Focus on final year projects
In response to student feedback, the School has organised two new events to support the development of undergraduate dissertations.
Both events are optional.
- Final year dissertation workshop, held Wednesday 18 January 2017, 12.15-1.15pm in G.07, Informatics Forum
- Final year project feedback ‘day’, Thursday 2 March 2017, 5-7pm in G.07, Informatics Forum
Although the sessions have been organised for final year undergraduates, including MInf students, it is envisaged that the feedback day will be of interest to all Informatics undergraduate students, especially third-year students who wish to gain insight into the scale and range of final year projects.
Dissertation workshop, 18 January
The dissertation workshop, held yesterday, was very well attended, with approximately 80 participants. It took the form of a talk, lunch and Q&A with Professor Don Sannella and Dr Mary Cryan, who offered tips on how to write a good dissertation, including marking criteria, structure and style, etc.
Final year undergraduates were also invited to pose questions in advance and afterwards via Piazza.
Project feedback ‘day’, 2 March
Final year undergraduates will present their projects at an exhibition of posters and, where relevant, table-top demonstrations of software being developed.
Fellow Informatics students from all year groups will be invited to visit the exhibition and provide feedback on projects.
Institutes will offer prizes for the most promising or best presented projects in their field.
Outstanding projects
Honours Projects supervisor Professor Sannella says:
“Students asked us if there was a way they could get a better understanding of what was involved in final year projects. They also wanted insights and inspiration at an earlier stage in their academic career, from third year or even earlier.
“At the same time, we felt that some projects might benefit from user testing by people with different levels of ability.
“If these events are successful and students feel they are useful, I hope they will become a regular feature in the School calendar.
“We have also published a list of some of the highest scoring projects from 2015/16 on our website, so students can see what kind of challenges have been tackled in the past and to serve as examples of good practice for students writing up their own projects.”