CHP 2524: Individual Project

Last Lecture – March 27th 2009

- Timescale and hand-in procedure- Project Report and Product Content- Marking and Write-up advice

Hand-in Procedure: Last Week

The Last Week: April 27th-May 1th During this week you must

finish your project report and product allow time to get two copies of your project report printed off

and bound, and to get your product ready to hand in. Put your project report through TurnitIn via Blackboard book up a room, date and time when you will give your 30

minute demonstration and/or talk to your supervisor and examiner. This date and time must be on or before the 15th May

You are responsible for making sure the correct equipment is installed in the room you book (with the help of the technicians, of course)

Hand-in Procedure: DEADLINES

Wednesday 29th April: Everyone must have finished their project report and product and be preparing them for hand-in.

Friday 1st May, 4pm: Everyone must have handed in TWO COPIES of their BOUND report and product at our DEPARTMENT’s RECEPTION on level 4 of Canalside West.

Friday 15th May, 4pm: Everyone must have given their talk/demo to their supervisor and examiner.

Front Cover, Print Credits, Binding..

- Front Cover: By 20th April: Send email to a.c.eastwood@hud.ac.uk

marked with subject PROJECTS the following information using this format:

YOUR NAME:YOUR PATHWAY:YOUR ID NUMBER:YOUR PROJECT'S TITLE:

If you do not send this email by that date the information we have on the initial project spreadsheet record will be used to create yourproject's front cover.

- Ring Binder: There is a ring binder in the 24 lab, or alternative facilities in the University Library.

Print Credits: You will receive extra print credits for this purpose

Hand-in Procedure: Important dates

- There should be NO minor deadline extensions (only MAJOR ones which involve eg your degree being postponed because of some major disaster you have encountered)

- If something occurs that significantly affects your project performance then you should submit whatever you have done along with an extenuating circumstances plea to your course or pathway leader.

- Projects arriving up to one week late will be marked to a 40 per cent maximum. After that a fail mark of zero will be recorded.

Project Report ContentYour project report should contain:Abstract - explains in 100 –200 words the contribution of the projectEG:ABSTRACT of “Computational Approaches to Bee-Keeping”

(**** expression of general problem)Many Bee-keepers still use manual systems to deal with ...

(**** specific problem attempted)In this project I have analysed the .... of a particularBee Keeping system - the Sheffield Striped Insect (SSI) systems ...SSI required a system that could handle honey collection ….more efficiently, ....., logged stings .....

(**** what you have achieved)Here the details of the requirements, specification, and design  of a bee-keeping system are reported ..... The system was implemented and

evaluated ... and resulted in .... (**** lessons learned) The project shows the feasibility of engaging computational approaches …

in the … of bee-keeping ..

Project Report ContentYour project report should contain:

Introduction - explains context, the problem, the clients , the users. Also it should give a summary of what you have achieved and what your product is.

HINT: Start with the text of your abstract, then write more details (2 – 4 pages) introducing the reader to the area, explaining what the specific problem you have tackled is and what you have achieved.

MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE/ACHIEVED WRITE YOUR INTRODUCTION AFTER YOU HAVE

FINISHED THE REST OF THE PROJECT REPORT!

Project Report ContentYour project report should contain:

“Middle” sections: It must contain Background Research – an examination and

analysis of the academic issues relevant to the problem with references to the published literature This can be derived from your interim report, and MUST show evidence that you understand the context and current thinking in your problem area.

Other sections in the central part of the project vary according to the nature of the product. Normally your project involves solving a problem by producing software and the middle sections will include specification, choice of tools and techniques, software design and development, testing and evaluation of that product. Product evaluation is particularly important.

Project Report Content ContinuedProject Evaluation - you must evaluate your performance, as a

whole, on the project

Conclusion – a summary of the achievements and findings of the project. What lessons can be learned from the project

Bibliography – a sorted list of all the full references of all the papers, books, websites etc you’ve have cited in the report

Appendix - This should contain anything you have produced for the project that can be textually represented but which is not appropriate to appear in the report itself eg program code, product user guide, detailed designs, survey forms etc

Project ProductYour project’s product will vary:

The software you have produced must be handed in with the report on a CD or floppy disc. Note that the QUALITY of the software product will be marked on evidence in your project report (designs, testing, screen shots, user guide, code listing etc) as well as the product’s operation when executed in your demonstration.

Note in the Project Report’s Introduction you must clearly identify the form and content of your ‘product’, and to what extent it solves your identified problem.

Marking - report

NB Marking of projects will be ‘holistic’– that is staff will take into account the project as a whole when marking rather than breaking marks down into individual components.

