CSCI 6838 Capstone Projects
(Research Project and Seminar)
Spring 2012
Course Syllabus, Policies and Guidelines

by K. Yue

1. General Information

• 22967 CSCI 6838.2 T7:00-9:50pm, Delta 150.

Instructor

Dr. Kwok-Bun Yue, Professor of Computer Science and Computer Information Systems
Delta 163, 281-283-3864, yue@uhcl.edu; URL: http://dcm.uhcl.edu/yue/
Office hour: MW 3-4, 5:20-6:00, walk-in and appointment.

Course Description

From Catalog: Prerequisite: 24 hours completed in graduate program. Attendance to orientation meeting of first class day required. Students will be assigned a research project which requires integrating knowledge and standard procedures in the discipline. A written paper and a presentation will be required.

More information: Student teams will be assigned a research or real world project which requires integrating knowledge and standard procedures in the discipline. A written technical paper and a presentation will also be required.

Course Learning Outcomes

• The goals of the course are to provide students with practical experience in the discipline by working on realistic projects.
• Students gain experience to work in a team environment.
• Students gain experience in writing technical papers and making technical presentations.

Specifically, after taking the courses, the students are expected to be able to:

1. Work on real-world computer projects.
2. Analyze real-world problems to devise requirement specifications.
3. Construct effective software solutions for real-world problems.
4. Work professionally with team members, customers, mentors and supervisors.
5. Manage and participate in software projects.
6. Present technical presentations effectively.
7. Write technical reports.

Prerequisites

24 hours completed in the graduate degree programs of CS or CIS and approval by the division chair.

Course Format

For each week, every team is generally expected to:

• meet by itself once.
• meet with the mentor and/or instructor once.
• write agendas and minutes for meetings.

See the tentative schedule below for specific activities.

Grading Policy

Grading will be based on the quality of deliverable and presentations, as well as the instructor's observation on student performance during technical meetings and demonstrations. The instructor will also seek feedback from the external mentors.

Other Course Information

• UHCL emergency hotline (to check weather related closing, for example): 281-283-2221.

2. Course Policies

The following policies and guidelines will be used for grading projects. Students are responsible to ensure that their projects are following all guidelines.

• Policies and procedures: including general course expectation, procedures, grading policies, etc.
• Managing Email and Meetings
• Portfolio: each team must turn in a project portfolio at the end of the semester.
• Guidelines for maintaining an active project Web page: the minimal contents of the Web page.
• Guidelines for oral presentation: slide contents, slide preparation and presentation.
• Guidelines for database design and documentation.
• Guidelines for writing the technical report: contents and layout.

Other policies and hints:

• No incomplete grade or administrative withdrawal under nearly all situations.
• There is no teaching assistant for this course.
• There is no textbook for this course.
• This course does not use Blackboard of UHCL.
• Penalty on cheating will be extremely severe. Standard academic honesty procedure will be strictly followed. Use your best judgment. If you are not sure about certain activities, consult the instructor. See: http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/PRV/FORMS_POLICY_PROCEDURES/STUDENT_POLICIES/Academic_Honesty_Policy
• Students should not miss any meetings or presentations. They should participate actively and be punctual. In verified emergency situation when one cannot attend a meeting, notify other participants as soon as possible.
• Course participation is of utmost importance.
• If you need help in debugging, you may come to my office with the most recent listing of your program, output and error messages, and a disk containing your program so I can run it. However, unlike other courses, the team is expected to solve technical problems itself.
• Software development is time consuming. Start early and plan well ahead.
• If you expect any potential problems, consult me as soon as possible so I may help you.
• Procrastination usually results in poor grades.
• UHCL Information about withdrawals, appeals, GPA, repeated courses, the 6 drop rule, etc. can be found in the general program requirement section: http://www.uhcl.edu/XDR/Render/catalog/archives/125/06/%23A0110.
• Late penalty will be severe and it will be assessed in an individual basis. No team turned in their final deliverable late in the last 10 years.
• Students with disabilities and/or special requirements should discuss their needs with the instructor as soon as possible. See UHCL Disability Service.

