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Project of Information Systems

Objectives

Projects are a major component of virtually all undergraduate and postgraduate computing
and information science courses within universities. They require students to
draw on a number of separate but highly important skills: surveying literature, report
writing, developing and documenting software, presentational skills, time management,
project management skills and so on.
This course is structured in a chronological fashion so that the main stages through
which projects progress are discussed in sequence. It is split into the following
four main parts:
1. Background. This part provides a general introduction to projects, the different
degree structures that are in place and the stakeholders involved. It also provides a useful
introduction to research in the context of computing projects.
2. Setting your project's foundation. This part covers the skills you will need during
the initial stages of your computing project. It covers topics such as how to choose a
project, how to write a project proposal and how to plan your project.
3. Conducting your project. This part covers the skills you will need while you are
actually working on your project - from doing your literature survey to managing your
time and any information and data that you collect, as well as how to liaise effectively
with your supervisor. It also includes a chapter on software development for those
undertaking projects of this nature.
4. Presenting your project. The final stage of your project is to present it as a written
report and, possibly, an oral presentation. This section will cover the skills you will need
to present your project in the best light and to the best of your abilities.

General characterization

Code

100088

Credits

6.0

Responsible teacher

Vítor Manuel Pereira Duarte dos Santos

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese. If there are Erasmus students, classes will be taught in English

Prerequisites

The course will be held in English language.
Furthermore, a good knowledge of at least one programming
language and environment is strongly advised.

Bibliography

Cadle, James & Yeates, Donald (2008). Peoject Management for Information Systems. Fifth Edition, Perarson Education. UK.¿ 
 
Schwalde, Kathy(2011). Managing Information Technology Projects. Revised sixth edition. Canada, Course Technology CENGAGE Learning. 
 
A Guide of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), PMI, 2004. 
 
. 
 

Teaching method

Classes will be held using blackboard and slides projection.
Great relevance will be given to the development of one or
more projects by the students during practical classes
in computers rooms and laboratories.

Evaluation method

Students will be evaluated on the development of one or more
projects. They will have to produce detailed documentation
about the project development method they used and about
the achieved results and they will have to present the project
orally.

Subject matter

Part 1: The background
- What are (computing) projects?
- What is research?
- The research process
- Research methods
Part 2: Setting your project's foundation
- Choosing a project
- Preparing a project proposal
- Project definition
- Project planning
- Risk management
- The literature survey process
- Literature searching
- Managing information
- Critical evaluation
- Writing literature reviews
Part 3: Conducting your project
- The software development life cycle (SDLC)
- The earliest ‘model': build-and-fix
- The stage-wise and classical waterfall models (conventional models)
- The incremental model
- Prototyping
- Top-down and bottom-up development
- Verification, validation and testing
- Managing your time
- Working in teams
Part 4: Presenting your project
- Writing and structuring reports
- Writing abstracts
- Data presentation
- Oral presentations
- Demonstrating software
- Viva voce examinations