CIS/CEN 4914: Senior Project/CISE-Design-2 - Fall 2018

Coordinator: Dr. Mark Schmalz (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 or CEN 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 2018

What's News:

Registration is OPEN for CIS 4914 for Spring Semester 2019 at THIS LINK

Second Presentation - Attendance Required

• When: Tue-Wed 06-07 November 2018, 7pm - 11pm
• Where: CSE Building, Room CSE/E404 (Dr. Schmalz) and E440 (TA) -- both rooms, all evenings
• What: Eight-minute presentation of your project concept and outline (1 min setup, 6 min talk, 1 min Q&A)
• How: Signup sheets on Dr. Schmalz' office door (CSE/E446)
• Bring: PowerPoint slides (e-copy + printout) and your laptop and yourself
• Caution: Email your presentation to yourself before you present so you will have it if your computer or USB drive fails...
• Duration: Plan to stay about 1 hour to view others' presentations
• Dress Code: Business Casual (example pictures on Canvas Announcement and Assignment)

First Presentation - Attendance Required

• When: Tue 09 October 2018: 7-11pm CSE/E440
• When: Wed 10 October 2018: 7-11pm CSE/E440
• When: Thu 11 October 2018: 7-9pm CSE/E440
• What: Six-minute presentation of your project concept and outline (1 min setup + 4 min talk + 1 min Q&A)
• How: Signup sheets on Dr. Schmalz' office door (CSE/E446)
• Bring: PowerPoint viewgraphs (e-copy (PDF & .pptx) + hardcopy) and yourself
• Caution: Email your presentation to yourself before you present so you will have it if your computer or USB drive fails, or if your computer doesn't work well with the projector...
• Duration: Plan to stay about 1 hour to view others' presentations, arrive early if you plan to present late in the session
• Dress Code: Casual (minimum: shirt, pants/shorts, and footwear)

Second Meeting - Attendance Required

• When: Tue 25 Sep 2018 (Last Name begins with A-L: 8-9pm, M-Z: 9-10pm)
• Where: CSE Building, Room CSE/E404 (to right of the Advisement Office)
• What: Time Management & Presentation Skills

First Meeting - Attendance Required

• When: Tue 11 Sept 2018 (Last Name begins with A-M: 7-8pm, N-Z: 8-9pm)
• Where: CSE Building, E404 (first door to right of Student Advisement Office))
• What: Meeting for Basic Organizational Skills, Expectations, Time Management, Grading etc.

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

  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
     • Standards and Constraints
     • 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.