MSc Projects – Starting Off PJE60P / MCTPRO

1. MSc Projects – Starting OffPJE60P / MCTPRO Dr Matthew PooleMatthew.Poole@port.ac.uk http://www.pums.cam.port.ac.uk/projects/

2. Contents • Project choice and allocation • Clients and supervisors • Project specifications • Project assessment • Starting off • Technical facilities and advice

3. Choosing a project • Browse the available project ideas held on PUMS: • www.pums.cam.port.ac.uk/projects/cohorts/msc2006/projalloc • Username: given in lecture • Password: given in lecture and make choices using link from that page. • You must select projects that are relevant to your particular course.

4. Project Allocation • The deadline for project choices is Wednesday 26th April. • All projects and supervisors will have been allocated (by me/Brett) shortly after this. • The first project deadline (specification) is Friday 19th May.

5. Clients and Supervisors • All projects will have a client and a supervisor. • Client (the proposer of the project idea): • from an outside organisation; or • from another part of the University; or • from SoC or CT • Supervisor - a member of staff from: • SoC for PJE60P students • CT for MCTPRO students • (in some cases supervisor = client)

6. The client relationship • A professional approach towards clients is required. • You represent not only yourselves, but the course, the departments, and the University. • Establish good communications early and be sensitive to the client’s needs.

7. The supervisor relationship • Establish contact and good communications early on. • Keep in touch regularly (meetings weekly / fortnightly; email/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).

8. 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!

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

10. Structure of the specification Essentially: • Outline of the project environment • The problem to be solved • Breakdown of tasks • Project deliverables • Requirements • Project plan

11. 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

12. Statement of project's context, aims and objectives Critical review of relevant literature Methodological approach Specification and discussion of the requirements Analysis and discussion of the IT design Discussion of implementation Discussion of verification and validation Evaluation against requirements Evidence of project planning and management Attributes of the solution Summary, conclusions and recommendations Structure and presentation Overall understanding and reflection Assessment categories

13. Assessment categories • Your final mark is a weighted average of these categories, except that: • You must pass all the bold categories (grey on marking forms). Failure in any will: • cause your final mark to be capped at 39% (PJE60P) • (the rule for MCTPRO marking is slightly different)

14. Time Management and Planning • Be realistic! • Other than a week or two for holidays, we expect students to work full-time on the project. • Having a full-time job and doing a project is not realistic. • Start early. • Expect delays and problems so factor these in to any timescales.

15. 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 WWW sources unless you have to • Use the literature critically • Cite references correctly

16. Good indications: In a refereed journal Widely-read source Author is well known and respected Referred to by other sources Bad indications: Self-published (e.g. on web) or unpublished In an obscure publication Little known author Does not refer to other published work Quality of what you read

17. 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 Technical facilities

18. Technical assistance • Lecture notes • Textbooks • ISO support staff (especially about stuff they specialise in) • Supervisor • Other lecturers