Assignments and projects in Commerce (1 Viewer)

[~ ReNcH ~]

For past or current Commerce students:
I was just wondering if you have to do major assignments that require "visually-appealing" presentations, such as the BRT for Business Studies - with coloured charts, diagrams etc. Or do assignments usually constitute writing a simple essay or thesis? (i.e. visually boring and plain - just text)

 

[jayz]

short answer : yes
long answer: usually yes, depending on subjects, marketing is especially presentation intensive.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

short answer : yes
long answer: usually yes, depending on subjects, marketing is especially presentation intensive.

Ah ic.
But then I guess it also depends on what majors I choose - I'm not really planning on doing Marketing.

 

[Bambul]

It usually helps to have something extra in your presentation, other than just reading your essay for 5-10 mins. Sometimes this means having flashy overheads, sometimes having some humour, sometimes dressing up (usually people do suits - which I personally loathe - but others have dressed up as monkeys or cross-dressed).

A lot of the time the assignment will say that presentation matters. One of mine said (alog the lines of) it should be interesting for the class, another said that the presentation should be done as though it was being targeted at the board of directors of a large company.

That might give you an idea of the scope you'll be looking at.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

It usually helps to have something extra in your presentation, other than just reading your essay for 5-10 mins. Sometimes this means having flashy overheads, sometimes having some humour, sometimes dressing up (usually people do suits - which I personally loathe - but others have dressed up as monkeys or cross-dressed).

A lot of the time the assignment will say that presentation matters. One of mine said (alog the lines of) it should be interesting for the class, another said that the presentation should be done as though it was being targeted at the board of directors of a large company.

That might give you an idea of the scope you'll be looking at.

Ah ic.
So when you're delivering a speech, how many people are you presenting it to? Is it only the tutorial class, or the whole lecture hall full of people?

As for directing the speech towards a board of directors...do you get marked on costume? Coz I find that awkward.

 

[Bambul]

Ah ic.
So when you're delivering a speech, how many people are you presenting it to? Is it only the tutorial class, or the whole lecture hall full of people?

As for directing the speech towards a board of directors...do you get marked on costume? Coz I find that awkward.

They are always done in tutorials, there is an exception sometimes if you have a small lecture (say 40-50 people). Although a lot of the time there is one week's class set aside for presentations (usually the last week, but may be earlier) and since nothing is taught you only turn up for your presentation. If it is a short presentation (max 5-10 mins) and only a few groups (and you will almost always be in a group), then it might be done with the class. This is also the case if there are staggered presentations (1-2 per week).

I'm really not sure about getting marked on costume. Believe me, I would like to think that what you wear doesn't make a difference, but I'm really not sure. Think of it like a job interview, what you wear really shouldn't make a difference, but ultimately it does. Plus you usually have one or more anal people in your group that insist on making you dress up.

What I usually try to do is to do a funny presentation. So in one case we all went dressed really casually but wore ties (none of our shirts had collars), or had one of the guys dress up as a girl and speak with a high pitch. If you're presentation is funny you can get away with using "weird" costumes (like having different hats and changing them to pretend to be different people).

One more point (and this applies to assignments in general and not just presentations): you will usually be in a group, about 75% of the time. Put some effort in being in a good group, it can make a huge difference. They don't have to be super smart, but if you all get along well then you can work together better. There was one presentation where we got 10/10 (the only time it's happened to me), and it was because it was a really good group - we each brought something different to it (e.g. I wasn't as smart as most of them, but I had a different point of view on the issues involved, which came in handy - plus I helped to make the presentation funny with my impersonations).

 

[Exeter]

i just wonder if the answers given here will really influence what your uac preferences will be?

 

[elizabethy]

i don't think these responses shud influence the uac prefs!

 

[Affinity]

yes indeed, these responses ought not to influence uac prefs

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

I'm not going to uni until 2006, but I was just curious as to what's involved. I know it's a bit early, but the time for me to put in my first uni preferences isn't actually that far away...

Actually, as a rough estimate, how much uni work is performed in groups? (including written assignments, theses, presentations/speeches etc.)

 

[Exeter]

around 10-20%

 

[Bambul]

I've done some rought number crunching (very rough) and so far in my degree I've had on average:

60% of subjects have had an assignment (not counting those small really easy assignments, handing in questions, etc)
65% of assignments have been group assignments (40% of all subjects)
55% of group assignments had a presentation component (20% of all subjects)

Only group assignments had presentations, basically because it takes too long for everyone in the class to do a presentation as individuals.

The syllabus can change and I haven't done every subject available, so it might be different now or for you, but that might give you a rough idea.

Edit: I should also point out that an assignment is usually worth anywhere from 10%-40% of your final mark. So Exeter's number (10%-20%) sounds about right.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

Hmm...ic - sounds ok.

In school we get class assignments (which don't have any weighting towards our HSC mark), but in uni do you get those sorts of things? Or is basically all up to you, and the only assignments you get are assessed?

And as for the syllabus - is it available for students to download/view? (such as the HSC syllabuses on BOS) - maybe I can have a look at them.

 

[Exeter]

yeh theres a syllabus which tlaks about what is done in the subject and has a list of all ASSESSABLE stuff
anything not stated there is not assessable

im assuming you are interested in commerce so check out www.fce.unsw.edu.au and go to schools link and click your area of interest.from there you can search course outlines for each subject

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

yeh theres a syllabus which tlaks about what is done in the subject and has a list of all ASSESSABLE stuff
anything not stated there is not assessable

im assuming you are interested in commerce so check out www.fce.unsw.edu.au and go to schools link and click your area of interest.from there you can search course outlines for each subject

Ok cool. Thanks.