Project Evaluation

Your term project counts for 80% of your grade. This is broken down in the following way:

Week-to-week

This was previously stated but will be re-emphasized here. You MUST show progress EVERY week; it does not suffice to say "I'm a tester/coder/hand model for the TV spot, I don't have to do anything for a month". If you go two weeks without providing documented proof of your contribution to the project, you will be heavily penalized. If you are a tester, you should be writing test cases before any code is written. If you are a coder, you should probably be a key player in the design process. The weeks are not necessarily equally weighted - random spot checks may account for significant portions of the 30%.

Presentation I

You will prepare a semi-formal 12 - 15 minute presentation using whatever medium you feel can best convey your project (powerpoints, software demos, chalk, pantamime, etc). It is not necessary for all of your team members to speak, but it is essential that the roles of each member of the team are clearly defined, and that each member is prepared to answer whatever questions we may ask regarding his or her roles. Your team is expected to have made progress by this time and you should have ample documentation to show for it. Of course your progress will be assessed using the mindset of the development model in place. You will be showing the class the project you have selected to work on for the first time. Approach your presentation with this mindset, introduce us to what you have selected and what you intend to add to this selection. In addition, you will want to show a representation of the current system state and possibly demo the system state as you received it when you began your work. Finally, other elements that would be included, depending upon you process model will be: requirements, design, implemented requirements, test cases, and any test result. You will present for a minimum of 12 minutes. Please note, in order for all groups to present, your presentation timeframe can not exceed 15 minutes. The presentation will be stopped at that time. After your presentation, there will be time for questions and answers.

Grading metrics for the presentation are:

  1. Quality of presented materials, i.e. demo/design documents/etc. - 40%
  2. Flow of presentation - 10%
  3. Organization and clarity - 10%
  4. Value of work done thus far (on schedule?) - 25%
  5. Roadmap for what else would be done next if continued - 15%

Presentation II

You will prepare a semi-formal 20 - 30 minute presentation using whatever medium you feel can best convey your project (powerpoints, software demos, chalk, pantamime, etc). It is not necessary for all of your team members to speak, but it is essential that the roles of each member of the team are clearly defined, and that each member is prepared to answer whatever questions we may ask regarding his or her roles. Your team is expected to have made significant progress by this time and you should have ample documentation to show for it. Of course your progress will be assessed using the mindset of the development model in place. You will have some subset of requirements completed by this time and would be well-advised to demo the results of their implementation. Finally, other elements that would be included, depending upon you process model will be: requirements, design, implemented requirements, test cases, and any test result. You will present for a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes. After your presentation, there will be time for questions and answers.

Grading metrics for the presentation are:

  1. Quality of presented materials, i.e. demo/design documents/etc. - 40%
  2. Flow of presentation - 10%
  3. Organization and clarity - 10%
  4. Value of work done thus far (on schedule?) - 25%
  5. Roadmap for the remainder of the semester - 15%

Presentation III

You will prepare a semi-formal 30 - 40 minute presentation of the final results of your work this semester. The presentation will address all aspects of your project. You will run a demo of your final product and demonstrate a significant portion of its functionality. You will also need to discuss your team's performance, look at how well you adhered to your chosen process model, and examine how software engineering in general factored into your project. It is not necessary for all of your team members to speak, but it is essential that the roles of each member of the team are clearly defined, and that each member is prepared to answer whatever questions we may ask regarding his or her roles.

Grading metrics for the presentation are:

  1. Quality of demo, value of contribution to project - 60%
  2. Discussion of software engineering principles as they relate to your project, analysis of team's performance - 20%
  3. Flow of presentation, quality of slides (or whatever medium you choose) - 15%
  4. Plan for future work if continued and/or knowledge transfer (committing to main project repository or emailing to developers) - 5%
Everyone is required to be present and ready to answer questions during all presentations; persons who are absent without a valid excuse may receive up to a 50% reduction of their project grade.