Computer Science Sample Assignment Part 4

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Faculty of Business
School of Computing and Information Technology
563.681 Managing User Support

Purpose

This assignment is to give students experience of

analysing and determining training needs
defining training objectives
selecting training methods
planning a training programme and constituent lessons
delivering a training session
evaluating the effectiveness of training

The Task

Students will work in groups of three for most of the assignment, but each student of the group is required to conduct one training session.

The group will base their work around a hypothetical case study in which New Zealand Adventure Tours is about to install a new computer system.

Part 1
The group has the task of putting together a proposal, which will include

Summary of the training needs (TNA) of the staff employed by the company
Statement of the training objectives to be addressed by the group's proposed training programme
Background paper which justifies the selection of the training methods to be employed
Proposed training schedule which summarises the training objectives being targeted, the venue, duration and resource requirements and the activities or training method being used
Presentation of their proposal to class

Part 2
Each student will

Mentioned in the schedule, prepare a detailed lesson plan and conduct the lesson.
Participate in evaluating the effectiveness of their peer's proposals and individual lessons using the feedback sheet provided

Requirements

Part 1- Group Contribution

Imagine you are presenting to the actual management and staff of Fitness City do not present them with information that they already know. It will be important to remember that you do not simply present a summary of your written report explain why your report contains what it does and why you would be a good training firm to outsource to.

Part 2- Individual Contribution

Marking

Marks will be based on

Content which clearly demonstrates the understanding and application of techniques
Effectiveness of presentation

Marks will be allocated separately for group work and individual work.

Each student is expected to contribute fully to the group assignment. If problems arise with the level of a student’s contribution, this must be brought to the attention of the lecturer as soon as possible so proper mediation can take place.

School of Computing and Information Technology

Managing User Support

Group Training Programme DesignTNA

Training Needs Analysis – Assignment 1 Part 1

1	Triggers Identification of triggers that necessitate the need for training
2	Job Analysis Completed for each person What does job entail? Why does the job need to be done? How does the job need to be done? How well does the job have to be done (measure)?
3	Trainee Analysis Identify Who the trainees are Special Characteristics – any you consider appropriate Level of knowledge/skills/experience as they relate to the job
4	Learner Needs-Analysis Establish the performance gap for each employee
5	Overall Training Objectives Identified General and specific for each employee Training Schedule
6	Presentation Structure of presentation All group members use a clear voice All group members look at audience when speaking Limit presentation to 20 minutes Well prepared visuals Answer questions well Justification for purchasing your product.
7	Group feedback relating to individuals contributions (see sheet on last page). Multiplying factor = contribution weighting agreed by group
TOTAL MARK AS A PERCENTAGE

Overriding Theme
A TNA should implicitly have a strategic focus. Emphasise how the training you have identified will help the company reach its business goals (i.e., how will training help the business strategically - be non-technical).

Introduce your organisation and speakers.
Does your organisation have a mission statement?
Identify the key triggers for change.
Outline the TNA process that you undertook – using examples form this organisation to illustrate your outline.
Provide an overview of training objectives.
Provide an overview of training schedule.
Cost estimates?

Group Contribution

Training Needs Analysis – Assignment 1 Part 1.

Learning to work in groups is important preparation for successful performance in the IT industry. In allocating marks it is important to take into account the contributions each individual made to the group. In order for marks to be allocated fairly, you are required to complete this form. Your comments and grades will be confidential to you and the Lecturer. Failure to submit this completed form will result in you not being allocated the marks given to you by your peers.

NAME: __________

Please describe your contribution to the group:
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________

In your opinion who made the greatest contribution? _________

In your opinion who made the least contribution?_________

On the items below please rate each member of your group, including yourself.
0 = no contribution
1 = negligible contribution
2 = some contribution
3 = average contribution
4 = above average contribution
5 = outstanding contribution

Name	Overall Contribution	Attendance at meetings	Interest	Co-operation	TOTAL
Out Of	5	5	5	5	20

Describe any particular problems your group encountered: This is mandatory if you rated any group members unequally (more than 1 mark difference)

MANUKAU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

School of Computing and Information Technology

563.681 – Managing User Support

Conduct a Training Session – Assignment 1 Part 2.

