Introduction to the ITGS Project
This week in class I will introduce the ITGS internal assessment (IA), explain the requirements and provide good and bad examples of ITGS projects. The ITGS IA is worth 20% for Higher Level students and 30% for Standard Level students, so it is a significant part of your final grade and a good opportunity to gain a lot of marks if done well.
The project involves developing an IT based solution to a real problem faced by a real client. The client and their problem will be the focus of the first few lessons dealing with the project: we are not thinking about solutions right now.
Example Projects
In the past ABC students have created some excellent ITGS projects, many of which have scored IB grade 6s and 7s. Examples include websites to help local churches promote their activities; databases designed to help local clubs manage their resources, and professional brochures created using desktop publishing (DTP) software to help a business promote its products. You can see examples of five ITGS products that received grade 7s on the ITGS textbook webpage.
Initial Project Ideas
The key point for any ITGS project is that it must be based on a real life client with a real life problem that can be solved by IT; you should not start by thinking of a solution and then looking for a client (for example, “I want to make a website, who needs one?”). This approach is likely to lead to disaster and many points are awarded in criteria A-F for appropriate planning and consultation with the client. Some key points about clients and problems are:
- Clients should be over 18
- Clients can be within school or out of school
- The ITGS teacher cannot be your client
- It does not matter if your client does not speak English
- A solution should not already exist (e.g. redesigning an existing website is not in the spirit of the project)
Activity
Your task is to complete the project initial ideas document indicating three potential ideas for your ITGS project. Over the next few lessons we will work together to select the best project for you. Everybody should have a clear, detailed idea of:
Client: A real life person who can be easily and readily contacted. You will need to interview your client multiple times between now and December, so they need to be accessible.Problem: You need a clear indication of the problem your client is facing. Often this requires some background knowledge or their business or organisation and some detail of how they perform related tasks at the moment. The more detail you have about the problem, the easier it will be to determine whether this has potential to be an ITGS project.
Potential solution(s): although we are not focusing on solutions right now, you should at least do a quick check to ensure that there is a potential IT-based solution to your client’s problem.
Where can I find the project initial ideas document? I have both books and absolutely love them!
Thanks! I have added a link to the document in the post above, under 'Activity'.