Project HandBook 2021 BCS

Bachelor of Computer Science
Applied CS Project
CPT337
Project Handbook
Department of Computer Sciences
Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology
The Maldives National University
Revision 5.0
February 3, 2021
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2
2 Duration .................................................................................................................................. 2
3 Project Responsibilities........................................................................................................... 3
3.1 The student’s responsibilities are to: ................................................................................ 3
3.2 The Supervisor’s responsibilities are to: .......................................................................... 3
3.3 The Advisor’s responsibilities are to:............................................................................... 4
3.4 The Project Coordinator ................................................................................................... 4
4 The Project Report .................................................................................................................. 5
4.1 Project Report Format and Style ...................................................................................... 5
4.2 Plagiarism ......................................................................................................................... 6
5 Project Report Structure .......................................................................................................... 7
6 Project Description.................................................................................................................. 9
6.1 Problem ............................................................................................................................ 9
6.2 Sample Projects: ............................................................................................................... 9
7 Project Assessment ............................................................................................................... 10
7.1 The learning outcomes of this project are as follows: .................................................... 10
7.2 Students will be assessed as follows: ............................................................................. 10
8 Project Submission................................................................................................................ 11
Project Handbook Page 1

1 Introduction
Each student is required to carry out an individual project that develops and applies the skills and
knowledge acquired from other modules throughout the course. The project must be managed
carefully involving the investigations, analysis, design and implementation of a solution for a real
world problem. The students are expected to demonstrate academic ability by critically analyzing
the models and theories and show practical skills in terms of design, analysis and programming.
This work is a major part of the course and is equivalent of two modules and is worth 30 credits.
Therefore, the students are expected to spend about 300 hours working on this project over a
semester. That is approximately 20 hours a week, of which about 15 minutes are spent in scheduled
contact with the project supervisor.
All the projects by students should contain enough of software demonstrating that the student can
develop IT solutions and write code for it with professional standards. All the work must be the
student’s own. Any attempt to copy another’s work or represent such a work, as the student’s own
will be dealt severely under the Maldives National University’s regulation regarding plagiarism.
All the students doing the project are expected to use the Moodle for announcements and to
update the project progress and online submissions.
2 Duration
All the full-time students will complete the project over a period of two (2) semesters.

3 Project Responsibilities
3.1 The student’s responsibilities are to:

 Define an appropriate area of investigation/research.
 Arrange and attend regular meetings with the supervisor well prepared and record the
meetings in Supervisory Meeting Form.
 Write down a project proposal and fill in a project specification form (See Appendix A)
and submit to the Moodle.
 Plan, carry out, manage and document the investigation and project work and maintain all
the records of such works and project log sheet.
 Arrange, prepare and attend the mid-term interview and presentation/demonstration (See
Appendix B) within the specified time period.
 Submit the project documentation by the specified deadline completed as expected in the
correct format.
 Make a presentation of the work and present it.
3.2 The Supervisor’s responsibilities are to:

 Come to an agreement with the student over an understanding that includes the methods,
milestones, and meetings with the student.
 Attend the regular supervisory meetings with the student, and be available by appointment,
where possible as accordance with the understanding with the student.
 Give reasonable advice and assistance to the student in obtaining the materials and
resources with which student may carry out the project.
 Give reasonable advice to the student on managing, documenting and presenting the
project.

3.3 The Advisor’s responsibilities are to:

 Comment on the project proposal and project specification form
 Mark the mid-term interview
 Attend and the final presentation and mark the final project.
3.4 The Project Coordinator

The role of the project coordinator is to manage the overall process. Specifically, the
responsibilities will include:
 Advising new supervisors and project advisors as to what is expected of them and the
project in relation to the course.
 Briefing the students at the beginning of the semester on the project and what is an
acceptable project.
 Receiving the project proposals
 Consulting with the course coordinator to allocate the supervisors
 Ensuring that marks sheet is available
 Scheduling of mid-term interview and the final presentation

