14th July 2011

Today I have started making progress on the next section of my Project which is the plan at the start of the project. This is a fairly detailed plan of the proposed research and progression that I am planning to make. The main bulk of the research is the different components and the features/types of components available. Further research would be done to find out the purpose of components and what the effects are on the computer depending on what component is changed, also comparrisions on components will be done in the guide on why as a buyer which processor would be best for your needs. So overall everything is coming along very nicely with my project, hope the same kind of luck to others with their own project

Further intrest for those of you that are following there is a link below of a video about a Custom Spec computer which is built to the highest standards of the time of release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IJwtgX8cWI

16th June 2011

16^th June 2011

Today was the first day of my EPQ course. What I have learned today is all about the EPQ and all the work that is required to go into them, for example all the planning, research, explanations, analysis and explanations. Also I know about all the extra required work that goes around the Essay of the EPQ like this Project Log, Bibliography and the Presentation at the end of the course. So reflecting on all the information that I have been given today I have decided that I am going to do my EPQ on a Guide which will explain How to build a PC, this will contain a lot of information about all the key components that are inside a computer and what require it to run. There will be various different products explained, from low range to high range quality and what kind you are looking for weather you are building a computer for admin tasks or if you are building a computer for gaming. This concludes my first entry into my Project Log

21^st June 2011

Had my second guidance lesson today, this lesson was all about gaining more information on how I am going to have to use certain skills through out my EPQ at various stages mainly including skills that I need to use and implemented when researching all the information that I am going to need. Also we talked about backing up our work so that we do not lose it as that would be a very uncomfortable situation if the work was lost. Coming away from this lesson I have gained a bit more knowledge and skills that are going to prepare me for my EPQ.

22nd June 2011

Today I started on two parts of my EPQ, these are the following: Record of Initial Planning and Project Proposal Part A. These two sections where basically deciding what my EPQ topic is going to be and setting myself a basic outline of the plan and a brief description of the research that I am going to have to do and how I am going to lay out my work. Also now that I have completed that section on my work, it will now be evaluated by a teacher to see if my topic is a good topic to be doing. My chosen topic is A guide on “How to build a computer”, the next step that I have now done my initial proposal is to go onto the 2^nd stage of my proposal and see what kind of content is going to go into my EPQ around the guide to allow me to gain the marks.

23^rd June 2011

Today I had a lesson today involving my EPQ and in this lesson a librarian came in from my college library to explain some of the resources that the library has to offer to us as students to help us get through our EPQ. They also talked a bit about the other external resources available to us such as setting up Athens account to access databases which normally costs to access that the college have paid for. Also as well as the college library and the Athens account we have had resources about university libraries and national libraries explained to us and that we can visit them and use those resources if the college does not have the necessary ones. As of now I have created an Athens account and I plan to start a bit of research of what kind of information is available to my and record it into my research log, however I won’t start using the researched information just more of making myself aware to this information at this point.

28^th June 2011

Had another lesson today with my mixed group, no major progress towards the EPQ was made this lesson it was just another lesson based around more slideshows that are required to be shown to us as a class for us to learn the skills for the EPQ. People are beginning to be registered in the class and others are starting the Record of Initial Plan and the Plan Proposal Part A, which I have already done both of these. For now I am waiting on the feedback from my guidance tutor to see if my Initial Plan and Proposal are good enough and then I can start making some more progress. Some good skills that I did pick up today is learning about the Harvard Referencing System and Plagiarism which was very helpful for me as this gives me ideas of what I am going to be doing though my EPQ. For now I just need to keep my Diary up to date and to wait for my planning to be commented on.

Had a 1 - 1 session with my second tutor for my EPQ Stephen McGibbon, he went over my Initial Project Plan and my Project Proposal Part A, further details have now been agreed upon about work such as at the same time as doing my guide I am going to create a computer myself as a direct comparison to my guide, doing this will allow me to make sure that each section of the guide is relevant and detailed and purposeful.

07^th July 2011

Today is another lesson where as a class everyone else has started there Initial Project Proposal, however as I have already completed this I have been trusted to move on with my research work as my Initial Topic idea at this moment still has not been currently approved by the coordinator. My first idea that I have towards my guide is that I am going to need the resources to build a computer, so I have decided to contact a company called Novatech known for their high customisation with computers and their selling of individual components. I have E-mailed the Human Resources Department at Novatech and I am now waiting upon a reply from them. Below is the message that I sent to Novatech.

“Hello I am student at QMC in Basingstoke currently doing an Extended Project Qualification, my project is “A guide on how to build a PC”. For this project I am also going to be building a computer while creating the guide. I have a question to ask of Novatech if I may use products that Novatech would normally sell to their customers to allow me to compare and justify choices for my guide and also to allow me to build a computer beside the guide.

Are you able to help me with this? And are there any details that you can give on who I should contact at Novatech to talk to more about my questions?”

12^th July 2011

Today I have had Project Proposal Part C updated which the coordinator Iris has commented on the feasibility and acceptability of the proposal. I am now going to progressing with more research as well as completing the next section of my EPQ which is the Plan at the start of the project. This will give me the chance to talk about a more detailed plan and also comment on the advice that Iris has given me.

Also a further update on my contact with Novatech is that they have not contacted me back yet with any response, however it only has been 3-4 working days since the E-mail was sent so there is still time for them to get back to me, I will updated on whether they do contact me back or not.