Objectives
The objectives of PSM are to evaluate the students on:
– Identifying relevant information pertaining to project needs from a variety of resources.
– Explaining and applying project development methodologies appropriate to the project.
– Designing, planning and proposing a project according to user requirements.
Phases and Credits
- Course Code: (SECx 3032) where x is the department special code
– Computer Network & Security Project 1 (SCSR 3032/SECR 3032)
– Software Engineering Project 1 (SCSJ 3032/SECJ 3032)
– Bioinformatics Project 1 (SCSB 3032/SECB 3032)
– Graphics and Multimedia Software Project 1 (SCSV 3032/SECV 3032)
– Data Engineering “Cadangan Awal Projek Industri” (SECP4112)
- 2 credits
- Pre-requisite: 1) Application Developments (SECx3104) & Software Engineering (SECJ2203)
2) Total Credits > 80 credits
PSM1 carries two (2) credits and is done in the second semester of the third year. It is a prerequisite for PSM2. This means that students must undertake and pass PSM1 before they can register for PSM2.
Execution Procedure
In the process of PSM1 execution, there is a set of procedures that need to be followed by the students, the supervisors and the evaluators. This section outlines all the major tasks/procedures related to the execution of PSM1, which include the procedures that need to be followed if the students need to change their project title. Refer: PSM 1 Execution Procedure
Registration
Only final year students are allowed to register to undertake PSM1. The registration could be done either during the pre-registration week (usually at the end of previous semester) or during the normal registration week (usually a week before semester opens). It is very important for students to remember that they have to register the correct SUBJECT CODE for their department:
Computer Science department: SECR 3032 (Network & Security)
Software Engineering department: SECJ 3032 (Software Engineering),
Emergent Computing department: SECV 3032 (Graphics & Multimedia),
Applied Computing & Artificial Intelligence Department: SECB 3032 (Bioinformatic) & SECP4112 (CADANGAN AWAL PROJEK INDUSTRI) for 2U2I
Project/Research Areas Briefing
Each department has its own research areas that differentiate them from the others. At the beginning of the semester, Departmental PSM1 Coordinator will brief the students on suitable topic areas related to the department. Also included in the briefing are the departmental lecturers’ areas of interests, which could be very useful for students in the process of selecting the project title, supervisor and co-supervisor, if necessary.
Supervisor Appointment
Students are responsible to find a supervisor to supervise them in the execution of their project. The appointed supervisor will supervise the student’s project for both PSM1 and PSM2. Students, in appointing a supervisor, could use the following tips.
a) Have a discussion with a few lecturers before appointing, in order to identify:
a) A supervisor who has sufficient knowledge on the intended project.
b) A supervisor who has the same interest on the intended project.
c) Co-supervisor, if the intended project is a cross discipline area.
b) DO NOT appoint a supervisor at the last minute. If possible, appoint one before the semester opens.
c) Each student must get the supervisor’s agreement to supervise them. Ensure to get the supervisors signature in the Project Proposal Form (at PSM Website) before submitting the form to the departmental committee.
d) Check the list of CSC lecturers and their areas of interests at the PSM website.
Project Proposal Submission
Project topics can be a product of students own ideas or it can be a suggestion from a prospective supervisor. Upon finding a title that suits you, put together a basic information search, discuss with your supervisor and prepare a basic proposal. Complete the Project Proposal Form and submit it to the PSM committee.
Project Proposal Interview and Approval
Upon the submission of the project proposal, students with a conditional pass project proposal status will be interviewed to ensure that:
a) There is no duplication with previous projects in terms of the objectives and scopes for a particular problem domain.
b) Students are clear on the objectives and scopes of their projects.
c) Students meet the minimum requirements in terms of technologies to be applied in their projects.
Interview sessions are held in the third week of the semester. Students with rejected proposals must submit another proposal within 3 days of receiving the interview result.
