Transcript CPRJ3451 Final Year Project

IMAT3451 Final Year Project
2011-2012
Options Day Briefing
These slides are available at:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/projects/
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Agenda
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What is the final year project?
How do I find a project?
What is a supervisor?
What should I do now?
What other information is available?
Questions.
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What is the final year project?
 Probably the most challenging  - but also the most enjoyable
part of your final year.
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Don’t take my word for it! :‘The project was the
most interesting,
challenging and
enjoyable module of
this academic year.’
2008-2009 final year student
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The Final Year Project  Is a 30-credit module  BUT it is different from any other final
year 30-credit module
 It is an INDIVIDUAL piece of work
 You undertake it with the guidance of
a supervisor –
 But it is YOUR project, for which
YOU are responsible!
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Your Project
 It is your responsibility
 You will have to work more
independently than ever before
 You will encounter problems
 Which you must solve
 You will have to manage your time
effectively.
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Manage Your Time
 Every 30-credit module represents
300 hours of learning
 That is an average of 10 hours per
week
 But unlike taught modules, you must
manage all of that time yourself.
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If I would have ... advice to
other students, it would be to
make more use of their time
... and to become more
organised, plan and manage
their project ... in order to
achieve to the best of their
abilities.
Managing the
project
independently is a
useful lesson for
future careers.
2008-2009 final year students
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‘Most Enjoyable. . .’
 It is your project
 You get to choose it [within certain limits], you
have control over what you’re doing
 An opportunity to explore an area that
interests you
 An opportunity to integrate topics you have
been studying in earlier years
 Builds confidence / independence
 Great sense of satisfaction from the work
achieved
 Great ‘plus’ point for potential employer.
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Deliverables
 At the end of the year you will have
completed:
 A finished product, which you will
demonstrate
 Or for ‘Research’ projects, present
 A ‘Project Summary & Critical Review’
comprising a critical, reflective account of
the project process
 More information will be provided at the
start of the new academic year.
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Example Projects - 1
 Well-understood problem domain challenge is in the quality of software
implementation:
Multi-layer, turn-based board games
(e.g. Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit)
Maze Wars
Traffic Simulator
Lift Controller.
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Example Projects - 2
 Exploring the problem domain and
determining requirements is part of
the challenge:
Sports Centre Information System
Carpet Store Fitting Scheduling
System
Livery Yard Administration System
Online Tutorial for the Web.
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Example Projects - 3
 SOME programmes allow ‘Research’
projects:
RFIT: Commercial Benefits & Privacy
Concerns
Enterprise Resource Management
Systems
Cross-Cultural Transfer of Technology
Managing Knowledge in the
Knowledge Economy.
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Warning
 ‘Research’ projects can NOT be
undertaken by programmes that have
British Computer Society (BCS)
accreditation
 ‘Research’ projects are NOT an easy
option – they can be easier to fail
that a software development project!
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How Do I Find a Project? - 1
 You can choose from the ‘pool’ of project
proposals made by staff
 You can propose your own project which is
subject to modification*
 Your placement organization might have a
suitable project for you to undertake*
* in these cases: you will need to find a
suitable supervisor, and have the topic
approved.
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Warning!
 Students on some specialist
programmes may NOT choose from
the ‘pool’ of projects
 These include:
 Forensic Computing
 Computer Games Programming
 Your programme leader will arrange
project selection with you.
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How Do I Find a Project? - 2
 There will be about 50 members of
staff acting as project supervisors
 Their proposals will be added to a
spreadsheet available from:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/projects/
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How Do I Find a Project? - 3
 Browse the list of project proposals
 Note that more project proposals will
be added in the period up to
August/September.
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How Do I Find a Project? - 4
 If a project title interests you, email the
supervisor
 If there isn’t a specific title that interests
you, but you are interested in the general
area in which a member of staff is
proposing – email them
 You might want a specific member of staff
as your supervisor because you are
interested in their area of expertise – email
them.
