module specification

CS6P05 - Project (2024/25)

Module specification Module approved to run in 2024/25
Module title Project
Module level Honours (06)
Credit rating for module 30
School School of Computing and Digital Media
Total study hours 300
 
74 hours Assessment Preparation / Delivery
220 hours Guided independent study
6 hours Scheduled learning & teaching activities
Assessment components
Type Weighting Qualifying mark Description
Coursework 25%   Project Report Interim Submission (3500 words)
Coursework 25%   Project process, including project artefacts
Coursework 40% 40 Project Report Final Submission (8000 words)
Oral Examination 10% 40 Viva
Running in 2024/25

(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change)
Period Campus Day Time Module Leader
Year North Wednesday Afternoon

Module summary

The module enables students to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills through a systematic and creative investigation of a project work in accordance with their course requirements. The topic of investigation will cover a broad spectrum of various analysis and techniques and will lead to a comprehensive and concise academic/industry-related report. Students will be assisted in exploring areas that may be unfamiliar to them and encouraged to develop innovative ideas and techniques. Students will be able to choose a project that may require the solution to a specific problem, creation of an artefact in a real-world environment or an investigation of innovative ideas and techniques related to an area within their field of study. Collaboration with outside agencies and projects with industrial, business or research partners/ sponsors will be encouraged.

Assessment: Project Report Interim Submission(25%) + Project process (25%) + Project Report Final Submission(40% -Pass on component) + Viva (10% -Pass on component).

The module aims to develop a wide range of subject specific cognitive abilities and skills relating to intellectual tasks, including practical skills and additional transferable skills of a more general nature and applicable in many other contexts.

Particularly, the module aims to:

•Provide an opportunity to learn, through supervised experience, how to plan and carry out a project through a systematic and creative approach;

•Encourage innovation and originality in approach to investigating a problem in an area that may be unfamiliar to the student;

•Provide opportunity for in depth study of some specialised area of suitable scale and complexity relevant to their course of study;

•Raise awareness in potential business development opportunities in connection to the project work undertaken and of any ethical, legal and professional issues;

•Develop reporting skills as well as the ability to communicate results, conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialists and non-specialist’s audiences, clearly and unambiguously;

•Encourages reflection upon the relationship of design decisions to the appropriateness of the finished task;

•Enhance professional and personal development.

Prior learning requirements

Satisfactory progression to level 6 of the BSc Single Honours’ programme of study

Syllabus

The main areas of the module syllabus include:

Explore unfamiliar territories and adopt a multidisciplinary approach where applicable; (LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5)

Demonstrate confidence in applying original and innovative ideas; (LO1, LO2, LO5)

Apply suitable methodology, including use of software, evaluation and verification of results; (LO3, LO4, LO5)

Reflect critically upon the work undertaken and its limitations; (LO1, LO5, LO7)

Execute a plan of work to achieve set targets within time limits; (LO4, LO6)

Produce a clear and well-structured project report/documentation. (LO4, LO7)

Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity

Students will either propose their own project or select from a list of previously approved projects provided by staff and industrial partners/clients. The list will be made available to students via a dedicated web site. Students’ own proposals will be subject to an approval process to ensure that they are of the appropriate scale and standard for the final year project and reflect the title and aims of their degree course.

Students will be allocated a supervisor, based on the project on which they are working, and the supervisor will be the main contact point for the student during the course of the project. There will be at least six formal, recorded sessions with the supervisor, during the project. Students may be supervised individually or in groups by their supervisor.

The project is a major piece of work equating to about 300 hours of learning time for each student which will be reflected in the quality and quantity of work submitted.

The student will be responsible for the day to day organisation and management of the project and for ensuring that the project is delivered on time.  The supervisor will act in an advisory capacity, offering advice and guidance as necessary to ensure that the student remains on track.

Students will be required to formally plan their project.

All projects will contain two key milestones:

1. A formal progress review will be undertaken at the midpoint of the project, at which point guidance can be given and remedial action taken as necessary to ensure that the project remains on track.
2. The final submission will mark the formal end of project activity and the date by which all work on the project should be completed.

There will be a project show at the end of the year to celebrate students' achievements. Students will have opportunities to exhibit their project work during the event where stakeholders and students' friends and families would be invited, and project prizes could be awarded.

Students will be expected and encouraged to produce reflective commentaries and an action plan for personal development on the learning activities and tasks that they carry out to complete their work, e.g. in the interim and final submissions of the project report.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module the student should be able to:

- LO1: Carry out independent research and investigative work.

- LO2: Apply knowledge, skills and abilities to the solution of a previously unfamiliar real-life problem.

- LO3: Apply a structured design process to the development of the solution.

- LO4: Apply project management techniques to ensure that the project is completed in a timely manner, meeting the requirements of the appropriate professional body or industry standards.

- LO5: Select from a range of alternatives the optimal solution to a problem and to justify that selection, giving due consideration to risk management and security issues.

- LO6: Carry that solution through to final implementation, demonstrating an ability to work in a team, if appropriate.

- LO7: Formally and correctly report on the progress and outcomes of the process, and reflect upon their personal development, legal, social, ethical and professional issues.

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