MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

The successful project assignment:

Remember that the report is not the project, but the dissemination of it. The projects front page The front page of the project report must as a minimum contain all information relevant to the reader: i.e. project title, authors, supervisors, project type (e.g. 1st year exam) and year, the project period, name of education and college and finally personal signatures. Table of contents Any successful project report always starts with a table of contents. The introduction: The project assignments why? The introduction must give reasons to the reader as to why this project report offers interesting reading. This can be achieved in several ways. One way is to present the problem statement of which the projects problem statement constitutes a part. It may be a good idea to give reasons for the problem statement based on a general, multimedia technical or personal angle and motivations can stem from your sources of wonder, interests or curiosity. Thus, the assignment is presented comprehensively which will offer you one or more topics to put into perspective in relation to your own conclusions at the end of the project. The problem statement: The project assignments what? The problem statement is what you are going to discuss in your project assignment. It is the foundation of your work. The problem statement can consists of 1 to 3 questions tied up in a logical order all questions must be answered in your conclusion. The problem statement can also be a phenomenon that you wish to discuss or a hypothesis that your wish to argue in favour of. The whole aim of the project assignment is to answer the problem statement in a systematic and methodical manner. (This is why your problem statement also lays the foundation of your report structure). The problem statement is also where you present your level of ambition. You state briefly what you intend to do and the questions you intend to answer preferably wh-words but even these may have a different impact on the conclusion you will end up with (what, why and how are more open questions than e.g. which questions). It may often be a good idea to construct a sentence with a verb (i.e. describe, analyse, discuss, estimate) in front of your question bringing your ambition into focus e.g. Based on an analysis of Ikeas values and marketing strategy, we will discuss how IKEA can use storytelling in its marketing on the Internet.

The Succesful Project Assignment

1 (4)

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Problem delimitation: In this paragraph the problem statement is delimited and specified This paragraph can be used for delimitation or specification of the problem statement. It may e.g. be the significance of one or more concepts used in the problem statement, it may be an explanation or specification of what is meant by one or more words. In the example above, the project could be delimited to looking at Ikea Danmark or with relation to Ikeas values the project could be delimited to looking at the set of values officially formulated by Ikea, i.e. not determining if the values indeed are in effect in the company culture. Method: The project assignments how? In this paragraph, you describe how you intend to answer the problem statement. E.g. the sources or authors you are going to use in your analyses, how you intend to collect data/knowledge, e.g. interviews, questionnaires, written sources, and finally, how you intend to analyse or use your data in the problem solving when they have been collected. In this part you can also discuss the pro and cons of your methods. Report structure: How to structure the report? Under method, preferably in an independent paragraph, you must describe how the report structure has been put together. You must describe content and aims of each chapter and paragraph as well as the logic behind your choice of structure (order). You may think of the paragraph as an itinerary for the reader, so he/she knows what to expect when reading the report. You may also see this paragraph as an overall metatext (see below) of the report as a whole. It may be of great help both for you and the reader to follow up on this paragraph with metatexts at the beginning and end of each chapter or big paragraphs, which continuously will inform the reader of how far you have come in your problem treatment. The reports chapters on problems Descriptions, analyses, discussions, etc. REMEMBER to argue using what, why and how. Discussion of methods In this part you can reflect upon your own methods and results. This could be critical reflection and evaluation of your chosen literature, data collection, tests and how it affects the reliability and validity of your conclusions.

The Succesful Project Assignment

2 (4)

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Conclusion: The projects answer to the problem statement Together with the problem statement, this chapter is the essence of the project. Here you extract the knowledge built up through the projects chapters on problem discussion to answer the problem statement. This chapter must be written so that it can be read in direct continuation of the problem statement (which evaluators often do) and it may thus be a good idea to begin the conclusion by repeating the problem statement, aims or central issues and then answer them one by one. In the conclusion you should not include anything new, this must wait until the next part. Perspective: putting the projects results into perspective This chapter can be used for relating the results to the problems you have mentioned in the introduction. This will allow you to open up for your own interpretations and assessments of the importance of your conclusions as a part of a greater whole. By doing this, you will tie up your introductory and concluding chapters and close the ring, so to speak. In this chapter you can choose all the topics you described in the introduction the projects general, multimedia technical or personal interests in the project. Process evaluation: What have you learned from the project? This (elective) final chapter can be used for reflections on the processes you have experienced during the project period. This could be your learning process, work process, team process etc. List of literature The projects list of literature must contain all the sources you have referred to directly in your project work it may also contain sources you have used more or less directly. Example: Books: The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine II & James H. Gilmore, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts, 1999. Articles: How brands are taking over the cooperation by Wally Olins (chap. 4) in The Expressive Organization edited by Majken Schultz, Mary Jo Hatch and Mogens Holten Larsen, Oxford University Press, 2000

The Succesful Project Assignment

3 (4)

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Appendices: Product and process documentation, that you do not want to include in the report (and evaluation of the report), but that document your results and conclusions. Appendices belong at the back of the report. REMEMBER to include the appendices in the table of contents. Quotations Are stated in inverted commas and preferably in italics subsequently (Authors Surname, publication year, page) (Andersen, 1999, p. 75) Or as a footnote: The quote is also stated in inverted commas and in italics, but with a footnote. In the footnote you may refer in the same way as mentioned above, or with the books/articles title, author, publication year and page. Literature references (The authors surname, publication year, page) (Andersen, 1999, p. 34) or as a footnote. In the footnote you may refer in the same way as mentioned above, or with the books/articles title, author, publication year and page. Metatexts Metatexts are used to describe analyses and other normal text. In other words they connect paragraph and chapters by stating the logic relationship between them, the relevance of the chapter or they can explain how far you have come in your problem solving process. Layout Make sure that the report is navigable, nice looking and easy to read. Write your name on everything and make sure things will not fall apart. Avoid large folders. The report has to be sent to an external examiner.

The Succesful Project Assignment

4 (4)