These guidelines for workgroup participation use basic project management principles to help you identify and meet your group's goals.
Workgroups are required to submit a project plan on a semesterly basis. The project plan should include the workgroup's objectives and the milestones needed to complete those objectives. See details and examples below.
Objectives
At least one concrete, achievable objective to be achieved by the end of the semester. Examples:
1. A coauthored white paper that describes how to use wikis to conduct collaborative writing projects, with examples from two classes.
2. A Drupal-based website that describes visual rhetoric for teachers, with examples that can be used in first-year composition classes.
3. A research report that describes the results of a qualitative research project into how students use Facebook to maintain their online identities.
In contrast, here are some bad objectives—ones that are not concrete enough or specific enough to be achievable, or are unrealistic:
1. A white paper on wikis
2. The premier visual rhetoric website on the Internet
3. A report on Facebook
Milestones
Specific action-oriented steps that the workgroup will take to achieve the objective, with do-by dates and delegation within the workgroup. Milestones should describe clear deliverables—there shouldn’t be any question about whether they have been achieved. Here’s an example from the third objective above, for a three-person group that includes Ralph, Mary, and Emily:
1/15/07: Develop methodology for research project (Ralph)
1/20/07: Recruit participants (Mary)
1/25/07: Begin study (All)
2/28/07: Complete first round of interviews (Mary)
2/28/07: Complete first round of observations (Ralph)
2/28/07: Write methodology section (Emily)
3/30/07: Complete first round of coding of interviews (Ralph)
3/30/07: Complete first round of coding of observations (Mary)
4/1/07: Write annotated bibliography (Emily)
4/10/07: Complete second round of interviews (Mary)
4/10/07: Complete second round of observations (Ralph)
4/20/07: Write Introduction, Background sections (Emily)
4/25/07: Complete second round of coding of interviews (Ralph)
4/2507: Complete second round of coding of observations (Mary)
5/1/07: Complete analysis (All)
5/15/07: Write Findings and Implications section (Emily)
5/20/07: Complete draft of report (All)
In contrast, here’s an example of bad milestones—ones that are not specific enough that we can tell what needs to be accomplished or whether it has been accomplished:
January: Research begins
April: Research ends
May: Report