COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT, RUCST.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING PROPOSALS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE ACADEMIC PROJECTS

At the beginning of the final year, students are expected to submit their project proposals to the Department. The following outline is the recommended way to structure the proposal, which should not be more than 10 pages long with 1.15 line spacing. A 10-minute PowerPoint presentation should also be generated from the proposal to facilitate the defence of the topic. 1. Student identification details a. Index number b. Surname, Other names c. Programme d. Batch (October / January) 2. Title of Thesis Project a. The project topic should be new have a simple and concise statement, and be technologically difficult or challenging. Ensure that you have the essential keywords that summarize the overall task you are performing in your project. b. It is the students responsibility to ensure that the project has not already been carried out within the University or elsewhere. One can retain originality by i. Using different tools, methods, techniques ii. Exploring the unsolved, unknown or unanticipated iii. Interpreting data differently c. If the final objective is to develop and implement a hardware or software system, indicate this as such in your topic. eg. 1. Design and Implementation of a Network Analysis and Traffic Management System for Regent University College of Science and Technology. eg. 2. A Data Quality Monitoring Tool for the Regent Online Student Information System. 3. Introduction a. To the subject area (e.g. Relational Databases) Provide a brief summary of this subject area. 4. Problem Statement State the specific problem within the subject area (e.g. implementing a code generator to create JSP pages to manage data in a relational databases) a. Provide an overview of the problem and related work that attempted to solve this specific problem b. Reasons why it is important to investigate or solve the chosen problem. 5. Goals and Objectives of the Project Students must provide a listing and brief descriptions of the goals and objectives of the proposed project. a. Provide the main objective(s) of the project and b. Provide the specific objectives of the project (e.g. software requirements)
Project Proposal Writing Guidelines - Kenneth Azumah, Computer Science Dept. March 25, 2009 Revised Prof. Bobbie, March 25, 2009 Revised Kenneth Azumah and David Botwe, March 30, 2009

6. Methodologies/Techniques and Tools/Platform (By what steps do you intend to achieve the aim of the project?) a. Give an overview of the methodology you will employ (e.g. Classic System Development Life Cycle using Object-Oriented Analysis and Design) b. Describe in as much detail as possible, the various methodologies, techniques and tools, including system platforms hardware and software to be used in developing the design and implementation of the research/thesis. c. Describe any constraints or assumption you anticipate, and state the scope of the project/thesis d. Provide a summary of how you will evaluate your work (e.g. A dataset from Regent University will be used in the evaluation of the software) 7. Timeline and Project Plan a. Provide a detailed schedule of the various tasks involved in executing the project b. Lay it out in a form of a table or Gantt Chart 8. Initial Bibliography and Reference List a. Provide the list of books you intend to read b. List any references cited in your proposal (especially in sections 4 a. and b.) Before selecting a project and topic, bear in mind that the thesis project can serve several (and sometimes overlapping) purposes: Learning more. The project is an opportunity for studying a subject in more depth. A stepping stone towards finding and securing a job. A project may be viewed as preparation for working life, by practicing your skills and knowledge on real world problems. A stepping stone towards graduate studies. A project may serve as preparation for graduate studies, by exploring a research problem and learning about the research process.

Project Proposal Writing Guidelines - Kenneth Azumah, Computer Science Dept. March 25, 2009 Revised Prof. Bobbie, March 25, 2009 Revised Kenneth Azumah and David Botwe, March 30, 2009