PPMP20008 - Initiating and Planning Projects

General Information

Unit Synopsis

The Initiating and Planning Project unit will equip you with the knowledge and skills required to effectively initiate and plan projects in challenging environments. You will study different standards, frameworks and practices with the opportunity to apply these by utilising relevant tools and techniques to enhance project initiation and planning. On successful completion, you will have prepared a range of project management artifacts that underpin effective initiation and planning of projects.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 3 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Reflective Practice Assignment 30%
3. Written Assessment 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 93.07% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 32.48% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Observation by markers and UC
Feedback
Authentic assessments helped develop skills relevant to the professional practice while reducing academic integrity infringement cases
Recommendation
1. Authentic assessments will continue to be used. 2. Additional case studies will be provided in tutorial activities to help students familiarize themselves with the assessment tasks.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: UC and tutors' observation
Feedback
Emerging generative AI tools like ChatGPT have a significant impact on students' study behaviors.
Recommendation
1. Review the assessments to make them more authentic, thereby reducing the negative adoption of generative AI tools in studying. 2. Update the online quiz question bank: Incorporate more situational questions that require students to role-play and apply academic knowledge to real-world scenarios.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Self reflection, students' feedback upon their teamwork, student attendance
Feedback
High absenteeism was observed in off-shore classes scheduled until 9:30 pm (AEST) to accommodate international students, corresponding to 10:30 pm (AEDT - Melbourne, Sydney time). Additionally, students faced challenges in effective teamwork during the term due to relocation.
Recommendation
While the incident of international students' relocation was inevitable, there was no obligation for students to communicate their whereabouts. This transition could have been more effectively managed, guided, and supported by the integrated effort of both academic and professional staff in CQU.
Action Taken
Tutors tracked students' weekly attendance and submitted attendance summaries to the Unit Coordinator by Week 4 and Week 10. After Week 4, the unit coordinator sent individual emails to students with low attendance rates, reminding them of the importance of attending classes regularly.
Source: SUTE data, self reelection
Feedback
Assessment 2 primarily employs Australian case studies, posing potential challenges for international students in grasping the context and meeting assessment requirements.
Recommendation
Offer additional case studies in both lecture and tutorial sessions. Seamlessly integrate explanations of assessment requirements into relevant lecture discussions. Enhance accessibility to a platform for students to address their concerns.
Action Taken
Additional case studies were introduced during the early weeks of tutorials, specifically in Week 1 and Week 2. This approach allowed students to become acquainted with the process of case analysis and enhanced their familiarity with this activity.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Analyse the underlying project need and justification
  2. Apply contemporary techniques to identify and analyse stakeholders
  3. Analyse, define and effectively decompose project scope
  4. Apply appropriate project estimation techniques
  5. Critically analyse and define actions to address project uncertainty.

This unit will satisfy one of the requirements for Australian Computer Society (ACS) accreditation in the postgraduate ICT courses.

The unit contributes to the required number of academic study units for students wishing to undertake profession certification with the Project Management Institute's (PMI) professional qualifications, such as CAPM or PMP.

The ACS recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is in use in over 100 countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles. ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile at https://www.acs.org.au/professionalrecognition/mysfia-b2c.html

This unit contributes to the following workplace skills codes as defined by SFIA:

  • Business Analysis (BUAN),
  • Project Management (PRMG),
  • Stakeholder Relationship Management (RLMT),
  • Systems Integration (SINT),
  • Change Management (CHMG),
  • Release and Deployment (RELM),
  • IT Operations (ITOP),
  • Problem Management (PBMG).

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Reflective Practice Assignment • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • •
4 - Research • • • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
7 - Leadership • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8