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cm3302_final_report

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CM3302 Final Report

You must submit a final report worth 95% of the total project mark, which should cover the overall project background, approach, findings and achievements. You will also have to submit a complete set of the deliverables developed for the project, as specified in your initial plan (including any source code and soft system models). This involves the development of some tangible piece of software, hardware, system design or theoretical result. It need not necessarily be a usable finished product. Instead it could be, for example, an extension to an existing system or a prototype built as part of a feasibility study. Deliverables do not necessarily have to be programs, but could be in non-executable form, for example, an SSM conceptual model. This must be submitted towards the end of the semester. See your project details in PATS for the submission deadline.

Please see your initial plan in which you should have clearly outlined the deliverables for the final report. Your supervisor and/or moderator may have left additional comments on your plan on PATS to tell you whether these deliverables are suitable and what they expect for the final report. Check the comments on PATS for your report. Your deliverables may be adjusted based on your findings since the initial plan. If so, justify this in the report. Also discuss carefully with your supervisor what you should be including in the final report.

Structure and Contents

The final report should be at most 10,000 words long. General guidance on project report structures is available in Arranging Material and Structuring the Project Report. A possible structure for your final report is:

Title Page Support
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Table of Figures
1.Introduction Main body
2.Background
3.Approach
4.Implementation
5.Results and Evaluation
6.Future Work
7.Conclusions
8.Reflection on Learning
Glossary Support
Table of Abbreviations
Appendices
References

If you are implementing a piece of software the “Approach” section above would be the “Specification and Design”. For a project addressing a “softer” problem the Approach section may be “Selection of Approach”. If instead you intend to compare algorithms it may be “Alternative Designs and Final Algorithm“ and if you intend to design and and analyse an algorithm it could be “Algorithm Designs”.

If you are implementing a piece of software or you intend to design and analyse algorithms the “Implementation” section is quite suitable. For a project addressing a “softer” problem it may instead be “Deliverables from Selected Approach”. If you intend to compare algorithms it may on “Implementation of Algorithms”.

Then present the results of your work and evaluate these results with suitable evidence, discussing the advantages and weaknesses of your approach. You may also consider a section describing the design and results of experiments here, in particular if your project involves evaluating algorithms or similar. The “Conclusions” section should conclude your project overall and your report should end with a reflection on learning.

Do not take any of these section headings as fixed, but instead consider them as a guide. You should adjust the structure of the final report to your specific project and choose suitable sections to represent this. Please discuss the structure and contents of your report with your supervisor.

Final Report Assessment

After the submission deadline your supervisor and moderator assess the final report independently of each other. In addition a project viva will be held to demonstrate and discuss your project after the complete project has been submitted. The format of the viva varies depending on the project, but generally consists of a demonstration or presentation of the deliverables followed by a discussion of various questions from the supervisor and moderator relating to the project.

A mark out of 95 is given on the final report, representing 95% of the total mark. The marks awarded for the initial plan will be added to the marks given for the final report to give a total mark from each assessor. If their total marks differ by less than 10, the final mark for the project will be the average between the supervisor's and moderator's total mark. If the difference is 10 or greater, they meet together to discuss the reasons for the difference, and try to come to an agreement. If they cannot agree, a third marker will be appointed. You will receive the total marks with your other module results.

The criteria for assessing the final report are listed below. Please read these carefully as it will help you to see what your assessors will be looking for in your report. Also take into account what you promised to produce for the final report in your initial plan, and your supervisor's and moderator's comments on this on PATS. How far you managed to produce these deliverables is part of the final report assessment.

You can resubmit your final report at any time until the deadline and your supervisor and moderator will not be able to mark this or make any comments online before the deadline. Please discuss your final report with your supervisor at your regular meetings. You can upload parts of the report onto PATS so that your supervisor can look at these (or give the report in any other way to your supervisor). Just upload the files in the file upload section and your supervisor can see these there (you can, but do not have to submit them until you have the final version).

Assessment Criteria

Your supervisor and moderator will assess your final report according to the following criteria:

  • Problem and background
    • Understanding of the problem and the aims and objectives of the project
    • Awareness of background to the problem
    • Detailed analysis of the problem, suitability of approach towards solving the problem
  • Solution to the problem
    • Approach and design
    • Solution, implementation
    • Use of and justification for appropriate tools/methods
  • Evaluation
    • Testing and validation
    • Critical appraisal of results
    • Achievement of agreed overall deliverables given in initial plan for the final report (or a justified modification of these)
  • Communication and project management skills
    • Written (final report) and oral (viva) communication skills
    • Project planning, control and reflection
    • Interaction and work with supervisor
    • Review meetings, as specified in the initial plan

The scale for this assessment is:

  • Third class (>= 40%): The student has clearly defined the problem and made progress towards a solution…
  • 2.2 (>= 50%): …and demonstrated a disciplined approach and adequate solution…
  • 2.1 (>= 60%): …and an appreciation of best practice with a full justification for the solution…
  • First class (>=70%): …and evidence of originality and professionalism and/or scholarship.
cm3302_final_report.1443109071.txt.gz · Last modified: 2015/09/24 16:37 by scmfcl