NCI Courses

A practical development project is undertaken. While faculty members may suggest topics, the Project specification is decided by the student in consultation with faculty. Students follow the typical development life cycle to produce a software/web application of substance. This module is common across all undergraduate programmes in the School of Computing. Students from all programmes will need to demonstrate competency in core technical skills (e.g. introduction to programming, databases, web design). Students studying programmes in the area of business computing and technology management must also demonstrate additional acquired business skills (e.g. management, marketing etc) while, students studying more technical programmes must demonstrate further technical skills (e.g. programming skills) and ability to utilise emerging technologies/languages.

The interdisciplinary project teams may be formed based on a self-selection process with representation from all disciplines. During week 1 those students who do not belong to a team may fill in a questionnaire that would indicate their skill set and a type of project they may be interested in. These students will be placed on a team by a lecturer or a faculty member. Each team will comprise a number of roles. Within each team students may assume a role which best reflects their strengths, however, all students must demonstrate the core technical competencies as outlined previously. A peer-review process in place will assist in determining the contribution of each individual on a team. Two questionnaires (distributed in the middle of the term and at a final stage) will assist the lecturer or a faculty member in assessing the work of each team member. The results of both questionnaires and analysis of student’s online project activity will influence the final mark of each student.

The main project phases which are assessed separately include: project proposal, requirements specification, prototype implementation, final release, testing and evaluation. In the beginning of the Semester students attend classes, consultations and seminars on immanent issues including requirements analysis, development method, programming language and development tools. Throughout the Semester students work under the direction of the project supervisor where the supervisor meets the teams during class time. The project team reports on the project progress. In the mid of the Semester, students present a prototype to examiners, outlining their progress to date and demonstrating that the main technical difficulties have been solved. In the end of the Semester, students present the final release to examiners and produce the required documentation. Examples of project area include but are not limited to: • E-commerce applications (e.g. event registration) • Gaming applications (e.g. educational game for children) • Innovative business applications (e.g. applications that support new business ventures) • Web applications (e.g. tutoring application) • Data management applications (e.g. Attendance monitoring system) • Applications that support the management process (e.g. KPI dashboard application)

The main project phases which are assessed separately include: - project proposal - requirements specification - prototype implementation - final release, testing and evaluation In the beginning of the Semester students attend classes, consultations and seminars on immanent issues including development method, programming language and development tools. Throughout the Semester students work under the direction of the project supervisor where the supervisor meets the group during class time. The project team reports on the project progress. In the mid of the Semester, students present a prototype to examiners, outlining their progress to date and demonstrating that the main technical difficulties have been solved. In the end of the Semester, students present the final release to examiners and produce the required documentation. Students are encouraged to choose a project that is closely related to their area of specialisation.

• Introduction to Project • Coding guidelines • Supervision requirements • Overview of examinations (timelines, dates etc.)

Project specialisations UML blended learning Presentation skills Technical writing

• Project Proposal • Requirements Specification • Prototype • Mid point presentation • Software System • Final Presentation

• Background to the project • Brief description of the approach to be followed in implementing the project • Special resources required, if any • Major implementation steps and timelines • Names of academic staff members consulted

• Requirements Analysis • Requirement Specification

• Guidelines • Horizontal • Vertical

• Proof of concept • A brief power-point overview • Progress on the project schedule • A demonstration of a simple project prototype (verifying the feasibility of the project) • Grading (Presentation, Progress, Prototype)

• Introduction • Goal • Central Theories • System • Design • Implementation • Evaluation • Discussions • Demonstrations