CO73019 a Guide to Group Projects

CO73019 – A Guide to Group Projects

Choosing a Project

The big question ! Once you have organised yourselves into groups, you are faced with the sometimes daunting task of choosing a project. Although you are free to choose any project you like, this initially may seem an incredibly difficult task. Here are some starting points to help you formulate some ideas:

What are your collective skills/backgrounds ? Can you think of something that utilises each persons different skills ?

For example, a group in a previous cohort consisted in part of 2 French speaking members and someone who has a background in art and design. They produced an electronic story-book to teach English-speaking children French, and so made the most of the skills they had.

Do you want to learn a particular technology, perhaps with a view to future employment ?

Perhaps you are interested in a career in web-design, or databases. Utilise this opportunity to learn new languages/packages that will help you in finding a job, and perhaps produce some software that you could demonstrate.

What are your interests/hobbies ? Could you do something to benefit a club/society or other people with similar interests ?

A past group produced an online guide with accompanying CD to setting up and maintaining an aquarium. Another group produced a Scrabble application that could be played across a network.

Do you have links to an outside employer ?

Many past projects have had specific briefs from past or present employers to produce either a piece of software or to design a web-site for example.

Example Projects Titles

Some example project titles from previous years are given in Appendix 1 at the end of this document. If you are still struggling for ideas and would like to look at some previous project reports, please contact the module leader.

The Role of the Supervisor

The supervisor’s role is to guide you through the project and ensure that what you are undertaking is appropriate. He/she will help you manage the project, agree a sensible workplan and keep to deadlines. The supervisor is not necessarily able to provide technical advice on the project, so you should ensure that whatever you agree to undertake is within your capabilities or that you have external sources of technical support if required.

In addition, a 2nd supervisor is assigned to each group. The role of the 2nd supervisor is as a moderator. He/she will read and mark a spectrum of projects from a range of supervisors, and thus ensure that the marking process across supervisors is fair. Again, the supervisor will not necessarily have any technical experience in the field of your project, therefore you should ensure that the final report is accessible to a wide audience.

Some Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Remember that the project is equivalent to one modules work for each member of the group, therefore you must make sure that the project you decide on has sufficient work in it for each member. Simply producing a web-site is not sufficient!

Much more common however is for groups to attempt to take on a project which is too large or complex to be completed in the time available. Remember that you have other modules to complete also ! Your supervisor will be able to offer guidance on this matter.

Another common pitfall to try and avoid is reliance on receiving data etc. from third-parties. Companies have other commitments and cannot always meet the timescales demanded by student projects, despite how enthusiastic they may be. Therefore , be careful of choosing a project that hinges critically on an external source. Try to build contingencies into your project plan that offer an alternative direction for your project if the worst comes to the worst.

Managing the Project

The first step is to write a project proposal, which should be discussed with the supervisor until agreement is reached. Then draw up a list of tasks to be completed, assign them to group members, and produce a Gantt chart assigning dates to each task. At each weekly meeting with your supervisor, you should fill in a project diary form (available from the project web-site) which notes attendance, progess, and tasks to be started or completed for the following week. It is essential that these forms are filled in every week and included in the final project report as an appendix.

Writing the Report

The length of the report is deliberately not specified, as projects are so different, depending on the type of problem you undertake. However, a typical report would have the following sections. The sections marked with an asterisk (*) and shown in italics are mandatory.

Introduction
*Critical Review of Project Area
Design/Methodology
Implementation
Testing/Results
* Critical Review of Project
Conclusion/Future Work
Appendices

* Project Proposal including project plan
* Weekly diary sheets indicating attendance at meetings, progress and plans
* Statement from each individual (approximately 1 page) describing their role in project, what did you achieve, critical reflection on the process

Whatever your chosen project, you are required to critically review the area that you are going to be working in. Thus, if you are producing a web-site for booking on-line cinema tickets, you should review existing cinema web-sites and critically assess what is good or bad about them. A project to produce a piece of software to play a game for example could review the features available in other electronic games and make a critical assessment of the language and platform the game should be implemented in.

One of the final chapters in the report should be a critical review of the result of your project. If it was a web-site, have you tested it with its intended users and analysed the results ? Have you attempted performance tests on software implementations. Have you tested to see if the aims of the project have been met ? This section should critically reflect on the process and product of the project and make suggestions for improvements,

There are a number of documents that must be included in the appendix. Firstly, project proposal that was agreed with your supervisor should be included, along with the Gantt chart showing the intended breakdown of tasks and their timescales.

