This assignment is based on the CHC61 - The IEEE Computer Society Web Programming Competition held in 2007
Working in project teams of four to five students per team
After completion of Project 1, students will have demonstrated the ability to
Working effectively in teams is critical for success for computer professionals. In the real-world, most web sites are constructed by teams of specialists. Team members may consist of content writers, graphic designers, programmers, database experts, marketing specialists, etc.
Your CS 350 instructor will place students in teams. Once formed, your first team task will be to agree on team organization, work habits, progress reports, and division of labor. Exchange schedules and contact information among all team members.
Your first team milestone is to choose an appropriate topic from the history of computing. From the CHC competition website:
A lot of text books and websites provide a short coverage of mainstream computer history. This history is often very condensed and omits the contribution of many pioneers of computing. This competition challenges students to create a website that covers the contributions of less well known computer pioneers. In particular, the contributions of female pioneers or of pioneers in countries not immediately associated with early computing will be welcome.
The term computer history will be broadly interpreted and may include computer hardware and peripherals, computer software, operating systems, networks, the use of computers, people in computer history, the economics, social, or political history of the computer, and so on.
Students may select their own subject; however, the judges are looking for depth rather than breadth.
To get you thinking, here are some websites developed by teams of students in the 2006 CHC competition:
A few other websites associated with computer history include
This is as much a writing assignment as it is a web development project. You are expected to so some online research on guidelines for writing for the Web.
A good starting point is Jakob Nielson's research on how users read on the web. Summarizing Nielson:
The bulk of your website must be composed of original material created by the team. Any other material must be carefully referenced.
Do not copy and paste material from other Web sites without clearly indicating the source and the fact that it is a direct quotation. A better approach is to summarize the information in your own words and provide a hyperlink to the source of the information.
Do not use graphics and illustrations obtained from the Web without referencing their source. Avoid the use of copyrighted material without permission.
Milestones are intermediate accomplishments in the life of a project. In all cases, a deliverable is produced.
| Date | Milestone | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 25 | Dr G. assigns students to teams | Team assignments posted on CS 350 Web page |
| Oct. 2 | Team organization, roles, expectations, division of labor, and schedules developed | Memorandum 1 explaining group norms |
| Oct. 9 | Possible topics brainstormed | Memorandum 2 describing four possible topics |
| Oct. 16 | Topic chosen | Memorandum 3 detailing topic chosen |
| Oct. 23 | Major reference sources identified | Memorandum 4 detailing major sources for references |
| Oct. 30 | Team organization, roles, expectations, and schedules revised | Memorandum 5 explaining updated group norms and justifications for changes |
| Nov. 6 | Individual and team assessment | From every member, one page printed memorandums assessing individual and team effectiveness including what is working well, areas for improvement, and serious deficiencies in team member's efforts and contributions |
| Nov. 13 | Website site diagram | Memorandum 6 containing a site diagram (neatly hand-drawn is OK) of website content and organization |
| Nov. 19 & 20 | Oral Presentation | 15-20 minute oral presentation during class |
| Nov. 20 | Completed Website | Website is done and accessible in your CS 350's group account |
| Nov. 20 | Individual and team assessment | From every member, one page printed memorandums assessing individual and team effectiveness including what is working well, areas for improvement, and serious deficiencies in team member's efforts and contributions |
Note: to encourage high quality memorandums, a score of 1..5 will be given to your milestone and assessment memorandums and factored into your project grade. Failure to produce deliverables will receive a score of 0. For grading purposes, scores of 4 or 5 will be considered high quality.
Ideally, all team members will work equally hard on Project 1 and receive the same grade. However, to deal with the possibility that some team members may not pull their fair share, your individual and team assessment memorandums will be used to adjust grades when necessary.
Unlike the lab assignments in this class, high-quality content is most important with this assignment. I am looking for evidence of substantial in-depth research into the topic.
Your assignment grade will be based 40% on your content, 30% your Website, 20% on your oral presentation, and 10% on your milestone memorandums.
A scoring rubric (PDF file, 3 pages) will be used for assessing your project. You should print this rubrics and use it as a check list for expectations, guidelines, and quality assurance.
Central Washington University