A3-Project Proposal

On This Page Overview Specifications Project Proposal Requirements Extra Credit Grading Criteria (20) What to Turn In Overview During this assignment, you will: Identify a problem that needs to use a database for a solution Identify the expected output from your database Develop a potential list of data to store in the database Optionally, prepare a presentation to give to the instructor and (possibly) other students ^ top Specifications First make sure you have completed the exercises from lesson 3 and have saved the files using the specified names exactly. Using the specified file names makes for easier grading. Write a project proposal document containing the elements described in the section titled, Project Proposal Requirements The name of your proposal document must be proposal.html or proposal.htm. Using the specified file name makes grading easier when looking thought the files you submit. If you have more than one page in your proposal, make proposal.html (or proposal.htm) the starting page. Your proposal document must include the exact headings listed in the Project Proposal Requirements. In addition, display your name and date at the top of the proposal document. These simple organizational headings help the instructor evaluate your proposal. You will lose points if you do not use the exact heading and include your name and date. Create another text file named README.txt with the information required for, and following the format shown, in the instructions for submitting assignments. Zip your files and submit the zipped archive file to Blackboard as explained in the section of this document: What to Turn In. ^ top Project Proposal Requirements Prepare a project proposal that has the following elements. Be certain to include the headings for each of the elements of your proposal and include your name and date. Statement of the Problem The first step is to identify a problem. Find someone with a data processing problem you think you can solve. It needs to be a problem that involves storing and processing data to produce information. State the problem clearly and succinctly. For ideas, see the CIS-165PH Project Information page and the Hall of Fame. Give examples as needed to explain the problem. Web Views of Data Try to identify the information that will be produced by the database. Who is the information produced for? When? Why? In what format (numbers, graphs, tables, text)? Describe your expected database output and create a mock-up of the expected output. Since this class is about using a database with a Web page, then you should create your example output using HTML that includes sample data. Note that this assignment is only concerned with what the database produces, not with beautiful web-page graphics. Data to Store in the Database Create a simple list of at least ten data items that will need to be stored in the database to produce the expected results. For instance, you may need names and addresses of people, lists of items such as books or products, or various attributes for items such as part numbers, color or style. The list does not have to be complete but should be detailed enough so you can decide if the data needed makes the project practical. In addition, organize your list of data into categories. For example, organize all the information about people, such as first name, last name, username and password, into the Persons category. As another example, organize product information like part number, size, color and description, into the Products category. Prepare the project proposal as a text or html file as described in the section of this document: What to Turn In. You may also submit supplemental graphics files to support your proposal, if desired. Use "standard" English and verify the spelling and grammar of your proposal. For an example of a project proposal, click here. ^ top Extra Credit Extra credit for this assignment is to present your project to the rest of the class. I will set aside time during the later part of class for the presentations. You can earn up to 3 extra credit points as described in Grading Criteria. If you decide to present your proposal, bring your presentation information in digital form via the Internet, disk, etc. You can easily display your text file on the overhead projector using TextPad or a browser. Do NOT bring Powerpoint or Word files, as we do not have the setup to display them and these files would just increase your work load because you cannot turn them in for credit. The presentation should consist of the following parts: Statement of the Problem Web Views of Data Data to Store in the Database Try to keep the presentation to less than 4 minutes. I will cut you off after 5 minutes. Note that if you do not want to present your project to the entire class, you can wait until the end of the class time and present it to just the instructor. Make certain that your README.txt file lists any extra credit attempted. ^ top Grading Criteria The instructor will evaluate your assignment using the following criteria. Each criteria represents a specific achievement of your assignment and has a scoring guide. The scoring guide explains the possible scores you can receive. Some scoring guides have a list of indicators. These indicators are a sign of meeting, or a symptom of not meeting, the specific criterion. Note that a single indicator may not always be reliable or appropriate in a given context. However, as a group, they show the condition of meeting the criterion. For information on grading policies, including interpretation of scores, see the course information page. Lesson Exercises 2: All lesson exercises attempted and turned in 1: Some lesson exercises completed and turned in 0: No lesson exercises completed or turned in Document Preparation 3: Contains all three specified heading in a text or HTML document with no spelling or grammatical errors. 2: Contains two of the three specified headings in a text or HTML document, or may have 1-2 spelling or grammatical errors 1: Contains one of the three specified headings in a text or HTML document, or has more than 2 spelling or grammatical errors 0: Contains none of the specified headings or did not turn in a text or HTML document. Statement of the Problem 5: Shows a thorough understanding of the questions, ideas and situations leading to the problem. 4: Shows substantial understanding of the problem. A few minor details may not be clear. 3: Shows some understanding of the problem. Some parts are not clear. 2: Shows little understanding of the problem. Most parts are not clear 1: Shows a complete lack of understanding of the problem. 0: No apparent attempt to describe the problem. Web Views of Data 5: Shows a thorough understanding of the needs of the users and expected views of the data on the Web 4: Shows substantial understanding of the needs of the users and expected views of the data on the Web. Web mockup lacks example data. 3: Shows some understanding of the needed output though no Web mockups were shown. 2: Shows little understanding of the needed data output. 1: Shows a complete lack of understanding of the needed data output. 0: No apparent attempt to describe the expected data output. Data to Store in the Database 5: Lists at least 10 data items to store. 4: Lists at least 8 data items to store. 3: Lists at least 6 data items to store. 2: Lists at least 4 data items to store. 1: Lists at least 2 data items to store. 0: No data items to store. -1: Did not organize data into categories Proposal Presentation (Extra Credit) 3: Proposal is presented clearly, completely and succinctly Student presents information in a logical and interesting sequence All requirements of the proposal were presented Examples were provides as needed to explain the points of the proposal Presentation was succinct at < 4:00 minutes 2: Proposal presentation has minor problems Student presents information in a logical sequence All but one of the proposal requirements were presented Presentation was somewhat succinct between 4:00 and 5:00 minutes 1: Proposal presentation or report has some problems Student presents information in a fairly logical sequence All but two of the proposal requirements were presented Presentation was somewhat lengthy at > 5:00 minutes 0: Did not present the proposal. Maximum Score: 20, plus extra credit ^ top What to Turn In Submit your assignment following the instructions for homework. Create a single zip file with the following: README.txt file All the exercise files from Lesson 3 A proposal.html file containing your project proposal Any other files you need to help describe your project proposal Set the starting page to your proposal page. Note: Do NOT submit Word, PowerPoint, RTF files, or anything but an HTML file. Submitting anything but an HTML file may result in a 0 (no credit) for the assignment. ^ top Home | WebCT | Announcements | Course info | Expectations | Schedule Project | Help | FAQ's | HowTo's | Links Last Updated: March 16 2009 @12:59:33