CSCI 5828

CSCI 5828 Project Report Requirements

Introduction

The final project for CSCI 5828 asks each student to explore a topic of software engineering in order to gain a deeper understanding of the surrounding issues and/or to gain experience in applying the techniques related to the topic. The project should involve the effort it would take for a 25 page paper. Thus, if a student decides to perform a survey of a particular topic, then the final report should consist of a 25 page paper describing the results of the survey. If the student spends time performing experiments, building software, collecting data, etc., then the student can trade some of that effort for pages and turn in a report that is less than 25 pages. In no case, should a student turn in a report that is less than 15 pages.

Report Requirements

The report should include a title page, a table of contents, and a references section. These three items should not be included in the final page count. The report should be singled spaced in a 12pt font with one line between paragraphs. Section headings should be in a 14pt font, and should be numbered with the Introduction being section 1.0. Figures and Tables should be numbered, both starting at 1.

Citations should be included in the text using the following format [2]. If you cite a particular reference multiple times in a single section, you can include page numbers in the citation like this [2, pg 23]. Then in your references section, a reference should appear like this.

2. Author. Title. Year.

References should be listed alphabetically by first author's last name. Author names should be listed last name first, followed by a comma, and then the initial of the first name. Multiple authors should be separated by commas with the word "and" in front of the last author. Like this:

Anderson, K., Taylor, R., and Whitehead, J.

Report Sections

While there are no explicit requirements on the sections that should be included in the final report, here are some standard sections that often appear in a research paper: Introduction (describe project at a high level, introduce research questions), Background (describe related work), Approach (describe your approach to the problem), Results (describe the results of your work), Conclusions (reflect upon the lessons learned by the work). If you have questions about the sections in your report, send the outline of your report to the instructor for final approval.

Due Dates

In-class students should turn in a hardcopy report on Thursday, April 29th. CATECS students should mail me a hardcopy report, postmarked by Thursday, May 6th. Note: I will be keeping the reports, so if you want a copy for yourself, be sure to make one before sending me your report.