Project approachmethods Assessment criteria
10.6.3 Professional accreditation
Completing your degree may open professional doors to you. For example, when you start work you might wish to join a professional body that supports your particular field. Examples are the British Computer Society BCS in the UK and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE and the Association for Computing Machinery ACM in the United States. To become a member of the IEEE and ACM you will be required to hold some formal qualifications. To become a full member of the BCS, you will either have to complete some Society examinations or show that you have completed an academic course approved by the BCS. Check with your institution to see what level of exemptions or accreditations, if any, apply to your own particular course and which professional bodies are involved. You may find, for example, that while one course within your department is fully exempt or recognised, another is not. These Internet links will provide additional information on appropriate professional bodies: n The British Computer Society: http:www.bcs.org n The IEEE: http:www.ieee.org n The Association for Computing Machinery: http:www.acm.org n The Engineering Council UK: http:www.engc.org.uk n European Federation of National Engineering Associations: http:www.feani.org •10.7 Top ten tips for successful projects
As a summary of the main points of this book, this section presents my top ten tips for completing student projects successfully. Although these tips will not guarantee that you achieve top marks for your project, they should ensure that your project is completed 10.7 Top ten tips for successful projects 267 well. The tips are not presented in any particular order as no tip is better than any other and the extent to which you follow their guidance is up to you, your project and your circumstances. n Choose a project that interests you Section 3.2. It is difficult to motivate yourself and produce a good project if you have little interest in the topic area. If you choose a pro- ject that interests you, you will be far more committed to it and keen to undertake the work than you would otherwise be. n Have a clear goal and objectives Section 4.2. If you understand clearly in your own mind the ultimate goal of your project and can define some intermediate milestones, objectives or sub-goals to achieve this aim you will know where you are going with your project and what you should be doing. n Try to get a client for your project. At an undergraduate level, projects that have real clients for example, for a software system you are developing or a case study you are undertaking generally turn out better than those which do not for example, devel- oping a web site for an imaginary company, etc.. A real client will provide you with more motivation and perhaps clearer requirements than you could obtain from your supervisor alone. In addition, a real client and users will provide valuable feedback when your project nears completion. Although your project may have been suggested as an academic exercise by your supervisor you could still make the effort to find a client for the project yourself. You could use friends, relatives, industrial placement contacts, etc. to help identify a suitable client. n Put together a project plan and follow it Chapter 4. There is an old saying – ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’. With a project plan in place you will have some idea on what you should be doing on your project and some means of tracking and controlling your progress. However, do not spend so long planning your project at intricate levels of detail that you fail to get on with any real work. You should spend no longer than around 10 of your effort on project management activities. n Identify risks to your project and put contingency plans in place Section 4.4. You should have some idea of the key risks to your project and risk triggers and their impact on your project. Make sure that you are aware of these risks and have some ideas on how you will deal with those risks if they should occur. Don’t assume that everything will go well – consider problems that might occur and be prepared to deal with them. n Be well organised. Put together a project folder, establish a working area and good working practices, keep your references up-to-date and organised, arrange data and files on your computer logically and make regular back-ups. Failure to follow these guidelines will lead to sloppy work and inefficiency as information is lost and you are unable to keep track of everything you are doing. n Start to write early. Get into the habit of writing up notes and work you have com- pleted as you go along. This will prevent you having to write your reportthesis from scratch towards the end of your project when time is limited. It will also get you into habit of writing and will improve your writing skills. n Undertake a literature survey Chapter 5. Make sure you have ‘read around’ your sub- ject area thus ensuring you do not complete your project in a vacuum and you are awareParts
» Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Introduction What are computing projects?
» Computing project types What are computing projects?
» Programming in computing projects
» Degree structures Degree requirements
» Degree requirements for projects
» Overview Your supervisor Stakeholders
» Clients and users Stakeholders
» Evaluators and testers Stakeholders
» Overview How this book is arranged
» Taught degree projects versus research degrees
» Summary Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» A definition What is research?
» Originality What is research?
» Gaincontribution What is research?
» Knowledge and understanding What is research?
» Identify the broad area of study.
» Plan how you will perform the research.
» Gather data and information.
» Analyse and interpret these data.
» Present the results and findings.
» Review the field – i.e., perform a literature survey.
» Build a theory – based on your understanding and interpretations of the field.
» Test the theory – does it work?
» Reflect and integrate – i.e., update your ideas based on your ‘tests’ and contribute
» Intellectual discovery The research process
» Research methods Research methods
» List or multiple choice. Provides the respondent with a number of options to
» Scale. Used to rate the respondent’s feelings towards something.
» Ranking. Used to order a series of options. You should not provide too many
» Complex grid or table. Used to gather similar responses on a range of questions.
» Open-ended. Used to obtain extended, qualitative answers.
» Summary Further reading Action points
» Techniques and Information Sources
» Additional considerations Choosing a project
» Follow any guidelines precisely. Most institutions require specific information; for
» Proofread thoroughly and get someone else to check it. Any errors or omissions
» Introduction to the subject area. This will provide the reader with an under-
» Current research in the field. This will emphasise that your project is not based in
» Identify a gap. You should be able to identify some aspect of the field that requires
» Identify how your work fills the gap. Having identified a gap in the field, your
» Identify risks and solutions. It is also useful in a project proposal to highlight any
» Explicit sections Preparing a project proposal
» Reviewing your proposal Preparing a project proposal
» Exercise Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» The project process Introduction
» Definition The project’s stages
» Planning The project’s stages
» Initiation The project’s stages
» Control The project’s stages
» Closure. The project’s stages
» Complete a literature search and literature review of existing stock market prediction
» Develop a suitable artificial neural network model.