Weekly Supervision Meeting and Log Book
Regular review from supervisors will ensure that students execute their project according to the faculty’s procedure and standards, as well as the project objectives and aims. Student must arrange a minimum of six (6) formal meetings with their supervisors before receiving permission to submit and present their project. However, students are strongly advised to arrange a weekly meeting with the supervisors to address issues related to project execution. All meetings must be recorded in a logbook and the supervisor’s signature of approval of each meeting is required. The logbook form is available at the PSM website.
Lectures and Presentation Week Briefing
A series of lectures will be conducted over an eight week period. These lectures will explain all topics listed in the course outline as in Table 1
Table 1: PSM1 Weekly Lecture Plan
Week Topics
Week 1 – Faculty level briefing
Week 2 – Departmental project/research areas briefing
Week 3 – Identifying problem statements, objectives, and scopes of the project.
– Project planning via logbook and Gantt chart.
Week 4 – Literature review skills
– Referencing techniques
Week 7 – Project methodology
– Data collection
– User/system requirements analysis
Week 6 – Project design
Week 7 – Project implementation, coding, testing
Week 8 – Project discussion and conclusions
Week 9 – Project presentation (do’s and don’ts)
PSM1 Report Submission
Towards the end of the PSM1 cycle, each student is required to submit their project report for evaluation. Students must get their supervisors’ approval before submitting the report to the departmental committee along with several important forms. The required forms are:
i. Project Evaluation Form (3 copies) – Refer Appendix
ii. Draft Report Submission Form (1 copy) – Refer Appendix
iii. PSM1 Report (3 copies)
Presentation Week
Students are required to present their PSM1 progress and the results achieved for evaluation. The evaluation panel consists of two evaluators. The presentation is held over a few days during the presentation week and is open for everyone to attend. Guidelines and procedures related to PSM1 presentation are described in Section 1.7.
PSM1 Report Correction
Students are required to do correction based on the comments given by the evaluators. The comments are available on feedback forms provided to evaluators during presentation. Students are urged to discuss all comments with their supervisor and take appropriate actions. Corrections made to the report must be endorsed by both supervisor and evaluators in Section D of PSM1 Evaluation form.
PSM1 Evaluation
At the end of the semester, each student’s project is evaluated to determine that the objectives and scope are adequate and are aligned with project aim. A passing grade in PSM1 is a requirement for PSM2. Details on the evaluation criteria and the evaluation forms are explained in Chapter 9.
Project Presentation
Thirty (30) minutes is allocated to each student for presentation, with 20 minutes for slides presentation and 10 minutes for the question and answer session. It is advisable for the students to include only important points in the slide to ensure that the presentation time is not exceeded. As a rule of thumb, one slide is equivalent to one minute of presentation time. However, the whole presentation should contain the following items:
i. An introduction to introduce presenter, the project title, as well as the supervisor
ii. An overview of the overall presentation (i.e. structure of the presentation, outline)
iii. Project background, aim, objectives, and scopes of the project (this should be enough to cover what has been written in Chapter 1 of the project’s report)
iv. Summary of literature review (as explained in Chapter 2 of the project’s report)
v. Summary of research/system development methodology. This may include the data collection techniques such as survey, organization visits, etc.
vi. List of software and hardware that are required to develop the project
vii. Summary of initial findings during PSM1. For instance, analysis of data collected from survey, or perhaps initial interface design of the proposed system
viii. Discussion on PSM2 execution plan
ix. Conclusion of the presentation.
Students are advised to follow the subsequent good practices for their projects’ presentations:
i. Arrive early for the presentation.
ii. Limit the use of text in slides and make sure there is no spelling error.
iii. Include more figures, pictures, charts, etc.
iv. Have eye contact with the audience.
v. Dress according to the UTM’s student dress code.
vi. Speak clearly. Do not mumble.
vii. Manage the presentation time so that there is ample time for Q&A session. Practice beforehand.
viii. Do not forget to thank the audience for listening.
Procedure to Change Project Title
In some cases, students need to change their project title due to inevitable reasons. However, this change is not encouraged as it may affect PSM2 planning scheduled in PSM1 report. Refer Procedure to Change Project Title
