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Google > Dave Inman > Projects

Stages of a Final Stages of a Final Year projectYear project

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What is a final year What is a final year project?project?

A double unit or about 2 days a week over 2 semesters

Worth about 30% of your degree

Employers ask about your project in requests for references

It is YOUR project Chosen by you Planned by you You use resources to help you

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What do you have to do?What do you have to do? Choose a project

Find a supervisor

Plan it

Do it - deal with problems

Report on project Register project Meet supervisor – get log book signed Progress reports each month Meet 2nd assessor Written report (& electronic versions) Lab presentation

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Project outline Term 1Project outline Term 1

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Project outline Term 2Project outline Term 2

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Project Outline Term 3Project Outline Term 3

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Major DeadlinesMajor Deadlines Week 2 Term 1: Initial Project Registration

Week 4 : Term 1 - Main Project Registration

Week 4 : Term 1 - Supervisor allocated if not found

Week 5 Term 1: Meet supervisor. Sign off Ethics and Proposal

Last week term 1 – 1st Digital Submission

Last week Term 2 - Project Presentations to supervisor, 2nd Digital Submission

May : Project Final Handin

Hand in 2 printed copies of your Project, and 1 electronic copy.

May : Project Open Day

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Choosing a projectChoosing a project

Look at past projects (web)

Look at supervisor ideas (web)

Think what inspires you

Think what parts of your course you liked

Think of your niche

Did you do a placement?

Brainstorm - don’t eliminate until you write

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Choosing a supervisorChoosing a supervisor

Look at past projects (web) - see who supervised them

Look at supervisor ideas (web)

Who do you get on with?

Think what parts of course you liked

Your supervisor does not need to be in your area - you can get technical help from elsewhere

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PlanningPlanning Plan at the start!

Ways to plan

Milestones - work breakdown

Estimate times

Sequencing Bar chart Activity network Gantt chart

Rolling Wave plan - very general if structure of project not clear at start

How will you plan your project?

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Registering your projectRegistering your project You must register yourself as soon as you have your

idea ready

By 2nd week of term 1 you must register your personal info

By 4th week of term 1you must register project info: Title Key areas Summary Supervisor

Failure to register can mean project postponed 1 year!

You can change project details (not supervisor) until end of term 1.

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Log bookLog book

A kind of diary

Get supervisor to sign after each meeting

Format not important

One version Diary +File

Show to supervisor at end

For possible use by project panel / exam board

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Research Research

Find your sources - skim to evaluate

Detailed reading of important references

Keep notes on all refs (even brief notes if refs not really valid)

Synthesis is bringing together and applying research to answer your project questions

Write chapter/s on research soon after completion (e.g. by end term 1)

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Completing projectCompleting project

Use your plan effectively

Consider other studies - exams at the end of semester 1 will be a project ‘break’

Work hard in term 1 Work hard after exams Work hard at start of semester 2

Do several activities concurrently in case of problems whilst waiting for references, results, software

Don’t panic - dealing with problems is good!

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Progress reportsProgress reports You must submit progress reports for the months of

November, December, January, February , March and April

Each progress report is due during the following month

You need only check a few boxes and type a few words to say how the project is going

It is evidence of your development and for self-evaluation of the project.

Be honest - everyone will have problems!

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2nd Assessor meetings2nd Assessor meetings

2nd assessor will give more balance to assessment process

I will allocate 2nd assessor after week 5 of term 1

In the last week of term 1 you will meet 2nd assessor and report on progress. You must fix the meeting

Your second assessor will be present at the project open lab day when you describe your final project handed in.

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Project Open DayProject Open Day

You must present your project to your assessors

The Lab day will be held on a single day

You will have a PC for your demo

You can bring in a lap top or show your report

You will be able to talk about your project and can give handouts

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Writing upWriting up

There is a general report structure on the Web

Use this as a guide only

Keep your central question/s in mind as you write

If each chapter leads reader to answers in a structured way you will keep reader’s attention

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DeliverablesDeliverables

Project report - about 2cm thick - about 10K - 20K words in main body

One copy to supervisor direct (you can negotiate to have this returned in August)

One copy to 2nd assessor (we keep this)

Electronic versions (term 1, term 2, end of project) to SCISM server

Open day attendance

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More...More...

Look at Google>dave inman>Projects for more on:

Choosing a project, supervisor and registering your project

Planning your project

Research

Completing your project

Presenting your project

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More help...More help...

Project web guide (google>dave inman>projects)

Project Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from web site above

Supervisor at regular meetings

Project wrokshop – see your timetable