HDIT COS209 – Project
TMC Academy – School of IT, Digital Media & Mass Comm Page 1 of 11
TMC ACADEMY
SCHOOL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, DIGITAL
MEDIA AND MASS COMMUNICATION

HIGHER DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS


A. INTRODUCTION

This is a practical unit in the Higher Diploma in Information Technology validated and
certificated by University of Cambridge International Examinations.

The Project is to provide an opportunity for the student to undertake a task of a
suitable size that allows him/her to apply the appropriate skills and knowledge learnt
in the Higher Diploma.

This practical unit encompasses a period of 3 to 4 months. At the end of the unit,
each student is required to submit a complete documentation of the project
undertaken. This write-up serves to provide a guideline to students in the
documentation of the project. The guidelines are generic and the specific details are
to be decided by the project supervisor and the students. Students are expected to
make the required effort to provide a quality work of documentation.

The documentation should reflect the amount of work, effort and time that the
students have invested in the project. It is hoped that this guideline will provide a
clearer picture to the students on the importance of documentation, the relevant
techniques and methods of documentation. Documentation is to be done consistently
from the inception of the project till the completion of the project to avoid being
caught in a bottleneck towards the end of the project deadline.


B. CONTACT HOURS

Lecture duration: 10 sessions x 3 hours = 30 hours.

Sessions will consist of project discussions with the unit supervisor who will perform
weekly status checks on the progress and completion of assigned task and activities.


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C. SOFTWARE USED

The software used will depend on the application to be developed, and the approval
of the unit supervisor.


D. ASSESSMENT

This is an individual assignment. Assessments are based on the following
components:

Assessment Components Base Marks Weightings
1. Specification & Project Management 20 13.3%
2. System Requirements Specifications & Analysis 20 13.3%
3. System Design Specification 20 13.3%
4. Testing Documentation & Implementation 20 13.3%
5. Critical Appraisal 10 6.7%
6. Presentation & System Testing 20 13.3%
7. Product Evaluation 20 13.3%
8. Performance Assessment 20 13.3%
Overall 150 100%

To achieve a pass grade, students must obtain an overall average mark of at least
40%.


E. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

a. To expose the students to proper documentation methods and techniques in a
typical development environment.
b. To serve as milestones or check-points on the progress of the project.
c. To ensure that the project is done in the right perspective as required and
stipulated.
d. To develop practical computing skills by enabling students to participate in the
development of a significant computing application, from the analysis and
design stages, through coding, testing and implementation to the evaluation of
the final system.

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F. OUTLINE

You will work individually and you will be fully responsible from all aspects of the
development of the system from specification to implementation, which will span all
aspects of the system development life.

All project documentation must be original. Students are encouraged to put in their
own initiative and innovativeness in the documentation preparation.

The whole documentation must not exceed 100 pages. It is made up of the MAIN
REPORT - not exceeding 75 pages and APPENDICES - not exceeding 25 pages.

The Appendices must not be isolated; they must be cross-referenced in the Main
Report body.



G. ASSESSMENT

There will be no formal examination. Assessment is entirely by the documentation,
systems development and implementation, presentations and evaluation of your final
product.

Your assessment will be based on the quality of your individual participation and
contribution to the project development as well as the quality of the system
developed. Such factors such as the quality and quantity of contributions, the ability
to meet deadlines and manage development tasks, standard of the final product,
quality of your documentation and adherence to good development practices will all
contribute your final grade.

A large emphasis will be placed on the process followed and the final system
produced


H. METHODOLOGY

Projects can follow any software development approach; such as object-oriented or
structured (i.e. the traditional approach).

Your chosen methodology and corresponding deliverables must then be
appropriately documented and conform to the proposed deadlines.

Your chosen methodology and corresponding assessable deliverables must then be
documented with appropriate progress reports and deadlines. Whatever approach is
used, you must work to an equivalent schedule of documented tasks with known
deadlines.


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I. PLAGIARISM

It is important that your submissions are of your own work. It is acceptable to seek
help and advice when completing tasks, but this must not be taken to the point where
someone else’s work is being submitted.

Information (including diagrams and images) gathered from various sources must be
referenced.


J. PROGRESS REPORT

The Progress Report allows project supervisors to better assign project development
responsibilities as well as monitor the activities undertaken by students. The sections
(i.e. Section A, Section B, etc.) of this Report must be reported progressively as you
work through the development of your system. These will be reviewed by your
supervisor to ensure that your work content and work progress are satisfactory.
Minutes of meetings with your supervisor must be properly recorded and
documented.

The Progress Report template is shown in Table-1. When reporting, the
sections must be accompanied with evidence of work done. They must also be
accompanied with the previously assessed version of work.


K. FINAL DELIVERABLES

The final submission (in hardcopy) of this project must be ring-bound and will include
the following deliverables:

 Project proposal
 Systems documentation
 User Manual
 Executable versions of the software with operational data (in softcopy)
 Source code (in softcopy)
 Presentation slides
 Completed Progress Report with minutes of meeting and finalized Sections
(i.e. Assessment Components)

Note: A softcopy must be submitted as above-mentioned, including the source code
and executable version of the software with operational data, together with the
hardcopy documentation.
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SECTION A (20 marks)
SPECIFICATION & PROJECT MANAGEMENT


1. Project Overview

Your initial task is to participate in the organisation of your project. You have to
decide what system to work on and report on the following:
 Provides the background of the company, project initiation and specifies the
scope of the system, states the main objectives for the project.

 Analysis, design and development methodologies to be followed.

