This section contains information relevant to 40 credit final year module CM3203 in 2013/14.

As there have been some changes the documentation has to be revised. Further details and information will appear on this wiki soon.

The viva exam for your Final Year Project will be timetabled any time in the University's Examinations period. You must therefore remain available at the University until the end of the Examinations. You should NOT arrange any holidays, employment or other commitments until after this date. The timetable for the viva exams will be published as soon as possible after the submission deadline.

Note, that not attending your viva exam will result in you failing the module (unless you have extenuating circumstances in which case the viva exam will be rescheduled).

Note to supervisors and moderators, you also must be available during that time period (Let Helen Williams know about any planned, unavoidable absences).

In therm 2 of the second year you are going to select your final year project. Below are guides on how to write and select your project using PATS. See a list of members of staff available to supervise projects.

• Project Proposals: Details about writing and submitting project proposals.
• Project Selection: Details about how to select your project.
• Project Supervision: Details about finding and arranging project supervision.

• Final Year Project Proposals for 2013/14
• Final Year Project Selection for 2013/14

These guides are meant to help you produce good final year project reports. A good report is one that presents your project work concisely and effectively. It should contain various materials relevant to the work you have undertaken in respect of your project; it should be organised into a logical framework; and it should be supported by written material that follows well-established academic conventions in a consistent fashion.

An important point to remember is that the report should describe your work. Large chunks of bookwork describing standard material are unnecessary. You should simply refer to such material where necessary - assume that your reader is a competent computer or information systems theorist or practitioner. The guidelines here are arranged roughly in the order that you will need them.

Your project supervisor will guide you on what it is reasonable to expect a project in your chosen topic to deliver. However, all projects are required to justify all decisions made at every stage of research and the development of appropriate deliverables, including the choice of approach.

• Initial Plan: You must submit an initial plan, which is marked by your supervisor and moderator at the start of the first semester.

• During your project there will be scheduled review meetings.

• A final report must be submitted at the end of the second semester.

• Project Viva: A project viva will take place after the exams for every final year project.

• Project Publication: Details about how to publish your project online.

• General guides for writing reports:
  • Gathering Material
  • Arranging Material and Structuring the Project Report
  • Writing a Project Report
  • Using Descriptive Devices
  • Supporting Material
  • Main Recommendations
• Typesetting Rules: follow these rules to typeset your interim and final report.
• Sources for Further Guidance: a collection of useful references.

Please find further information below on how to use PATS, prepare the various deliverables in a suitable format and related technical issues.

• Submission Guide: General instructions on how to submit the reports and plans for your final year project via PATS.
• PDF Guide: Instructions on how to create PDF files required for all submissions via PATS.
• Checksums: Instructions on how to generate file checksums to verify your submissions and for alternative submission mechanisms (as described in the Submission Guide).

Frank C Langbein at LangbeinFC@cf.ac.uk