Prof. John MacIntyre

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• Prof. John MacIntyre
• 0191 515 3778
• john.macintyre_at_sunderland.ac.uk

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MODULE WEB SITE
http//osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/cs0jma/com319.htm
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COM319 BAIT PROJECTS

• Module structure
• Project ideas - what makes a good project?
• Supervision and control
• Reviews
• Viva
• Dissertation
• Overall Assessment

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Module Structure

• Double module
• 40 credits
• Recommended level of effort (as a guide!) 240
  hours
• Supervision 6 sessions 1 general session
• Reviews 2 (20 minutes each)
• Viva 30 minutes

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Project Ideas

• The onus is on the STUDENT
• Work-based or based on personal interests
• No list of projects available
• Outline should be presented at first supervision
  meeting
• Terms of Reference drawn up once idea is approved

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What Makes a Good Project?

• GOOD CONTROL! - project management
• Scope - achievable without being trivial
• Must include RESEARCH and CRITICAL EVALUATION
• Must demonstrate how the research is applied to
  the particular problem
• Generally should include system development
  (coding/packages)

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Research

• Dr. Kendal will provide an overview of good
  research practice
• Monday, 4th October, Room 108, 500 - 630
• Research is a major component of the project
• You MUST show how the research is APPLIED
• what you learned and how you used it

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Project Management Aids

• Terms of Reference
• defines the project objectives
• Schedule
• breaks the project into a series of tasks
• identifies when the tasks will be carried out
• identifies the deliverables of the tasks
• Gantt Chart
• provides a visual aid to scheduling and management

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Terms of Reference

• The Terms of Reference (TOR) should include
• Project Title
• Overview Why are you doing it?
• Objectives Aims of the work
• Constraints Limiting factors
• Resources People, equipment, services

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Terms of Reference

• Sample on the module web site - use this as a
  template
• TOR must be signed off by a supervision team
  member by 6th December 99
• this gives each group three supervision sessions
  to alter and revise TOR
• NO AMENDMENTS ACCEPTED after this date

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Project Schedule

• Sample on the module web site
• Divide the project into a number of sub-tasks -
  each no more than 20 HOURS
• Calculate time which can be allocated per
  day/week, to determine how much progress can be
  made
• Look at which, if any tasks, can run in parallel,
  which are dependent on others finishing first

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Project Schedule
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Project Gantt Chart

• Visual aid to project management
• best if this is a single A4 page
• Use Microsoft Project or Excel
• Samples on module web site
• Avoid linear projects
• ie only ever one task being carried out
• next task starts directly after last one
• Avoid too much multi-tasking
• no more than two or three tasks at any one time

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Project Gantt Chart
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Supervision and Control

• Supervision meetings in Room 208, Monday
  evenings, 500 - 700pm
• Four members of staff present each evening -
  student to see any member of staff free
• Record sheet used to note progress, problems, and
  requirements including deliverables
• Student retains sheet - copy held on file

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Supervision and Control

• Student to maintain project file, including
  copies of all deliverables - must be produced at
  supervision, reviews and viva
• Student to show use of appropriate project
  management aids
• Gantt chart
• Project schedule

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Supervision and Control

• Cohort broken into three groups (A, B, C)
• Supervision rotates between the groups -
  therefore each student seen once every three
  weeks
• Each group broken into sub-groups (eg A1 and A2,
  B1 and B2)
• A1 students seen between 500 and 600, A2
  between 600 and 700

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Supervision and Control

• Year planner shows weeks for each group
• List shows which group each student belongs to
• Students MUST attend on their appointed weeks
• poor attendance poor supervision
• poor supervision poor control

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Supervision and Control

• Good control is the key to a successful project
• Control is mainly the responsibility of the
  student
• Control is one of the aspects assessed in the
  project - 20 based on the two reviews

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Reviews

• Two reviews during the course of the project -
  contribute 20 of module mark
• Interview format - student MUST produce project
  file
• Assessed - mark given on the CONTROL of the
  project to date
• Note review dates on planner

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Viva

• An important part of the project
• Presentation (OHP) followed by questions from a
  panel
• NO software demonstrations allowed
• NO laptop/PowerPoint presentations allowed
• equal for everyone

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Viva

• Maximum 6-8 overheads
• Approximately 20 minutes presentation followed by
  5-10 minutes of questions
• 20 of module mark
• Assessing presentation skills as well as the
  success and difficulty of the project

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Dissertation

• 30 of module mark
• Two copies submitted, spiral bound
• Minimum 10,000 words
• Maximum 15,000 words
• Should be double line spaced
• Coding / design documentation etc should be
  included in Appendices

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General Structure of Dissertation

• Title page (see format)
• Abstract (single page, single spaced)
• Table of contents
• Introduction to the project
• Main chapters (research, system descriptions,
  development methodology, results, conclusions)

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...continued

• References (using standard format)
• Bibliography (all books, journals etc. consulted
  during the project)
• Acknowledgements
• Appendices
• Terms of Reference
• Schedule
• User guide etc etc etc

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Overall Assessment

• Marks for the project awarded as follows
• Control 20 Reviews file
• Success 30 Dissertation viva
• Dissertation 30 Dissertation
• Viva 20 Presentation

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Guidelines on Web Site

• Guidelines on the web site for
• Assessment
• Dissertation
• Reference style
• Research and Project Management
• Make use of them!!

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Hand In

• DEADLINE
• THURSDAY, 11th MAY 2000 - 400pm
• Hand in to Learning Resources Centre
• Remember to use Cover Sheet (download from web
  site)
• DONT MISS THE DEADLINE!!

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Plagiarism

• Observe scholarly conventions
• Make clear which are your words, and which are
  the words of someone else
• Use suitable annotation and quotation marks
• Indicate references
• Plagiarism will result in your work being
  devalued and a lower mark awarded

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Withdrawing from Project

• Must be done within first six weeks
• Can take interim (non-honours) degree if other
  credits are OK
• After six weeks student is deemed to have engaged
  with module and could be classed as a fail
• If student decides to do project later, will be
  re-charged

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Questions?

• Now...
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• ...telephone (answerphone)