The University of Western Ontario
London, Canada

Department of Computer Science

Computer Science 4490z – Undergraduate Thesis

Computer Science 4460z – Bioinformatics Thesis

Course Outline – 2008/09

Note that this course outline applies to both Computer Science 4490z and 4460z.

See note re. CS 3380z at the end of the outline.

CS4490z Course Description

Computer Science 4490z provides students with an opportunity to work on a project outside a particular course setting, with a faculty member of the Department as supervisor. The topic of the project can be in any area of computer science. Projects may be done individually or in groups.

It is possible for students to undertake projects for faculty in other departments, with local companies, or for other University units. In such cases, a student may have an external supervisor but must also have a Department of Computer Science faculty member willing to act as a co-supervisor.

The objective of the course is to give the student an opportunity to undertake a project which is less structured than assignments and/or which requires the student to apply knowledge and skills learned from many different courses. It is also an opportunity for the student to demonstrate skills in independent study and research.

The suffix "z" denotes that this course is an "essay" course, i.e. it has a significant writing component. Students will submit a number of intermediate reports as well as a final report on their project. Each student will also give a presentation of 20 - 25 minutes on the project.

CS4460z Course Description

Computer Science 4460z is the same as CS 4490z, except that the project or research paper will be in an area related to bioinformatics.

Prerequisites

CS 4490z: Registration in the fourth year of an Honours Computer Science Program or combined programs with Computer Science.

CS 4460z: Registration in the fourth year of the Honours BSc program in Computer Science with Bioinformatics Specialization.

Instructor (Course Administrator)

Aija Downing
MC 416
519 661-2111 ext. 86862

E-mail: aija<at>csd.uwo.ca

Office Hours: to be announced

Suggested Reading

Dawson, Christian W. , Projects in Computing and Information Systems : a Student’s Guide ; Pearson Education Limited, 2005 (available in the bookstore and also on 1-day reserve in the Taylor Library )

Email Contact

Please send email from your UWO account, or include "CS4490"  or “CS4460” in the subject line. Other email will be filtered out. Please send email in plaintext format.

Deadlines and Evaluation for Software Development Projects

Date

What's Due

Weight

Fri. Oct. 3

Thesis proposal and Timetable 

5%

Fri. Nov. 21

Requirements report 

10%

Fri. Jan. 16

Design report 

15%

Fri. Mar. 27

Final report (Implementation and Testing) 

45%

To be announced

Presentation

25%

Deadlines and Evaluation for Research Projects

Date

What's Due

Weight

Fri. Oct. 3

Thesis proposal and Milestones 

5%

Fri. Nov. 21

Progress report 1 

5%

Fri. Jan. 23

Progress report 2 

5%

Fri.  Feb. 27

Progress report 3 

5%

Fri. Mar. 27

Final report 

55%

To be announced

Presentation

25%

Adherence to Deadlines        

Up to 5 marks in total may be deducted for failure to meet the scheduled deadlines above.
The due date for the Final report will not be extended; all final reports must be handed in on that day.

Evaluation

Marks for components of the project will be assigned by both the supervisor and the course administrator. 

The supervisor is responsible for assessing the final project report for content, accuracy, and originality, and for approving the content of all intermediate reports. 

The course administrator will assess the structure, style, and readability of all reports, and  will determine the mark for the oral presentation in consultation with the supervisor.

Classes Times (classes are held only on the specified dates)

Monday 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in MC 320

There will be classes on the following dates. Other classes may be arranged as necessary during the class time, but it is anticipated that most of the communication between students and the course administrator will be by email or in person.

Class

Topic

Sept. 8

General discussion about 490z/460z

Sept. 15

Discussion of project proposals

Oct. 20

Discussion of requirements report and progress reports

Nov. 24

Discussion of design report

Mar. 2

Discussion of final report & presentation

Note re. Computer Science 3380z

CS 3380z is a Project/Thesis course intended for students in a general BSc program. It has the same schedule and evaluation information as CS 4490z . However, CS3380z projects are not expected to have as much depth, content, and amount of work involved as CS4490z projects. 

Students are allowed into CS3380z only with special permission from the Department, after they have found their own topic and departmental supervisor before the end of the add period (September 12, 2008).