CIS 4914: Senior Project - Fall 2005

Coordinator: Dr. Mark Schmalz (ph: 352-392-6831, email: mssz@cise.ufl.edu)
Department of Computer & Information Sciences
University of Florida

This document is an aid to understanding your responsibilities as a graduating senior taking CIS 4914. You should carefully read this document and provide a copy to your advisor for his or her information regarding your responsibilities.

We are deeply grateful to Dr. Paul Fishwick for providing the original HTML source (Fall Semester, 1994) upon which this document is partially based. Additionally, Dr. Ralph Selfridge made valuable comments and furnished documentary support.

Course Syllabus for Fall 2005

What's News:

Email Message Archive for Fall 2005

What's News:

• Senior Project Registration Procedure for Spring 2006 is posted at this link

• Final Presentation [15 minutes, participation required] is

  Thursday 01 Dec 05 - 5.30pm to 9.30pm  CSE/E404
  Friday   02 Dec 05 - 3.00pm to 6.00pm  CSE/E404
  Monday   05 Dec 05 - 5.00pm to 9.00pm  CSE/E404
  

  Signup Sheets are on door of CSE/E446. Dress code is business formal. Please do not wear perfume or cologne. Also, plan to attend the presentations for approximately 2 hours, so you can see how others present.

• At the FINAL PRESENTATION, you must provide the following:
  1. Your Final Report (11pp.) on paper (not e-copy)
  2. Your Presentation Viewgraphs on paper (not e-copy)
  3. Your Advisor Grading Form at this link completed by your advisor, on paper (not e-copy)
  4. Your Student Questionnaire Form at this link completed by you, on paper (not e-copy)

  The last two items are required for ABET accreditation - this is taken very seriously by the Department, so please have them with you at the time of your presentation.

• Orientation Meeting for Spring 2006 CIS4914 is Tuesday 15 November 2005, at 7pm in Room CSE/E404.

• Midterm Grades for Fall 2005 are posted at this link

• Second Midterm Presentation [10 minutes, participation required] is

  Tue 01 Nov 05 - 05.30pm to 09.00pm  CSE/E404
  Thu 03 Oct 05 - 05.30pm to 10.00pm  CSE/E404
  

  Signup Sheets are on door of CSE/E446. Dress code is business casual. Please do not wear perfume or cologne. Also, plan to attend the presentations for approximately 1.5 hours, so you can see how others present.

• First Midterm Presentation [5 minutes, participation required] is

  Tue 04 Oct 05 - 05.30pm to 09.05pm  CSE/E404
  Wed 05 Oct 05 - 03.00pm to 05.00pm  CSE/E305
  

  Signup Sheets are on door of CSE/E446. Dress code is casual. Please do not wear perfume or cologne. Also, plan to attend the presentations for approximately 1.5 hours, so you can see how others present.

• Second Meeting for CIS4914 Fall 2005 is Tuesday 27 September 2005, at 7pm in Room CSE/E119 (or E121 if E119 is in use)

• First Meeting for CIS4914 Fall 2005 is Tuesday 30 August 2005, at 7pm in Room CSE/E119 (or E121 if E119 is in use)

• Fall 2005 CIS4914 Registration is Closed
  Please read the following two Web pages on Citation Format and Time Management

• Citation Format for Midterm and Final Presentations: at this link

• Time Management and Presentation Skills writeup (HTML format)

A. Overview. An overview of the course is given in the following four links. Read these carefully before choosing an advisor or project.

• Goals - What this course is about, and Why we are doing this
• Supervision - Who you will interface with during this course
• Steps to Success - What to do, and When to do it
• Evaluation Criteria - Where and How your grade will be assigned
• Course Grades - What grades were earned last semester
  

B. Written Reports. A clear, understandable written report is absolutely essential to successful project completion. The following links outline the two written documents required for this class, with details of preferred report format.

1. Project Planning Document -- Email that you send to advisor and supervisor during first week of class

2. Project Final Report -- Hardcopy that you submit to advisor and supervisor during final week of class
   • TitlePage
   • Abstract
   • Introduction
   • Problem Domain
   • Literature Search
   • Solution
   • Results
   • Conclusions
   • Acknowledgements
   • References
   • Appendices
   • Biography
     
     
   • Grading Criteria
     
     
   • Example Final Report for Fall 1999, more examples TBA

C. Oral Presentations. Additionally, three oral presentations are required, as follows:

• Midterm Oral Presentation #1 - A planning report

• Midterm Oral Presentation #2 - A progress report

• Final Oral Presentation - A summary of work and results

For your benefit, the following suggestions for a good presentation are provided:

• General Comments - What to do or not do

D. Miscellaneous Guidelines. There are a few simple things you can do to make your project a pleasant, successful experience.

First, get started early, and keep up a steady, aggressive pace on the work. Don't implement a crash effort for the midterm and final presentations, with little or no work in between. This virtually ensures a shoddy result, as well as a (possibly) poor grade from your advisor.

Second, make each paragraph that you write shine with clarity and conciseness. In the future, you will be known in your professional life by your written communications. These products should portray you as a well organized, clear-headed thinker and achiever.

Third, make your presentations clear, understandable, and on time. Also, pay attention to your personal appearance at the final presentation, where business attire is required for each presenter (suit or jacket (with shirt and tie) for the men; dress, skirted suit, or trouser suit (with blouse) for the women; closed shoes and stockings for both men and women).

Please avoid wearing cologne or perfume, as there may be people in the room with allergies that tend to be aggravated by the stress of giving a presentation.