4 The Project Report

A good project is a result of activities which are based on well-managed and systematic approach
with a sound philosophical foundation. The fundamental aim of undertaking a project is to match
the project plan with the resources available to complete it. Disruptions can be minimized by
setting realistic time scale for the activities while taking into account any other commitments.
4.1 Project Report Format and Style

The report should be written in a formal style in third person from in English. For example, instead
of writing “I found that…”, writing “It was found that…”. Students are expected to give a special
attention to the correct use of grammar and spelling. As such Students are encouraged to make use
of any such aids that are available for this purpose. Also students are expected to use italics for
words in languages other than English (e.g. athuliyun) and uppercase letters at the beginning of
the proper nouns (e.g. Windows Seven).
The report should be written in Times New Roman font with font size 12, line spacing at 1.5 and
on A4 paper size. The cover page must have the logo of the Maldives National University, title of
the project, student name and id, date of submission, supervisor’s name and the subject code. A
proper header and footer should be used in the report and should not appear on the cover page.
Header can be used for the title of the project and a particular chapter in the report. Footer should
indicate the name of the faculty and the page number. Page number should appear on all the pages,
except the cover page, at the right hand side of the footer. Any page before the Introduction page
should be numbered as Roman Numerals. From the Introduction page the page number of the
report should be in Arabic numerals and the numbering should start from that page. The headings
should be numbered according to the level. The heading numbering should start with the
Introduction, any heading before it or after and including References should be un-numbered.

4.2 Plagiarism
Students are expected to clearly understand the definition of plagiarism and the consequences for
plagiarism and academic dishonesty. The course handbook given to the students covers these
issues in details and students are advised to familiarize themselves with that before submitting any
work. Appropriate referencing should be made while paraphrasing or commenting on another
author’s work. This applies to the materials gained from electronic sources like the Internet.
Students are encouraged to refer to the academic journals and Books as much as possible instead
of that which are written on the Internet. Also it is not acceptable to submit a report that is simply
a paraphrasing of extracts from other authors: the work must include some intellectual contribution
of the student.
It is important to distinguish between a bibliography and a set of references. Referenced works are
those cited within the report, whereas a bibliography is merely a set of relevant readings.
Note:
1. Students are required to use APA referencing standards.

2. The submission will be checked for similarity through Turnitin and it should not exceed
20%. Documents that exceed this limit may be marked as plagiarized.

5 Project Report Structure

The range of the titles covers a variety of topics and therefore is impossible to be prescriptive about
the organization of the project documentation. However, it is possible to suggest a general structure
for a ‘typical’ IT project as follows;
 Cover page
 Abstract
 Acknowledgements
 Table of contents
 List of figures
 Introduction
 Context and Preliminary Investigation – This chapter of the report should contain three
sections. First section is the background of the project, which includes an identification of the
problem situation and the rationale for carrying out the project. Second is a description of the
choice of investigation method and a review of the available literature. Third is, the project
plan, scope and objectives with a statement of the evaluation criteria and how the project will
proceed.
 Literature Review – this part consists of domain and technical research. This encompasses
secondary research and academic research. This part must be presented in the context of the
problem at hand and not as mere reporting of published work.
 Analysis–This chapter should include two sections. First is the reason why the particular
analysis or problem solving method is used. It is important to describe the process by which
the method is chosen to show that it is appropriate for the particular problem situation. Second
is a narrative description of the application of the analysis method, including the problem that
arose during this process and how they were identified and rectified. Normally, most projects
will include the models, charts and diagrams at this stage. These can be included in the chapter
or in the appendix.
 Design – This chapter should also include sections describing the choice of an appropriate
method and the student’s experience of its applications. Graphical contents that are relevant to
design can be included in this chapter.