The weekly diary sheets should also be included in an appendix.

Each group member is required to produce an individual statement of about 1 page describing their role in the project. The statement should make clear what your contributions to the project were (both to the report and the project itself) and what you learnt from the project . You should reflect critically on the entire process – did the group work well together, what would you have done differently ?

6.1 Background and Supporting Material for Report Writing

Some useful information regarding report writing and academic referencing can be found at the following URL under the “GENERAL STUDY SKILLS HANDOUTS”

heading.

(Disregard the information contained in the “Dissertation/Project Handouts” section on this page as this information concerns a different module)

Further useful material on formulating a proposal, literature searching, and writing style can be gleaned from the MSc dissertation materials which are available at:

The report hand-in is typically around the end of week 12 – the module leader will provide you with a date at the beginning of the project.

Producing a Poster

At the end of the semester, you are asked to produce a poster describing your work. These will be displayed at an exhibition to which all staff will be invited. In particular, your supervisor and 2nd supervisor will spend some time looking at the poster in detail, and asking you to explain various aspects of the project to them. Appendix 2 of this document contains a style guide to producing posters.

8. The Marking Scheme

Each student is allocated a group mark and an individual mark for the project. The overall mark for for a student is normally an unweighted average between the group mark and the individual mark. The exception is that if a student fails the individual component, then the mark for that individual component is taken as the overall mark. This arrangement ensures that every student must pass the individual component, and therefore it is not possible for a strong group to ‘carry’ a passenger and allow them to pass the module.

Each component (i.e. individual and group) is subdivided into four categories: control, achievement , report and presentation. Each component has different weightings for each category, reflecting their differing importance.

Group (50%)* / Individual (50%)*
Control / 20% / 20%
Achievement / 50% / 35%
Report / 20% / 35%
Presentation / 10% / 10%
Total / 100% / 100%

* These two components are weighted equally and the final mark for the coursework is normally obtained by averaging these two marks. The exception is if the group component is a pass (50% or above) and the individual component is a fail (below 50%); in this case the final mark for the coursework is the individual component mark.

Some examples are illustrated in the following table:

Individual / Group / Final mark / Comment
70% / 60% / 65% / Both components passed, the average used.
70% / 30% / 50% / Individual passed but group failed, the average is used.
30% / 20% / 25% / Both components failed, the average is used.
30% / 70% / 30% / Individual has failed but the group has passed, the individual mark is used.

The following information gives an idea of what will be assessed in each category – however, the guidelines are deliberately not meant to be prescriptive as projects will be so diverse in nature.

Group control: 20%

The group is expected to attend regular meetings both with and without the supervisor. The group meetings without the supervisor should be minuted. Students should conduct themselves in a professional manner by being fully prepared; and take initiative in planning and conducting the meetings and meeting deadlines set. The marks should reflect:

Regular meetings are formally minuted and fully attended.
Project is planned using techniques such as Gantt charts.
There is a sensible allocation of tasks across the group.
Project is monitored against plans and the group has the ability to modify its plans in the light of unexpected problems.
Appropriate standards are established and adhered to.
Deadlines are met.

Group achievement: 50%

The group is expected to produce a single application or a single piece of integrated research. This mark should reflect the technical difficulty of the project undertaken by the group and should also take into account whether:

(if applicable) An appropriate methodology is applied to the design of the system.
Common standards are adhered to.
An integrated piece of work is produced.
If software or an application has been produced, it is thoroughly tested.
The final product meets the specification.
New skills had to be learnt.

Group report: 20%

The group is expected to produce a single unified report describing the analysis, design, implementation, testing and evaluation of the system. Marks should reflect:

Did the group write the report to common standards, producing a seamless manuscript?
Whether the report is properly structured.
Whether the aims of the project are clearly stated.
Whether the project is clearly specified.
Whether a critical appraisal of the project is given.

Group presentation: 10%

The group is expected to produce an A1 size poster describing their project. The group supervisor, 2nd marker, and all other members of staff will be invited to view the posters and question the students about the project. Marks should reflect:

Whether the poster is effective – are diagrams and graphics used appropriately, is it uncluttered and easy to read ?

