Project Plan

Having never done a JISC project before, we were at first overwhelmed by the depth of understanding of JISC standards required to complete the project plan. However, after an intial panic, we sat down to read the Project Management Guidlines which proved invaluable. We were concerned that we couldn't complete some elements of the plan but came to the conclusion that they were irrelevant to our project. A slightly revised programme specific template would have be beneificial - that's assuming that we were right in thinking that some elements did not apply to us! At the time, we felt that we were just repeating the information provided during the bidding process. However, in hindsight, we can see the benefit of spending so much time upfront thinking about the project. The evaluation, QA, dissemination and exit/sustainability plans made us really think about the key drivers of/barriers to the success of the project. Indeed, producing the work programme was relatively straight forward having completed the above plans. The plan has helped to focus our minds in terms of what we need to do for the project. We certainly have a much clearer picture than we had at the initial programme meeting and are now less apprehensive about what lies ahead.

Our first attempt at blogging!

Welcome to our ORM blog. This is our first attemp at blogging, our first attempt at designing an online distance learning module and our first experience of working with JISC, lots of firsts and lots of new experiences.


The ORM project was set up to develop and run an online research methods module aimed at international finance students and professionally qualified accountants in industry and the public sector. The module will introduce students to research methods and guide them through the process of developing a research proposal for thier masters dissertation. ORM is a 10 credit module at level M, and is core on our portfolio of Financial Management masters progrommes. Using online delivery we hope to increase flexibility of access, enabling students who can not attend traditional programmes of study to engage with a masters degree at UWE. In many cases these students will be professionally qualified accountants who have no experience of academic research methods or how to start writing a research proposal. This module will use internal and external materials to introduce a variety of research methods and to guide students through the process of designing their own research question, choosing a relevant and practical research method and producing a research proposal that will start them on the road to completing thier masters dissertaion.

We look forward to sharing our expereinces with you and wish you all success with your individual projects.