 Implementation – This chapter should show clearly how the solution to the problem is
realized. As with the other parts of the project, the selection of the implementation method
should be described and justified.
 Testing – This chapter should address the evaluation of the solution against its objectives and
success criteria. This chapter should contain three sections. First it should contain a description
of the resting strategy used. Secondly, the planning and application of the tests should be there.
Thirdly it should contain the conclusion drawn from the results of the tests and any
modification to the design and implementation which may be recommended.
 The Critical Evaluation – This chapter is of crucial importance to the whole work. It deals
with the success of the project in academic terms, compared to the success criteria outlined in
the original proposal. Even the best analysis and design and implementation will be disvalued
by an inadequate critical evaluation. The examiners are expected to look at this chapter most
carefully while determining the success (or otherwise) of the project. The exact nature of the
evaluation varies between projects. However; certain issues should be addressed by the student
in this chapter such as; the students evaluation of the degree of success in carrying out the
project, what the student has learnt by doing the project, things the student would do differently
if the student were to repeat the project and any additional feature that student will recommend
for future enhancement, and the value of the learning process to the student and the extent to
which the project has added to the student’s professional and academic expertise.
 References
 Appendices

6 Project Description
The Final project for the Bachelors of Computer Science can be carried out by focusing the
research mainly on a Computing problem.
6.1 Problem
Development of a technical solution for a computing problem, students are expected to identify a
real world problem leveraging the core computing knowledge areas of programming, networks
and databases. Furthermore, the students may also focus their project on other special areas of
computing knowledge areas like image processing, digital signal processing, artificial intelligence
etc. Students may make use of existing APIs, although, the solution must demonstrate a unique
method that goes beyond the API usage.
6.2 Sample Projects:

 A Smart phone application for counting the amount of the sum of coins using image
processing
 A system for translating Dhivehi to English

7 Project Assessment
A Project Assessment Form will be used to determine the marks to be awarded. It should be noted
that the student need to obtain at least 50% in order to pass this module.
7.1 The learning outcomes of this project are as follows:

1. Use investigative research skills
2. Effectively manage, monitor and control the activities involved in an IT project
3. Use a variety of methodologies to communicate the methodology, results and
recommendation
4. Critically analyze and evaluate the work undertaken
5. Demonstrate the ability to integrate different disciplines required
6. Show the ability to successfully undertake original work
7. Demonstrate the ability to make use of the available resources to come up with a solution
to a real world problem
7.2 Students will be assessed as follows:

# Assessments Criteria Percentage Learning Outcomes
1 Project Proposal 5% 2,6
2 Project Management 10% 1,2,3,6
3 Mid-point Presentation 10% 2,3,4,5
4 Progress Reviews 5% 2
5 Final Presentation 5% *
6 Project Report 35% *
7 Artifact 30% 5,7

8 Project Submission
A soft bound copy of the project report with the project log sheet, Supervisory meeting forms
and a CD-ROM containing the implementation and the documentation must be submitted to the
Admin on or before the submission date, in addition to the online report submission to the
Moodle. An adequate project report should be between 12000 to 16000 words in length. The total
number of pages should not exceed 200 pages.
Important Note:
1. The CD submitted shall be used during the presentation to demonstrate the final system.
2. Students are expected to bring along their own computer during the presentation. Students
may alternatively arrange for a computer in consultation with the IT staff. However, it is
the sole responsibility of the student to make sure that the system is sufficiently tested prior
to the presentation.

Appendix A – Project Specification Form
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE MALDIVES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
PROJECT PROPOSAL SPECIFICATION FORM
(INDIVIDUAL)
Instruction: Please complete and submit this form to the Project coordinator.
SECTION A: STUDENT INFORMATION
Name : …………………………………………………………………………………
Course : …………………………………………………………………………………
Student ID : …………………………………………………………………………………
Mobile No : ………………………… Email: ………………………………..…………
SECTION B: PROJECT DETAILS
Project Title:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Brief description on the project background

(Problem context, rationale, description of the problem area, nature of the challenge)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Brief description of the project objectives

(Scope of the project and the deliverables)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Brief description of the resources needed

(Hardware, software, access to information/expertise, user involvement …)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt
(What are the names of books that are going to be read / data sets that are going to be used?)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Brief description of the development plan for the proposed project

(Which software methodology and why, the major areas of functions to be developed and the order
in which developed)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Brief description of the evaluation and test plan for the proposed project
(What is the success criteria and how will be evaluated & implementation will be tested, indicate
the estimated size of the demonstration/test database)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Project Type: (Please tick one)
[ ] System Development
[ ] Research
Project Area
Area: …………………………………………………………………………….……………..
(e.g.: Database Management, Web Design, Networking, Artificial Intelligence)