 Procedures to be adopted for identifying and managing changes in
requirement and scope.

 Decision on the software to be used – seek approval of the Supervisor in
choosing the language used. Microsoft Access or Visual Basic are common
choices.


2. Requirements definition

The requirements definition document identifies what services the system is
expected to provide, specified in a way that is satisfactory to both client and
developer.

A suggested list of sections are as follows:

 Problems definition
 New System functions (informal description)
 Hardware requirements and other constraints (informal description)
 Feasibility study


3. Scope of Work (Work Breakdown Structure)

This section student will organise and subdivide the total work scope of a project by
showing the breakdown of the list of project work elements.


4. Gantt Chart

This should include a task breakdown for the project, and estimates for time and
effort needed to complete each sub-task.
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An important aspect of estimation is to try to ascertain the most pessimistic and
optimistic estimates in order to obtain a most likely estimate.

5. Budgeting

Student will need to produce hardware, software, and manpower cost estimation for
the whole project.


SECTION B (20 marks)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATIONS AND ANALYSIS


1. System Requirements specifications

The Requirement specification (also known as the functional specification) must set
out in precise detail the functional and non-functional requirements of the system.

For the functional specification, the normal deliverables include:

 Use Case diagram or Context diagrams
 Class diagrams, sequence diagrams, state transition diagrams, activity diagrams
or 1st Level & 2nd Level DFD
 Process descriptions.
 Data dictionary
 Normalisation
 Entity Relationship Diagram


Object oriented diagrams like use case diagrams, sequence diagrams, state
transition diagrams, activity diagrams and class diagrams can be produced should
the candidate utilise an object-oriented methodology. These will then be used
instead of a context diagram or data flow diagrams.


SECTION C (20 marks)
SYSTEM DESIGN SPECIFCIATIONS


1. System Design

A suggested list of contents include:

 Database design.
 Program design/Hierarchy Chart.
 Mini-specifications
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 Interface design (Menu, screen dialogue, input screen, output display screen,
printed report screen).
 Security features of the system.


SECTION D (20 marks)
TESTING DOCUMENTATION & IMPLEMENTATION

The requirement of this section is a demonstration of the finished working product,
which includes:

1. Testing

Your basic test plan developed during the design phase will be used here. Testing
must include:

 Test plan
 Test data
 Test result


2. System implementation

The following is to be submitted :

 An implementation plan; including conversion procedures
 User manual


SECTION E (10 marks)
CRITICAL APPRAISAL

The following is to be submitted:

 Limitations of the system
 Recommended changes
 Critical reflection of the project experience


SECTION F (20 marks)
PRESENTATION

 Students will do a presentation on the developed system which include:
o Unit Testing: testing of individual modules.
o Integration Testing: testing interfaces between modules, testing of database
connectivity.
 PowerPoint slides (printed handouts) must be included for submission.
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SECTION G (20 marks)
PRODUCT EVALUATION

The following criteria will be assessed:

 Features in the system.
 Partial of full functionality of the system.
 Complexity of the algorithms/routines.
 How well the system meets the user’s objective.
 How suitable the system is to the hardware and software provided.
 Executable versions of the software.



SECTION H (20 marks)
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Project supervisor will assess the student’s performance throughout the whole
project based on the following criteria:

 Plan and organise the project.
 Manage work in an independent manner.
 Understand and apply concepts to their work.
 Ability to manage the technical complexity of the project.
 Ability to bring the project from an initial idea to a satisfactory close.
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PROGRESS REPORT
Name / Class: ___________________________________________________
Project Title: ____________________________________________________
Commencement Date: _______________Submission Date:______________
Stage No. &
Description
Task No. & Description
Expected
Date
Actual
Date
Remarks
A. Specification &
Project Management
1. Project Overview
2. Requirements Definition
3. Work Breakdown Structure
4. Gantt Chart
5. Budgeting
B. System
Requirements
Specifications &
Analysis
1. Use Case/Context Diagram

2. Class Diagrams/1
st
Level & 2
nd

Level DFD

3. Process Descriptions
4. Data Dictionaries
5. Normalisation

6. Entity Relationship Diagram
(ERD)

C. System Design
Specifications
1. Database Design

2. Program Design – Hierarchical
Charts

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3. Mini Specifications

4. Interface Design - Screens and
Reports

5. Security features of the system
D. System Testing &
Implementation
1. Test Plan
2. Test Data
3. Test result
4. Changeover Procedure
5. User manual
E. Critical Appraisal 1. System Limitation
2. Recommendations
3. Critical Reflection
F. Presentation
1. Presentation and Product
Demonstration


Table-1


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COS209 – Project

Grade Descriptor


Standard Required Performance
Fail Submitted work falls below the levels of expectancy. Did not meet the set objectives
required for a project work of higher diploma standards.
Pass Meets only the minimal requirements of the assignment. A basic to average level of
standard achieved for components of Sections A to H. Evidence of work is apparent;
but a lot of room for necessary improvement and extra work in all areas of
assessment.
Credit An above average performance. While the quantitative part of the assessment is met
in undertaking all the necessary components; qualitatively the project requires more
work and improvements. Not at a professional level yet, and remains as a product
where more effort and realism would have made a positive impact.
Distinction Good overall product. Complete and high quality maintained throughout all
components. Professional level; with only minute details that require improvements.
Well researched and effectively referenced.
High
Distinction
Exceptional level of work. All work (design, development, documentation, etc.) are at
a professional level of quality; with excellent adherence to research and referencing
standards. All sections are consistently completed with the utmost detail to accuracy
and readability.