The Innovative Practice Report (IPR) will be a convincing account of original creative activities such as design research, scoping/ market review activities, ideation, concept development, sketches, prototypes, user testing, etc., and it will include critical reflection on your process. You are free to work on a subject of your choice, as long as there is scope for creative innovation; how to go about choosing a subject will be discussed in class. The report should build an argument by identifying scope for innovation based on your own exploratory work, and on information from high-quality literature.
The Library website helps you find useful literature. NB: it is better to use a limited number of high-quality sources that you have studied extensively, than dozens of sources that are used fleetingly. We look for in-depth understanding in your work, there are no points for name-dropping or for the longest bibliography!
IPR submission guidelines
Your individual assignment is a 3000-word (±10%) illustrated report, which counts 100% towards your your final mark. Please note that if your work exceeds the upper word limit, markers will stop reading as soon as that limit has been reached, which may affect your mark. The written report should include supporting visual material (photos, sketches, diagrams, etc.) as evidence of creativity; decoration should be avoided (i.e., consider whether the visual material is functional and improves readers’ understanding by enhancing the text). There is no page limit, which enables you to use ample space for visual material. However, this does not mean you should treat the report as an information dump; there is no need to include e.g., every single sketch you’ve made in the process.
The report should follow the following structure:
- Title page with student name, report title, and word count
- 100-word abstract
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Background information and problem statement
- Exploration and scoping
- Proposed innovative concept(s)
- Testing of proposed innovative concept(s)
- Comparison between methods used in weekly group projects and your individual innovative practice, illustrated with examples from individual work and the Innovative Practice Portfolio (IPP)
- Conclusion
- Critical discussion of results, and reflection on your process
- Bibliography
- All figures and tables should be consistently numbered and referenced in the text, and they should all have an informative caption as well.
- All pages except the title page should be numbered; the title page should be included in the numbering sequence though (i.e., it’s page 1, but you don’t have to print the page number on it).
The word count includes
- Core text including headers
The word count does not include
- Title page
- Abstract
- Table of contents
- Bibliography
- Figure and table captions
- Tables (unless wordy)
Appendices and footnotes are not permitted. The use of text converted into images to circumvent the upper word limit and/ or wordy tables or figures are not permitted. All figures should be explained in running text, and they should be referenced in the text too. The usual referencing rules and AI-use guidelines apply for both text and images, and no form of plagiarism or other academic misconduct is acceptable. You are free to use any common academic referencing style, as long as you apply it consistently. The use of reference management software such as EndNote, which is supported by the university, is highly recommended because it makes your life easier and reduces chances of errors. If (adapted) visual material from others is used to illustrate a point (e.g., make a comparison between someone else’s work and your own), it should be made clear in the caption that it is not original work, a simple reference alone is not enough.
Your Innovative Practice Report should be submitted as an A4-portrait PDF document; no other file formats are permitted. The maximum file size is 50Mb, if required use an online file resizing tool. Please use the following file naming convention: Surname_IPR.pdf
The subject of the IPR and a draft bibliography with justification of each source must be submitted for approval, please find submission deadlines below. When writing the report, you can use additional sources, and if one of the sources in the draft bibliography no longer seems useful, you’re by no means bound to use it (please don’t write things like ‘I read source X, but I decided not to use it’; you’ll most likely study loads more sources than you end up citing in your report).
Assessment criteria
Successful completion of this unit relies on three factors:
- Active and substantial participation in group work
- Completion of weekly Moodle pre-reading portals
- A pass mark for the Innovative Practice Report
The following criteria determine the mark of your Innovative Practice Report:
- 20% – Research and use of high-quality sources
- 25% – Evidence of creative process, and quality of visual material used in the report
- 25% – Critical reflection on process, including meaningful comparisons between group and individual processes
- 15% – Alignment with specification (see above)
- 15% – Readability, quality of the writing, and presentation of the report
Submission deadlines
Week 20 | Report subject for approval (Friday 16:00)
Week 25 | Report bibliography draft for approval (Friday 16:00)
Week 29 | Full report draft for peer feedback (Friday 16:00, 16 April 2024, 12:00 PM)
Week 30 | Innovative Practice Portfolio presentations (submit portfolio and slides by Tuesday 12:00, 23 April 2024, 12:00 PM)
Week 31 | Peer feedback on two Innovative Practice Reports (Tuesday 12:00, 30 April 2024, 12:00 PM)
Week 32 | Innovative Practice Report deadline (Friday 16:00, 10 May 2024, 12:00 PM)
Week 20 | Report subject for approval (Friday 16:00)
My chosen title is:
working title: Navigating the digital wave: HR strategies in the Banking industry.
Brief description:
HR professionals need to use creative approaches for talent acquisition, upskilling, retention, and change management as they navigate the banking industry’s digital transformation. AI can improve performance management, upskilling, retention, change management, and talent acquisition efficiency and effectiveness. Banks require a strong data infrastructure, AI tools, legal compliance, HR training, and human-AI cooperation in order to accomplish this. Banks can develop a more skilled and adaptable workforce prepared for digital banking by striking a balance between innovation and technological advancement. Banks can guarantee a smooth transition into the digital financial landscape by implementing AI in HR.
Week 25 | Report bibliography draft for approval (Friday 16:00)
Done
Week 29 | Full report draft for peer feedback (Friday 16:00, 16 April 2024, 12:00 PM)