EGB340 Design and Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2020, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

This is an advanced unit which aims to extend your design skills, professional skills and technical knowledge in the context of teamwork on a challenging project. Design communication skills will be developed through teamwork, regular presentation, written reports and studio-style critique. Professional skills developed include those in problem exploration, solution generation, problem scoping, teamwork, time management, flexible problem solving, critical thinking, information retrieval, report writing and presentation. This unit plays an important role in developing many professional skills by approaching problems from a user centred design methodology. EGB340 is situated after the first and second year electrical design units, and prepares you for your final year honours project.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Collaboratively design, build and critically evaluate a prototype system to appropriate standards/criteria.
2. Effectively retrieve, synthesise, communicate and reference relevant information to report on and present your collaborative project
3. Demonstrate and apply extended knowledge and skills on an agreed technical topic in a user-centred context.
4. Contribute productively and ethically as a team member in all aspects of collaboration, including scheduled class checkpoints, informal group meetings, project management, and marketing and financial matters.

Content

Learning Approaches

Total No. Hours: 4
Lecture/Presentation Hours: 2
Supported Teamwork Hours/Supervisor consultation: 2

Lectures will introduce key aspects of design, teamwork, project management and professional skills. A hands-on session on database/patent searching will support development of the literature review.

Learning and teaching in this unit is mainly through weekly guidance and feedback on project work via:
1. attendance at the lecture/presentation and interim critique sessions
2. meeting in the supported teamwork sessions
3. meeting with your project supervisor
4. using resources and the study guide on the unit website and
5. your own group's research and design project work.

Documentation:

1. Log Book - Keep track of the evolving design and report weekly progress via a log book with sign-off and feedback from your supervisor.
2. Presentations - Contribute to team presentations on your project to the whole class for peer and lecturer assessment, critique and discussion. In this way, you will get to share and improve on your own and your peers project work and communication/presentation skills.
3. Project Summary, Literature Review, Final Report - These written documents provide a clear articulation of the project at three key stages. They will prepare you to write high quality documents for your major project in final year.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Oral feedback is provided to your group throughout semester
1. during your weekly meetings with your supervisor
2. through summary feedback in the lectures
3. through oral and written feedback on your interim project presentations from peers and the lecturer/tutor team.

Assessment

Overview

Assessment will based on:
1) Project summary and literature review;

2) Interim Presentations - individual contributions to the group interim presentations which are critiqued and assessed by both peers and lecturer;

3a) Demonstration and presentation of your group's final design.
3b) Project Report - areas assessed include research on your topic, fluency and flexibility of idea generation, critical thinking and evaluation, design innovation, technical application, communication and report writing skills;
3c) Log Book - the contributions of the individual to the design project as demonstrated through regular progress of the individual log book;

Assessment items 1, 3a and 3b are undertaken as teamwork and will be graded as such. Items 2 and 3c are individual components of teamwork. Teamwork will be supported and discussed in class sessions. Peer team member assessment will also be used. If your team is not functioning effectively you are encouraged to seek advice and resolve difficulties early on. We will support you to do this.

You are additionally required to prepare a professional reflection alongside your project proposal with specific reference to the professional context. Completion of this task via ePortfolio to a satisfactory standard is required to receive a final grade and complete the unit.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Project Proposal

Project concept exploration, project scoping document and literature review.

Relates to learning outcomes
1, 2, 3 and 4

Assessment: Interim Presentation

You will be required to present updates on your project to the class as a group for critique and discussion (with individual oral presentation of a specific section) using power point or other similar software, visual aids, videos, props etc. This will be done through a video presentation. 

Relates to learning outcomes
1, 2, 3 and 4

Assessment: Final Project Report

This assessment task has three distinct parts.
(a) Final Design Demonstration and Presentation: Demonstrate your final built prototype
(b) Final Written Report: Submit a final report on your project. This includes: Design Report; Approach to Topic and Development; and Technical Explanation of Design Project - refer to study guide for details/criteria.
(c) Log Book: Log regular meetings and progress in your individual Log Book.
Log Books contain all working notes pertaining to a project such as thoughts, sketches, contact details, to-do lists, notes from conversations, part specs etc. Entries in Log Books are due regularly until end of semester. Peer to peer tips will be used to encourage good practices.

Relates to learning outcomes
1, 2, 3 and 4

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.

The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

In this unit you will undertake lectures and tutorials in the traditional classrooms and lecture theatres. As such, there are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with these components of the unit.

Depending on the project topic, students may require to undertake practical sessions in the laboratory. The Faculty's occupational health and safety policies and procedures will apply to these sessions.

In any laboratory environment, students are advised of the requirements of safe and responsible behaviour and will be required to wear appropriate protective items (e.g. closed shoes or steel capped shoes).

Students who do not follow legitimate instructions or who endanger the safety of others or do not act in accordance with the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety Act, will be required to leave the laboratories.