Demonstration tips Demonstrating software

CHAPTER 10 Final considerations Aims: To discuss life after your project is handed in. Learning objectives: When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: n Understand how examiners will be marking your project. n Understand ways in which you can develop your project further in the future. n Recognise the skills you have acquired from doing your project and understand how you can apply these skills in the future. n Develop your project into publishable material. n This chapter is relevant for postgraduate and undergraduate projects. •

10.1 Introduction

Now that your project is coming to an end, there are a number of things you will want to consider. How will your project be examined? What does the future hold for you? Are you going to stay on in academia or move on to pastures new and go into industry? Do you wish to forget all about your project or take it further? Will the successful completion of your project lead to further qualifications and 255 256 Chapter 10 n Final considerations professional recognition? What have you learnt from doing your project and how will these skills be useful in the future? This chapter brings together answers to these questions and shows you how you have gained knowledge and benefited from the project you have undertaken. You should be proud of the work you have put into your project and view it as a stepping-stone to the next stage of your career – be it in academia or industry. This chapter concludes with a list of top ten tips for completing your project successfully. This list draws together ideas that have been covered in earlier chapters. •

10.2 Examiners and the marking of your project

10.2.1 Introduction

How your project will be assessed depends on the type of project you have undertaken, its level undergraduate or postgraduate and the regulations within your institution. For exam- ple, at undergraduate level you may have undertaken a software development project so you will be assessed on the system you have developed, its supporting documentation, your evalu- ation of the software and processes used, feedback you have received from the clientusers and comparisons you have made with other similar systems. At undergraduate level there may be explicit learning outcomes for projects against which you will be assessed. These might range from your ability to plan and manage a project to your ability to undertake research and complete a report. At Loughborough University the Intended Learning Outcomes ILOs for final year projects in Computer Science taught bachelor’s degree have been split into the following four areas: n Knowledge and understanding. This covers all aspects of the project and includes taught and self-taught knowledge. n Cognitive abilities. This covers the student’s abilities in planning the project, analysing requirements, application and judgement. n Practical abilities. This covers skills in the development of software systems using appro- priate techniques, methods and tools. It can also include skills such as applying appropri- ate research methods for those projects that do not involve software development. n Transferable skills. What has the student learnt that can be used in other work for example, information retrieval skills, report writing or use of IT? At research degree level, particularly PhD, you will be assessed on the contribution your project has made. Quite clearly, if you have published some journal andor confer- ence articles during the course of your studies, you will satisfy this particular requirement by the time the examiners come to read your dissertation. In some countries this is com- pulsory; for example, you may be expected to have published at least five first-author journal papers by the time you submit your thesis. The nature of regulations at your institution will also dictate how the examiners will be involved in the assessment of your work. At taught degree level the examiner might simply be your supervisor or another academic member of staff in your depart- ment who will simply read your report. At research degree level the assessment will be more rigorous and may involve external examiners from other universities or countries interviewing you viva voce examinations, discussed in Chapter 9 or an examining committee questioning you in a public defence.