CIS/CEN 4914 -- Senior Design
Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering Department
University of Florida, Spring 2013
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Credits: 3; Prereq: Senior CISE standing and approved project proposal
This course involves completing a significant CISE- or CEN-related project. Student must coordinate with the instructor and a project adviser, prepare a detailed technical report, and deliver an oral presentation. (MR)
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course is the culmination of your study in computer science and/or computer engineering, where you complete an individual or group project under the guidance of a faculty member or outside advisor. The semester prior to registering for this course, you will have completed a project outline, which is approved by your project advisor and the course coordinator (Dr. Schmalz, in this case). This semester, you will attend the scheduled meetings, and present your work at scheduled times, as well as prepare a final report.
The purpose of these requirements is to help you develop skills in the written and spoken communication of your work to others. If you are working in a group of two or more students under direction of an advisor (e.g., a large software development project), then you can use this course to develop skills in workgroup communication, interaction, and cooperation.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Mark Schmalz
OFFICE HOURS: posted on Dr. Schmalz' Web page http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~mssz/
E-MAIL: mssz@cise.ufl.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~mssz/SeniorProject/senior-F11.html
CLASS PERIODS: Class will meet irregularly, as follows:
- Meeting #1 - Mid Jan., Date/Time TBA
- Meeting #2 - Late Jan., Date/Time TBA
- Presntn.#1 - Mid Feb., Date/Time TBA
- Presntn.#2 - Mid Mar., Date/Time TBA
- Presntn.#3 - Late Apr., Date/Time TBA
TEACHING ASSISTANT: There is no TA for this course.
CLASSROOM: CSE/E404 (Meetings 1 and 2), CSE/E404 or E305 (Presentations 1-3)
TEXTBOOK: There is no textbook for this course.
SCHEDULE: The course will not be a regular, classroom-style course of instruction. Instead, there will be two initial meetings, which will be held at a mutually convenient evening hour. These meetings are designed to acquaint you with the purpose and format of the course, and to provide instruction in time management and presentation skills. The presentations will be scheduled approximately one month apart. For example:
Week 1 - First Meeting (required) Topic: CIS4914 Purpose and Format Week 3 - Second Meeting (required) Topic: Time Mgmt, Presentation Skills Week 5 - Third Meeting (required) Topic: Project Management Skills Week 6 - First Presentation Topic: Concept Review ( 5 min.) Week 10 - Second Presentation Topic: Design Review (10 min.) Week 14 - Final Presentation & Report Topic: Project Results (15 min.)ATTENDANCE Attendance at meetings and presentations is required. Presentation attendance will be determined by a sign-up sheet posted on the instructor's door. Students are expected to arrive on time. Cell phones must be turned off throughout the class period.
EVALUATION: Advisor: 50% -- Instructor/Coordinator: 50%
ADVISOR GRADE will count 50% toward your final grade, and assesses the Complexity, Completeness, and Quality of Results produced during the course of your project, as well as the Quality of your Final Report. The advisor should provide this grade in conjunction with corrections to your final report. A grading form is accessible from the class Web site, which the advisors are encouraged to use.
COURSE COORDINATOR/INSTRUCTOR GRADE will count 50% toward your final grade, and assesses the coherence and quality of your written and spoken communications, as well as your apparent understanding of your project, in terms of your written report, presentations and viewgraphs, and the question and answer sessions at the end of your presentations. The first presentation is undgraded, and serves as a way for the Coordinator to evaluate your presentation skills, with constructive suggestions for remediation. The second presentation counts 5 percent of final grade, and the third presentation, 30 percent of final grade. Additionally, the Coordinator evaluates each student's Final Report for quality of communication, including English usage, coherence, and completeness, thereby yielding a score that counts 15 percent of your final grade.
All reports and presentations are due at the scheduled times. You will be notified via email and the class web site (where emails are also archived) concerning the dates and times of presentations, as well as the location of presentation signup sheets. Make-ups may be allowed only for documented, unavoidable conflicts REPORTED IN ADVANCE AND ALLOWED BY THE INSTRUCTOR. Only DOCUMENTED emergency medical excuses can be accepted after a presentation or the final report is due.
FINAL REPORT will summarize your project, and is to be no more than 11 pages, space-and-a-half text, including the cover page. The format of the Final Report is described in detail, section by section, on the class Web site. You must have an advisor-graded copy of your Final Report ready to give to the Course Coordinator/Instructor at your final presentation.
ABET-Compliant Materials The Advisor Grading Form that you turn in with your Final Report has seven questions about your performance during the semester. These questions map directly to outcomes that are specified in our ABET accreditation system. Similarly, there are four questions that you answer on a separate questionnaire, which is also turned in with your Final Report. These questions map directly to ABET outcomes. At this time, neither of these sets of ABET-compliant questions is used to determine your grade.
GRADING: NO CURVING OF ANY SCORES, as follows:
93 - 100 : A 4.00 Grade Points 90 - 93 : A- 3.67 Grade Points 87 - 89 : B+ 3.33 Grade Points 83 - 86 : B 3.00 Grade Points 80 - 82 : B- 2.67 Grade Points 77 - 79 : C+ 2.33 Grade Points 73 - 76 : C 2.00 Grade Points 70 - 72 : C- 1.67 Grade Points 67 - 69 : D+ 1.33 Grade Points 63 - 66 : D 1.00 Grade Points 60 - 62 : D- 0.67 Grade Points 0 - 59 : E 0 Grade PointsQUALIFYING GRADE: A C- will not be a qualifying grade for critical tracking courses. In order to graduate, students must have an overall GPA and an upper-division GPA of 2.0 of better (C or better). Note: a C- average is equivalent to a GPA of 1.67, and therefore, it does not satisfy this graduation requirement. For more information on grades and grading policies, please visit: http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html
MAKE-UP POLICY:
Presentations may be made up only when the student has a permissible absence (e.g., court appearance, illness or hospitalization, death of immediate family) with documented excuse. The Final Report must be turned in on time. HONESTY POLICY: All students admitted to the University of Florida have signed a statement of academic honesty committing threselves to be honest in all academic work and understanding that failure to comply with this committment will result in disciplinary action. This statement is a reminder to uphold your obligation as a UF student and to be honest in all work submitted and exams taken in this course and all others.
Under no circumstances will acts of academic dishonesty be tolerated. Any suspected incidents of dishonesty will be promptly referred to the Director for Student Judicial Affairs and the Student Honor Court. Refer to the pamphlet entitled Academic Honesty, Student Judicial Process, Guide for Students, from the Office for Student Services.
ACCOMODATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. That office will provide the student with documentation that he/she must provide to the course Instructor when requesting accommodation.
COUNSELING SERVICES: Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear career and academic goals. The resources include:
UF Counseling and Wellness Center, 3190 Radio Rd, 392-1575, psychological and psychiatric services Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career and job search services SOFTWARE USE: All faculty, staff and students of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to uphold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.