This part of the assignment is done on an individual basis.

1 Purpose:
This exercise is to give practice in conducting a training session in a computer "hands on" environment.

2 Instructions:
1 Select a session from your "training schedule" for New Zealand Adventure Tours that you can teach to your end-user (other class members acting as trainees) in 20 minutes.
Your chosen topic to be approved by your tutor before commencing any preparation work.
2 Plan the teaching session and record your plan on the standard planning sheets provided. Your objectives MUST be clearly stated!
3 The lesson must utilise at least two different types of visual aids.

3 Evaluation:
Assessment will be as follows:

Contribution: This part of the assignment contributes 10% of the final grade.

MANUKAU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Computing and Information Technology
563.681 – MANAGING USER SUPPORT
Conduct a Training Session – Assignment 1 Part 2.
Individual Evaluation of In Class Session

OUT OF	YOUR MARK	Lecturer's Comment
Assessment Item
Motivating introduction	5
Prior knowledge of students found	1
Appropriate learning steps	6
Well linked sequence	4
Use of repetition to aid learning	3
Well timed session	3
Meaningful summary	3
Organisation of venue	3
Eye contact	3
Voice clear, lively, used pauses	4
Lack of distracting mannerisms	3
No jargon used	3
Conviction	5
Handling of questions	6
VISUAL AIDS:
Appropriate content	2
Appropriately timed	2
Readable	2
Visually attractive	2
Total marks	60

Reflection

Conduct a Training Session – Assignment 1 Part 2.

After the experience of presenting a lesson it is important to take time to make sense of the facts, feelings and ideas that planning presenting the lesson generated and to integrate these with what you have learned previously. New ideas may be evolving that will help you plan a future training session and these should be recorded. You will have learned from other students’ presentations and may want to experiment with these too.

Try David Boud's Model for Reflection:

Return to the experience [what happened?]
Attend to the feelings [how did I feel?]
Re-evaluate the experience [what can I learn from this?]

Write a report on your presentation as if you were reporting to a manager who is paying for this session.

These questions will help you:

Did I rehearse enough? What should I practise more?
Did I have the room well prepared, with the correct materials etc?
Did I achieve the objective(s)? Why/why not?
In what ways was my lesson plan helpful?
How could my lesson plan be improved?
Did the learners learn what I set out to teach them?
What ideas did I get from my peers that I would like to use?
What difficulties arose? How did I cope with these?
What would I do differently next time?
How can I improve my training sessions?

This report is to be in the lecturer's drop box by 4pm the day after your lesson – it contributes 10 marks toward this assessment.

New Zealand Adventure Tours

New Zealand Adventure Tours was formed four years ago by Ralph Hill and his wife Penelope. Ralph is a highly qualified and experienced outdoor instructor and Penelope has a degree in languages (so she can communicate with overseas clients). They are both avid outdoor enthusiasts and in particular enjoy the “adventure activities” (such as mountaineering, white-water rafting, tramping, jet boating etc) available in New Zealand.

Seeing that most Adventure Tourism in New Zealand was marketed for younger people they decided to seize upon the opportunity to market their trips to the “high-end” of the market – to wealthier and perhaps more mature individuals than the typical back packer tourist sector. Their first trip was based in the Volcanic Plateau of the Central North Island and included activities such as caving, climbing to the summits of the volcanoes of the Tongariro National Park (Tongariro, Nguaruhoe and Ruapehu) and sailing and fly fishing on Lake Taupo. This first trip ended with two days golfing at the Wairaki Tourist Resort; it all went really well and so they decided to expand and include trips to the South Island.

Their expansion strategy was simple. They recruited experienced, reliable staff who shared their passion for the New Zealand outdoor life. They helped these people organise specific trips and used an outside developer to advertise their packages over the Internet and in travel magazines. Ralph also guided tours as much as possible.

New Zealand Adventure Tours has grown from offering twelve different trips within the North Island a year to having forty-eight different trips scheduled to include outdoor activities all over New Zealand. As well they have expanded a separate market to run specialised Diving and Sailing trips as required in the Bay of Islands and Bay of Plenty. The company has a lot of repeat and referred business and will create special trips to suit customer requests.