SECTION C: STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I confirm that this project is:
[ ] My own idea
[ ] Proposed by the supervisor…………………………………………..……………...
Date: ……………………… Student Signature: …………………………......
SECTION D: SUPERVISOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I ………………………………………………………………………………… confirm that I

have reviewed this student’s project proposal and therefore agree for the proposal to be submitted
for evaluation.
Date: ………………………… Signature: ………………………..……
SECTION E: EVALUATION PANEL APPROVAL
Outcome:
[ ] Full Approval
[ ] Conditional Approval (Minor)
[ ] Conditional Approval (Major)
[ ] Fail
Notes (Please state reasons for conditional or failed approval)

………………………………………………………………………..…..……………………
……………………………………………………………………..…..………………………
…………………………………………………………………………….……………………
Recommended
Supervisor : …………………………………………………………………………………
Advisor : ……………………………………………………………...………………….

Evaluation Panel:
Name Signature Date

1 …………………………………………….. ……………….. …………………..
2 ……………………………………………. ……………….. …………………..

Appendix B – Mid-point Interview
Students are expected to have completed the research, most of the design and a part of the
implementation.
The submission should contain:
 Project Specification Form

 Project Gantt Chart
 The analysis tools and techniques intended to be used
 Full references
 Reason for the project to be chosen/ background
 Literature review encompassing domain and technical research
 What will be produced?
 The method of solving the problem
 What methodology is being followed?
 What tools will be used to develop software artifact
 Any work completed on the documentation in terms of analysis and design
 An early prototype if appropriate
Areas of the Assessments in the Mid-point interview
1. Student’s understanding of the project background and objectives

2. What research and investigations have been done?
3. Details of the development plans and the progress
4. How extensive is the critical insight of the student while analyzing the works.
5. Completely referenced
6. The progress of the implementation, if relevant

Appendix C – Project Timelines
Week Event Student Activity

 Prepare project file
 Read description and requirements of the
Project Commencement
project
1 Idea Generation
 Start researching on suitable topics
 Discuss with lecturer to obtain inputs on
specific topic or research interests
Draft Proposal Submission  Complete and submit a draft proposal
2
A Session on Research  Attend the session conducted on researching
 Finalize the research topic
Publication of Supervisors list/
 Prepare the project proposal and research
Final Project Proposal
design
Submission
3  With the approval of the supervisor submit
PSF approval by Project
the final Project Proposal
Coordinator
 Read thoroughly the components of PSF
A Session on Research
 Attend the session conducted on researching
 Arrange and meet with the supervisor for
Mandatory meeting 1 Mandatory meeting 1
4
 Proceed with Academic, secondary and
primary research
 Continue with the research and meeting the
5&6
supervisor
 Compile the findings of the research
7 Mandatory meeting 2  Arrange and meet with the supervisor for
Mandatory meeting 2
8 &9
supervisor
10 Mandatory meeting 3  Compile the findings of the research


Mandatory meeting 3
11 & 12
supervisor
13 Mandatory meeting 4 mandatory meeting 4
 Continue with the project as planned
 Format the documentation and finalize the
partially complete the project for Mid-term
14 Mid-term Submission
submission
 Submit the work via Moodle
 Prepare and rehearse for presentation and
14 Mid-term Presentation
present
1 – Term  Arrange and meet with the supervisor for
Mandatory meeting 1
2 mandatory meeting 1
2&3  Continue with the project as planned
Term 2
4 Term 2 Mandatory meeting 2 mandatory meeting 2
Term 2
Term 2

11 & 12  Continue with the project as planned

Term 2
 Finalize the documentation and submit the
Submit Project draft to
13 Term 2 draft copy of the project report to the
supervisor
supervisor or Moodle.
14 Term 2 Final Presentation  Prepare, rehearse and present the project
 Based on the Evaluators comment, do
correction.
 Finalize the documentation and Submit the
November
Final Submission soft bound project report and CD containing
10
the project and documentation to the Admin
 Upload the documentation and Artifact to the
Moodle


