CS898 - Winter 2017 - Additional Detail on Individual Projects

Individual projects will be presented in class in 10 minute timeslots
on March 27 and April 3, with the projects due on April 4.

These projects are worth 40 percent of your grade (with the oral 
presentation worth another 10 marks). As such, the expected scope and
depth of this work exceeds what has been produced in the groupwork
on the four course topics. The group projects are done over a two-week
timeframe, working with 3 other individuals, where each person's 
contribution is a fraction of the whole. For the individual project,
not only is the content entirely derived by one person but also the
expected timeframe is considerably longer than two weeks. The idea
should be that students begin to select their chosen topics earlier
in the term, to do some research and thinking in parallel with the
work they are required for complete for their group projects.

Another important distinction between individual projects and groupwork
is the expected depth and detail of the solutions that are being
developed. I understand that groups of people working together in
limited timeframes on projects worth 10 marks have a somewhat more
restricted expected output. Individuals creating ideas over a longer
time period for a project worth 40 marks should definitely be drilling
down to greater depth and detail, in order to demonstrate their knowledge
and skills. While the project requires various elements, such as
proper introduction, citation of relevant research and a fairly deep
final analysis/set of recommendations, the core presentation of the
solution itself is perhaps most important to handle properly. Students
should clarify their proposals in terms of algorithms, formulae,
small implemented systems or theoretical proofs, a valuable set of
detailed examples, etc. In other words, how the solution is intended
to operate should be eminently clear and why the solution seems to be
of value should be suitably defended.

I do office hours on Wednesday at 9:30am. You are welcome to drop
by to talk about your proposed project topic. I am also quite willing
to read through a brief (one or two paragraph) project proposal, in
advance of your work on the topic. I suggest a deadline of March 17.
I am offline Mar 13 to Mar 16 but will be online Mar 12 and again Mar 17.
I am also out of town Feb 15 and tied up with a teleconference Feb 22
so these two office hours are cancelled; the latter is break week, anyway.

As for the oral presentations, we will be using the schedule below.
March 27: 1030, 1042, 1054, 1108, 1120, 1132, 1144, 1156, 1208
Apr 3: 1030, 1042, 1054, 1108, 1120, 1132, 1144: course summary/evaluations. 
Note that you will not be judged on the content of your project at
the time of the presentation but instead on your ability to succintly
convey what you are working on and expect to complete for April 4.
Skill in oral presentation, construction of effective slides and organization
will all be important; at least some depth of understanding should
be apparaent as well. I will slot people into timeslots through a random
draw of names. I will reveal the presentation schedule in class by March 6.

Note that the specified 10 page (5000 word) size for the writeup
is only a guideline. Projects should be sufficiently detailed for
me to appreciate the talent and effort of the student but should
not present me with a tremendous reading burden.