Your Group Project

1
Your Group Project

• As much as possible, we want
• Everyone should understand groups design
  decisions
• Everyone contributes equally to project
• Everyone to do some design and coding work
• Assignments are designed to help you do this
• Advise we will give
• We will give you some general starting advice
  here
• The TA for your group will help you with
  week-to-week advice
• We will have more to say about project management
  later

2
Dos and Donts for Groups General

• Dont jump straight into code
• Dont have 1 or 2 people do most of the coding
  if you do, then the non-coders
• Will not understand the code and/or design
• Will not be able to produce good hand-ins for
  assignments
• May be able to contribute to testing, but not
  debugging
• Will not be able to write a good user manual
• i.e. will not be able to contribute very usefully
  at all
• Do spend a lot of time and effort in designing
  the software
• This will result in documents that everyone in
  the group can follow
• Do resist the urge to code early, not till at
  least 1 month into the course (although you will
  have to build a prototype in Java for the GUI,
  start it early)
• Do get everyone involved in coding
• If design documents are good, everyone should be
  able to code

3
Dos Donts for Groups Meetings

• Setting up meetings
• Do try to find a meeting time that everyone can
  make regularly
• Do meet at least once a week
• Do add extra meetings if necessary
• Dont announce meetings on the spur of the moment
• Do arrange meetings by email at least 24 hours
  before they happen, that way, everyone should
  know about the meeting
• Do set an agenda (list of items to be discussed)
  for every meeting
• In the meeting
• Do go through each item on agenda or put them off
  until a later meeting
• Do listen to everyones opinion on design
  decisions
• Obnoxious people are not always wrong
• Some quiet people may only speak if they think it
  is very important
• Do keep minutes (see the cs2212 minutes web page
  for advice on what to keep track of)

4
Dos and Donts for Groups Dividing Up Work

• Do encourage members to do tasks for the group
• Encourage them early and often
• Make it clear what has to be done
• Do encourage members to set deadlines for
  finishing their tasks for the group
• However, do be a bit flexible on the deadlines
• Dont let a member get away with
• Not coming to properly arranged meetings
• Not doing work
• Delivering work very late
• Delivering inadequate work
• Do record everything relevant to the project and
  to the performance of individuals, in the meeting
  minutes

5
Dos and Donts for Individuals Meetings

• Setting up meetings
• Do make clear when you can and cant make it to a
  meeting
• Do be flexible in meeting times e.g.
• Dont insist on spending an entire 5 hour gap
  between classes at home
• If you cant make a meeting, send regrets, tell
  the group why you cant make it and give a
  reasonable reason why
• Do read your email at least once in every 24 hour
  period during the week, once over the weekend if
  possible
• Dont forward your email to a commercial account
  unless your sure it works (check frequently)
• In the meeting
• Dont insist on your point of view at all costs
• Do speak up if you have a view you think should
  be heard
• If you feel a design decision is wrong
• Do try to explain why clearly and in detail
• Do let your mind remain open to persuasion

6
Dos and Donts for Individuals Project Work

• Do understand the design your group adopts
• Do volunteer to do tasks for the group
• Volunteer early and often
• Dont avoid work up to the last stages of the
  project
• You may not be able to do a good job then, either
• Your group mates will be annoyed with you
• Do set reasonable deadlines for tasks
• Do your best to meet the deadlines

7
Dos Donts for Project Leaders Star Coders

• Dont take on the bulk of coding yourself
• Doing almost all the coding yourself
• May show you are a good coder
• Also shows you are a poor software engineer
• A good software engineer uses the resources of
  the whole team effectively
• Play to the strengths of your group members not
  the weaknesses!
• Do contribute usefully to group discussions
• Do explain your thinking to other group members
• Do put effort into creating clear design
  documents (Hand-ins)
• This will help everyone implement the project
• Do help other members of the group to do their
  tasks
• Be a teacher when necessary
• You might learn something from them too!
• Understand peoples schedules
• i.e. I enjoy coding at night, so if you assign me
  something in the morning, expecting it for 4 or
  5, it probably wont happen. Whose fault is it???

