CIT 4299: IT Project

Course purpose
To give students experience of undertaking and completing a large piece of work, applying
techniques learned throughout the program, including the technical skills of analysis, design
and implementation.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this unit, the students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate the capability to draw from the knowledge acquired during the course
work and apply it towards solving a problem of substantial complexity in the
information technology domain, according to sound, scientific principles, and
following a sound methodical research process. 89
2. Design and implement a project that must involve consideration of real-world issues
such as cost, safety, efficiency, and suitability for the intended user.
3. Use academic literature to extend their knowledge in a particular field in order to
address a project’s task.

Types of Projects
The focus of the project is on application of knowledge towards problem-solving. In this
context, projects are classified as belonging to one of the following categories with respect to
problem-solving:
1. Theory Review, Evaluation and Prototype development: This type of project involves
development of a prototype system that implements the proposed solution/conceptual
framework, to demonstrate its application in a real-world setting.
2. Application Development Project: This type of project focuses on the design, development
and implementation
(software/hardware based) of a conceptual framework towards solving a clearly defined
problem.

Project Requirements
Regardless of the type project, students undertaking an IT project should demonstrate the
ability to organize and carry out independent research. They are therefore expected to
develop and demonstrate competency in the skills listed below, which form the main basis for
assessment:
1. Conduct a comprehensive literature review and gather appropriate and sufficient
background information.
2. Analyse requirements, undertake a comparative analysis of alternative solutions and
specify a solution, with sound justification of all choices made.
3. Design a solution and implement/execute it.
4. Experiment, test and evaluate the solution.
5. Demonstrate good written and oral presentation skills.

Project Timetable and Evaluation

The project will be carried out within a period of 2 Semesters, with two key milestones
during this period. The milestones and associated deliverables are as described;

Milestone Deliverable Duration Action/Evaluation

Proposal Project Proposal Week 4- Proceed after supervisor approval
Proposal evaluation Oral presentation of the proposal Week 6 -Proceed to progress if marks
attained >= 50% of 30 marks, else repeat during the next evaluation cycle
Progress Project Implementation Week 18- Supervisor evaluation
Progress evaluation Oral presentation, system demo, week 20 -Evaluation, analysis and
conclusion.
Proceed to report completion if marks attained >= 50% 0f 70 marks, else repeat during the
next evaluation cycle.
Total marks awarded to be cumulative of proposal and progress.

Report Completion Complete project report Week 26 Submit complete signed report to
Supervisor for approval before shelving the report at the university Library.

Report Format Specifications

All reports must strictly adhere to the following style specifications:
Font: Times New Roman, size 10.
Spacing: Paragraph spacing at 1.5.
Referencing Style: APA.

In addition, the report should be sequenced as follows, with any modifications done within
the middle chapters, where this may be necessitated by the specifics of the particular project:
1. Title page with requisite disclaimers.
2. Abstract.
3. Acknowledgements.
4. Table of Contents.
5. List of Tables.
6. List of Figures.
7. List of Abbreviations.
8. Introduction: Outline of problem and its context, the overall aim and approach and a
summary of the contents of the other chapters.
9. Background: Discussion of the deeper context of the problem, previous solutions, and
a review of the relevant literature.
10. Design of study: Rationale, methodology and execution. Include justifications of the
choice of design process and evaluation methodology.
11. Middle sections (with appropriate headings), as demanded by a particular project:
These may include system requirements, system design from different perspectives,
implementation overview, samples of code, screen displays, collated data etc. Note
that most of this content is better placed in the appendices.
12. Testing: assessment that system achieves requirements as previously specified.
13. Evaluation of the system: How this was done and the outcomes.
14. Discussion: Implications, consequences and limitations of the investigation. As
appropriate, include recommendations for follow up work.
15. Conclusions: Briefly summarizing and contextualizing the achievements of the study.
16. Bibliography.
17. Appendices.
SC & IT B 15: Supervision of Project
a) A candidate who fails to submit a research project within the stipulated time shall be
deemed to have failed.
b) A candidate who is allowed to submit the research project after the stipulated time will
submit it within three (3) months as a supplementary examination and it will be marked
out of 100 but the maximum marks will be 40.
c) A candidate who fails to submit the research project even after the additional three (3)
months shall be deemed to have failed and the relevant regulations shall apply.