|
|
You should check the class project Web page off of the course Web page (http://www-edlab.cs.umass.edu/cs630/) periodically to ensure that you have up-to-date information about the project.
If you choose to work in a group, the choice of partner will be up to you. Please choose wisely: your best friend may not be your best group partner. Remember that you do not need to work in a group; individual projects are perfectly acceptable and even encouraged.
You must decide about working individually or in a group, identify your partner if you choose to work in a group, and make a preliminary choice for your project within the next couple of weeks. Please fill out one copy of the attached form and hand it in by the end of Lecture 20 (4/13/09).
One variation on this type of project is to base it on published papers from the research literature. This approach will involve finding, reading, and critiquing and/or extending one or more papers about some (part of a) programming language. The choice of papers must be approved by the instructor, so you will need to make the choice and get it approved sufficiently far in advance to allow time for completing the remainder of your project.
The result of this type of project will be a paper presenting your analysis and your assessment of the language (part), along with whatever programs you have written. It will be graded on the quality and the thoroughness of the analysis (and demonstrated understanding of that), and the level to which the programs you've written demonstrate interesting aspects and properties of the language. Students may choose to make an in-class presentation of their project in lieu of writing a paper. Such a presentation should be similar in style, scope and length to one of the regular lectures given by the instructor.
Sample projects:
One variation on this type of project is to base it on published papers from the research literature. This approach will involve finding, reading, and critiquing and/or extending one or more papers about some topic related to programming languages. The choice of papers must be approved by the instructor, so you will need to make the choice and get it approved sufficiently far in advance to allow time for completing the remainder of your project.
The result of this type of project will be a paper reporting on the topic you've chosen, along with whatever programs you've written. It will be graded based on the complexity of the topic undertaken, the quality of the investigation, the demonstrated level of understanding of the issues that are related to the chosen topic and how well the programs you wrote probed or illustrated the topic. Students may choose to make an in-class presentation of their project in lieu of writing a paper. Such a presentation should be similar in style, scope and length to one of the regular lectures given by the instructor.
Sample projects:
The final version of the project will be due ten days after the final lecture. This due date will be Thursday, May 21, which is the last day of the exam period. So, you may view the project as a take-home final exam, if you like. Of course, you can always turn it in earlier so that it does not interfere with your other responsibilities during the exam period. Students choosing to do an in-class presentation in lieu of a paper will have two options with respect to timing. They might choose to make that presentation during one of the regularly scheduled class periods, in which case that part of their project work will be due somewhat earlier than the final due date. Alternatively, given that several of our class sessions were cancelled earlier in the semester, they might choose to make a presentation sometime during the exam period, so long as we can find a date and time that is convenient for everyone in the class and on which a suitable room is available.
Last updated on April 1, 2009.