The University of Western Ontario
London, Canada
Department of Computer Science
Computer Science 4490z – Undergraduate Thesis
Computer Science 4460z – Bioinformatics Thesis
Course Outline – 2012/13
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.
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you will be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
Instructor (Course Administrator)
Lucian Ilie
MC 368
E-mail
ilie
csd.uwo.ca
Office Hours : Wed. 9:30 -- 10:30, MC368
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 )
Course website
The CS4490/4460b website is at http://www.csd.uwo.ca/courses/CS4490z/
Class Time (classes are held only on the specified dates)
Wednesdays, 8:30 -- 9:30am, MC316
There will be classes only 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 done by email or in person.
|
Class
|
Topic
|
|
Sep.12 |
General discussion about 4490z/4460z |
|
Sep. 19 |
Discussion of project proposals |
|
Oct. 24 |
Discussion of requirements report and progress reports |
|
Dec. 5 |
Discussion of design report |
|
Mar. 6 |
Discussion of final report & presentation |
Computing Facilities
Each student will be given an account on the Computer Science Department senior undergraduate computing facility, GAUL. In accepting the GAUL account, a student agrees to abide by the department's; Rules of Ethical Conduct.
Email Contact
We occasionally need to send email messages to the class or to students individually. Email is sent to the UWO email address as assigned to you by Information Technology Services (ITS), i.e. your email address @uwo.ca. It is your responsibility to read this email on a frequent and regular basis, or to have it forwarded to an alternative email address if preferred. See the ITS website for directions on forwarding email.
However, note that email at ITS (your UWO account) and other email providers may have quotas or limits on the amount of space they dedicate to each account. Unchecked email may accumulate beyond those limits and you may be unable to retrieve important messages from your instructors. Losing email is not an acceptable excuse for not knowing about the information that was sent.
Deadlines and Evaluation for Software Development Projects
|
Date
|
What's Due
|
Weight
|
|
Oct. 3 |
Thesis proposal and Timetable |
5% |
|
Nov. 21 |
Requirements report |
10% |
|
Jan. 16 |
Design report |
15% |
|
Mar. 27 |
Final report (Implementation and Testing) |
45% |
|
TBA |
Presentation |
25% |
Deadlines and Evaluation for Research Projects
|
Date
|
What's Due
|
Weight
|
|
Oct. 3 |
Thesis proposal and Milestones |
5% |
|
Nov. 21 |
Progress report 1 |
5% |
|
Jan. 23 |
Progress report 2 |
5% |
|
Feb. 27 |
Progress report 3 |
5% |
|
Mar. 27 |
Final report |
55% |
|
TBA
|
Presentation |
25% |
Submissions
A PDF file by e-mail (with CC to supervisor).
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.
Academic Accommodation for Medical Illness
If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other serious circumstances, you must provide valid medical or other supporting documentation to your Dean's office as soon as possible and contact your instructor immediately. It is the student's responsibility to make alternative arrangements with their instructor once the accommodation has been approved and the instructor has been informed. In the event of a missed final exam, a "Recommendation of Special Examination" form must be obtained from the Dean's Office immediately. For further information please see: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/medical.pdfA student requiring academic accommodation due to illness should use the Student Medical Certificate when visiting an off-campus medical facility or request a Record's Release Form (located in the Dean's Office) for visits to Student Health Services. The form can be found here: https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/medical_document.pdf
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 21, 2010).
Accessibility Statement
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 661-2111 x 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.Ethical Conduct
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf.Plagiarism: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence.
If assignments are to be individual assignments: All assignments are individual assignments. You may discuss approaches to problems among yourselves; however, the actual details of the work (assignment coding, answers to concept questions, etc.) must be an individual effort.
The standard departmental penalty for assignments that are judged to be the result of academic dishonesty is, for the student's first offence, a mark of zero for the assignment, with an additional penalty equal to the weight of the assignment also being applied. You are responsible for reading and respecting the Computer Science Department's policy on Scholastic Offences and Rules of Ethical Conduct.
The University of Western Ontario uses software for plagiarism checking. Students may be required to submit their written work and programs in electronic form for plagiarism checking.