

EGL 1320 Professor Goldberg Collaborative Project – Formal Report – Online Class

In business, you will write a variety of reports, each having different purposes and audiences. Your Term Project is to prepare a formal report, along with some smaller reports and a team presentation. This project will emulate various communication tasks you will encounter in the “working world.” You will learn the skills necessary to prepare effective, grammatically correct, mechanically clean reports directed to appropriate primary audiences.

Your Assignment

The term project will be collaborative (with 2 or 3 team members; I will assign the teams). It will offer you a variety of realistic writing scenarios (e.g., write a proposal to build a restaurant; identify a problem and propose a solution for a small, local, privately owned business, etc.). Each team will select a topic from a list provided in Learning Module 4.

 

The project will require primary (questionnaire) and secondary (library, Web) research, and appropriate documentation (use APA documentation style – review a source such as Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html). You must use (and cite) at least five secondary sources, documented using the APA style. The body of the report, not counting the prefatory and supplemental material , should be a minimum of 6 pages for a team of two or 9 pages for a team of three (that is, 3 body pages per team member). The goal is to produce a collaboratively written document that looks as if one person wrote it. Remember, each team member must show his or her work on the team’s wiki page, in order to receive credit for the assignment. Failure to use the team wiki page will result in a zero. NOTE: Wikipedia is NOT a valid scholarly source; its use will result in an automatic zero. NOTE: Plagiarism will result in an automatic zero.

In addition, the project requires that you prepare and submit a PowerPoint presentation (which will be graded separately). If you are unfamiliar with this software, start getting familiar with it now (one of your classmates is sure to be competent with PowerPoint).

Deadlines

Each team will self-evaluate its rough draft by December 1.

The final draft of the Formal Report is due in Blackboard by 11:59 p.m., Friday, December 4. See the calendar for the due dates of the Project Proposal and the Progress Report . You will also upload your PowerPoint presentation by 11:59 p.m., Dec. 4, and the individual Collaborative Project Peer-Evaluation Form (via e-mail) by 11:59 p.m., Dec. 4. (Failure to submit the collaborative project peer-evaluation form will result in that team member receiving a ZERO on the assignment.)

Save the formal report in MS Word (.docx) format. Use your team members’ names as the beginning of the file name, using the format: Smith_Jones_Doe Final Report.docx. Upload the final version and the peer evaluation forms in “Writing Assignments” or by using the link on your team’s Group Page.

Grading

This assignment is worth 75 points. I will grade it on:

· Content: appropriate for the audience, complete (including visual aids, supplemental materials, findings, conclusion, and recommendations), etc. (20 pts.)

· Organization: content flows logically, information is easy to find (15 pts.)

· Correctness/Style: correct punctuation, grammar, spelling, business style (10 pts.)

· Documentation/Citations: required number of sources, correct documentation style (10 pts.)

· Format: headings, paragraphing, line spacing, font type, page numbers, visual aids, etc. (10 pts.)

· Document Parts: all required components are present and formatted correctly (5 pts.)

· Collaboration: clear participation & collaboration evident from wiki, unity of product (5 pts.)

rev., 11/7/20

EGL132, Goldberg - 2 - Term Project Topics