Your course project is your chance to do something creative using the computer! The goals for the project are:

1. to deepen your understanding of some aspect of Computer Science or its connections to other disciplines,
2. to hone your skills in HTML, JavaScript, Java, graphical software, or other technical tools,
3. and to explore a topic of interest to you.

Possible Projects:

• Pick a topic on the connection between computer science and another discipline. Design materials about this topic for a future offering of CPSC 101/WMST 201 or to interest high school students in computer science. The materials might include a short lab, powerpoint presentation, a web page, and/or interactive activities. The topic could be something already covered in class (such as biology, psychology, and the arts), or something new. Examples include: describe the field of humanities computing, explore a bioinformatics problem, compare the works of two computer artists, assess a societal use of computers (e.g., in electronic voting), or study the implications of computing on privacy in Canada or your home country.
• Pick a topic related to the course and describe how it could be analyzed or presented from a feminist perspective. The topic could be something already covered in class, something new, or could center on the work of someone in the field of computer science. The project could be presented as a web page or could involve other materials.
• Using Ultimate Paint or a computer drawing/paint program of your choice, explore the possibilities for creating computer art. Your project could be generated entirely using the tools provided by the program or could incorporate your own photographs or artwork. (Though be aware that you have limited disk space!) Advance your technical knowledge of the software you use. You might accompany the work by an essay describing your goals in creating the artwork and the process you followed. A similar project could use music or sound, although in that case you would have to find suitable software.
• Build on the program from the "Art in Java" lab to generate your own artistic designs. Use the part of the lab on animation (at the end of the lab handout), for example. Or, borrow the random number generator from the Eliza code and see if you can incorporate it into your code.
• Pick some interesting topic discussed in class or in our daily notes (linked off of the course schedule) and elaborate on it, exploring connections with Computer Science and other fields. Bear in mind as you design the project, however, that you must demonstrate technical skills as part of your work!

Notes

• Collaboration: You are free to collaborate as much as you would like in any way you would like with your official team members; however, bear in mind that you must show both individual contributions by each team member and team organisation in your proposal, report, and presentation. Collaboration with anyone outside your group besides the instructional staff should be acknowledged in at least your final report. The work you do should generally be your group's work, but assistance in reasonable forms (like cited quotations or resources and critical feedback) is encouraged!
• If you decide to do a programming project, you should keep your goals simple. Successfully making even minor modifications to existing code in a directed way would demonstrate a lot of understanding of programming.
• Regardless of which project you choose, but particularly in the case of a web page project, remember that the material you present should be your own work. You may include quotations from others' works if they are clearly marked as such. If you use others' images, get the appropriate permission and acknowledge the source!
• Many of these projects lend themselves well to groups, and I strongly encourage you to work in groups of two or perhaps three from the same lab for your project. Make sure everyone has a chance to contribute.

What you need to do:

1. Decide what you would like to work on, and find a partner or two from the same lab to work with.
2. Submit a short project proposal by 19:00 on Monday, 5 June 2005. You submit your proposal by adding a clearly marked link to it from your class personal web page. (Your class personal web page is the one already linked from the course website.) Be sure your proposal is linked by 19:00 on June 5th! (Groups can share a single proposal, but all group members should link to that proposal.)

   Your proposal should be in the form of a simple, clear web page. At the beginning of your proposal, list:

   • the title of the project,
   • the names of all participants (with e-mail addresses),
   • and your lab section.
   We will review the project proposals on-line; so, make sure that all the links from the course website to your proposal work!

   Your proposal should include:

   • a short (about 1 page) summary of what you plan to do that clearly indicates how and why the proposed project fulfills the course project goals laid out at the top of this document and the assessment criteria laid out at the bottom,
   • a breakdown of which person in the group is going to assume primary responsibility for which parts of the project (including the proposal, final report, and presentation),
   • and time lines for getting each part done.

   Once you submit your proposal, one of the instructional staff will be assigned as your team facilitator. That person will work with you to ensure that your proposal is of a reasonable scope: substantive enough to fulfill the project goals and criteria but not too ambitious for the short time available.

   Your proposal (and any modifications you and your team facilitator settle on) is very important. We will mark your project on how well you fulfill the goals you set out for yourself in this proposal! Therefore, I urge you to structure the goals in your proposal like an "onion": a small and achievable core that completely fulfills the project goals and criteria from this document and then a series of larger and larger optional tasks you might attempt given time. If you fulfill the centre of the "onion" completely and well (by doing the work well and describing it lucidly in your report and presentation), you'll receive a good mark. If you manage that and go beyond, you'll receive an excellent mark.

3. Submit a final project report by 19:00 on Monday, 12 June. You should put a link from your home page to your project final report (near the link to your proposal). The final report should include:
   • A short description of the completed project.
   • A link to your project proposal and an explanation of how your project fulfilled the proposal.
   • A summary of the concepts from class that you used and the new concepts you learned while doing the project (with code fragments to illustrate new techniques, if appropriate). Particularly if you choose to do an art project, it is important to document the underlying computer techniques used.
   • A short statement of who in the group contributed what.
   • Clear acknowledgements of all sources (other web pages, articles, books, etc.) that you used in preparing your project. Check the information in the text about respecting copyright law.
4. Give a short presentation about your project. Presentations will be held during lab times on the last week of class, in a suitable location. Each group will have 10 minutes for their presentation. A laptop with internet access will be available. Presentations will likely not be able to cover everything that you did; instead, try to display your key accomplishments to your lab and share some key insights you learned.

Projects Assessment Criteria:

• Original content.
• Demonstration of technical knowledge. (Show off what new technical knowledge you learned while doing the project.)
• Well-prepared reports and presentation. Keep the format of the reports simple (text on a plain white background is just fine), but write clearly and use good sentence structure. Proof-read your report and presentation carefully. Ideally, trade reports with another project group so you can each review each others' report and give feedback!
• Individual contribution and team organisation. Make sure everyone on the team has the opportunity to contribute substantially and be sure those contributions are documented!
• Timeliness and availability of your proposal and the final report.