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Proposal Requirements
Proposal Requirements for Your Final
Projects (due 04/04)
Note about the due date: Since you are all
responsible adults, I’m expecting that you’ll think about this project and do
some research soon. The April 4th due date is the final date you may turn in
your proposal. You may, of course, turn it in earlier. I’m discussing these
projects with you early in the semester so that you can gather research and
think about what you want to do for the rest of the semester. If you plan to do
all of your thinking about this project on April 3rd, you may have a hard time
with this final project. Please put effort into these projects now.
Requirements for the
Proposal for a Traditional Group Project
Remember, you will do a 4-5 minute presentation on your
project. The proposal is just for you or your group to propose an idea to me
that you will eventually describe how to carry out. Look at the project
guidelines for any help in locating information that may go into the final
report—this should help you determine what is needed for a complete project.
- Statement of the Problem
What is the problem with the status quo? Something’s wrong—there’s danger,
inefficiency, something new, etc.—and you want to change it
- Purpose and Scope of Work
What does your team plan to do about the current problem? What new solution
are you going to implement for your client? Where will you do this solution?
How do you plan to estimate the costs associated with this proposal? What
benefit(s) should come from this entire project?
- Sources and Methods of Data Collection
Of course, you need to research this project, so you should list the sources
you expect to use to gather information for your solution. For instance, is
this solution brand new? If so, how do you know it works (do you have a
theory)? If this is a solution that another firm has done, where will you look
to see that firm’s success (or failure)? Will you interview people? What types
of sources do you expect to use?
Note: You shouldn’t feel the need to deliver a bibliography-worthy list at
this point. I hope that you’ll do some brief research for the proposal that
will help you determine the feasibility of the assignment.
- Preliminary Outline
Highlight the possible major points of the final project: audience, purpose,
timeframe, cost, solution breakdown, etc. This may be long if you’ve been
working on it for awhile, or it may not be so long if you’re just now getting
around to the project.
- Work Plan (possible)
This might be a bit too much to ask, but, if you feel you can accurately
discuss the steps in the process of implementing your solution, try to do so.
Explaining a Technology or
a Scientific Issue/Process to a Lay Audience (Group or Individual)
Remember, you will do a 4-5 minute presentation on your
project. The proposal is just for you or your group to propose a scientific or
technical issue/process that you will eventually explain to a lay audience. Look
at the project guidelines for any help in locating information that may go into
the final report—this should help you determine what is needed for a complete
project.
- Statement of the Issue or Process
What issue or process will you attempt to explain to a lay audience? Where do
you expect this explanation to appear? Obviously, it will appear in the
project you give to me, but what “real world” place—publication, medium,
etc.—may this explanation appear?
- Purpose and Scope of Work
Why is it important to explain this process to a lay audience? What limits
have you set on your explanation? For instance, you can’t adequately explain
the entire field of geology in this project; however, you could explain
something like plate tectonics. Likewise, you can’t adequately explain
Calculus in this project, but you could possibly explain derivatives.
- Sources and Methods of Data Collection
Of course, you need to do research for this project, so you should list the
sources you expect to use to gather information for your explanation. How do
you plan to get the information to help explain your issue/process? Will you
interview people? What types of sources do you expect to use?
Note: You shouldn’t feel the need to deliver a bibliography-worthy list at
this point. I hope that you’ll do some brief research for the proposal that
will help you determine if the issue or process is appropriate for this
project. I’ll be looking to see if you will be able to fulfill the
requirements or if you’ll need to do too much to adequately explain this issue
or process.
- Preliminary Outline
Highlight the possible major points of the final project: audience, purpose,
layout, etc. This may be long if you’ve been working on it for awhile, or it
may not be so long if you’re just now getting around to the project.
Critical Analysis of a
Technology or a Scientific Issue/Process
Remember, you will do a 4-5 minute presentation on your
project. The proposal is just for you to propose a scientific or technical
issue/process that you will critically explain. Look at the project guidelines
for any help in locating information that may go into the final report—this
should help you determine what is needed for a complete project.
- Statement of the Issue or Process
What issue or process will you attempt to explain to a lay audience? Where do
you expect this explanation to appear?
- Purpose and Scope of Work
Why is it important to explain this process to a lay audience? What limits
have you set on your explanation? For instance, you can’t adequately explain
the impact of automobiles on life for this project but, you could critically
analyze the impact of SUVs on gas consumption from 1990-present. Likewise, you
can’t adequately explain Louis Pasteur’s impact on fighting germs in the 20th
century, but you could critically analyze the impact of
sterilization-promoting products on an uncritical consuming public.
- Sources and Methods of Data Collection
Of course, you need to do research for this project, so you should list the
sources you expect to use to gather information for your explanation. How do
you plan to get the information to help explain the impact of the science or
technology? Will you interview people? What types of sources do you expect to
use? What is your hypothesis on the impact of the science or technology—in
other words, what is happening to life/society/environment because people are
not being critical of science or technology?
Note: You shouldn’t feel the need to deliver a bibliography-worthy list at
this point. I hope that you’ll do some brief research for the proposal that
will help you determine if the issue or process is appropriate for this
project. I’ll be looking to see if you will be able to fulfill the
requirements or if you’ll need to do too much to adequately critically analyze
this issue or process.
- Preliminary Outline
Highlight the possible major points of the final project: audience, purpose,
layout, hypotheses, impacts, etc. This may be long if you’ve been working on
it for awhile, or it may not be so long if you’re just now getting around to
the project.
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