The project report mark (50 per cent weighting) will be based on the following criteria (the weights of each will vary depending on the nature of the product):

-         The clarity, presentation and cogency of the report (including the quality of your prose and grammar)

-         The depth and breadth of research and analysis in the report

-         The choice and use of tools and methodologies appropriate to the nature of the product

-         The thoroughness of product development, testing and evaluation

Marking – product and progressThe quality of the project's product (40 per cent weighting) will be

assessed using evidence from the project demonstration and any product description, development, evaluation, code etc given in the report submission. Marks will be given based on the fitness for purpose of your product, its technical complexity, robustness etc

The format of your project demonstration depends on your product. It could be a ‘power-point’ talk, a demonstration of software you have produced, or a combination. You decide.

The student's progress throughout the year (10 per cent weighting) will be assessed using evidence from the progress report and progress meetings

Marking and Write-up adviceRECALL AIMS discussed in the first lecture:

The PROJECT provides “an opportunity for a student to investigate an area of computing of their choosing in some depth…”

You must become an expert in the subject area related to your project, learn new skills and knowledge, integrate skills and knowledge picked up from other modules – eg programming, design methods, databases.

Your project must ‘solve a problem’ of some description, have a real or imaginary client and have an identifiable ‘product’.

Write-up advice

In the introduction, make it CLEAR what the product is, and what you have achieved. Note, the ‘product’ does not have to be ‘the software’. The product could be an evaluation (eg of a method) which involves the writing of software.

The project report should be an enjoyable read. Read it and spend time refining it. Make it something you are proud of – it will stay with you all your life! Make sure it is grammatically correct and written scientifically.

Plagiarism is EASY to spot. Do not use lumps of text from the Internet. Use your own words and reference the opinion and results of others. Avoid ‘quotes’.

Avoid leaving your write-up till the last minute.

Write-up advice Write impersonally, use your own words. Avoid sales pitch language and jargon (“.Net is the

premier product delivering a full bandwidth solution to all the Web programmers’ needs”)

Avoid ‘anecdotes’ (“I turned on my laptop and tried out my program. It worked first time.”)

Avoid hyperbole (exaggeration) and slang

Write-up adviceBAD EXAMPLE: “I found Microsoft Word to be great. The

screen was really well laid out with really good buttons. It is the premier product with massive market penetration. I chose to use it for the project because it is on my PC and most of my friends use it and they said they liked it”

Rather (NB this is fiction):

“According to Gates [Gates, 95] Microsoft’s Word product [MC, 1991] embodies five of the six major HCI principles used in the Interface Standard [ICRM, 90]. Recent surveys suggest that Word’s market penetration is over 90 per cent [ Dix, 2002]. On the other hand, reliability estimates suggest that the mean-time-to-failure of any Microsoft product is 2.9 hours….. In conclusion, because of its innovation in HCI, it was decided to adopt this product for the project”

Marking Criteria Given to StaffPoints to be considered when considering the project report and any other

documentation grammar, clarity of prose layout, structure, coherence, presentation cogency, originality, integration and use of literature and pathway

knowledge completeness - to include abstract, introduction, background research,

methodology documentation, project evaluation, conclusion, bibliography.

Points to be considered when considering the product / deliverables: fitness for purpose significance, originality, complexity usability the product development process (choice of methodology, specification,

design, testing) evaluation documentation.

Example Marking Criteria Given to StaffFor a high grade in an honours project, the student must do all of the

following well: 1. Deliverables: the deliverables should be of a significantly greater

complexity than needed to achieve a high grade on any taught honours level module taken by the student. The student should also have integrated learning from different modules. Any software or reports should have appropriate functionality, reliability and usability.

2. Testing/Evaluation: all deliverables should have been thoroughly tested and/or evaluated.

3. Documentation: the student should provide sufficient design rationale and design explanation, including program documentation where appropriate, enabling a third party to easily take over the project.

4. Literature Review: there should be a well-researched, properly referenced literature review, which includes the student’s own critique and conclusions. The conclusions should clearly influence the subsequent stages of the project.

Example Marking Criteria Given to Staff 5. Methodology: the student should give reasons why the particular

methodology was chosen, give evidence that the methodology has been followed well and provide a critical review of the methodology.

6. Project management: the student should provide evidence that the project has been well planned and managed and should also provide a critique of his/her own performance and learning.

7. Format and style: the Final Report should be written in the third person (except when reviewing his/her own performance), be well organized, and should have been carefully checked.

Example Marking Criteria Given to StaffFor a distinction the project should satisfy the criteria above,

and additionally be outstanding in some respect.For a pass grade a completed project report must have been

produced demonstrating that the student researched and understood the context of the project adopted a systematic approach to the solution of an

identified problem developed a product in an attempt to solve the identified

problem made a significant attempt to overcome any problems

encountered The project report and product should demonstrate

significantly more work and understanding than would be expected from final year coursework

Summary: those important dates again..

Wednesday 29th April: Finish your project and product, print and bind the report

Friday 1st May, 4pm: You must have handed to the Dept Office two copies of your bound project report and product.

Friday 15th May, 4pm: You must have given your supervisor and examiner a demonstration and/or talk detailing the results of your project.