Interactive Qualifying Project Advising | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Recommended IQP Resources

If you have any comments or suggestions, or if you would like to contribute another IQP resource that you have created or have found helpful, please contact us at iqp-advisor-help@wpi.edu.

IQP Syllabus (PDF); IQP Syllabus (DOC) - for advisors to distribute to students. This syllabus describes the educational objectives of an IQP and lays out expectations for students. It also provides detailed information regarding evaluation and resources.
IQP Writing Guide (PDF); IQP Writing Guide (DOC) - primarily about IQP writing, but if you follow these guidelines and suggestions effectively, you will simultaneously achieve many other learning objectives related to critical thinking, project formulation, and implementation.
Recommended IQP Schedule (PDF); Recommended IQP Schedule (DOC) - written for advisors. Advisors may choose to edit it and use it as a schedule of activities and assignments for students.
IQP Learning Outcomes
Propose an IQP
Browse completed IQP reports

Other Materials and Resources

Guiding Student Work

Weekly Meetings

Part of the skill set that students should acquire during the process of doing an IQP is the ability to run a meeting successfully. This includes setting agendas for the PQP and other meetings:

Sample Agenda (PDF); Sample Agenda (DOC)
Guidelines for Agenda (PDF); Guidelines for Agenda (DOC)
Running Project Meetings (PDF); Running Project Meetings (DOC)
Project Proposal Team Logbook (PDF); Project Proposal Team Logbook (DOC) -for a PQP that holds meeting agendas, meeting minutes, drafts of chapters, and other important PQP/IQP related documents in a single repository.
PQP Project Documentation Guidance (PDF); PQP Project Documentation Guidance (DOC) -An example document describing project meetings, PQP logbooks, and email etiquette.

Framing the IQP

This section contains resources that can help students frame their projects. Students should determine how their work fits into a larger body of research on the topic and define their objectives and research questions.

Clarity about project objectives is important and can be facilitated through exercises for students that ask them to operationalize project objectives/research questions.

An interim project planning report is a useful tool for helping students organize and communicate their understanding of the project, its major elements, and next steps.

Project Planning report (PDF); Project Planning report (DOC)

Giving Feedback to Students

This section contains resources that can help faculty give useful feedback to students at all stages of the IQP process, including proposal development, research, and report production. Resources are available that specifically address approaches to teams and students who are doing different quality of work (i.e., A, B, C quality).

Some General Guidance on responding to student writing in narrative form (PDF); Some General Guidance on responding to student writing in narrative form (DOC)
Responding to project writing (PDF); Responding to project writing (DOC)
Student Self and Team Evaluation Forms
Intended for the middle of the project (PDF); Intended for the middle of the project (DOC)
Responding to Written Drafts (PDF); Responding to Written Drafts (DOC)
Rubic for Responsibility (PDF); Rubric for Responsibility (DOC)
Examples of narrative responses to student writing
To a team struggling to write a good introduction (PDF); To a team struggling to write a good introduction (DOC)
To the first draft of a background chapter (PDF); To the first draft of a background chapter (DOC)
Examples of mid-project performance feedback
To a team that are doing A- Work (PDF); To a team that are doing A- Work (DOC)
To a team that are doing B+ Work (PDF); To a team that are doing B+ Work (DOC)
To a team that are doing B Work (PDF); To a team that are doing B Work (DOC)
To a team that are doing C Work (PDF); To a team that are doing C Work (DOC)
Examples of end-of-project assessment
Example Narrative (PDF); Example Narrative (DOC)
To a team that has earned an A (PDF); To a team that has earned an A (DOC)
To a team that has earned a B (PDF); To a team that has earned a B (DOC)
To a team that has earned a C (PDF); To a team that has earned a C (DOC)

Teamwork Tips &Tools

One useful kind of assignment is to have students evaluate themselves and their team members. Example evaluation exercises are available:

This approach challenges teams to develop their own formative and summative assessment strategies. By requiring students to discuss the assessments with each other before submitting them to the advisors, it attempts to transfer more responsibility for accountability and improvement to the team.

Teamwork and Teamwork Assessment (PDF); Teamwork and Teamwork Assessment (DOC)

Research Methods

This section contains information on some of the research methods that students can use in their IQPs. General tips and ideas for writing research method chapters can also be found in Tips for Writing an IQP Proposal (PDF); Tips for Writing an IQP Proposal (DOC). Students should be encouraged to think about how their research methods (e.g., data gathering and data sources) are linked to research objectives and research questions with exercises too (e.g., project objectives exercise (PDF); project objectives exercise (DOC)).

To help students think about what data they need to gather and from where the data can be found, exercises are useful. For example, students can be asked to complete an information needs planning matrix (PDF); information needs planning matrix (DOC).

For Qualitative Research Methods see:

Interviewing of liaison or sponsor (PDF); Interviewing of liaison or sponsor (DOC)
Focus Groups (PDF); Focus Groups (DOC) are used effectively by students in many IQPs

For Statistical Methods:

Many WPI students should have ready access to statistics courses and books
Students must address a variety of methodological issues in their research. An important issue is often Sampling and Error (PDF); Sampling and Error (DOC). Internal and external validity are also issues that students often need help addressing.
Specific questions can be directed to: Prof. Joseph Petruccelli (jdp@wpi.edu) in WPI's Mathematical Sciences Department or Prof. Jeanine Skorinko skorinko@wpi.edu in the Social Sciences and Policy Studies Department.

Writing Guidelines and Aids

This section contains resources that provide information about the structure of IQP proposals and IQP reports and tips on formatting and writing proposals and reports.

For faculty, there are tips on:

Responding to Project Writing (PDF); Responding to Project Writing (DOC)

IQP proposal and IQP report.

Literature Review

Rhetorical Moves in Literature Review Chapter (PDF); Rhetorical Moves in Literature Review Chapter (DOC)

Exercises for students:

Both IQP proposals and IQP reports can be formatted in a variety of ways and can use a variety of styles, for example:

Advisors have required students to use different citations styles, including APA Style, a commonly used editorial style for writing in the social and behavioral sciences, and MLA Style, another widely accepted standard for research papers.

Materials Specifically for Off-Campus IQPs

Off-Campus IQPs Content 63124

Managing PQP/ID 2050 (PDF)
Sample Syllabus for PQP and ID 2050 (PDF)
Guidelines for successful IQP projects at WPI Project Centers (PDF) (including information on contacting project sponsors)
On-Site Manual (PDF) including:
- Expectation
- Grading Criteria
- Calendar
- Writing Guide