CSCI 6838 Capstone Projects
Guidelines For Final Reports

by K. Yue, September 2003

This document describe the general requirements and format of the final report. In the future, it will also provide link to selected final reports in previous semesters. Many parts borrow from Dr. Boetticher's guidelines. Thanks to him!

I. General

Each team must submit a final report for its project at the end of the semester. The final report is a technical report that completely describes all aspects of the project. Assume that the readers to be general computing professional who are interested in general computing technologies but do not necessary know much about the university.

Note the difference between powerpoint slides and a technical report. Presentation slides need not be complete as the presenter can elaborate further and the audiences may ask question. On the other hand, a final report needs to tell the entire story by itself. Thus, pure bullet forms with further explanation do not work with technical reports.

The report should be typed using word-processors. Figures and tables must be numbered, labeled and clearly presented. Information that is not directly applicable to the discussion in the report should be placed in the appendices. Other items that would be found in the appendix include detailed computations, generated output, and source code.

Although it is obvious, make sure to check your grammar and spelling. A poorly written document implies that the software is also poorly written. Proofread all documents (and use the spelling checker) prior to submitting the final report. Like any technical writings, it is common for your final report to undergo several major and minor revisions.

II. Final Report Layout

• Turn in one copy of your final report, together with my commented earlier version. You may want to turn in one copy to the mentor too, if applicable.
• All final copies should have a vello binding. You may want to check around for better prices.
• Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Use "times roman" font
  • Body of text: size 12
  • Section headings: size 12
  • Main headings: size 14
• Use full margins, not left-justified margins.
• Use double spacing. This makes it easy for the instructor to write comments.
• Sections and subsections should be numbered, for example, 1, 1.1, 2.3.1, etc.
• Make sure to label every figure and table. Use the following labeling convention: Labels for tables go above the table and labels for figures go below the figure.
• References are placed in alphabetical order by the first author's last name. When citing a reference in a document, enclose the corresponding number for the reference in square brackets. Include only references that are cited in the body. Limit your references to 12.

III. Final Report Contents

The narratives of your final report (sections 4 to 7 below) must not be more than 14 pages (Sections 4 to 7 below). Source code, screen shots and other less important details can be included in the appendices.

Your final report should have the following contents:

1. Cover Page

• Project title
• Name of the instructor
• Name of the mentor
• Names of the team members (in alphabetical order)
• Semester and year at the bottom (e.g., Summer, 2001)
• Report date

2. Abstract

This is a concise executive summary of the project, describing the problem, the design, implementation and evaluation of the solution prototype and recommendations for future enhancement. The page number use Roman number in lower case.

3. Table of contents

• List sections, subsections and appendices along with page numbers.
• Listing of table and figures.
• Make sure page numbers are right justified.
• The page number use Roman number in lower case.

4. Introduction

This section introduces the problem, its significance, context and specifications, existing current work and related problems. It also gives an overview of the solution described by the report. This section startis at page 1 of the narrative.

5. Technical Body

These sections are the technical contents of the final report. You may use several sections to cover the technical body and arrange the order in your preferred manner. In general, the technical body should contain the following:

Design and Implementation of Solutions

Topics to be covered may include:

• The architecture of the selected solution.
• Key design decisions and their rationale, which may include:
• Key UML diagrams.
• Key relation schema.
• Key data structures and classes used in the implementation.
• Main functions of the solution.
• Selected technologies and rationales behind the selection.
• Software development model used.
• Implementation issues: difficulties encountered and techniques to overcome them.
• Comparisons with other alternative solutions.

You may use screen to capture the functionality and look and feel of your prototype. If there are many screen shots, you may include them in the appendices.

Evaluation of Solution

This section provides evaluation of the solution prototype in the following respects:

• how well the solution solve the original problem?
• how well is the design of the solution?
• the functionality of the solution prototype.
• the performance of the solution prototype. Is it fast enough?
• the reliability of the solution prototype. For example, is it transaction safe?

This section alson describes the lessons learnt from the project and provides future directions, such as:

• future changes in the design of the solution, and
• future enhancement of the solution prototype.

6. Project Management and Team Information

This section describes the development process and the development team including:

• Team roles and role assignments: e.g. team leader, Webmaster, librarian, dba, developer, technical writer, etc. A team member may take multiple roles.
• Tasks: major tasks of the projects.
• Task assignments: who do what? Use a Gnatt chart.
• Schedule: timetable, deadlines and deliverables.
• Software metrics analysis: included planned and actual man-hour of activities; analysis of team member log books, etc.

The detailed percentage breakdown of each major task must be included.

7. Conclusion

This section describes whether, according to the team, the project is successful or not and a summary of the supporting reasons. It also includes a summary of the recommendations for future enhancements.

8. References

This section includes all references cited in the technical report body. You should use established reference formats. Limit your citations to 12.

9. Appendices

This section includes all appendices.

III. Selected Samples

In the future, this section will contain links to selected final reports of previous semesters for references. The selected final reports are usually of relatively good quality.