CPRJ2003 Systems Development Group Project

1. Report WritingDiana Musgravedmusgrave@dmu.ac.ukBased on a presentation from the University of Derby CPRJ2003 Systems Development Group Project

2. Module web site • This presentation will go on the module web site: http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~jennyc

3. Module Schedule Reminder • Week 9 • Meetings with tutors. Bring feedback from user trials of product • Week 10 • Product demos • Thurs 1 April, 4pm – final report due, with working disk/CD of your system • Then peer assessment and individual essay after Easter.

4. Report Writing • An important skill: • In this module • During your Placement next year • For your Final Year Project • In your future career.

5. Report Writing • A bad project cannot be made into a good one by a good report • A good project can be ruined by a bad report • Often a report provides important evidence of the substantial amount of work that has gone into a project.

6. Report Writing: Topics to be covered • Your report for this module • Structure of a report • Presentation and style • Reviewing your report.

7. Final Project Report for this Module • 15% of the marks for the module • Detailed requirements are in the module guide • Briefly: • What you planned to do • What you actually achieved • Project evaluation • A good report is likely to be at least 5,000 words, excluding appendices • Report will be marked on presentation as well as content.

8. Overall Structure ¶Title page · Abstract or summary ¸ Acknowledgements ¹ Table of contents º List of tables } As appropriate » List of figures } ¼ Report: Introduction Main body Conclusions/recommendations ½ References ¾ Appendices/documentation/user manual.

9. ????? Question ????? • What’s the difference between an Abstract/Summary and an Introduction?

10. Front Pages • Title page • Clear title, authors’names, date • Abstract/summary • A summary of the whole report • Acknowledgements • Name people outside the group who have helped you in this project.

11. Contents List Page Summary 1 • Introduction 2 • First chapter heading 3 2.1 Section heading 3 2.1.1 Sub-heading 5 2.1.2 Sub-heading 6 Etc References 10 Appendix 1: Name of appendix Appendix 2: Name of appendix

12. Figures & Tables Note that “tables” here does not mean Access tables! • Figures and tables add much to a report • Should be uniquely numbered and titled • Cite source, if not your own work • Discuss them in the text • List them after your contents page.

13. Structure Overall, and each section / chapter has: • Introduction • Main body • Conclusions.

14. Introduction • Sets the scene for the main body. Provides the reader with a clear idea of the task being undertaken • Used to state the aims of the project • May include outline of work - when, where, and how the project was carried out.

15. Main Body See p7 of module guide – the following sections should all be included • Plans • Product overview • How the product is intended to be used • Requirements specification • Methodology and justification • Discussion of orginal project plan (plan in appendix).

16. Main Body ctd • Achievements • Analysis and design (ERD, table types, use cases etc in appendices) • Description of product (Access relationships screen print, data, user manual as appendices) • Discussion of software testing (test documents in appendix).

17. Main Body ctd • Project Evaluation • What is good/weak about your product • User feedback (forms in appendix) • Discussion of the effectiveness of your project planning (possibly include new Gantt chart in appendix) • What changes would you recommend?.

18. Conclusions • Summarising the findings in the main body - not new material • Be consistent with previous parts of the report.

19. Appendices • Gantt charts, design documentation etc as above • Appendices give extra material for the interested reader • Discuss the contents of your appendices in your main text: • “As can be seen from the Feedback Forms in Appendix G, users were generally positive about the system, but they also made some criticisms……”.

20. ????? Question ????? • Reports are structured to make it easy to find information - which parts of reports do you think managers read most/least? • Abstract/summary • Introduction • Main body • Conclusion • Appendices.

21. Reading Reports • From most to least read: • Abstract/summary • Introduction and conclusion • Main body • Appendices Findings of Windust (1983) as quoted by Hilton (1998).

22. So what is the difference between an Abstract/Summary and an Introduction? • The Abstract/Summary tells you briefly what the whole report says • It is complete in itself, and can be published separately from the report • The Introduction sets the scene for the report; it leads readers on to the main body of the report.

23. Plagiarism Use of other people’s work, as if it were yours Make sure you reference other people’s work appropriately.

24. Referencing Why Cite References? • Avoid plagiarism • Show academic background • Citing • Bibliography / References.

25. The Harvard System of Referencing (Examples from DMU library advice) In your text: “There is some evidence (Jones, 1992) that these figures are incorrect.” or “Jones (1992) has provided evidence that these figures are incorrect.”

26. The Harvard System of Referencing In your list of references: Books: JONES, J.L. (1992) Pollution, London, Van Nostrand. Web documents: YEATES, R. (1996) NewsAgent for Libraries: Overview [WWW] Available from: http://www.sbu.ac.uk/litc/overview.html [Accessed 20 January 2002].

27. Write in a Formal Style Don’t say: “We had a chat about what to do.” Instead say: “The group drew up a plan.”

28. Review your Report • Check your own work – spell check it, read it through. Try reading it aloud – does it make sense? • Get another member of the group to read each section of the report and suggest improvements • At least one person should read the whole report and suggest improvements.

29. We have covered: • Your report for this module • Structure of a report • Presentation and style • Reviewing your report.

30. Further advice • Consult the DMU library web site • A report writing guide by Anne Hilton and advice on Harvard Referencing are also available on paper from the DMU library.

31. End of Lecture