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How Do I Find a Project? - 5
 In other words: it is your
responsibility to find a project
 Negotiate directly with the supervisor
 They will confirm whether are willing
to take you on.
 There is a provisional list of
supervisors available from
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/projects
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Your Own/Placement Proposal
 From your own knowledge of staff, or
from the list of proposals, find a
supervisor with expertise in the
proposed topic – contact them to
discuss
 Or discuss with your programme
leader/ final year manager/personal
tutor.
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Deadline For Project Choice
 You must have a project by the start
of induction week (Monday 26th
September) at the latest
 BUT the earlier the better – start
thinking NOW and get set up with a
project well before September
 The earlier you approach supervisors
– the more choice of project/
supervisor you will have.
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Deadline For Project Choice
 If you have not agreed a project with
a supervisor by Monday 26th
September you will be allocated to a
supervisor.
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A Note About Supervision - 1
 Your supervisor will guide you
 You will meet with them – approx. 5
hours of supervision throughout the
year
 That leaves 295 hours that you work
on your project on your own
 It is your project!
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A Note About Supervision - 2
 Supervision starts with the new
academic year: in Induction Week or
Week 1 of the Autumn Term
 Your 10 hours per week work on the
project starts then, too – but there
are ways in which you can prepare:
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What should I do now?
 To help you in September:
 Read a suitable text: suggestions are
provided at the end of these slides
 Revise/extend your knowledge of
technologies you expect to use in
your project
 Your supervisor might have other,
specific suggestions.
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Further Information
 At the url mentioned earlier:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/projects
you will find links to:
 these slides
 Project Handbook for 2010-2011
 the lists of project supervisors & project
proposals
 Your supervisor will eventually be your main
source of information / advice
 Also your visiting tutor, personal tutor, year
manager & programme leader where
appropriate.
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Further Information - Blackboard
 A Blackboard site for IMAT3451 will be
made available from about the beginning of
May
 Check your DMU email account regularly
as the Blackboard site will be used to send
emails to students registered on IMAT3451
 Once the Blackboard site is available, check
regularly for announcements, additional
information & supporting material.
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Further Information – Briefings
 There will be further briefings about
the project:
 In Induction Week
 In Weeks 1 & 2 of the Autumn Term
 For Research Projects, weeks 3-5 of the
Autumn Term
 In the first week of the Spring Term
 Towards the end of the Spring Term.
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The final year project
is a great part of the
course ... it is the
hardest but most
rewarding part of the
final year.
2008-2009 final year student
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IMAT3451 Final Year Project
Questions?
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Useful Books - 1
Weaver, Philip (2004) Success in Your Project. Pearson
Education Ltd.
A very useful guide for software development projects.
Dawson, Christian W. (2009) Projects in Computing and
Information Systems: a student’s guide. 2nd ed. Pearson
Education.
Useful guide for all students, but particularly helpful for literature
searching, literature reviews and presenting information.
Ricketts, Ian W. (1998) Managing Your Software Project.
Springer.
A useful introduction to the documentation required for
developing a software project.
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Useful Books - 2
Britton, Carol & Doake, Jill (2005) Software System
Development. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill.
Describes a variety of design approaches, somewhat oldfashioned, but a useful introduction.
O’Leary, Zina (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your
Research Project. 2nd ed. Sage.
A useful book which offers guidelines for carrying out research.
Cornford, Tony & Smithson, Steve (2006) Project Research
in Information Systems. 2nd ed. Palgrave MacMillan.
A useful guide to final year projects which have a strong research
focus.
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Additional Note on Research Projects
A research project will include:
 Extensive literature search to retrieve
academic papers & a critical write-up of this
 Establish the research question
 Review & write-up of research methods
 Empirical research design
 Undertake empirical research
 Analysis and critical write-up of empirical
research
 Write-up of findings, conclusions &
recommendations for further work.
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