Aids to project planning team and individual

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Aids to project planning(team and individual)

• Things to practice and use!

GAP- MSc 2007
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Its all about problem solving

• The dissertation is the outcome
• How do you write the proposal and do the project?
• The first stage is thinking closely about it
• Traveling from
• What you KNOW to
• What you WANT to know to
• What you want to have LEARNED

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The difference

• Between a problem
• and
• A problem for a dissertation
• These are not necessarily the same thing!
• (Reports and dissertations)

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Do there need to be more waste and recycling bins
in Belfast city centre?
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Is the signing of places in Belfast city centre
good enough?
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Do the pedestrian areas in Belfast city centre
work?
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Do there need to be more waste and recycling bins
in Belfast city centre?
Is the signing of places in Belfast city centre
good enough?
Do the pedestrian areas in Belfast city centre
work?
What questions do these pose? Are they
sufficient for a dissertation?
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You tell me

• What notions arise from these questions
• Viewpoint Tourist,
• City - tourism
• City - cleaning operatives
• City - accountants

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Some key concepts

• Make things visual (using suitable tools)
• Consider all possibilities
• And then simplify
• Keep it simple (or as simple as possible)
• Set a (feasible) Aim
• Set feasible Objectives
• Tailor the outcome(s) appropriately
• Consider the means available
• Consider the time available
• Consider the resources available

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A few definitions

• Aim
• Objectives
• Methodology
• Methods
• Goals

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Aim

• Should be short,
• Encompassing but
• Not vague
• Approximately, the title
• Only one Aim
• and leads to

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Objectives

• No more than about 5
• Say how you will achieve your Aim
• Be quite precise
• But might have sub-sections
• Best not to have methods themselves
• Control what your reading will be about
• Thus govern your literature review
• You should refer back to Objectives in your
  discussion in the dissertation (or report) itself

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Methodology and Methods

• Keep these distinct
• Methodology is the general approach
• could even be in the title
• Methods say how you will achieve the objectives
  set
• Make sure you have got them sorted
• Lab use, equipment, safety, ethics

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In the beginning there was

• A topic (aim, idea etc)
• Your head
• Paper, pencil, PostIts
• (tea, biscuits, beer, sandwiches etc)
• How do we start to use these (low tech) entities?
• You tell me!
• For a start, what nouns do we have?What verbs do
  we have?

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OK, you tell me your ideas about the problems
earlier
But what do we need to do first of all?
IDEAS
then
THINK
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How do you focus

• You have the basic ideas
• You have to bring it to fruition
• On your terms
• i.e. make it achievable
• Think about all the implications
• Brainstorming is a good start, followed by
• Mind mapping, followed by
• Concept mapping

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Mind Mapping
Geological
Archaeological
Volcanoes
Santorini
Dinosaurs
Baillie
Other extinctions
Pompeii
Burgess
Comets?
S.J.Gould
Catastrophes
H.Whittington Simon ?
Other Examples?
Causes ?
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Examples of visualisation tools

• Brainstorm (flipchart) ideas
• Mind map (flipchart) organise ideas
• V diagram (flipchart/paper) analyse problem
• Concept Map (flipchart/webtool) add detail
• Flowchart - sequencing of events
• Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram, prioritise
• Gantt chart

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Consider all possibilitiesAnd then simplify

• Use a brainstorming technique to consider 'all'
  possibilities
• Put them up for you (all) to see - a flipchart
  for example
• Keep it there as you consider the main things you
  need to look at
• Bring these together using, for example, Mind
  Mapping and use this to look at linkages.

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Keep it Simple (or as simple as possible)

• Bring the Brain storming and Mind mapping to Keep
  it (Short) and Simple
• The more complexity you have the more problems
  (time, cost, people involved)

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Lets just consider the nature of data

• Information, data, do they differ?

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Holmes and Watson

• Even if H did not say, 'elementary my dear
  Watson'
• Here's a brief story (not mine)
• How to use simple tools of analysis
• Especially observation
• This (should) make you a better observer and
  analyst.
• There's material on the website for help here.

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SOLVE method(from 'Winnie-the-Pooh on Problem
Solving')

• Select the Problem or Situation
• Observe, Organise and Define the P or S
• Learn by Questioning All Parts of the Problem
• Visualise Possible Solutions, Select one, Refine
  it
• Employ the Solution and Monitor Results
• Actually, this is a sort of condensed 'scientific
  method'

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Two problems for Wednesday

• You may get the answers immediately
• You may have to 'worry' them
• The 'answers' are not immediately obvious and may
  be simpler than you think
• The important thing is to see how you tackle
  them, look at a decision tree of ways of tackling
  them
• How are you using your faculties?

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How do we make sense of these things?

• Do we recognise them as problems?
• How do we describe them anyway?
• Not everyone sees things in the same way!
• Thus, not everyone sees that there is a problem!
• Leading to -
• Whose problem is it?
• If it's a problem, then knowing what happens (or
  happened) helps to provide a possible remedy or
  solution (which may not be the same).

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So

• We have to see what (we think) things are
• With a common vocabulary and terminology
• With, for preference, a common starting base
• We also need to look at changes - thus time is
  important
• How do we get a historical record?
• (indeed, we may be looking at history - a link
  with astronomy and cosmology here)

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A quick aside to astronomy

• How do we know the age of a star, a planet, the
  universe?
• How can we detect black holes without being able
  to see them?
• How can we use different wavelengths?
• How can we record images of stars etc?
• How do we know that elements were created in
  stars? ('we are stardust')
• A Theory and observation

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Study area - location

• Why there?
• Is it the best place
• Convenient, inexpensive
• Does it present problems?
• Why? Alternatives?