Appendix D – Project Log Sheet
……………………………………………………………………………
Project Title:
……………………………………………………………………………
Student Name: ……………………………………………………………………………
Student ID: …………………………………………… Term: Course:
[ ]1 [ ] BIT
[ ]2 [ ] BcSc
Supervisor: ……………………………………………………………………………
Tasks Overview
Start Date End Date Task % Completed Supervisor’s Sign

Appendix E – Supervisory Meeting Form
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE MALDIVES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
FINAL YEAR PROJECT SUPERVISORY MEETING

……………………………………………………………………………
Project Title:
……………………………………………………………………………
Student Name: ……………………………………………………………………………
Student ID: …………………………………………… Term: Course:
[ ]1 [ ] BIT
[ ]2 [ ] BcSc
Supervisor: ……………………………………………………………………………
Student: (Meeting Minute/ Achievements/ Activities)

……………….………………………………………………………………………………….…
…………….………………………………………………………………………………….……
………….………………………………………………………………………………….………
……….………………………………………………………………………………….…………
Supervisor (Suggestion& Comments)

……………….………………………………………………………………………………….
……………….………………………………………………………………………………….
……………….………………………………………………………………………………….
Next Meeting Plan

……………….………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………….…………………………………….
Supervisor’s Signature ………………………. Date: …………………
* Print this page to add more meeting reports

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Bachelor of Computer Science

Department of Computer Sciences

Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology

The Maldives National University

3.1 The student’s responsibilities are to: ................................................................................ 3

3.2 The Supervisor’s responsibilities are to: .......................................................................... 3

3.3 The Advisor’s responsibilities are to:............................................................................... 4

3.4 The Project Coordinator ................................................................................................... 4

4 The Project Report .................................................................................................................. 5

4.1 Project Report Format and Style ...................................................................................... 5

4.2 Plagiarism ......................................................................................................................... 6

5 Project Report Structure .......................................................................................................... 7

6.1 Problem ............................................................................................................................ 9

6.2 Sample Projects: ............................................................................................................... 9

7 Project Assessment ............................................................................................................... 10

7.1 The learning outcomes of this project are as follows: .................................................... 10

7.2 Students will be assessed as follows: ............................................................................. 10

Project Handbook Page 1

Project Handbook Page 2

3.1 The student’s responsibilities are to:

3.2 The Supervisor’s responsibilities are to:

Project Handbook Page 3

3.3 The Advisor’s responsibilities are to:

3.4 The Project Coordinator

Project Handbook Page 4

4 The Project Report

4.1 Project Report Format and Style

Project Handbook Page 5

1. Students are required to use APA referencing standards.

Project Handbook Page 6

5 Project Report Structure

Project Handbook Page 7

Project Handbook Page 8

6.2 Sample Projects:

Project Handbook Page 9

7.1 The learning outcomes of this project are as follows:

7.2 Students will be assessed as follows:

Project Handbook Page 10

Project Handbook Page 11

Appendix A – Project Specification Form

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PROJECT PROPOSAL SPECIFICATION FORM

SECTION A: STUDENT INFORMATION

SECTION B: PROJECT DETAILS

Project Handbook Page 12

Brief description on the project background

Brief description of the project objectives

Brief description of the resources needed

Project Handbook Page 13

Brief description of the development plan for the proposed project

Project Type: (Please tick one)

(e.g.: Database Management, Web Design, Networking, Artificial Intelligence)

Project Handbook Page 14

SECTION C: STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I confirm that this project is:

[ ] Proposed by the supervisor…………………………………………..……………...

Date: ……………………… Student Signature: …………………………......

SECTION D: SUPERVISOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I ………………………………………………………………………………… confirm that I

Date: ………………………… Signature: ………………………..……

SECTION E: EVALUATION PANEL APPROVAL

Notes (Please state reasons for conditional or failed approval)

Project Handbook Page 15

Name Signature Date