Final Year Project Workshops Workshop 1 – Planning Cornelia Boldyreff Department of Computer Science University of Durham

Important Points to Note zDr Paul Callaghan ( is the project coordinator this year. zReallocation of supervisors: changes in staff over the summer mean that some people will have different supervisors. The revised allocation list will shortly appear on the undergraduate notices page. zProject workshops: Dr Cornelia Boldyreff will give these in the first term. All will be at 9 a.m. in CG 60. The next workshop will be in week 4. zNote that these workshops are compulsory for _all_ project students (both CS and SE projects).

Project Web pages zWeb page information: Important information for the projects is located on the pages listed below. Read these carefully - they are the main source of information about projects. In particular, note the project deadlines. zIntroductory notes proj/project.html (CS) bmodule=SEProj (SE) proj/project.html bmodule=SEProj zFull details proj/proj-furtherdesc.html (CS) proj/SEproj/SE_index.html (SE) proj/proj-furtherdesc.html proj/SEproj/SE_index.html

Change to Assessment zOnly affects assessment for the CS projects: From this year, your supervisor will be one of the report and oral exam markers, the other being another lecturer in the department. zThis arrangement is already the case for SE projects. z(The previous arrangement was to have two independent markers with the supervisor contributing process marks.)

Responsibilities of the Supervisor zto give guidance about the nature of the project and the standard expected, about the planning of the project, about literature and sources, about techniques and methods and about any problems of plagiarism; zto maintain contact via regular tutorial meetings; zto be accessible within reason at other times for giving advice to the student; zto give detailed advice on milestones; zto request written work as appropriate and return such work with constructive criticism within a reasonable time; zto ensure that a student is made aware of any inadequacy of progress, or of standards of work below those expected; zto encourage the student to produce early draft chapters, to comment on them critically and return the comments promptly. If the student does not do so, this is the student's responsibility.

Responsibilities of the Student zto agree on a schedule of meetings with the supervisor and to attend such meetings; zto take the initiative in raising problems, however elementary they may seem; zto maintain the progress of the work in accordance with the milestones and objectives agreed with the supervisor; zto contribute to planning the project and monitoring progress against the plan; zto keep a project log for recording results, ideas, references etc. acquired as the project progresses; zto determine the contents of the report and of oral presentations; zto present draft chapters to the supervisor before the Easter vacation. There is no obligation on supervisors to read drafts during the vacation. zIn summary, the management of the project and the course that it takes, are ultimately the responsibility of the student.

First Deliverable Due - end of week 2 zPreliminary plan: you need to produce a one-page (minimum) plan by the end of week two, and hand it electronicly as well as in hard copy to the office. zHard copy is required as these will be distributed back to your supervisor who will discuss the plan with you.

Key Objectives of today’s workshop zDetailed planning of the basic deliverable phase and "abstract“ planning of the later phases, to be followed by a 2nd planning exercise after the January benchtest to clarify planning for the remainder of the project. (Plan for plan revision!) zDecomposition of the basic deliverable into a partially ordered network of components, to help you to prioritise tasks and define ways of making initial rapid progress. zConsider time management to allow students to schedule your activities in term 1 and to raise any forseeable problems with supervisors.

Planning your project zWork in project groups – 4 or 5 students at most zEach group to identify together the key tasks involved in their basic deliverables, an ordering on those tasks and any new skills you think you will need to do the project successfully. Use GANTT or PERT charts. zImportant in each case to state the project goals and what your basic deliverable entails – start with the project description from your supervisor. zPlan regular meetings with your supervisor every two weeks. zConcentrate on planning for the basic deliverable to get a clear plan for tackling that over the next 3 months. zAnd plan to re-plan later on as your project progresses and you have a better understanding of your project enabling you to predict how design choices made now will affect their later goals.

Some fixed points zSE Projects – Design Review at end of term 1 zAll projects – Presentation at beginning of next term and Benchtest with supervisor zProject Hand-in – 1 week after Easter break

GANTT Chart

PERT Chart

Further details on Planning zChapters on Planning in Project books zConsult past project reports – plans found in chapter 1 of the report. Also see: zSE Notes on Project Planning zOn-line Notes based on these at