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How do I get a First in my Project?

Introduction

The final year project is a substantial piece of work amounting to one quarter of your finalyear. In addition, it is a large-scale individual project, and many employers prize the abilitiesdemonstrated in the project very highly.

Gaining a good mark in your final year project is desirable therefore, not only because it will

have a big effect on your final result for your degree, but also because of the impression it

can convey to a prospective employer about your ability to work on a project of this nature.

So what can you do to maximise the mark you get for your project?

The first thing to say is that just producing work of an average standard will not lead to a first

class mark.

P r e s e n t a t i o n s

Your oral and poster presentations should be presented to the highest and most professional

of standards, and the technical content should be faultless. Details are given elsewhere

regarding how you should produce your presentations.

R e p o r t s

Your reports should be correctly structured as detailed in the information on report writing,

and should contain no shortcomings. The report should give a full account of the projecteither to that point in the case of the interim report, or the full project in the case of the final

report. Importantly, in the case of a report considered worthy of a first class mark, alldecisions should be fully and objectively justified in terms of the quality of the final result of

the project, and any experimental work should be fully, clearly and concisely documented.

In addition, the quality of presentation, style and English should be faultless.

C o n t i n u o u s A s s e s s m e n t

Whilst it is comparatively easy to focus on the various submissions associated with the

project, the continuous assessment element accounts for 30% of the marks for this module.In order to achieve an exceptional mark for your project as a whole, ideally you need to

achieve an exceptional mark for the continuous assessment element.

As the name suggests, you are continuously monitored throughout the project. This is

supported by your logbook, the additional information you collect as the project progresses,and a log of meetings kept by your supervisor.

In order to achieve this you are required to achieve consistent and sustained work of an

exceptional standard throughout the entire course of your project, from the first meeting in

week 1, to the viva at the end.

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It is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security by the apparent length of the project. In

the early weeks of the first semester there is a tendency to relax a bit and think that deadlines

are a long way off, weekly targets begin to slip and the project as a whole begins to stall.

If you wish to get a first class mark for your continuous assessment you will need to maintain

your drive throughout the course of the year. You will need to meet or exceed targets,demonstrating that you are constantly working at the highest level towards achieving the goal

of completing your project. More than that, you will need to show that you are taking

ownership of the project and driving it forward, possibly going further between tutorials than

suggested by your supervisor. However, this additional work, must be seen as incisive, welljudged and clearly focussed towards completion of your project, not just random and ill-

judged additional work.

It is not just the amount of work you undertake throughout the course of the year which will

get you a top mark for your continuous assessment but the way in which all the work you

undertake is clearly focussed on making progress towards your final solution. This work

should show a deep understanding of the requirements of the task at had and a drive towardsfinding the best solution. This will then be fully and correctly documented in your logbook

such that your progress can be followed through in retrospect by your supervisor. Note that

you logbook should be written AT THE TIME. You should not write your logbook up at a

later date for the purpose of submission.

The Characteristics of First Class Projects

Exactly what you will be required to do will depend on the type of project you areundertaking. The aim of this section is to give some pointers for common tasks to indicate

the level of achievement you will need to aim for in order to achieve a top mark.

S o f t w a r e D e v e l o p m e n t

The following are the markers of a first class piece of software code:

Evidence of design of the piece of software- flow charts or some form of structuredanalysis of requirements.

The transition from requirements to implementation should be clear and traceable.

The resulting program should be correctly structured, such that the flow of the program isable to be followed by a third party. Programming conventions should be followed,variables declared, and the program fully commented.

The testing process should be clear. It should be possible to follow through how the

program was tested, the results of these tests and how these tests demonstrate that theprogram meets the original requirements.

Any modifications as a result of the original testing phase should be logged and the

process of testing and modification leading to the final version of the software should be

traceable.

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Consideration should be given to the physical layout of the board, positioning of

connectors and switches etc.

Design for testability should be evident- removable links allowing subsystem testing, etc.These tests should be justified and documented.

Any modifications to the artwork should be documented and justified.

There are many other tasks you may be required to undertake during your project, one

obvious one is testing of an actual circuit. Hopefully, you can see from the descriptionsabove, the types of activities and the level of consideration and achievement expected in

order to be undertaking first class work.