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Project design and plan of work

• Start bringing the objectives and methods
  together in what you will do and where
• Start to think, is this feasible?
• Time, money, equipment
• A concept map is a good way of showing what you
  can do and how things relate

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Literature

• Basics at this stage
• Could relate to methods and specific objectives
• Dont just go to web sources
• Qcat, data bases (WoS et), Google Scholar,

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Target literature
Second order
First Order
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Likely structure

• Introduction - background - the problem,
• leading to Aims and Objectives
• Literature review
• (Methodology)
• Field area description
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Appendices

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Equipment and Resources

• What do your objectives suggest that you will
  need?
• Can you get the equipment? Use it
• Can you get the data? Format, cost?

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Safety and ethics

• Thinks about these carefully in the light of
• Objectives, methods, resources

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Costing

• Away from home?
• Good reasons?
• If you are, then are the data obtainable?

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Timing and time line

• Brings you back to achievability (via your
  objectives)
• Will you need to collect data in the summer?
• Are there specific things you need to consider?
• Never underestimate the time it will take
• It will take longer than you think!

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References cited

• Just lit those that you have referred to
• No need for a full literature review yet!
• You need more than the web references!
• You need academic credibility
• Cite the references you use correctly

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The Concept Map(after J. D. Novak)
Free download at http//cmap.ihmc.us/
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Concept maps 1
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Dune formation concept
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From the C-Map to the V

• Having identified component parts
• Put them in a theoretical-practical framework
• What you do should be within a methodological
  framework
• Which leads to the methods you can use

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Gowin's V diagram
Methods or Doing
Thinking / Conceptual
Philosophy
Value claims
Focus Question
Knowledge claims
Theory
Interpretations
Principles
Transformations
Data
Concepts
Records
Events and / or Objects
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Conceptual / Theoretical
FOCUS QUESTIONS Questions that serve to focus
the enquiry about events and/or objects studied.
World View The general belief and knowledge
system motivating and thinking the enquiry.
Principles Statements of relationships between
concepts that explain how events or objects can
be expected to appear or behave.
Philosophy / Epistemology The beliefs about the
nature of knowledge and knowing guiding the
enquiry.
Constructs Ideas showing specific relationships
between concepts, without direct origin in events
or objects.
Theory The general principles guiding the
enquiry that explain why events or objects
exhibit what is observed
Concepts Perceived regularly in events or
objects (or records of events or objects)
designated by a label.
EVENTS and / or OBJECTS Description of the
event(s) and/or objects to be studied in order to
answer the focus question.
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Methods
FOCUS QUESTION(S) Questions that serve to focus
the enquiry about events and/or objects studied.
EVENTS and / or OBJECTS Description of the
event(s) and/or objects to be studied in order
to answer the focus question.
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Methods and Doing
Value Claims Statements based on knowledge
claims that declare the worth or value of the
enquiry.
FOCUS QUESTION(S) Questions that serve to focus
the enquiry about events and/or objects studied.
Knowledge ClaimsStatements that answer the
focus question(s) and are reasonable
interpretations of the records and transformed
records (or data) obtained
Interpretations
TransformationsTables, graphs, concept maps,
statistics and other forms of organisation of
records made
EVENTS and / or OBJECTS Description of the
event(s) and/or objects to be studied in order
to answer the focus question.
Data RecordsThe observations made and
recorded from the events/objects studied.
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In summary

• Look, in detail, what you want to do
• Break it down into components
• C-map
• See how the components (Objectives) tell you
  about the Aim
• Use Gowins V to link the components together

But we also have to consider..?
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TIME

• Yes well.
• What techniques have we for best using this?
• PPPPP
• The Gantt chart

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Problem solving

• You'll need notes, observations, ideas and
  further work to help solve 'problems'
  (practicals, projects etc)
• How can you organise things to make the best of
  your notes, observations and research?

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Types of problem

• Describe
• Classify - identify problem cases, misfits
• Quantify - what and how?
• Explain - does the hypothesis work
• Interpret - predict
• Test - against reality
• Problems of complexity -
• e.g.global warming, BSE, urban regeneration,
  location of shops, etc..

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Some general principles about doing projects

• First, write down
• PROBLEM (suggest boundary conditions)
• IDEAS (to solve the problem, or do the task)
• METHODS (of implementing the ideas)
• Then try to obtain
• SOLUTIONS
• Then, do some
• TESTS (do they answer the problem?)
• If not, go back to ideas

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TOIDPARa useful tool for group involvement

• Tune in
• Objectives - tasks, time keeper, writer,
  presenter
• Ideas - information, ask!
• Decision(s)
• will it meet objectives?
• Plan and how to do it
• understand objectives
• Action(s)
• Review how you arrived at 'solutions' note the
  feedbacks!

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Ten Rules for Report Writers(Institution of
Electrical Engineers)

• 1. The Reader is the most important person.
• 2. Keep the Report as short as possible.
• 3. Organise for the convenience of the Report
  user.
• 4. All references should be correct in all
  details.
• 5. The writing should be accurate, concise and
  unobtrusive.
• 6. The right diagrams with the right labels
  should be in the right place for the reader.
• 7. Summaries give the whole picture in miniature.
  
• 8. Reports should be checked for technical
  errors, typing errors and inconsistency.
• 9. The report should look as good as it is.
• 10.The Reader really is the most important
  person.
• Thus, you need to have the information ready
  (from your notebook) so that you can write a good
  report.

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Reports - good - but how do you write one?

• Organise the content
• Write a draft
• Review it - rewrite
• Review it again- rewrite further
• Get somebody else to review it - rewrite
• Proof read it
• Read it again - finally!

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Remember TOIDPAR?

• As a scheme for helping to tackle problems
• Especially in groups
• It uses a 'sequence' that can focus on problems
  and reviewing answers