CSCI 487 Senior Project
Spring 2002
Catalog Description:
Each student conducts an in-depth study of a
current problem in computer science or related area. Upon completion, the
student presents the results in both oral and written forms.
Prerequisites:
Senior standing in Computer Science (that is,
successful completion of all courses specifically required in the C.S.
curriculum that are numbered less than 400). Our preference is for
students to take the course in their final semester.
Course Goals:
This is the capstone course for the undergraduate
programs in Computer Science, typically taken in the student's
final semester. Each student must bring the knowledge, understanding,
and skills he or she has attained in the undergraduate program to
bear on a nontrivial problem in computing science and technology.
Each student is expected to solve the problem and present his or
her solution in a professional manner.
Oral Communication Expectations:
The University of
Mississippi expects all of its graduates to be competent in basic
oral communications skills. In this and other Computer Science
courses, students are expected to demonstrate this competency
by exhibiting the following fundamental skills:
- Appropriate interactive communication skills.
Students should have the ability to listen effectively and to
respond appropriately to orally transmitted messages from
others. This may involve a verbal or non-verbal response to
an instruction or a reasonable and appropriate engagement in
conversation.
- Adequate oral delivery.
Students should have the ability to elicit a comprehensible oral
message, regardless of the topic or nature of the setting. The
student should be able to communicate with adequate clarity
(articulation, pronunciation, volume, rate, and language usage)
to be understood, given that listeners have reasonable
tolerances for different dialects and accents.
- Ability to construct a coherent and logical message.
Students should have the ability to deliver a coherent and
logical argument or response to a question. The student should
be able to adapt this message to a level of discourse that is
appropriate for the audience.
- Ability to communicate in the context of the computing
discipline.
Students should have the ability to communicate effectively
in a professional computing setting. This includes use of
appropriate technical language, use of abstraction, interviewing
skills, formal presentation skills, conducting a meeting, and
working cooperatively with others in groups.
Professional Conduct:
As a student in CSCI 487, you are expected
to conduct yourself in a professional manner according to the
Honor Code of the School of Engineering, the Information Technology
Appropriate Use Policy, the M Book, and any other relevant
policies. The first three by-laws of the School of Engineering
Honor Code are reproduced here for your reference:
- The Honor Code shall apply to all undergraduate students
seeking degrees through the School of Engineering,
registered in School of Engineering courses. Graduate
students in the School of Engineering are subject to the
Academic Discipline Code published in the University of
Mississippi M Book. Undergraduates from other
disciplines who are registered for courses in the School
of Engineering also are subject to the M Book's
Code. The Honor Code shall be understood to apply to all
academic areas of the School such as examinations,
quizzes, laboratory reports, themes, computer programs,
homework, and other possible assignments. Only that work
specifically identified by the class instructor not to
be under the Honor Code is excluded. The intent of the
Honor Code is to recognize professional conduct and,
thus, it shall be deemed a violation of the Honor Code
to knowingly deceive, copy, paraphrase, or otherwise
misrepresent your work in a manner inconsistent with
professional conduct.
- Enforcement of the Honor Code shall be the duty of each
student and faculty member in the School of
Engineering. Failure by a student to report a violation of
the Honor Code will, in itself, be a violation of the
Honor Code.
- Academic dishonesty is serious. It is important to
recognize that applications for graduate and professional
school as well as applications for employment and professional
licenses frequently require the applicant to state whether
he or she has been found guilty of academic
dishonesty. Moreover, when the penalties of suspension and
expulsion are imposed for academic dishonesty, they will
be recorded permanently on a student's transcript.
Student Disabilities Services Statement
"It is the responsibility of any student with a disability who
requests a reasonable accommodation to contact the Office of
Disability Services (915-7128). Contact will then be made by that
office through the student to the instructor of this class. The
instructor will then be happy to work with the student so that a
reasonable accommodation of any disability can be made."
Grading:
CSCI 487 is a regular, graded course. Your semester grade will be
based on the instructor's overall evaluation of the quality of your
work. You are expected to attend all required class meetings, to
prepare high-quality materials and presentations, to submit all
required material on time, and to interact with your sponsor,
instructor, and fellow students in a professional and effective
manner.
The instructor will not view the grading for this course as a
strict point system. The following factors with the given relative
weights, will contribute to the determination of your semester
grade:
Department Grading Policy
It is the policy of the Department that no grades of "I" (Incomplete)
will be assigned in this course for failure to complete the project
on schedule. If you do not complete the project by the end of the
semester, a grade of "F" will be assigned.
Honor Code Statement
All aspects of CSCI 487 fall under the provisions of the School of
Engineering's Honor Code. For each document that you submit as part
of your project, you must attach and sign the following Honor Code
statement:
In keeping with the Honor Code of the School of Engineering, I affirm
that I have neither given nor received assistance in preparing this
assignment.
Signature: ______________________________
Documents will not be accepted by the instructor unless the Honor Code
statement is included and signed.
Important Note on Grading of Assignments
This is a senior-level class at an institution of higher learning,
designed to be taken during the final regular semester of your
undergraduate computer science program. This course is the
culmination of your entire undergraduate degree program. Thus your
written work, your oral presentations, and your interactions with your
instructor and sponsor, as well as your programming and technical
work, must be at the highest level of quality and professionalism.
Your written work must reflect that you have a college degree;
there must not be any misspelled words or grammatical errors
in any document that you submit. The instructor will
deduct 20 percent of the total points on any assignment
for each misspelled word or grammatical error.
The instructor may, in some circumstances, ask you to revise and
resubmit a document within some specified period of time.
Similarly, your oral presentation must also reveal that you have a
college degree; your final presentation must be free from
grammatical errors. If there are more than five
grammatical errors, then the presentation will have to
be repeated and the grade for the course will be
automatically dropped one letter grade.
Take advantage of the features (e.g., spelling and grammar checking)
of your word processor and, especially, of the resources provided by
the University. The University provides the Writing Center and the
Williams Learning Center to help you with these problems. The Speech
and Hearing Center will provide you with help in dialect reduction if
you feel that your dialect prevents you from speaking without
grammatical errors.