1 Google > Dave Inman > Projects Stages of a Final Year project

2 What is a final year 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

3 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

4 Project outline Term 1

5 Project outline Term 2

6 Project Outline Term 3

7 Major 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 – 1 st Digital Submission  Last week Term 2 - Project Presentations to supervisor, 2 nd Digital Submission  May : Project Final Handin Hand in 2 printed copies of your Project, and 1 electronic copy.  May : Project Open Day

8 Choosing 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

9 Choosing 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

10 Planning  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?

11 Registering your project  You must register yourself as soon as you have your idea ready  By 2 nd 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.

12 Log 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

13 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)

14 Completing 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!

15 Progress 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!

16 2nd 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.

17 Project 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

18 Writing 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

19 Deliverables  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

20 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

21 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