COT6931 – Computer Science Project - Internet
FALL SEMESTER 2009

This course satisfies the capstone project class for both SE and Medical Informatics students

Dr. Ed Rodgers       BLDG 79 ROOM 124        mailto:erodgers@uwf.edu      

OFFICE HOURS: (contact via eLearning or email)

 

TEXT:  none - Refer to previous texts, courses, and Internet sources about the development and management of projects related to IT, systems, software engineering, websites, databases, or other appropriate resources related to the fields of computer science, software engineering, or medical informatics.  Note: your project should be related to your particular degree and area of interest.

COURSE DESCRIPTION             

 

COT6931 Computer Science Project: This capstone course is for Masters students who do not elect the thesis option. Students will define and carry out a project under faculty or external mentorship that shows mastery of some topic in computing and produces some concrete product such as a technical report, research paper or a computer program. Students are assessed at the end of the project using the Computer Science Rubric of Assessment (revised for this course). CS Rubric

 

            Students may choose from three different alternatives for types of projects, and some projects might share aspects of more than one alternative. Projects may be individual or team-based. Graduate students are encouraged to become familiar with faculty research interests early in their program to identify potential faculty or external mentors for prospective projects, and to make arrangements with a mentor prior to the beginning of the term that the student wishes to start the project.

 

            NOTE: these alternatives were written with typical CS and SE specialization students in mind. Medical Informatics students could also follow a similar pattern, but their projects might differ in focus. For example, a medical informatics project might not involve software development, but could consist of analyzing the informatics needs for a hospital, medical clinic, or physician and preparing a feasibility study in which various existing software alternatives are evaluated and a recommendation is made. Another possibility might be a research study to analyze the state of readiness of various healthcare providers for EHR and/or mobile technology use and to prepare a research report. The rubric found at the above link will be applied to meet the particular nature of the student project.

 

ALTERNATIVE A - DOMAIN-BASED PROJECT

            The goal of a domain-based project is to demonstrate mastery of computing needs in a specific technical or application domain under the supervision of a mentor or in support of a client . Examples of domains include: high performance computing, medical software, engineering software, data acquisition software, etc. Students will document the techniques and specific challenges of computing for the domain. If there are software libraries or tools specific to the domain, the student will demonstrate familiarity with them. The end product of a domain-based project will normally be a written technical report, and could also include sample software written by the student. In addition, a condensed version in a format suitable for submission to a recognized conference or journal is recommended. (If you would like to consider submitting such a paper, see the submission requirements for a conference or journal in which you are interested).

 

 

ALTERNATIVE B - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROJECT

            The goal of a software engineering project is to demonstrate mastery of the processes required to develop and maintain quality software under the supervision of a mentor or in support of a client. The student will develop a significant software product or make a substantial enhancement to an existing product. The work shall follow a clearly defined software engineering process, and include activities of specification, design, implementation, and verification. The focus shall be on a quality product that is not a "throw-away" but that is left in a well-documented and managed configuration, ready for deployment and future enhancement. The end product of a software engineering project shall be a written report on the project and the process followed, together with a working demonstration of the software itself. In addition, a condensed version in a format suitable for submission to a recognized conference or journal is recommended. (If you would like to consider submitting such a paper, see the submission requirements for a conference or journal in which you are interested).

 

 

ALTERNATIVE C – RESEARCH OR APPLICATIONS-FOCUSED PROJECT

            The goal of a research or applications-focused project is to demonstrate mastery of the computing or information needs of researchers or practitioners in some specific area under the supervision of a mentor or in support of a client. The student will work with a faculty member or external mentor or client to make a substantial contribution to a defined research topic or applications project. Work could possibly involve developing software or applying existing tools and techniques in support of research or an appropriate application. The work could also be an experimental design project to investigate some appropriate topic in computer science, software engineering or medical informatics. The end product of a research or applications-focused project shall normally be a traditional research paper in APA format. In addition, a condensed version in a format suitable for submission to a recognized conference or journal is recommended. (If you would like to consider submitting such a paper, see the submission requirements for a conference or journal in which you are interested).

 

PROJECT REPORT FOR A TRADITIONAL DOMAIN-BASED PROJECT---

            See the recommendations for writing a technical report in the Links section or from a source of your choice (no specific word count or number of pages requirement).

 

 

PROJECT REPORT FOR A TRADITIONAL SE PROJECT---

            Executive Summary (1 page description of the project with summary of results)
            Project/System Requirements (appropriate number of systems requirements (SRS) pages)

            Process Description
            Design Specs---(depends upon the type of project---such things as event tables, DFDs, structure charts, system flow charts, decision tables, pseudocode, E-R diagrams, relational schema, storyboards, Website structure and navigation, etc.----whatever is appropriate to describe your project.)
            Deliverables (reports, technical manuals, users manuals, code, etc.)
            Resulting Timeline (schedule, project life-cycle phases, and various checkpoints for deliverables, typically shown as a Gantt Chart, etc.)

            Or see the recommendations for writing an appropriate SE report from a source of your choice (no specific word count or number of pages requirement).

 

 

PROJECT REPORT FOR A RESEARCH OR APPLICATIONS-BASED PROJECT---

            See the recommendations for writing an APA-format research paper in the Links section or from a source of your choice (no specific word count or number of pages requirement).

 

 

PROJECT PRESENTATION Sample Narrated PowerPoint

 

Produce a narrated PowerPoint presentation of about 5-6 minutes which summarizes the project and submit to the Dropbox.

