Selecting a Project

The individual project gives students an opportunity to demonstrate (BCS, 2010):

• their ability to apply practical and analytical skills present in their programme as a whole;
• innovation and/or creativity;
• synthesis of information, ideas and practices to provide a quality solution together with an evaluation of that solution;
• that their project meets a real need in a wider context;
• the ability to self-manage a significant piece of work;
• critical self-evaluation of the process.

Before looking at project ideas look at the markscheme. The markscheme rewards understanding the problem, producing and evaluating a solution and writing up the work. A first stage in thinking about a project idea should be to think about the nature of the problem, the type of solutions possible, methods for evaluating the solution and the type of things that could be included in the written report.

Understanding the problem is likely to involve finding answers to questions including: what are the characteristics of the problem?; who owns the problem?; has there been any previous attempt to solve the problem?; what literature and/or software is available?

To solve the problem a product is produced. In some cases the product comprises the written report only and this is the only thing taken into consideration when the project is marked. In other cases the product will include other deliverables such as software artefacts, which need to be presented/submitted even though their content is not directly assessed. When considering project ideas it is important to think about how the product solves the problem. For example, if a report is the sole deliverable, will it satisfy the needs of the problem owner as well as meeting the project assessment requirements i.e. is a separate report required for the problem owner?

Evaluation is very important and often overlooked. When considering project ideas it would be wise to think about how you will be able to demonstrate that your solution has solved the problem to the satisfaction of all concerned.

When considering project ideas you may like to begin to form an outline picture of the contents of your report and how other deliverables can be shown to best effect.

Finally, be aware that the project should be consistent with the aims of your degree programme and, in particular, should draw on at least two specified modules studied during your time at university. For instance, it will not be adequate merely to design a database or a web page. If you wish to be involved in such projects you might consider issues of software/systems development, testing and evaluation. Interfaces would naturally include issues such as HCI, professional development etc. A 40-credit undergraduate project represents 400 hours worth of work of a standard equivalent to level 3 material; a 60-credit undergraduate project represents 600 hours worth of work of a standard equivalent to level 3 material. An MSc project represents 600 hours worth of work of a standard equivalent to level 5. You should consider which aspects of your project reflect initiative, difficulty and the introduction of new ideas.

Once you are allocated to a supervisor there will be opportunities to refine the project idea and to focus on these issues in more detail so it isn't necessary to have addressed all of these issues at this early stage. However, some consideration of these issues will help you to be able to see how the idea can be turned into a project.