CS 490 Design Exhibition

Spring 2013
Tuesdays 4:30 pm, Robinson A111

Course Description:

This course provides computer science majors with an opportunity to work on a semester-long project or research paper that is more substantial than the projects or papers assigned in other CS classes. To achieve this creative goal, students may work in teams or individually. CS faculty members can also serve as mentors of the project or research paper and the effort will be coordinated by the course instructor.

Milestones throughout the semester must be met for successful completion of the course. These include submission of initial design specification documents, bi-weekly progress reports and presentations, development of assessment criteria to measure student success, and a formal presentation of the project or paper at the end of the semester.

For BS CS students, this course can be used as both a CS-related and CS-Senior elective. For ACS majors, this course can be used to satisfy the CS 400-level course requirement.


Prerequisites:

C or better in CS 321/421 (Software Requirements and Design Modeling), CS 483 (Analysis of Algorithms) and two other CS 400-level courses; senior standing. Students may also take this course with permission of the instructor.

Instructor:

Prof. Pearl Y. Wang
Computer Science Department
Office:  Nguyen Engineering - ENGR 4300
Phone:   703-993-1527
E-mail:   pwang at cs.gmu.edu
Office Hours:   Tues & Wed 1 pm - 3 pm;   other times available by appointment


Course Requirements & Grading:

The course grade is based on three components:
(1) Class participation: Bi-weekly progress reports and/or demos/presentations: 20%

(2) Deliverables: 60%

20% - Project design/research plan documents, including revisions
40% - For a project, a final report containing documented software and/or project-generated artifacts. For a research paper, a final document that shows evidence of an original contribution that includes comparison to previous work in the literature
(3) Final presentation: 20%
All coursework must be performed in accordance to GMU and CS Department Academic Integrity and Honor Code Policies at http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/HomePage. These policies will be strictly enforced.
If you have a documented learning disability or other condition that may affect academic performance you should: 1) make sure this documentation is on file with the Office of Disability Services (SUB I, Rm. 4205; 993-2474; http://ods.gmu.edu/) to determine the accommodations you need; and 2) talk with the instructor to discuss your accommodation needs.

Tentative Schedule:

1/22:  Course Introduction & Project/Research Development Methods
1/29:  Discussion of Success Metrics and Assessment Criteria
2/05:  Student Presentation:  Project/Research Description & Goals
2/12:  Student Presentation:  Project Design or Research Plan
2/19:  Evaluation/Feedback Discussions
2/26:  Revised Project Design/Research Plan Due
3/05: 
3/12:  Spring Break
3/19:  Short Student Presentation:  Progress Report
3/26: 
4/02:  Short Student Presentation:   Demo or Preliminary Results
4/09: 
4/16:  Student Presentation: Practice Run: demos or results
4/23: 
4/30:  Final Reports Due
5/14:  Final Presentations & Demos

Important Dates:

Last day to add:  January 29, 2013
Last day to drop: January 29, 2013 (no tuition penalty)
Final day to drop: February 22, 2013
Last day of selective withdrawal: March 29, 20113

Spring recess: March 11 - 13, 2013
Last day of classes: May 6, 2013

Final Examination: May 14, 2012, 4:30 pm - 7:15 pm


Created: 18 Jan 2013
P.Y. Wang