            Brief background of the nature of the project (and of the mentor or client, if appropriate)
            Overview of project application, system development, or research topic
            Sample results (screen shots, graphics, or reports)
            Conclusion

            See the recommendations for preparing a PowerPoint presentation in the Links section or from a source of your choice (no specific number of slides requirement).

 

All work (including the final project report) must be submitted by the indicated deadlines via the eLearning Dropbox.  The final project report should be submitted as either a Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf) or Acrobat .pdf file. Plagiarism and/or cheating will not be tolerated!  The Department of Computer Science will pursue penalties for such behavior---including course failure and suspension.

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT:

            Dr. Rodgers is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of West Florida.  He earned the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech and the Ph.D. in Business Administration (Management Science) at Georgia State University.  Post-Doctoral work in international business and economics/international relations led to the award of the M.S. degree in international relations through a cooperative program between the University of the Saarlands, Germany and TSU/European Division.  He was the first graduate of an innovative software engineering graduate program offered by TSU in cooperation with the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, in which he earned the M.S. degree in computer information systems.  He has served as a professor at Georgia State University, the University of Toledo and Troy State University/European Division.  He served as a professor for Boston University/Europe, the University of Southern California/Europe, and presented lectures at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China, the Human Resources Center in Shenzhen, China, the School of Management of Xi'an University in Xi'an, China, the Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences in Mikkeli, Finland, the Ecole Superieure de Commerce in Amiens, France, and taught the Summer in Japan Program in Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo, Japan.

            Dr. Rodgers has published articles and made presentations at a variety of professional meetings in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia in the fields of management, operations research and computer science.   His practical experience includes positions in operations research and systems engineering with the IBM, Armor and Milliken corporations.  He has also served as a consultant and an expert witness in computer systems.  He has been active in professional organizations such as ACM, TIMS, ORSA and DSI.  He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Upsilon Rho Epsilon, and Alpha Iota Delta honor societies and earned the CDP and CSP professional certifications from the Institute for the Certification of Computer Professionals.

GRADING:

Project topic and contact info (5%)
Project Progress Reports (Four Excel documents) (20%)
Report Content/Critical Thinking (21%)
Report Communication/Writing Skills (21%)
Project PowerPoint “Presentation” (16%)
Integrity/Project Management (7%)

PowerPoint Critique (5%)

Mentor/Client Acceptance (5%)

 

NOTE: Students are expected to complete work on schedule.  Please discuss any known problems with me in advance so that appropriate arrangements may be made.  The grade of "incomplete" is not normally allowed, and is reserved for a most unusual emergency---and only then if at least 70% of the course has been completed.  Pay attention to deadlines! Assignments submitted to the LATE DROPBOX will not earn full credit.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND TOPICS COVERED

ALWAYS APPEND YOUR LASTNAME TO THE FRONT WHEN SUBMITTING FILES,

for example, rodgers_topic.doc

Avoid the use of email for communication---instead, use the Discussion Section in eLearning.

Week of 10/24-10/30:

 

By 11:59pm Wednesday 10/28, submit a one-page topic report using Word to the topic Dropbox. Name the document topic.doc (or docx, rtf) and include the following information:

            student(s) name(s), email address(es), phone number(s)

            project title

            mentor or client name, telephone no., email address (include info if more than one)

            mentor or client organization name, address, type of organization, web address, if any

            one-paragraph project description

NOTE: This COMPLETE information must be received by the due date

Week of 10/31-11/06:

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 11/01, send a progress report covering from the start of the term (or earlier, if appropriate) through this week to the pr1 Dropbox.   Use the Excel form provided and name the document progress1.xls.   

            Sample Progress Review      Use this form

 

Week of 11/07-11/13:

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 11/08, send a progress report covering from the last report through this week to the pr2 Dropbox.   Use the Excel form provided and name the document progress2.xls.  

            Use this form

Week of 11/14-11/20:

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 11/15, send a progress report covering from the last report through this week to the pr3 Dropbox.   Use the Excel form provided and name the document progress3.xls.  

            Use this form

Week of 11/21-11/27:

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 11/22, send a progress report covering from the last report through this week to the pr4 Dropbox.   Use the Excel form provided and name the document progress4.xls.              

            Use this form

Week of 11/28-12/04:

Work on project

Week of 12/05-12/11: NOTE: THESE ARE ABSOLUTE DEADLINES---NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE STATED TIMES.

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 12/06, submit the Project Report to the report Dropbox and name the document report.doc or (docx, rtf, pdf). Also provide a copy to your mentor or client.

 

By 11:59pm Sunday 12/06, submit the Project PowerPoint Presentation to the ppt Dropbox and name the file presentation.ppt. Also post the ppt file to the Discussion Section for classmates to review.

 

By 11:59pm Tuesday 12/08, review one of your classmate’s PowerPoint presentation and post a one paragraph critique. Try to select one that has not already been critiqued.

 

By 11:59pm Tuesday 12/08, submit to the accept Dropbox a scanned, signed page or copy of an email from the mentor or client in which the mentor or client acknowledges receipt of the project report. Name the document accept.pdf (or jpg or other appropriate format).

12/12:

  

GRADUATION!

Questions?  For general course-related questions, post to the Discussion Section, or if individual in nature, e-mail Dr. Rodgers:  mailto:erodgers@uwf.edu

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