Project Reports

• Components of a CS Project
• Create Your Report
• Report Expectations
• Submitting a Project

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The Components of a CS Project

All projects are graded out of 30 points and are composed of two required components and one optional component

• Project tasks (i.e. writing code, required for up to 21 points)
• Project report (the report on the Google Doc page, required for up to 5 points)
• Extensions (i.e. additional features and code that make your project unique and demonstrate additional learning, optional for up to 4 points).

We have designed the projects so that completing the required components demonstrates that you have learned the material related to this project. Completing them successfully indicates that you have earned a B on the project (26/30). This is a totally respectable grade, but if you wish to earn a higher grade, then you can do so by taking the initiative to complete extensions.

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Create Your Report

1. Log onto Google Classroom, then navigate to our CS151 class webpage.
2. At the top of the Google Classroom webpage, click "Classwork", click on the current assignment under Projects, then click "View Assignment".
3. Read the instructions and click "Add or create" on the right side and select Google Doc to start writing your report.
4. This should open a new Google Doc. Give your report a meaningful title like "[NAME]'s CS151 [PROJECT] [#]: [PROJECT TITLE]".
5. In all of you project reports, you will need to include pictures of the images you created with your program. Drag in your screenshot of your hexagon from your desktop into the Google Doc. Resize/crop/format the image as necessary in your report.
6. Always create a caption under your images describing what it is and how it was made.
7. Add sections that should be in every CS151 report: Abstract, Results, Art Reflection, Conclusion, Extensions and Sources.

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Report Expectations

Your intended audience for your report is your peers not in the class. From week to week you can assume your audience has read your prior reports. Your goal should be to be able to use it to explain to friends what you accomplished in this project and to give them a sense of how you did it.

Your project report should contain the following elements.

• Abstract

  A brief summary of the project, in your own words. This should be no more than a few sentences. Give the reader context and identify the key purpose of the assignment.

  Writing an effective abstract is an important skill. Consider the following questions while writing it.

  • Does it describe the CS concepts of the project (e.g. writing well-organized and efficient code)?
  • Does it describe the specific project application?
  • Does it describe your the solution or how it was developed (e.g. what code did you write/circuits did you build)?
  • Does it describe the results or outputs (e.g. did your code work as expected)?
  • Is it concise?
  • Are all of the terms well-defined?
  • Does it read logically and in the proper order?

• Results

  Images (including all of the required images) showing what you created, alongside a description of what each image is and how you designed/created it with code.

• Art Reflection

  Write a few sentences (1-3) about which artist or artwork inspired your composition(s) and how it influenced your design decisions.

• Conclusion

  A brief description (1-3 sentences) of what you learned. Think about the answer to this question in terms of the stated purpose of the project. What are some specific things you had to learn or discover in order to complete the project?

• Extensions

  A description of any extensions you undertook, including text output or images demonstrating those extensions. If you added any modules, functions, or other design components, note their structure and the algorithms you used.

• Sources

  A list of people you worked with, including TAs and professors. Include in that list anyone whose code you may have seen, such as those of friends who have taken the course in a previous semester.

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Submitting a project

Move your lab folder inside your project folder. For example, if you have Lab01 and Project01 folders both on your Desktop, drag the Lab01 folder inside Project01.

Create a zip file of your project:

macOS: Right-click the project folder (e.g. Project01) and click Compress "Project01".

Windows: Right-click the project folder (e.g. Project01) and click "Compressed (zipped) folder" in the "Send to" menu.

Important: Name your zip file your Colby username. For example, I would name mine hewolfe.zip.

In the assignment on Google Classroom, click "+ Add or create" > click "File" > click the "UPLOAD" tab > drag in your .ZIP folder. It should upload and bring you back to the assignment page. It may ask you if you turn in your Google Doc project report, .ZIP file, and rubric. You can click "Turn in". If you don't want to submit yet, click "Cancel", it will bring you back to the assignment page again. You can always click the "Turn in" button on the right whenever you are ready.

Click "Turn in" to officially submit your project!

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