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Oxford Brookes University requires that you have at least three meetings with your Project Mentor, each of which would normally be about 30 minutes in length. If your Project Mentor agrees, you could have additional meetings, or longer meetings, but you should negotiate this before you start your RAP work. We suggest a framework for the three meetings below.

The Project Mentor meetings should focus not only on the planning and research needed to prepare a good Research and Analysis Project (RAP), but also on the opportunity for you to develop skills in listening, questioning and presenting your findings. We suggest that your planning for each meeting includes the preparation of an agenda of issues which can be covered in the time available to you. Focus on the key issues and identify the desired outcomes from the meeting. Take notes to record the actions needed to progress your Research Report and to contribute to your reflection for your Skills and Learning Statement.

The first meeting - planning and your RAP title
Before your first Project Mentor meeting you should identify possible project topic areas and / or the organisation that you wish to study. You should also think about the way in which you plan to undertake your research work and prepare a draft RAP timetable.

Remember that to get the best out of your Project Mentor, you need to give your Project Mentor some of your ideas so that they can provide you with some useful feedback. Give your Project Mentor sufficient time to read what you have written and be ready to give clarification of your ideas. 

You can use the first meeting to discuss your possible choices of topic area and project objectives with your Project Mentor. It is very important to have a clear idea of the aims and objectives of your RAP at the beginning of your research work. This will determine how you collect information and how you evaluate data. Getting a robust structure within which the project research will be conducted is crucial to your success.  

Your Project Mentor may focus on the following issues in the first meeting:

• Have you a clear view of what you want to do?
• Are your project ideas realistic given your previous learning?
• Do you know how you will undertake your research?
• Is your information gathering approach robust?
• How will you demonstrate your analytical and evaluative skills?
• Is your RAP timetable realistic?

Your desired outcomes from the first meeting may include the following:

• An agreed Research and Analysis Project title
• Clarification of your Research Report aims and objectives
• An agreed approach to undertaking your project research
• A robust and realistic timetable for completing your Research and Analysis Project
• Reflection on your personal skills for your Skills and Learning Statement.

The second meeting - Research Report progress update
The second meeting is the opportunity for you to get feedback from your Project Mentor on the indicative findings of your Research Report. Before the second meeting you should have gathered your information and data and done some evaluation to give you some insight into how well you are meeting your Research Report aims and objectives. 

You should provide an update on your progress to your Project Mentor. This could include a word-processed document with the structure of your finished Research Report. This draft report could include the early chapters covering aims and objectives, why you have chosen to apply particular accounting or business techniques and how you have chosen to undertake the project research. Your findings may be provisional at this point but such a document will give your Project Mentor a very clear idea of your progress.   

Your Project Mentor may focus on the following issues in the second meeting:

• Does your written work contribute towards meeting your aims and objectives?
• Does your written work meet the Research Report assessment criteria?
• Have you been able to do everything you planned?
• If you have had to change your approach, is it still consistent with your objectives?
• Is your evaluation of information and data in sufficient depth?
• What further work do you still have to undertake?
• Are you still confident that you will meet your RAP deadline?

Your desired outcomes from the second meeting may include the following:

• Reassurance that your Research Report is progressing well
• You are confident that you are fulfilling the Research Report assessment criteria
• You can identify changes that you will make following your Project Mentor feedback
• You can identify possible improvements to the quality of your work to date
• You feel confident that you know what else is required of you to complete the RAP
• Realisation that you are able to meet your RAP timetable
• Reflection on your personal skills for your Skills and Learning Statement.

The third meeting - the presentation
By the time you get to the third meeting, you should have completed your research and nearly finished writing your Research Report. You should provide a copy of your draft Research Report to your Project Mentor before the third meeting. This meeting includes a 15 minute presentation that you give to your Project Mentor and perhaps also to other students who have undertaken their own RAP.

You will need to investigate how to prepare an effective presentation, using PowerPoint or overhead slides. A copy of your presentation must be submitted as part of your Skills and Learning Statement. You will also gain experience of giving a presentation to an audience and responding to questions.

Your Project Mentor may focus on the following issues in the third meeting:

• Is the content of the presentation consistent with the Research Report findings?
• How effective was the presentation? Did it make sense?
• Are there satisfactory links between the different parts of the project, from objectives through to findings and conclusions?
• Is the quality of the analysis and evaluation sufficient to meet the required standard?
• If you were to do the RAP again, what might you do differently?
• Given the feedback and questions, will you make any changes to your Research Report before it is submitted to Oxford Brookes?

Your desired outcomes from the third meeting may include the following:

• You are confident that you have produced a good Research Report which meets the assessment criteria
• You can identify further improvements to the quality of your Research Report
• Reflection on your presentation skills for your Skills and Learning Statement
• You have the required presentation to include in your Skills and Learning Statement.

Following the third meeting you will finalise your Research Report and Skills and Learning Statement. You will submit the completed Research and Analysis Project to Oxford Brookes University. Your Project Mentor will be required to complete a section of the Oxford Brookes University RAP submission form, so you may wish to have a copy of the RAP submission form available for your Project Mentor to sign at the third meeting if this is both convenient and acceptable for your Project Mentor.  

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