You need to have clearly discussed what you will actually accomplish with your preceptor. That would include documentation of both project objectives and a step by step plan to achieve your objectives. While objectives are discussed first below, these two can be highly related. We often create objectives we wish to achieve, and then develop a plan to get there. Meanwhile, there are often steps in a plan that can serve as objectives, when their attainment represents meaningful progress.
You should be able to create a few SMART objectives (4-5?) that capture key progress and outcome measures for your work. Your objectives should be clearly and concretely written so everyone knows what they mean and what it means to achieve the objective. They should be single in purpose (i.e., they should represent one measure, if they list more than one thing, each thing should be a separate objective. Sometimes if the word ‘and’ appears that is a clue there is more than one!). They should have a clear time-frame by when they are to be measured. There is no exact number of objectives required, but ‘some’ (more than 1) are required! The number might vary depending on your topic and the steps required to complete your project.
Toward achieving your objectives, you should have a clear plan. This should include as much step-by-step detail as is practical. Documenting these steps helps clarify what is attainable, what resources are needed, and the time-frame within which things need to be accomplished.
