Tips on Writing your Project Report …

…and managing your project

Don’t Panic!

It’s normal to feel that you don’t really know what you’re doing

To overcome this – talk to people (your project supervisor, friends, etc.)

And – most importantly …

Plan

Try to plan/structure the time available

Set both long and short-term goals (daily, weekly, monthly)

Keep records

Your write-up will be much easier if you keep a research diary. (What I did today)

Record all design decisions immediately (you’ll forget otherwise)

Have regular meetings

See your Supervisor often. Prepare for the meetings – e.g.

have a list of questions, be ready to tell them what you’ve been doing

Create a Glossary of Terms

Do this as you go along – don’t leave it to the end

It will help your understanding – every area has its own jargon/terminology and some words may also have an everyday meaning which is different

Research

For each book/paper jot down a few lines (in your own words) outlining the main points

When you photocopy or print pages from the web, write all required details on them – e.g. author, date, conference, URL, date accessed etc. And …

Bibliography

Start it as soon as you start your research – build up an (electronic) file

Always add full details – saves time hunting round later

Requirements

With or without a real client, make sure you are clear about what the requirements are.

Prioritise them (MOSCOW rules can help here)

Evaluation

Think EARLY about how you will evaluate your project. It may alter what you do.

Compare your outcomes with your aims

Have you achieved what you set out to do?

How, exactly, do you know? How can you demonstrate this?

Software

Think first – don’t rush into things Comment your code Version control is important Test as you go

Writing your report Start writing early – e.g. write up your

research Use your research diary Write a skeleton structure – i.e. chapter

headings and an outline of what the chapter will cover

Explain the problem, current state-of-the-art, what you’ve done, how you’ve tested and evaluated it. Comment on results. Future work.

Writing your report

Explain clearly what you have done and why

Discuss problems you’ve encountered and how you overcame them

Guide your reader through the report Remember to put your work in an

academic context

Writing your report

Remember to spell check and proof read carefully – swap with a friend?

The report is the most important product – don’t delay writing up to keep tweaking software. Set a deadline and stick to it.

Sites of Interest

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/res_meth/login.html

http://eluzions.com/Pictures/Illusions

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/methods/methods.htm

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~van/cpsc590/links.html