CIS 4914: Senior Project - Spring 2004

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.

Email Message Archive for Spring 2004

What's News:

• Final Presentation: (Attendance Required)

          Tue 13 Apr 04 : 9.00a - 3.00p  E404
          Tue 13 Apr 04 : 5.00p - 8.00p  E404
          Wed 14 Apr 04 : 9.00a - 2.00p  E305
          Thu 15 Apr 04 : 9.00a - 2.00p  E305
          Thu 15 Apr 04 : 4.00p - 8.00p  E404
          Fri 16 Apr 04 : 9.00a - 1.00p  E305
  

  Be sure to check the times and meeting rooms, as they differ between days. CSE/E305 is the conference room on the third floor of CSE building, reached by going through the CISE Department main office. Signup sheets are on Dr. Schmalz' office door (CSE/E446).

• Second Midterm Presentation: (Attendance Required)

          Tue 23 Mar 04 : 9.00a - 3.00p E404
          Wed 24 Mar 04 : 9.00a - 2.00p E305
          Wed 24 Mar 04 : 3.00p - 5.00p E305
          Thu 25 Mar 04 : 9.00a - noon  E404
          Thu 25 Mar 04 : 4.00p - 7.00p E404
  

  Be sure to check the times and meeting rooms, as they differ between days. CSE/E305 is the conference room on the third floor of CSE building, reached by going through the CISE Department main office. Signup sheets are on Dr. Schmalz' office door (CSE/E446).

• First Midterm Presentation: (Attendance Required)

          Tuesday   24 Feb 2004   9am-noon    CSE/E305
          Tuesday   24 Feb 2004   2-5pm       CSE/E305
          Tuesday   24 Feb 2004   5-8pm       CSE/E404
          Wednesday 25 Feb 2004   6-9pm       CSE/E404
  

  Be sure to check the times and meeting rooms, as they differ between days. CSE/E305 is the conference room on the third floor of CSE building, reached by going through the CISE Department main office. Signup sheets are on Dr. Schmalz' office door (CSE/E446).

• Second Meeting: (Attendance Required) Thursday 5 Feb 2004 at 7:00pm, Room CSE/E119 (or E121 if E119 is occupied). Before you attend the meeting, please prepare for Q&A/discussion by reading the two links below, on Citation Format and Time Management.

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

• Time Management and Presentation Skills writeup (HTML format)

• First Meeting: (Attendance Required) Thursday 15 Jan 2004 at 7:00pm, Room CSE/E119 (or E121 if E119 is occupied)

• Senior Project Registration for Spring 2004 is Closed as-of 00:01am Saturday 10 Jan 2004.

• Idea List: This link leads to a database of contacts and ideas for Senior Projects

• After you are done registering, pls. try out the new Web pages for Senior Project at this link. It is only set up for you to try out - it is an experimental webpage only, and is not the official senior project registration site for Spring 2004. Also, if you see things that can be improved, Dr. Schmalz would appreciate your comments via email.

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.