News

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• 2017-12-17 - The capstone progress report template has been updated. Please download the new version for the spring semester here. Progress reports must have a signature and score for the progress section when uploaded to blackboard, or will otherwise receive 0 points for progress.
• 2017-08-21 - Please read the Capstone Project Guide for rubrics on how oral and written assignments will be graded.
• 2017-08-21 - Course announcements will be posted here.
• 2017-08-21 - The template for your progress reports can be found here. This needs to be filled out by the team and submitted to the capstone advisor who will then grade the teams progress since the last report. I will then provide a score for the report quality and put the grade in moodle. Unsubmitted reports will receive a 0 grade.

Contact Information

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Course Description

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The Senior Capstone courses are a two-semester sequence in which computer science majors undertake a culminating research or software development project. Students will have the opportunity to work on projects with researchers from across UND as well as with external companies. The course requires written documents, oral presentations, and peer review of the initial phases of the project, including a project proposal, a review of related work, and a complete software design or research plan. Students will gain the appropriate oral and written communication skills, as well as critical and creative thinking skills to successfully enable them to work in teams and as future graduate students or employees.

Objectives

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The CSci 492/493 sequence carries the Essential Studies Capstone (C) designation. The following two ES goals are integrated into the course:

1. Critical and creative thinking: Your senior project will require that you design and implement a software product or conduct a formal research project in computer science. In either case, you will be required to apply critical thinking skills in the review and analysis of previously published material and to apply creative thinking skills in the design of an original project that draws upon your specific interests in computing. Approximately 50% of your grade will be based on successful application of critical and creative thinking.
2. Oral and written communication: This course has four phases, each of which entails an oral presentation and a written document. Approximately 50% of your grade will be based on the quality of these presentations and documents.

The CSci 492/493 sequence also carries the Essential Studies Capstone Advanced Communication (A) designation. More than one-third of the course activities and graded work (up to approximately 50%) will be dedicated to the development of discipline-specific communication skills. You will be expected to apply feedback on the quality of your work from one phase to the next in an effort to improve and refine your communication skills.

Outcomes

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The Senior Capstone courses are a two-semester sequence in which computer science majors undertake a culminating research or software development project. The course requires written documents, oral presentations, and peer review of the initial phases of the project, including a project proposal, a review of related work, and a complete software design or research plan. Students will gain the appropriate oral and written communication skills, as well as critical and creative thinking skills to successfully enable them to work in teams and as future graduate students or employees.

Pre-Requisites

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CS 492: CSci 242 and at least second-semester junior standing.

CS 493: CSci 492.

Text

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None.

Grading

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Grades for both CS 492 and 493 will be based on assessed critical and thinking, as well as oral and written communication. The Capstone Project Guide provides rubrics on how the written and oral components will be graded.

CS 492

Critical Inquiry and Analysis and Quantitative Reasoning (50%):

• 20% - Project Design/Research Plan
• 10% - Project Reports: Team Progress
• 20% - Initial Project Code Review

Oral Communication (20%):

• 6% - Project Proposal Presentation
• 7% - Selected Related Work Presentation
• 7% - Project Design/Research Plan presentation

Written Communication and Information Literacy (30%):

• 10% - Progress Reports: Report Quality
• 4% - Initial Project Proposal
• 6% - Refined Project Proposal
• 10% - Related Work Survey

Any grading problems, appeals or questions can be brought before the instructor for discussion.

CS 493

Critical Inquiry and Analysis and Quantitative Reasoning (40%):

• 15% - Midterm Code Review
• 15% - Final Code Review
• 10% - Progress Reports: Team Progress

Oral Communication (30%):

• 10% - Poster Presentation
• 10% - Midterm Code Presentation
• 10% - Final Project Presentation

Written Communication and Information Literacy (30%):

• 10% - Progress Reports: Report Quality
• 10% - Rough draft of software design documentation/research paper
• 10% - Final draft of software design documentation/research paper

Academic Integrity

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The development of the individual problem solving skills needed for computer programming is one of the major objectives of this course. Students are to work independently of each other in completing the programming assignments. Any exception to this rule will require documentation signed by me allowing the collaborative work.

If you need help, you are welcome to consult with your instructor, your teaching assistant, or the staff of the department's Instructional Help Desk in 109A Streibel Hall. A submission of source code that you did not develop or homework assignments that was not your individual writing will be treated as plagiarism. These assignments will receive zero points and you may be referred to the Associate Dean of Student Life as a case of Scholastic Dishonesty.

Attendance

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Class attendance and lab attendance are required. Any student missing more than 6 classes without a doctors excuse will fail the course. The classroom is the primary venue for course material, announcements, and other information relevant to the course. An on-line course management system may be used to make some information available to students, but this is intended to enhance, not replace, classroom interaction.

Homework and Lab Submission

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Code for homeworks and labs must be commented and properly formatted (see different coding styles, I prefer 1TBS) or points will be taken away. The final homework submission must be submitted through Moodle. Each homework will list its grading criteria.

Late assignments will have their grades penalized by 15% the first day, and 30% the second day. No assignments will be accepted more than two days late. Homeworks are to be done individually (see Academic Integrity) and may involve a significant amount of programming, so start them early.

Lab Policies

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All lab assignments must be completed by the end of the lab session. Any exception will require proper excuse with permission granted before the end of the lab session. Partial credit may be given to incomplete work.

Any issues related to the machines in the computer labs can be sent to cslabs@cs.und.edu.

Students with Disabilities

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Upon request, the Computer Science Department will provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities as specified in the policies of the UND office of Disability Services for Students (DSS). You must contact your instructor to request and arrange accommodations.