Assignment Dates

See the Short Guide for an explanation of these dates.

Three Hokies discussing their progress in a Zoom meetingWhat I Want You to Do

You and the members of your group will assess your work on the Recommendation Report and compare your progress to the information you included in your proposal. You will explain the work that the group has completed and the information that you have collected so far. You will include a Gantt Chart that updates your group schedule for the rest of the term.

Why I Want You to Do It

Progress reports, status reports, and completion reports are related informational documents that update readers on the work being done, warn about any challenges or delays, and forecast the tasks scheduled for the future. They are a common workplace document that provides managers, administrators, and other colleagues with details they need to ensure the work is continuing as expected and to provide any additional support or resources. The ethical challenge is to provide an honest assessment of the work-to-date, even if it means communicating bad news.

Show/Hide Relevant Course Objectives

Relevant Course Objectives

  • Identify and define a problem or subject related to your particular field (or another specific problem according to your assignment’s directions) and assemble and analyze research related to this problem. [CLO 1]
  • Analyze the context of this problem or subject and determine appropriate audiences for the unit’s deliverables. [CLO 2]
  • Practice workplace genres associated with a team-based research project: a research proposal, meeting minutes, a progress report, a recommendation report or an informational report for non-expert readers, a slide deck presentation of the report, and a video presentation. [CLO 3]
  • Practice team and collaborative work in all phases of project management. [CLO 4]
  • Design strategies for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the suggested approaches to the researched problem. [CLO 5]
  • Illustrate the ethical and human implications of the solutions proposed for solving the problem. [CLO 6]

Where You Can Find Help

The Scenario for the Project

You work as a Usability Consultant at a Maroon + Orange Digital, where I (Traci) work as a Founding Owner and the Director of Project Development. I’ve approved your proposal to recommend improvements to usability of an existing website, and your work is underway.

Your job now is to update me (Traci) on what your group has accomplished and whether your work is on track. You should also tell me if there are any challenges or concerns that your group has encountered. You’ll follow the instructions below in the “How to Do It” section.

How You Do It

Allowed Use of AI

You can use Copilot or another Generative AI tool of your choice on this project in any of the ways listed under the question “What can I use AI for in this course?” in the Course Policies Manual.

Be sure to save the responses AI gives you. You need the information for your Submission Wrapper.

Prohibited Use of AI

You cannot ask AI to write or revise your drafts or final submissions for you. Doing so directly violates the Cheating and Plagiarism sections of the Virginia Tech Honor Code.

Use the instructions in the three sections below to do the following:

  1. Assess your project as a group.
  2. Plan the work and schedule for your progress report.
  3. Write and revise the progress report collaboratively.

Section 1: Assessing Your Project as a Group

  1. Review the current draft for your Recommendation Report and compare what you have accomplished to the criteria for the assignment.
  2. As a group, do the following:
    • Determine what you have completed and what you still need to do for your Recommendation Report.
    • Consider any challenges you have encountered and how you can address them.
    • Compare your work to your schedule from your Proposal and determine whether any adjustments are necessary.
  3. Review the Progress Report Criteria and the example progress reports linked above to understand the requirements for the project.

Section 2: Planning the Work and Schedule for Your Progress Report

  1. Use the information in the readings and Progress Report Criteria to divide the work for your group’s Progress Report, considering the two basic ways to work.
  2. Update your group schedule—including draft due dates, meetings, and status updates—with one another. Here are some tips:
    • Create your schedule to finish by the due date. If your group gets down to the last minute and needs to use the grace period, that’s fine; but plan to be on time.
    • Pay attention to the way that sections of the report rely upon one another. For instance, you’ll need to understand all the work that has been completed before you create a schedule for the work that needs to be finished.
    • Consider the tips on how to Plan a strategy for scheduling from UNC’s Writing Center.
  3. Set up a Google Doc or shared Word doc for your group’s progress report. Share the document with everyone in your group, so that you can all edit. Also share the Doc with me (tengrrl@vt.edu). Find additional ways to share your document and related information in this UNC Writing Center Tip Sheet.
  4. Add headings in the document for each of the required sections (listed in the next section) of the progress report. Use the styles in the word processor your group has chosen to format all of the headings consistently, following the relevant documentation:

Section 3: Collaborating to Write & Revise Your Progress Report

  1. Write a group progress report, following the instructions in the Annotated Progress Report Template. Include these required sections in your proposal memo:
    • Section 1: Memo Headers
    • Section 2: Introduction
    • Section 3: Work Completed
    • Section 4: Work Scheduled
    • Section 5: Conclusion
    You can also use the Progress Report Template (Format Only) as you work to see an example of the layout and formatting.
  2. Assemble all parts of the proposal if you have worked separately so that you have one document.
  3. Review the document to ensure that the text is clear and complete, using these Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Tips
  4. Check and update your group’s progress report with the review tools in your word processor, using the following links if you need instructions:
  5. Check and update your progress report for accessibility, using the following links if you need instructions:
  6. Success Tip
    You should be able to answer “True” to each question in the Self-Check before you submit your project. If you do not meet each of the criteria listed, your draft will be marked Incomplete and you’ll need to revise.
    Complete the Progress Report Self-Check, and decide with your group whether to submit the assignment:
    • If you answered “True” to every question, move on to the next step (#14). You’re ready to submit your work.
    • If you did not answer “True” to every question, follow this process:
      • Return to your draft and revise it to meet all of the criteria.
      • Review your draft with the Progress Report Self-Check after you revise.
        • If you answered “True” to every question, move on to the next step (#8). You’re ready to submit your work.
        • If you did not answer “True” to every question OR AI said you did not meet all the criteria, continue revising until you can.
  7. Submit your group‘s progress report here once your group is ready. Only ONE member of the group needs to submit the proposal. See How do I submit an online assignment? if you need help with Canvas.

How to Find Feedback After Your Submit Your Work