CSC 416 BSc in Computer

Science/BIT 450 BIT

Project Guidelines
 Introduction to Projects

 You will be expected to select a project,

Define the problem, Do some study
(Literature review), Develop a system and
finally present the and project report.
 Project Proposal
 What is a Proposal? A proposal is a
statement or document that clearly
communicates your idea, intentions, plans
or scheme.
 A proposal puts forward for consideration
ones plan of intent.
 It is meant for evaluation by a supervisor or
to be given guidance.
 Project Proposal
 An effective proposal should clearly state:
◦ What the project is all about – Topic
◦ What made you choose the area – Problem
◦ What relevant information gave you the idea –
Literature review
◦ How it will be carried out - Methodology
◦ How long it will take to complete
◦ How much it will cost
 Topic selection
 This the starting point.
 Before you write your Project Proposal,
you need to select the topic or area you
are interested in such as Mobile Apps
development, Knowledge Base Systems.
Web Services etc.

 It is from this topic or area of study that

you zero into formulating a Project.
 Project Proposal Structure

 The proposal documentation consists of the

following main sections:
◦ Introduction
◦ Literature Review
◦ Methodology

 In addition, you must include the budget,

project schedule, and references
 General Proposal format
 Title Page:
◦ Project Title, Registration details, Supervisor and
date submitted
 Table of Contents
 Chapter 1: Introduction
◦ Background
◦ Problem Definition
◦ Objectives
 Report format cont…

◦ Project Justification
 Chapter 2: Literature Survey
 Chapter 3: Methodology
◦ System development methodology to be used
◦ Schedule
◦ Budget
 Bibliography/References
 Project title
 Project title refers to the label or tag of
your project work. It gives a quick summary
of the key idea or topic in your project.
 The project title should be:
◦ Brief and specific (Less than 12 words and
informative)
◦ In line with set objectives
◦ Clear
Chapter 1: Introduction
 The introduction consists of the following
subsections
 1.1 Background
 1.2 Problem Definition
 1.3 Objectives
 1.4 Project Justification
 Background
 Provides general overview of the practical
reality that might have influenced you to
develop interest in that area. It is a
basically a summary of the literature
review.

 Explain how it was, how it is now and

how the past or present may have
contributed to the problem you wish to
solve
 Problem definition
 This is a statement (s) describing the nature of the
problem. The reader is made aware that a definite
problem or issue needed to be solved.

 The problem statement indicates the urgency of the

solution to the problem hence your project.

 The statement should capture the essence of the

study, how the unsolved problem came about and
how you intend to solve it.
 Problem definition cont..
 Thus spend substantial time defining the
problem. Imagination and insight that goes into
problem definition determines the value of
project.

 In stating your problem, think of practical

considerations e.g. cost, time, skill and
availability of relevant recourses such as
hardware, software and data
 Project goal
 Project aim or goal refers to what the
system developer strives to achieve i.e.
purpose of developing the system.
◦ It is a general statement of what the
developer aims to accomplish by the end of
the project.
◦ Usually stated in general terms that are not
easily measurable
 Specific objectives
 Unlike aims, objectives are intensions stated in
measurable terms.
 They constitute the means by which the aim of
the project is be achieved.
 Objectives should be:
◦ Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and
Time bound (SMART)
◦ They should be outlined in an ordered list 1, 2,
3 --, a, b, c----
◦ They should not be too many (between 3 and
5)
 Justification
 Justification or Significance of study explains
why the project is important from more that
one perspective.

 For example in Kenya there is no company that

is currently offering integrated online payment
gateway. Therefore the system we are
developing will be the first of its kind and
will…..
 Scope

 Scope briefly explains the limitations of the

project. What will be covered and what will
not, based on existing constraints.

 List any assumptions and constraints that

limits your scope such as schedule, budget,
resources, software to be used,
skills/techniques to be employed and
product interfaces to other products
 Chapter 2: Literature Review
 Literature review refers to gathering
relevant information by going through
published and unpublished materials
available on the topic of interest.
 Such materials includes books, journals, web
pages, magazines etc.
 It a critical look at existing related works in
order to get an insight on how to go about
the problem; pinpointing strengths and
weaknesses.
 Chapter 2: Literature Review
 Literature review refers to in-depth study of the
existing works or research in the area of interest.
 You gather relevant information by going through
the materials :

◦ Review primary sources such as similar

projects in the SCI library or online
◦ Review secondary resources such as Books,
Magazines, Websites etc.
 Read the most recent articles first and
remember to write down the reference
Chapter3: Methodology
 Explains the methodology to be employed
in developing the system.
 Examples include:
◦ SSDM using Waterfall
◦ OOAD or Unified Process;
 Resources used
 List all Resources required to develop the
system such as programming languages,
hardware etc

 You may state the approximate cost of

each and the total amount used on the
project.
 Timeline
 You must have a timeline/schedule, preferably in
the form of a GANTT chart.

 The timeline should show your own activities

divided into categories such as analysis, design,
coding, testing, revising, etc.) .It should show
interrelationships i.e. what needs to be
completed before other things can be begin.
 References

 This section lists the references that have

been cited in the project report. It gives
credit to any authors cited.
 Use the IEEE referencing style. (Examples in
the [Link] in the folder)
 Presentation format

 Should be prepared using Word processor

formatted to 12 pts Times New Roman and 1.5
spaced.
 25 mm left and 25mm on the right margins
 Pagination: Preliminary pages numbered i, ii,…
and body as 1,2,3…
TIME LINES
 Propsal 9th feb 2016
 Ist progress – 15 march 2016
 2nd progress-2nd week of sep 2016
 Final 7-8 nov 2016
Thank You!