| Module Code | CSU44099 |
| Module Name | Final Year Project |
| ECTS Weighting [1] | 20 ECTS |
| Semester Taught | Semester 1 & 2 |
| Module Coordinator/s | Conor Sheedy |
Module Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Derive, apply and adapt solutions from the discipline specific knowledge gained in lectures and coursework, to a real world problem solving context;
- Independently locate & assess potential research sources and evaluate those sources for their relevance to a practical computer science problem, application or topic;
- Assess and criticise information, methods and results for a defined computer science purpose;
- Identify and formulate technical problems in such a manner as to make them amenable to solution;
- Design a system, component or process to meet a specified goal;
- Propose methods of testing and evaluation; analyse and interpret results from experiments conducted during the development process in order to modify, improve or explain the functionality of the system, component or process being developed;
- Communicate effectively in technical and scientific writing, and to present scientific/technical concepts concisely to a technical audience that may not be expert in the specific domain of the presentation;
- Formulate the design of systems in terms of a schedule of intermediate goals that manifest in subsystems, and manage workflow and task scheduling within the constraints of resources and time given specific design goals and deadlines;
- Use industry standard hardware and/or software tools and codes of practice for all aspects of design including analysis and presentation;
- Examine and discuss the impact of specific technology on society, giving consideration to ethical norms and standards.
Module Content
The capstone project in computer science is an individual large scale project supervised by an academic from one of the School of Computer Science and Statistics Disciplines. Supervisors propose possible project topics for which students can then apply. This is generally done on a first-come-first-served basis (although some projects may have specific requirements) so students need to be pro-active if they want a project in a particular field. If students do not select a project within the first 2 weeks of the first semester, a supervisor is allocated to them and they must negotiate the topic of the project with the supervisor (in the supervisor’s area of interest).
During the first semester students must attend a taught component which aims to provide exposure to a range of methods and concepts which are essential to most large academic & industry projects.
The module content will include topics such as:
- Project Planning;
- Planning a Project Report;
- Communication and Presenting;
- Library Skills;
- Literature Review;
- Professional/Academic Writing;
- Scientific Document Creation (Latex);
- Testing & Evaluation;
- Presenting Results;
- Coding/Batch jobs;
- Ethics and Security;
- Gender;
- R&D Experiences.
This material is assessed in an MCQ exam and in the project interim report. Students and supervisors meet on a regular basis throughout the two semesters. During the first semester the student is expected to clearly specify the project, review the literature in the project area, create a workplan for the project and consider any ethical issues that the project may raise. This is all documented in an interim report. Around the end of the second semester the project work is demonstrated to the supervisor and an allocated second reader and described thoroughly in a significant project report/dissertation.
Teaching and Learning Methods
The teaching and learning methods for the taught component include lectures, workshops and a range of online activities. There will be a focus on authentic activities relevant to the student’s own areas of interest. For the individual project work, regular supervision is provided by the project supervisor. The project work, though, is expected to be driven by the student as demonstrating independent enquiry is an essential part of this project.
Assessment Details
Content.
| Assessment Component | Brief Description | Learning Outcomes Addressed | % of Total | Week Set | Week Due |
| MCQ Exam | Supervised 1 hour exam. | 2,6,7,8,10 | 5% | | |
| Interim Report | A report on your Final Year Project that includes, (1) a detailed description of the planned project, (2) a plan of work for the completion of the project, (3) a broad review of ethical issues related to the project, including, but not limited to, research ethics considerations (handling of research participants and their data) where applicable, (4) a relevant literature review. | 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 | 10% | | |
| Project Report | | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 | 85% | | |
Reassessment Details
As it is impractical to resubmit an interim report reassessment will be based on the evaluation of a new project report (95%) and a supplemental MCQ exam (5%) (for those who fails the original MCQ exam).
Contact Hours and Indicative Student Workload
| Contact Hours (scheduled hours per student over full module), broken down by: | 22 hours |
| Lecture | 22 hours |
| Laboratory | 0 hours |
| Tutorial or seminar | 0 hours |
| Other | 0 hours |
| Independent Study (outside scheduled contact hours), broken down by: | 40 hours |
| Preparation for classes and review of material (including preparation for examination, if applicable) | 40 hours |
| Completion of assessments (including examination, if applicable) | 370 hours |
| Total Hours | 432 hours |
Recommended Reading List
- “How to Write a Thesis” by Umberto Eco.
Module Pre-requisites
Prerequisite modules: N/A
Other/alternative non-module prerequisites: N/A
Module Co-requisites
N/A