Prerequisite Modules
Description
All students must undertake a final
year project which requires them to write a project report of an
honours degree standard. The report should describe the development of
an information system or theoretical issues that are concerned with
the development of information systems. The report should contain
details of research, analysis, design, implementation, testing and
deployment (if appropriate). The students are provided with guidelines
which explain the exact requirements of the project. The project must
include a substantial software development aspect whose goal can be
any of the following; actual implementation, proof of concept,
experimental, evaluation of technologies or tools, prototype. Topics
for final year projects can, therefore, cover a wide variety of
technical areas.
Aims
The most general aim of the final
year project is to increase the students' knowledge of and expertise
in Information Technology, particularly on their chosen topic. More
specifically, the aim is to ensure that the student can successfully
complete a project using the knowledge they acquired during the
course. They should able to develop a research approach; formulate a
hypothesis, devise implementation and evaluation strategies.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
On successful completion the
graduate will be able to:
-
write up their chosen topic at
honours degree level,
-
select a practical task requiring
a broad knowledge of Information Technology,
-
identify how various aspects of
Information Technology are applied to their research area
-
take a reflective view of their
own work and its relationship with the work of others in their
chosen area.
Skills and Know-How
On successful completion the
graduate will be able to:
-
plan and conduct a programme of
practical work that draws on knowledge of a focused area of
Information Technology,
-
apply a range of techniques that
enable the student to resolve issues that arise during the research,
-
apply a range of techniques that
enable the student to reflect on and represent research topics,
-
document, report on and critically
evaluate their work in a manner appropriate to the needs of a
specified readership.
Competence
On successful completion the
graduate will be able to:
-
demonstrate a comprehensive
knowledge of their chosen topic,
-
develop a consistent and well
reasoned project report,
-
develop an appropriate set of
criteria against which to evaluate their work.
-
develop an appropriate set of
tests against which to evaluate a system or design
Learning and Teaching Methods
-
Supervised research
-
Project guidance
-
Technical support
-
Practical library research
techniques
-
Self study
Assessment
-
Continuous Assessment: 100%
Projects are assessed under a
number of categories, which are outlined below:
-
Presentation (10%)
- the quality of the student's presentations of the
project
-
Project Report (15%)
- the quality of the student's project report
-
Research, Analysis and Design
(40%) - the extent of the student's
background research and overall understanding of the project subject
area; the quality of the student's analysis of the project; and the
quality of the overall and detailed design of the system to be
implemented (as applicable)
-
Project Management (15%)
- the overall ability of the student to carry out a project
successfully, including the ability to seek advice from others and
the ability to report progress to supervisor regularly
-
Completeness and Complexity
(10%) - some projects are by nature
technically more complex than others. In such cases, these projects
are not required to be as complete as others; this category reflects
how complete a particular project is, with respect to the complexity
of the project
-
Achievement (10%)
- the value and the usability of the project, including the project
report and any software designed and implemented
The project supervisors are
required to assess each project under each of these categories. The
second assessors are not required to assess each project under
Category 4 (Project Management), but are requested to submit an
overall mark as a percentage.
Recommended
Reading
-
Project Guidelines document
-
Nataly Kogan, Conquering Your
Undergraduate Thesis, Natavi Guides, ISBN 0971939209.
-
Jonathan Anderson, Assignment &
Thesis Writing, 4th ed., Wiley, ISBN: 0471421812.
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For more information contact
Ciarán O'Leary
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