» Identify and collect suitable data for analyses and evaluation.
» Evaluate the model using appropriate statistical techniques.
» Complete final report. Setting objectives
» Step 1 – Work Breakdown Project planning
» Step 2 – Time estimates Project planning
» Step 3 – Identify milestones Project planning
» Step 4 – Activity sequencing Project planning
» Step 5 – Scheduling Project planning
» Step 6 – Re-planning Project planning
» Rolling wave planning Project planning
» Risks. Include a list of critical risk factors and means of dealing with these risks
» Organisation. If you are undertaking a group project it would be worthwhile
» Alleviate critical risks Introduction
» Identify risks Risk management
» Alleviate critical risks Risk management
» Controlling risks Risk management
» Research degrees versus taught degree projects
» A starting point Introduction
» The literature survey process
» Format of information Literature searching
» Tracing the information Literature searching
» Inter-library loans Literature searching
» Some tips for performing a literature search
» Critical evaluation Writing literature reviews
» Overview The past Introduction
» Introduction The software development life cycle SDLC
» Requirements definition Requirements capture
» Requirements specification Requirements capture
» Functional specification Requirements capture
» Design The software development life cycle SDLC
» Build The software development life cycle SDLC
» Test The software development life cycle SDLC
» Implementation The software development life cycle SDLC
» The earliest ’model’: build-and-fix
» The stage-wise and classical waterfall models conventional models
» explore the requirements of the system with the user – requirements capture, andor
» explore the technical feasibility of a system – experimental prototyping.
» Which development approach should I use?
» Which programming language should I use?
» Introduction Top-down and bottom-up development
» Top-down development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Bottom-up development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Verification Verification, validation and testing
» Validation Verification, validation and testing
» Testing Verification, validation and testing
» Who is involved with testing and evaluation?
» Test plans Miscellaneous testing types
» Quality assurance and quality control
» Exercises Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Getting started – project initiation
» Managing the five project elements
» Introduction Dealing with problems
» Weakening Dealing with problems
» Personal problems Dealing with problems
» Hardware failure Dealing with problems
» Data availability Dealing with problems
» Discovering your workresearch has been done before
» Analyse what you are currently doing.
» Change what you are doing to achieve your aims.
» eliminate activities you don’t need to do; and
» be more efficient doing the things you have to do.
» Time management tips Procrastination
» Using your supervisor effectively
» Introduction Working in teams
» Team development Working in teams
» Managing the team Working in teams
» Teamwork tips Working in teams
» Considerations Writing and structuring reports
» Approaches to writing Writing and structuring reports
» When should I start writing?
» Identify structure. This relates to the content of your report, using a report break-
» Identify presentational style. You should also try to set standards at this stage on
» Draft the introduction. The introduction gives the reader an idea of the
» Develop the main body. The main body of your report is the next part you
» Articulate conclusions and make recommendations. Quite clearly, your conclu-
» Complete the introduction. As part of the evolutionary approach to writing,
» Write the abstract. You cannot really write a clear abstract for your report until
» Add references and appendices. Although you will be collating references and
» Arrange contents list, index. Leave the completion of an index if one is required
» Proofread, check and correct. It is vitally important to proofread your report after
» Introductionliterature review – the first chapter of your report should always be
» Main body – the content of which depends on the type of project you are un-
» Conclusionsrecommendations – summarises the contribution of the work and
» Style Writing and structuring reports
» Word processing Writing and structuring reports
» Tips Writing and structuring reports
» Presenting charts and graphs
» Common mistakes Data presentation
» Miscellaneous charts Data presentation
» Other data presentation Data presentation
» Introduction Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Citing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Listing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Commenting program code Documenting software
» Writing user guides Documenting software
» The presentation content Visual aids
» Introduction. One or two slides that introduce you and your talk.
» Main body. The slides that constitute the bulk of your presentation and cover the
» Summaryconclusion. A few slides that summarise your presentation and perhaps
» Dealing with questions Oral presentations
» Poster preparation tips Poster presentations
» Introduction Preparation Demonstrating software
» Demonstration tips Demonstrating software
» Introduction Viva voce examinations
» Introduction Examiners and the marking of your project
» General. Examiners will look at the relevance and appropriateness of the topic
» Report. Examiners will look for clarity, consistency, an appropriate use of
» Defence. Examiners will assess the types of arguments you have made to support
» Other. Examiners will review the administrative issues of your project. For example,
» What was the research question?
» Is it a ‘good’ question? This involves a comprehensive literature review to ensure
» Has the student answered the question adequately?
» Has the student made an adequate contribution to knowledge?
» The project approach from a technical perspective i.e., not a project management
» General project considerations subject independent
» Literature reviewproject foundation Assessment criteria
» Project approachmethods Assessment criteria
» Results and contributions Assessment criteria
» Introduction Taking your project further
» Seeking funding Developing commercial software packages
» Copyright and patents Taking your project further
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