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Research and Analysis Project

Session 3 – Sep 2018

Contents

Assessment Criteria

Skills and Learning Statement

Presentation slides

Exemplars &Examiners’ Comments

Debrief on P35 & P36 Results

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2

Self Reflection

Makes a reasonable attempt to address all four questions.

Shows ability to reflect on judgements made / actions

taken during project work.

Evidence of recognising own strengths and weaknesses

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Communication skills

A copy of the presentation to the project mentor is

included.

The presentation should summarise the research report

(including its conclusions and recommendations).

The presentation should consist of 10-20 slides which are

capable of being delivered in 15 minutes at an acceptable

pace.

Presentation has appropriate structure and the content is

clearly linked to project report findings.

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3

Skills and Learning Statement

1. What have you learnt from the meetings with your project

mentor, including the presentation?

2. To what extent do you think you have achieved the RAP

research objectives you set?

3. How have you demonstrated your interpersonal and

communication skills during the project work?

4. How undertaking the RAP helped you in your

accountancy studies and/or current employment role? 5

Question 1

Structured to describe your self reflection during each

meeting

Each meeting to contain the following aspects:

What went wrong?

What did you learn?

What you did / would do better in future?

Avoid describing events

Avoid praising your mentor or saying that my mentor

instructed / helped / asked me to do / etc 6

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Question 2

Briefly state your research objectives

Separate paragraphs to discuss each objective / research

questions on aspects that went well as well as what could

have been done better in achieving your research objectives /

questions

You may wish to discuss on the availability of industry and

competitor data; opportunity to interview / perform a survey;

constrain of word count; cost involved in having access to

information; etc. 7

Question 3

Structure this section by having separate subsections for each

skills

Under each skill, follow the same structure as for Q1:

What went wrong?

What did you learn?

What you did / would do better in future?

You may wish to discuss about your questioning, listening ,

writing, presentation skills, etc.

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5

Question 4

Relate the learning to studies or career aspirations

Avoid contradicting with Part 1 of your RAP on the reason for

choosing the topic and company

Separate paragraphs for each learning points

The facts may be similar to your self reflection in Q1 & Q3,

however ensure that each reflection should be phrased on how

it had help your accountancy studies / employment role

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Presentation Slides

Presentation not exceeding 15minutes

Title, content and objectives / research questions

Findings of the Research and Analysis

Clear and easy to read

Inclusion of graphs, tables and Charts

Conclusions and Recommendations

Avoid:

Research approach and process

Over crowding

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6

Presentation Slides

Design to purpose:

Audience

Simple:

Max two font format

Not more than one image per slide

Rule of 666; Rule 10-20-30

Consistent

Same colour & fonts

Style of images

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Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Understanding of accountancy / business models

Content to be paraphrase and avoid copy and paste

Using converted (FX) numbers for ratios would distort the

ratio analysis

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7

Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Application of accountancy/business models

Suggested to begin your analysis with business models and

apply the model independently

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Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Evaluation of information, analysis and conclusions

Too descriptive and lack of explanation by using underlying

drivers

Performing better than the competitor / industry standard is not

enough, you need to discover why

Highly dependent on company sources

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Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Presentation of project findings

RR exceeded the word count - Conclusion not marked

Avoid cram too much information into the graph

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Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Communication

Relied heavily on direct quotes

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9

Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Information gathering and Referencing

Weak paraphrasing skills or high similarity in SLS could lead

to project being referred to ACO

Each point to be cited to the source instead of having multiple

citations at the end of the paragraph

Citations to include reference to page numbers

Investopedia, UK Essays, Wikipedia – Not reliable sources

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Debrief on P35 & 36 Results

Information technology

Inclusion of Spreadsheet – ALL TOPICS

ALL TOPICS - Spreadsheet to contain formulae and relevant

working to support graphs

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Submission Format

RAP – Word document

List of reference – Word document

Appendix to evidence IT Skills – Excel spreadsheet

Extracts of Financial Statements (T8) – PDF

SLS - Word document

Presentation slides – PowerPoint document

Overall limit to be 10MB max

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Resubmission Statement

Statement with in 500 words

Changes made to address the comments

Additional efforts made to improve the quality

Reflection on the learning

Closing note

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Suggested Timeline

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Useful Links

ACCA: http://www.accaglobal.com/sg/en/student/exam-entry-and-

administration/oxford-brookes-bsc-hons-in-applied-

accounting.html

OBU: http://business.brookes.ac.uk/undergraduate/2016/acca/

OBU Mentoring: http://www.oxfordbrookesmentoring.co.uk/

OBU Submissions: http://www.obusubmissions.co.uk/

WriteCheck: http://en.writecheck.com/

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Thank You!

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SHAN

FCCA, CA Singapore, BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting

Email: shan@obumentorship.com

Mobile: +65 9022 6425

Web Page: www.obumentorship.com

FB Page: www.facebook.com/OBUMentorship