HOW TO SUCCEED IN FINAL YEAR PROJECT AT SCIT

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HOW TO SUCCEED IN FINAL YEAR PROJECT AT SCIT
BY AGABA JOAB EZRA cit4.mak.ac.ug/projects/index.
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Seminar Agenda

• Issues to discuss will be
• What is this final year project and why do it?
• How do we form groups? The sizes, how to choose
  the right people, e.t.c
• How do we get a supervisor? Reporting issues with
  supervisors early enough,
• How do we get a project topic?
• What is required in a concept paper?
• What is required in a proposal?
• What is required in a report?
• What referencing styles should be used?
• What of submission deadlines? And submission
  process?
• What about the projects assessment? The 40 and
  60
• Are there opportunities to get funding in future
  to improve our projects for community outreach?

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Formation of Groups

• BIS (BIS 3200) 4 Students per group
• BIT(BIT 3208)- 4 Students per group
• BCSC(CSC 3206)- 4 Students per group
• BSC FLAT(CSC 3206)- 4 Students per group
• Each group is allocated a supervisor and a group
  number

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Supervision and Assessment

• Each group will agree on when to meet the
  supervisor. Report any issues with the supervisor
  to the HoD or Final Year Projects Coordinator
  early enough.
• 40 of the final mark will come from the group
  supervisor and this mark is from individual
  assessment not a group. So you must participate
  in the group
• 60 will come from the final project report
  submitted together with the panel presentation
  assessment.

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Building a Problem for a project

• First document your idea and discuss it as a
  group
• Then present that idea to your allocated
  supervisor. This could be like a half-a-page
  content.
• Also look at what has already been done in
  relation to your idea and see what is missing.
  Visit the book bank and check the projects
  already done and avoid repeating them. Also watch
  on plagiarizing those projects.
• Watch out for those lazy students who want to
  steal your idea and present it to the department
  as their project title even when your idea is
  still young!

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Contents of a Concept Paper

• Presents what you intend to do.
• The contents should be
• Background to the study-what is on ground?
• Problem statement-What is the problem?
• Main objective and specific objectives-What do
  you intend to achieve?
• Scope of the project-What are the geographical
  and functional boundaries of your project?
• Significance of the project-will the world
  collapse without your project?
• Methodology- Briefly, how do you intend to
  achieve the objectives
• Should be summarized between 2 to 3 pages and
  should be in future tense.

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Contents of a Proposal

• Rather detailed compared to a concept paper
• Contains three Sections
• Section One(Introduction)- (Not more than 5
  pages)
• Presents the background to the study, Problem
  statement, Main Objective and Specific
  Objectives, Scope and Significance of the study.
• These should flow with what was stated in the
  concept paper but this time in detail.
• The background should start on a broader scale
  and keep zeroing down to the problem. By the time
  one reads the last sentence of background, he/she
  should be having a hint about the problem
  statement
• The problem statement should be clear. It should
  show that indeed there is something worth
  solving.

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Contents of a Proposal-Contd

• More on Introduction
• The objectives should be SMART(Simple,
  Measurable, Attainable, Reliable and Timely). So
  dont promise what you cant deliver in time.
• The scope should show the boundaries of your
  project(both geographical and functionality).
• Geographical-Is it covering the whole
  organization or a particular department.
• Functionality- What will your system do? What
  wont it do?
• The significance presents the importance of the
  project to the community (prospective users) and
  the academia(the knowledge gap being filled).

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Contents of a Proposal-Contd

• Section Two(Literature Review)-(Not more than 5
  pages)
• Presents literature read from research scholars
  but related to your project
• Avoid plagiarism(like copy and paste) give
  credit to the owners of the literature by
  mentioning the authors as a reference.
• Should address at least some of the following
• Introduction and definition of key terms (if they
  were not defined in section one)
• Suppose your project is A Mobile-based Crime
  Reporting System for Uganda Police, you would
  need to
• Define what a mobile-based crime reporting system
  is and what it does
• Advantages and disadvantages of such systems
• Examples of such systems(i.e case studies). Tell
  us why those systems were developed, where were
  they developed, how do they work, what are their
  weaknesses, among others
• If possible, go on to summarize the differences
  between the case studies above and the proposed
  system. This means that the positives that your
  proposed system will have against the existing
  systems are the reason why your system will be
  important.
• Present a conclusion

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Contents of a Proposal-Contd

• Section Three(Methodology)-(Not more than 5
  pages)
• Presents the steps you intend to follow to
  achieve the objectives.
• Suppose your project is A Mobile-based Crime
  Reporting System for Uganda Police, you need to
• State field study techniques you intend to use
  and why you intend to use them. How helpful will
  those techniques be?
• State the tools you intend to use in system
  analysis, design and implementation
• State how you intend to test and validate your
  system

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Contents of a Proposal-Contd

• References
• Presents a list of the scholarly work you have
  read and used in building your proposal.
• Follow the referencing style recommended by the
  school.
• APA referencing style shall be used
• Appendix should at least contain
• Work plan
• Budget

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Contents of a Project Report

• The first chapters of a proposal will become the
  first three chapters of the report BUT in past
  tense.
• Chapter four- focuses on Study, Analysis, and
  Design of the system. The out put of this chapter
  should be a document to guide the person to
  implement the system.
• Chapter Five-focuses on project results. It
  includes implementation, testing and validation
  results.
• Chapter Six focuses on Conclusion and future
  work. Future work should explain what you feel
  you didnt do in the project and should be done
  in the future. Now, for those looking for
  projects to do, this is the place to visit from
  students project reports in the library!

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Contents of a Project Report (Contd)

• After chapter six, it will be References and then
  after Appendix.
• The appendix should include documents relevant to
  the project.
• The Source code issue- NO SOURCE CODE should be
  included in the appendix! Instead, include the
  pseudo code, especially that of the project files
  that focus on meeting functional requirements of
  the system.

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Project Report Submission Requirements(Before
panel presentations)

• Submit to your respective departmental projects
  coordinator three(3) spiral-bound project reports
  and make sure that you sign for your group.
• Check the date you have been scheduled to present
  and start preparing.

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Panel Presentations

• Be at the venue for presentation at least 30
  minutes before time.
• Dress smartly, be composed and organized.
• Prepare at most 10 PowerPoint slides to
  summarize your presentation.
• Come along with where to write comments from the
  panel
• Avoid answering a question asked to another group
  member by the panel. Just wait for yours!
• Take the project reports to the Internal Examiner
  allocated to you by the panel after addressing
  the panelists comments for approval letter.

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Final Project Report Submission
Requirements(After panel presentations)

• An approval letter from the supervisor(or any
  other person assigned to you by the panel to
  satisfy).
• Two hard cover bound project reports signed by
  your supervisor
• A CD labeled with your group number and course
  containing
• The project report
• An abstract of the report
• A folder containing your project source code.
• A text file containing login details for any
  administrative account on your system
• Ensure that you sign after submitting the final
  report
• Note some of the best projects will be selected
  to be presented at the Colleges open day.

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Important Deadlines
Activity Deadline date
Concept paper submission By 5pm of 28th February 2013
Project Proposal submission By 5pm of Friday 28th March 2013
Project Report Submission By 5pm of the Friday of the week before final exams of semester 2 2012/2013
Starting Panel Presentations Starting First week after semester 2 exams
Final Project report submission Depends on time given by the panel to make corrections but not exceeding 3 weeks from date of panel presentation
Ending panel presentations End of July 2013
NOTE Any group that fails to submit by end of End of July will be strictly referred to next academic year. NOTE Any group that fails to submit by end of End of July will be strictly referred to next academic year.
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Questions???
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