1 MSc projects – starting off Unit PJ60P Dr Jim Briggs

2 Contents Relationships and attitude Writing specifications Where to start Research facilities Technical facilities Assessment

3 The client relationship A professional approach towards clients is required. So far this year, it has not been evident in all cases You represent not only yourselves, but the course and the University. Establish good communications early and be sensitive to the clients needs.

4 The supervisor relationship Establish contact and good communications early on. Keep in touch regularly (meetings weekly / fortnightly; /phone also) Supervisors are your guides through the process of the project. They may have specialist knowledge of your topic area, but they may not. Establish with your supervisor when you and he/she will be unavailable over the summer (and plan accordingly).

5 Project specifications One of the first tasks to complete Specification Template available on PUMS Specification must be agreed by the Client, the Supervisor, the Student, and signed by all three! The expectations and requirements of the client and the supervisor will be different!

6 Project specifications Clients want the job done –Clients should understand that artefacts and/or investigations may not be completed by the student. Supervisor wants a project that meets the academic requirements of a Master’s degree.

7 Structure of the specification 1.Outline of the project environment 2.The problem to be solved 3.Breakdown of tasks 4.Project deliverables 5.Requirements 6.Project plan

8 Starting off What am I doing? Where do I start? What am I looking for? Who should I be talking to? What should I be reading? What do I need to learn? Don't panic!

9 Keeping notes as you go things you have read things you have been told advice from your supervisor decisions you took problems you encountered how you solved those problems test case and evaluation results ideas for future work anything else that is interesting! –all raw materials for your report

10 Can you handle ideas?

11 Research Start early Keep copies/notes and bibliographic details Start broad and narrow down Use as much up-to-date material as you can Don't use Internet sources unless you have to Use the literature critically The University has many resources but you have to find them and use them! We have a link from our MSc homepage as a starting point for online searches via the Library msc/onlineSearches.htm Our subject Librarian is Andy Barrow

12 Quality of what you read Good indications: +In a refereed journal +Widely-read source +Author is well known and respected +Referred to by other sources Bad indications: -Self-published or unpublished work -In an obscure publication -You wouldn't know the author from Adam -Does not refer to other published work

13 What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is passing off an idea as your own Much is unintentional (but still guilty) –intent is not an issue For every idea, decide: –Is it your own? –Is it common knowledge (multiple sources)? –Does it have one source (or a small number)? You must acknowledge other people’s ideas Cases every year – many serious

14 How to avoid plagiarism Identify words: –Quotation marks or similar (legal but poor scholarship) –Jim Briggs states that … –As Checkland describes, … –Name names! –Paraphrasing in your own words shows you understand Identify source: –Conventional way is to include a bibliographic citation next to idea in your report [Briggs98] –How to do it? See /projects/docs/projcite.htm Add value –Critique

15 Anti-plagiarism example Bad (direct quote) “We define telemedicine as ‘The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver healthcare at a distance’. The role of telemedicine is to allow expertise to be transferred between sites so that decisions on patient management can be made (and implemented) locally. Telemedicine offers the prospect not only to transfer skills and expertise between the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors but also into patients' homes.”[Briggs2000] Good (paraphrase) Briggs and Curry talk about telemedicine as being the use of information technology and communications to deliver healthcare at a distance. According to them, telemedicine transfers skills and expertise so that decisions about treatment can be made where the patient is. [Briggs2000]

16 Anti-plagiarism resources My info – /projects/docs/projcite.htm A good example! – /briggsj/SENG2/reuse.htm tml - Cecil Greek in Florida uate/essay_guide/definiti.htm - University of Western Ontario o/gradhonor/ghsconst.html#app3a - Virginia Polytechnic Institute

17 Technical facilities Our labs –General purpose PCs –Multimedia PCs –Comms lab –Linux lab Servers (see Anglesea) –Web space –Apache, IIS –CGI/Perl, PHP, Java, ASP –MySQL, SQL Server –Remote access Specialist software Specialist facilities (see Mercantile House) –Comms lab –Set up a machine as you want it Client’s facilities –If applicable –Understand what’s reasonable Your facilities –Install free/licensed software

18 Technical assistance Documentation and tutorials Lecture notes Textbooks Online forums ISO support staff (especially about stuff they specialise in) Supervisor Other lecturers

19 Assessment of project Contents of final report (and presentation of artefact) Marking scheme is public (projmark.htm) Good artefact does not necessarily imply good report (and vice versa) Marked by supervisor and moderator Third marking if they cannot agree Also leads to final assessment of RECTP

20 Assessment categories Statement of project's context, aims and objectives Critical review of relevant literature Methodological approach Specification and discussion of the requirements (E) Primary research and results (if any) (S) Analysis and discussion of the IT design (E) Content (S) Discussion of implementation (E) Originality (S) Discussion of verification and validation (E) Evaluation against requirements (E) Evidence of project planning and management Attributes of the solution (E) Summary, conclusions and recommendations Structure and presentation Overall understanding and reflection