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, final project/paper report with accompanying software artifacts, and a formal presentation of the project/research 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.
(1) Students will complete an original scholarly or creative project by: - articulating and refining a scholarly question by following ethical principles - choosing an appropriate discovery process for scholarly inquiry - gathering evidence appropriate to the question - applying scholarly conventions appropriate to inquiry and reporting - assessing the vailidy of key assumptions and evidence - and situating the inquiry within a broader context(2) Students will communicate knowledge from an original scholarly or creative project
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.
Completion of CS 390 prior to taking this class is highly recommended.
Prof. Pearl Y. Wang
Computer Science Department
Office: Nguyen Engineering - ENGR 4300
Phone: 703-993-1530
E-mail: pwang at cs.gmu.edu
Office Hours: Wed 1:30 pm - 4 pm; other times available by appointment
The course grade is based on three components:(1) Class participation: 20%
Bi-weekly progress reports, demos and/or presentations(2) Deliverables: 60%
20% - Project design/research plan documents, including regular revisions40% - A final project report including documented software and/or project-generated artifacts if a project is to be implemented. For a research paper, a final document that shows evidence of an original contribution that includes comparison to previous work in the literature must be submitted.
Please note that students will only receive a final grade of C or better in this class only if a project or the research paper is completed.
(3) Final presentation: 20%
Students in the class must give a final presentation of their projects to the public.
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.
Dates Topics Deliverables Jan 20 Course Introduction & Project/Research Development Methods Jan 27 Discussion of Success Metrics and Assessment Criteria Feb 3 Student Project/Research Plan:
Short Proposal Description & PresentationHomework 1 Feb 10 Student Project/Research Plan:
Design/Report Document & PresentationHomework 2 Feb 17 Evaluation/Feedback Discussions Feb 24 Student Progress Report Homework 3 Mar 2 Mar 9 Spring Break Mar 16 Student Progress Report: Preliminary Demos Homework 4 Mar 23 Mar 30 Student Progress Report Homework 5 Apr 6 Apr 13 Student Presentation: Practice Run: Demos or Results Homework 6 Apr 20 Apr 27 Last class meeting Final Reports May 3(?)
May 4(?)Exam Week:
Final Presentations & Demos
Last day to add: January 26, 2016
Last day to drop: January 26, 2016 (no tuition penalty)
Final day to drop: February 19, 2016
Last day of selective withdrawal: March 25, 2016
Spring recess: March 7 - 13, 2016
Last day of classes: May 2, 2016
Final Examination (scheduled): TBD
Created: 15 Dec 2015
P.Y. Wang