8
CS 2212 Project Groups

• Group organization
• Group size
• Requesting a change
• Picking a meeting time
• Questions your group may have on the project specs

9
Group Organization

• Remember your group number
• We will get each group member to find each other
  in this class
• Contact group members who are not in class
• Look up their email using
• the finger command on Gaul
• Also, indicate on the sheet
• you hand back to your instructor, which members
  were absent today
• Submit your minutes online (see the website,
  there is a page to do this for you)
• Read over the project as soon as possible
• For each group, we will set up, on GAUL
• A group mailing list address
• A Unix file permission group

10
Group Size

• As much as possible, groups are 4, 5 or 6 people
• No distinguishable difference in work between a
  group of 4 and a group of 6
• 4 people Fewer people to do writing/coding work
  BUT not as many organizational hassles
• 6 people Less actual writing/coding work per
  person BUT more time taken up with organizational
  issues.
• Difference between a group of 5 and a group of 6
  even more minor

11
Requesting a Change

• If you have a reason for NOT being put in a group
  we have put you in, then tell us by the assigned
  deadline
• If we agree with your reason, we will move you
  but you dont get to pick the group you are moved
  too.

12
Group Meetings

• Start setting up group meetings right away
• Decide on three possible times during the week
  everyone can meet at (must be Monday to Friday
  between 830 and 6)
• We will have the T.A.s pick from those times and
  let you know who your T.A. is

13
Questions on the Project

• Include any questions you have in the weekly
  minutes that you submit online, the
  administrative TA will forward them to the
  instructors and the instructor will either reply
  or post the question on the project FAQ web page
• Check to the FAQ frequently for other groups
  issues

14
Hints from Teaching Assistants Faculty For A
Successful CS2212 Project

• Below is a list of quotes from T.As and
  professors about hints for a successful project
  in cs2212.
• PLEASE read this carefully and repeatedly
  throughout the term!
• Take ownership of your project, if someone has
  promised you code and you don't see the code,
  don't assume it has been done. Make sure
  everyone shows their work to everyone else in the
  group. Remember if you are too trusting, it is
  YOUR mark that is on the line as well as the
  person who didnt finish their portion of the
  code.
• Address small issues immediately before they
  become major issues.
• If the group encounters a problem, let your T.A.
  know immediately.
• It can be difficult when dealing with peers to
  insist that they do their fair share, but if you
  don't all your other courses may suffer.
• It is your responsibility to see that the group
  works as a whole.
• If you don't take responsibility don't expect to
  have your mark adjusted at the end because a
  group member did not participate fully.

15

• Check each other's work to be sure it is done
  correctly. Be helpful. This is a learning
  experience whether you are learning how to help
  co-workers or whether you are learning how to
  improve the quality of your work. Working
  successfully with team members is an important
  real world asset and knowing how to learn from
  others will help you to be a success.
• Usually the successful groups are the groups that
  have created an environment in which everyone
  feels free to give input, ask questions or ask
  for help with a problem.
• Remember that compromises may have to be made.
  Not everything has to be done your way (There
  are only two ways to do things my way or the
  wrong way ? is not a productive attitude)
• Attend lectures. You may think that they are
  unnecessary but lectures give added information
  and stress what you need to know.
• Work ahead of deadlines, or at least as soon as
  the assignments are given out. It's hard to do,
  but you'll be happy when you pass your acceptance
  testing because of it.
• I mean the obvious ones are ?start coding early,
  and integrate early, but they never listen.

16

• Utilizing the T.A.s you have available for advice
  on how to do things may also not be a bad idea.
• We make you take 2210 for a reason, so that you
  can learn how to make proper data structures.
  You should ask yourself early "how efficient is
  this".
• Do not program for the test data
• An unsorted Linked List is always inappropriate.
• I think the other hint is start early. It's
  difficult to take ownership in the last few days.
  
• TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PROJECT
• TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PROJECT
• TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PROJECT
• TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PROJECT
• Fill in the blanks Take ______________ of your
  ____________

17
Ice Breakers

• I love east Indian food
• I love Chinese food
• I have been to Berlin, Germany
• I have been to Beruit, Lebanon
• Write down 2 statements about yourself, 1 must be
  true one must be false

18
Meet Your Group

• Click here for groups
• Get into your groups and
• Do the 1 false, 1 true statement thing with your
  group, pick one that will stump the lecturer
• Find out from each group member where one of
  theirs grandparents worked and his/her occupation
• EACH GROUP WILL PICK ONE PERSON TO INTRODUCE THE
  GROUP AND TELL A COUNTRY WHERE THAT PERSONS
  GRANDPARENT IS FROM AND WHAT HE/SHE DID FOR A
  LIVING
• Fill in your schedule sheet (one for each group
  member and one for the lecturer). Pick 3 meeting
  times. Once you have handed me a schedule with 3
  meeting times your group can leave.