CO7203 – Planning 2004/2005

MSc in Software Engineering for the e-Economy

This set of notes should be read in conjunction with the study guide. It provides further guidance for the preparation of the project plan and oral presentation.

Project Plan

The project plan is a 2,000-word document (excluding bibliography) that should include:

• A fairly detailed statement of the problem that the project is meant to address. This should not be a copy of the outline that you used when registering for the topic. It should be clear that you have personalised it according to your background and interests, and identified a challenge to which you would like to respond. Note that "not having done this before" is not what we mean by a challenge.
• Background information, including motivation and state of the art. It should be clear that you did some preliminary research on what other people have done in relation to the topic, and that you used this research to formulate your approach to the problem. To stress this, it is important that you show what your project contributes to the field and why it is interesting to do this.
• A proposed high-level approach to solve the problem. This means describing how you propose to address the problem and putting forward a number of tasks (work plan) that should lead to a solution. You should also include a realistic timetable for carrying out these tasks, and identify the resources that you would need to see them through in the allocated time.

You should make sure that the document is well written and organised. The purpose of restricting it to 2,000 words is to encourage you to be clear and direct. Use just the right amount of technical jargon: enough to show that you aware of the terminology used in the area, but not so much that makes the document unreadable by non-experts.

Finally, there should be clear elements of originality, not in the sense of a radically new solution, but of identifiable contributions that result from your own understanding of the problem. The degree of autonomy and personal effort put into the proposal will be taken into account when assessing your plan.

Oral Presentation

You are required to make a 10-minute presentation of your project plan. Some useful advice:

• Organise your presentation having in mind the duration and your fluency. Make sure that you cover all important aspects (aims, objectives, plan, resources, calendar) but at the right level of detail: be informative but without unnecessary detail.
• Try to speak fluently without excessive recourse to notes. Use the right level of technical language: sufficiently technical but without excess of acronyms. Show that you are enthusiastic about the project and convinced of your ability to make an original contribution.
• Make good use of available technologies and deliver it to your best professional standard.

The presentations will take place on the 25^th of April.  Time and place will be announced on the web page of the module before April 22. The project plan should be handed-in to the office (F22) no later than 10:00, April 25. This deadline is strict: no extension will be granted for whatever reason.