ASSESSMENT FOR ACCREDITATION:

The School of Science and Computer Engineering may use assessment tools in this course and other courses for curriculum evaluation. Educational assessment is defined as the systematic collection, interpretation, and use of information about student characteristics, educational environments, learning outcomes, and client satisfaction to improve program effectiveness, student performance, and professional success. This assessment will be related to the learning objectives for each course and individual student performance will be disaggregated relative to these objectives. This disaggregated analysis will not impact student grades, but will provide faculty with detailed information that will be used to improve courses, curriculum, and student performance.

3. Tentative Course Schedule

The schedule is subjected to changes.

Week #1 (1/17: Class)

Launching week:

This is the most important class. Attendance is mandatory. Missing the class is likely to result in a failing grade.

Class activity: Introduction to the course; policies and guidelines; descriptions of available projects; assignments of projects; project management.

Tasks expected to be completed before the second class time as soon as possible.

• Each team member should send an email to the instructor to provide the following information: name, email address, team number, phone, cell phone, major and student id.
• Each team should send an email to the instructor identifying the team members and their email addresses and student id.
• Each team should also send team information in a MS Word document to both the instructor and the mentors. The document should contain the team number, the team title, team URL, and information of each team member. The name, email address, phone number, major, role and a recent clear photo of each member should be included. Try to fit everything into one page for easy printing. Compress the photos before sending the document.
• Each team should have a team meeting before the first mentor meeting. Important tasks of the first meeting include role assignments, initial understanding of the requirement specifications, determination of development platforms, setting up project Web site, preparation of the first meeting with the mentor, scheduling, initial identification of critical tasks, task assignment, etc.
• Each team should conduct the first mentor meeting. The first meeting usually focus on understanding the project requirements and establishing logistical arrangement. Scheduling is difficult. It is strongly advised that students should start early as possible. When scheduling your first two mentors, ensure that the instructor must be present.

The instructor will attend the first two mentor meetings. Teams must ensure the presence of the instructors in these meetings.

Week #2 (1/24: Class)

Take-off week:

Class activity: Further discussion of course policies and procedures; discussion on mentor meetings; how to be successful in the capstone project courses, other issues, etc.

Minimal tasks expected to be completed this week:

• Each team should conduct the second mentor meeting.
• Initial project Web site should be up and running.
• A smooth process for scheduling meetings should be setup.
• Team roles should be properly assigned.
• Critical tasks should be identified and assigned.
• The team should acquire a good understanding of the project scope.

Week #5 (2/14)

Abstract week: A brief abstract of the project should be sent to the instructor through email in MS Word format. The abstract should be less than 250 words and should use double spacing. This allows the instructor to comprehend the quality of technical writing of the team and provide feedback, which will be sent through email. The abstract is used for feedback and not grading.

Week #6 (2/21)

Progress report week: Meeting with the instructor: the team should schedule a meeting with the instructor to report progresses. If possible, prototype demonstration is desirable.

Week #7 (2/28: Class)

Mid semester presentation week:

Class activity: Mid semester presentation. Each team will present for a total of 25 minutes, including the question and answer session. Each member should present for approximately the same duration of time. Every student is expected to attend all presentations of the same section and ask at least a question during the class. Feedback from the instructor will be dispensed immediately after the presentation. This is used for feedback, not grading.

Teams are encouraged to conduct a mock presentation before the mid term presentations. Video recording is also encouraged.

The instructor will discuss any issues the class raised to ensure that any remaining problems are properly addressed. The class may be longer than the normal class time.

Week #12 (4/10)

Initial Prototype week:

First prototype demonstration: each team should schedule a meeting with the instructor to demonstrate its project prototype. Mentors may be invited when desirable. Feedback from the instructor to improve the prototype will be dispensed immediately.

Week #13 (4/17)

Initial technical report week:

First version of the technical report is due on 4/19 (Thursday) 5:00pm. It should be sent through email in MS Words format. No hard copy is needed.

Week #15 (5/1: Class)

Final week:

Class activity: final presentations. Each team will present for a total of 30 minutes, including the question and answer session. Each member should present for approximately the same duration of time. Every student is expected to attend all presentations and ask at least a question during the class. No feedback will be provided. Final presentations are used for grading. It will be open to the public and may not be scheduled in the capstone project laboratory.

Each team should schedule to demonstrate the final prototype to the instructor, preferably before the presentation. The team should encourage the mentors to participate in the demonstration.

All deliverable are due on 5/5 (Friday) noon, including:

• Final version of the technical report.
• All other deliverable. They should be well documented and accessible through the project Web site, a CD, or both.