Does the poster convey to the reader the main points of the project such as: the aims of the project, what was achieved, how was it achieved, future work, etc.

Do the group handle questioning well : are answers clear, well thought out and informative

Individual Assessment

Students are assessed on the quality of the control of the group, the achievement of the group, and the report. The report should include a statement in the Appendix from each member detailing their individual contributions to the project (both the report and the application) and some reflection on the team process.

Individual control: 20%

Individuals are expected to plan and monitor their contributions to the project and not to impede the progress of the group. Marks should reflect whether they:

Were prepared at the meetings.
Were realistic about their objectives.
Met their individual deadlines.
Supported other team members.

Individual achievement: 35%

Individuals are expected to deliver their agreed elements on time and to specification. The technical difficulty of an individual’s work is assessed in this section. Consider whether:

They demonstrated resourcefulness and problem solving ability.
They had to learn a new language or work in a new area.
They were proficient in the chosen implementation.
They achieved their agreed component.
They demonstrated command over their problem domain.

Individual report: 35%

It should be clear from the students individual statements of their work which sections of the report they have written or to which they have contributed. Consider whether:

Their parts of the report are properly structured, well written and presented.
They clearly describe components of the overall project for which they were responsible and critically evaluate them.
They adhered to standards.
They include a thoughtful evaluation of the management and conduct of the group

Individual presentation: 10%

How well the individual responds to questions, and whether they take part in general discussion about the poster and the project
The quality of any sections of the poster produced by the individual if appropriate

Appendix 1.

This appendix contains a list of titles of previous student group projects to give you some idea of the scope of projects undertaken.

 The Bongo Club Website

 Current Issues Facing Start-up E-Commerce Businesses

 Delivering Interactive Narrative in a Multimedia Environment

 Aircraft Rental Company Simulation

 A website for Borders Forest Trust

 Promoting Martins Shopfitters

 University Communication System

 A to B Route Finder

 A website for North Edinburgh Arts.

 Networked game for Three Card Bragg'

 Java online movie rental application

 Database driven Fifa World Cup 2002 Website

 Studentfreshers.com

 Jabble:Scabble with Java

 A University Communication System

 The Corona Services Assessor Web Application

 ‘Teacher’s Pet’ – School Timetabling Software

 PDA access for doctors to a remote database

 Redesigning the Filmhouse Website

 An E-Learning Application

 Neuro-Linguistic Programming

 A Billing System – A contemporary Solution

 Understanding the web - developing a methodology to get niche businesses online

 Who Wants to be a Quiz Idol – development of an educational online competition engine

 A Video Recruitment Agency

 An Online Dating Agency

 Is it possible to communicate ambience and atmosphere via a website ?

 An online aptitude service for students

 The Wedding Wizard – an online wedding service planner

 School Dinner – a game to educate 8-10 year old children about nutrition

 An Animation Tutorial for Postgraduate Multimedia Students

 An Isometric Chat Room

 A Utility for Version Control During Software Development

Appendix 2

Style Guide for Group Project Project Posters

Introduction

An effective poster should:

be eye catching – using diagrams and graphics appropriately
be uncluttered
use minimal text - and yet get over to the reader the main points of your project such as: what you were setting out to do, why you did it, how you did it, what you achieved, what you would do next time, etc.

Try and use:

Clear and simple (yet appropriate) language.
Short, uncomplicated sentences
Bullet points
Colour (but too many colours can be confusing)

Split up your poster into sections. Usually each section will take up 1 A4 sheet. This will limit the number of words that you can use for each section according to the minimum font sizes listed below

Make sure you use a spell checker on your poster and try and get someone else to proof read it to spot errors that a spell checker might miss.

Title Section

The poster must have a title section which includes the following information:

Title (at least 72 point font size)
Student Names, Matric No.s, Programme , School of Computing, Napier University (at least 24 point font size)
Supervisor Name (at least 24 point font size)

Other Sections

The poster should have sections – for example

Introduction (with Project Background and Aims/Objectives)
Methodologies & Technologies
Results
Discussion, Critical Evaluation,
Conclusions and Further Work

Some of the above sections may be combined in different ways or an alternative substituted. Consult with your supervisor as to the best section headings and contents for a poster on your particular subject area.

The font sizes of the sections (other than the title section above) should be:

Section title: no less than 60 point font size
Bullet Points: : no less than 48 point font size
Additional Text: : no less than 24 point font size