Project Workshops Initial Preparation

2 Final Year Projects A significant piece of individual and academic work A double module -- 20% of final mark; a third of final year work Assessed mainly by report and oral exams Compulsory Workshops on planning, writing, evaluation You will learn two main things –How to conduct a big project, and evaluate it –Something about the project topic

3 Date this Term Project Selection –Week Project Workshop –12:00 3rd June (Week 26) Room CG85 Resources Course –5-6 June (Week 26) Project Specification –6 June (Week 26)

4 Deliverables 1.Project Specification Staff to deliver 6 June (Week 26) 2.Preliminary Report 20 June (Week 28) 3.Project Plan Week 2 of Next Term

Final Year Projects Selection Process

6 Project Selection Process 1.Decide which area of Computer Science/Software Engineering you want to work in. Theme selection. 2.Develop a project proposal

7 Project Areas - Themes Areas in which staff are interested in supervising projects Non-specific – there is room for negotiation Choose your Theme DEADLINE: 14th May (Week 23)

8 Theme Allocation Project Supervisor Choices will be balanced to: –Satisfy as many first choices as possible –Evenly distribute the supervision load across academic staff Project Supervisor will be allocated NOTIFICATION: 21st May (Week 24)

9 Project Specification Student and supervisor work together to produce a project specification Basic, Intermediate and Advance Objectives There is flexibility BUT it MUST be within the Theme PERIOD: Week 24 and Week 26 DEADLINE: 6th June (Week 26)

The Project Types of Project

11 Types of Projects Software Engineering –application of SE principles Computer Science –application of computer science

12 Computer Science Projects To conduct a substantial piece of Computer Science research as an individual initiative To write and present that research in a scholarly fashion. To demonstrate management skills through project planning and organisation.

13 Computer Science Projects To further analytical skills and abilities in oral and written communication. To draw together skills and techniques learned in other modules. To gain experience at presenting research coherently and effectively.

14 Software Engineering Projects To draw together the skills and techniques learned in the final and previous years of the degree To demonstrate the application of a well executed software engineering development process. To further analytical skills and abilities in oral and written communication

15 Software Engineering Projects Conduct a substantial piece of software engineering research as an individual initiative To write it and present it orally in a scholarly fashion To demonstrate management skills through planning, commitment and individuals focus to the project work Gain experience at presenting materials in an understandable way for those without a detailed knowledge of the specific technical area under study.

16 Project Elements Common Week 10 Benchtest –check progress –design choice rationale Skills –Writing (report) –Presentation (to group in January) –Management (supervisor) –Viva Examination (demonstration of work)

17 Assessment Project ElementMark Benchtest5 Writing5 Presentation5 Management5 Oral5 TOTAL25

18 Project Elements Preparation and Literature Survey Analysis and Design Implementation Evaluation

The Project General Information

20 Timing Approx hours per week –Be sure to do enough work - catching up is hard –But do not be tempted to do too much –There are 4 other modules to pass (and you need time off!) Good planning is essential -- and it is assessed!

21 Planning Good planning is essential -- and it is assessed! In particular: keep the writing side in pace with other work Note that your supervisor plays a big role in marking, so it will be hard to get away with certain things

22 What is the Supervisor for? Weekly meetings - your responsibility to arrange You can expect: –Help with organisation and planning –Help/advice on project topic – Some technical help, or suggestions on what to do –Reading and comments on draft chapters

23 What is the Supervisor for? Main points of meeting are recorded on a form, for reference and guidance Golden rule: use your supervisor!

24 When Things Go Wrong It is a big piece of work, and most people run into: –Loss of motivation or focus –Problems of understanding –Technical difficulties (ie programming) –Writers' block –External problems

25 When Things Go Wrong Golden rule: keep in contact with your supervisor We all suffer from these, at various times Do not waste time in a hole, when a quick chat could solve it

26 Work this Term Project specification Course on productive use of library resources Preliminary reading on topic area, improving your background knowledge -- based on info in the project description At least two meetings with your supervisor

27 Theme Theme: Software Visualisation Visual representations of software can help in the comprehension process. This project will develop a tool to visualise an aspect of software. Keywords: program analysis; graphics; java3d, VRML Type of Project: Software Engineering Number of Students: 2

28 Project Specification Title Project Type/Degree Description Preliminary Preparation Minimum Objectives Intermediate Objectives Advanced Objectives References

29 Project Specification Visualisation of Spreadsheets Project Type/Degree Software Engineering

30 Project Specification Description Spreadsheets are a powerful tool that are developed and used by non-professional software engineers. They are also very prone to errors. This project will investigate the automatic analysis of spreadsheets in order to be able to view them in a Virtual World.

31 Project Specification Preliminary Preparation 1.A thorough understanding of Excel, Java3D and VRML 2.A survey of Virtual Reality techniques

32 Project Specification Minimum Objectives 1.Simple 2D visualisation of the dependencies within a Excel spreadsheet 2.Definition of the representation of spreadsheets in a Virtual World 3.Mapping of Excel spreadsheet into a Virtual World

33 Project Specification Intermediate Objectives 1.Complete definition of all dependencies in an Excel Spreadsheet 2.Complete formal mapping of dependencies to a virtual world 3.Implementation of the Virtual World using ether Java3D or VRML (or both) 4.Evaluation of the visualisation using a series of case studies.

34 Project Specification Advanced Objectives 1.Editing functions incorporated into the Virtual World software that will enable an Excel spreadsheet to be changed in the Virtual World and exported back to Excel. 2.Addressing the issues of embedded VB in the spreadsheet

35 Project Specification References The work by Gregg Rothermal on analysis of spreadsheels at Books on VRML and Java3D

36 Work this Term Short report (six pages) on what you have found out DEADLINE: last day of term (20th June) You can expect brief feedback on this document

37 Work Over the Summer We acknowledge the pressures... But always good to keep things ticking over For example carry on background reading, or learn relevant techniques This helps to make better use of the first term next year

38 Work Over the Summer Amount depends on your ambitions Suggest: one or two days a month? Note: do not try to finish the project!

39 Plagiarism and Related Issues Golden rule: be honest and objective about the work Key point for us: we just want to know what is your work, and what came from others Reuse and sharing of work or ideas is fine, as long as it is correctly attributed Forms of dishonesty in project are taken seriously You will be required to sign a statement with the final report

40 Summary Final year projects are important Make sure you know why type of project you are doing Meet with your supervisor Attend the Project Workshops