Although the Hills were pleased with the success of their business, they were beginning to encounter problems that worried them about the future. A couple of tours went over budget because of unanticipated costs which eroded that quarter's profits. In one case they had to refund 25 percent of the tour fee because a group was stranded in Queenstown for three days after missing a boat connection from an isolated part of Lake Whakatipu. This was during the peak ski season when the “better” hotels were booked out and transport out of Queenstown was heavily pre-booked. This group had to stay in inferior accommodation and missed their flight back to Canada. They were also having a hard time maintaining the level of customer satisfaction to which they were accustomed. Many itineraries were delayed during preparation because records were kept manually. Customers are beginning to complain about the quality of some accommodation and the price of the tours. No records are kept about the quality of venues and activities and so, for example, some accommodation “forgotten disasters” were rebooked. The Hills are having a hard time tracking costs across their operations and they do not know how well they are doing until their accountant prepares their annual tax return. This makes it difficult to plan further trips.

Ralph and Penelope realise the need to computerise their business – not only to track profits and maintain quality, but also to build up a database so they can write newsletters and promotions to send to previous customers. Most of their staff are the outdoors type and not used to using computers at all.

The People

General Manager	Mr Ralph Hill. Bachelor of Physical Education, Qualified Mountaineer instructor. Age 30 Enthusiastic about trying new things Fitness freak, he knows the outdoors well. Coordinates and manages all of the guides and instructors. Uses computers at home – but just for personal tasks Relies heavily on his accountant.
Assistant General Manager	Mrs Penelope Hill. Careful and conservative. Likes to be busy, as time is money. Very conscious about OSH issues and the legal need to accurately record all accidents and potential hazards – she gets annoyed when others don't comply. She is experienced with computers and she sees the new computer system as solving all her problems. She would like to create her own Web page and update, but does not know how to do so.
Personal Assistant to Managers	Mrs Helpful. Aged 50. Reliable, feet on ground, valued employee. Has been frustrated by the lack of computer technology as she has previous experience with computerised systems in the workplace. She can’t wait for the new computer system to be up and running.
Guides (4 permanently employed guides/outdoor instructors)	Very fit and very popular because they are very good at dealing with people. They are good at compliance as they understand the necessity and/or legal implications. Love the outdoors. Two instructors Bonnie and Clyde have not used computers much, while the other two Anthony and Cleopatra have both worked for other organisations where they were expected to write reports and keep budgets. None of the guides know how to use the Internet well.

The Roles

The General Manager
He likes to know everything that is going on. He has a mission statement “To be the best provider of Adventure Activities in New Zealand.” He is much focused and understands that it costs a lot more to get new customers than it does to keep existing ones... He understands what it means to have a strategic focus. He is aware of competitors and wants to be better – a leader in the industry. He plans the trips – both pre-planned and customised to suit requests. He is responsible for quality control systems. He always wants to track progress. He needs to communicate with suppliers and customers.

Assistant to General Manager
She does the operational stuff, like accounts, marketing, promoting specials, newsletters etc. She also needs to know what is happening at summary as well as operational or transactional level. Her personal assistant, who also undertakes her secretarial duties, supports her. Her staff will also need to be able to access customer details on their computer. She writes the newsletters and translates them into French and German.

Personal Assistant to Managers
She supports the Managers as their secretary. As well she does accounts – pays bills etc. She will make bookings as directed. Because she assists them she needs to have a fair idea of all aspects of their job.

Guides
They do not make bookings – but they email suggestions to General Manager. They need to give feedback on trips – including what went well and what didn’t. They report on the condition of all facilities and services they encounter. They also collect the customer satisfaction feedback.

The New System

A consultant was employed to analyse their systems and she has designed a new system. There will be an Access database for bookings, customer information, supplier information (hotels, transport, equipment etc) and stock control. MYOB will be used for accounting purposes. Word and Excel will be available to all staff for writing letters and planning etc. She has already contracted out the development of the software etc. and she will oversee this. They will purchase 2 IBM compatible desktop machines and six notebooks, which can be plugged into their network. They will run on the Windows XP operating system and use MS Office 2007. They will access the Internet and email using Outlook. They will have an Intranet and an Extranet. You have been asked, along with three of your competitors, to submit a training proposal – another organisation will supply the hardware and software.