Basic Course Info

Course Number and Title: CSC499 Capstone

Drop Dates: http://www.callutheran.edu/registrar/schedules/

Instructor Information
Name: Dr. Chang-Shyh Peng
Phone Numbers: CLU Email only
Office Location: Virtual
Office Hours: CLU Email only
Email: [email protected]

Course Description
This course is a project-based course that permits the students to demonstrate that they
have mastered the material presented in other computer science and related courses.
Students will select a development/research project related to work, school or personal
interest and proceed, independently, as if they were working under a contract to
develop the project requirements, design, code, tests, and/or documentation. The
instructor will provide guidance and act as a customer or customer’s tech rep. Please
refer to the Capstone Guidelines at the end of the syllabus for further details.

Prerequisite
Senior standing, completion of all major required classes and the majority of major
elective classes.

Textbooks/Required Readings
N/A

Minimum technical skills required for this course

Proficient technical skills from all prereq courses, e.g. online research, office tools,
software installation/removal, etc.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Information Literacy and Computer Skills
2. Field-specific Knowledge and Experience

Class Format
This course is a project-based course. All students and projects are individually advised.

Course Assignments/Requirements/Course Schedule

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Project proposal (final version due 2024/02/23):
A 2~3 page summary that documents (1) objectives, (2) deliverables, (3) tentative
weekly timeline, and (4) references. If student already has a tentative project, please
submit it via direct email to Dr. Peng. Otherwise, please make an appointment for
advising within 5 days of the start of the semester. Proposal will be critiqued; necessary
revision is to be made. Final project proposal (in PDF format) is to be submitted in BB.

Weekly progress (due 11:59PM every Sunday):

Weekly progress report (in PDF format and submitted in BB) should include (1)
highlights of the progress, and, in case of application development, (2) all applicable
screenshots of codes and/or charts.

Final submission (due 2024/05/03):

Final submission takes place in BB only, and is one zip file that contains (1) final report,
(2) applicable source code, (3) applicable utilities (e.g. database), (3) applicable
corresponding screenshots of code and input/output. Final report’s typical length can be
30+ pages, and needs to adhere to the following guideline.
1. Introduction
2. Project Description & Definition
 What problems are you supposed to solve? And why? And how?
3. Implementation
 Specify Operating system, language, software packages, hardware.
Attach program source code, if applicable, screen shots, or outputs.
4. Experimental Results(if applicable)
5. Discussion and conclusion
 Is approach you used appropriate to solve the problems you suggested?
 Any difficulties you faced?
 How would you improve the methodology you used?
 Further work to be done?
 What did you learn from the project
6. Reference.
 Any web sites, books, journals, and quotes you used to do research for
the project.

Grading
Grading in this class will be based on the following elements and the grading scale
provided below:

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 Percentage Grade Assessment Percentage
>97% A Proposal 10
94% to 97% A- Progress Report 20
91% to 93% B+ Final Submission 70
88% to 90% B Total 100
85% to 87% B-
82% to 84% C+
79% to 81% C
76% to 78% C-
73% to 75% D+
70% to 72% D
67% to 69% D-
<67% F
*evenly distributed among all projects

Details on grading standards for each form of assessment can be obtained from the
following grading rubric.
Student Achievement
Below Average Average Above Average Outstanding
Homework Students do not Students largely Students closely Students closely
Assignments follow the follow the follow the follow the
(10 points per instructions for theinstructions for the instructions for this instructions for this
assignment) assignment and/or assignment. Their assignment. They assignment. They
are not or not comprehension of demonstrate not only clearly
sufficiently the assignment is comprehension of demonstrate
capable of not complete. Their the assignment. comprehension of
presenting their work shows Their work shows the assignment, but
ideas in a concise, considerable room some room for they also display
coherent, relevant for improvement improvement flawless coherence,
and insightful concerning concerning conciseness,
manner. The coherence, coherence, relevance and
numerical value of conciseness, conciseness, insightfulness. The
this level is 0-3 relevance, and relevance and numerical value of
points. insightfulness. The insightfulness.The this level is 9-10
numerical value of numerical value of points.
this level is 4-6 this level is 7-8
points. points.
Exams Subject specific exam, graded on the correctness of the answers.

Netiquette
Users of CLU resources, e.g. emails, discussion forums, etc, are prohibited from
sending or displaying messages or images that are libelous, patently offensive, or
sexually explicit, or that intimidate, threaten, demean, or are defamatory or harass
individuals or groups, or that would otherwise bring discredit to the University. Refer to
the Campus Policy on Harassment in the Student, Faculty, and Staff Handbooks.

Please be respectful and considerate of fellow classmates. Use of any electronic

devices/services that interfere with classes is strictly prohibited.

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University Policies
You can find this information in your Blackboard course.

Final Note
This syllabus is subject to change. Every effort will be made to alert students to
changes that occur in a timely manner.

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 CSC499 Capstone Guidelines
The Capstone is a project typically undertaken in the last semester/term of your program. You should contact your
academic advisor for guidance as to when to enroll in CSC499 Capstone. Capstone comprises a significant project
that allows you to apply what you have learned in your major. The project starts with the selection of a topic of your
choosing. This is often the most difficult step and should not be taken lightly. Some guidelines for selecting a topic
are:

 Consider topics you studied in a computer science class that you really liked and want to learn more about
 Consider topics that were not covered in a computer science class but are of interest to you
 Consider areas that you may want to make a career out of (many students work with their employer to
define a project)
 Consider hobbies you have that could use a computing system
 Consider non-computer science classes/topics that you studied that could benefit from a computing system

You will select/be assigned a capstone advisor (CSC499 instructor) that will assist you on selecting a topic.

The Computer Science Department offers two degrees: 1) BS Computer Information Systems (CIS); and 2) BS
Computer Science (CSC). While the two areas have overlap (in both subject matter and classes) their emphasis is
quite different. The CIS emphasis is on system level and infrastructure design and implementation and management
support. The CSC emphasis is on program design and implementation. As such, capstone projects for each major
can vary dramatically.

As a CIS major you may consider two avenues: the business courses and the computer science courses you took.
Example topics are:

Business/Management Oriented
 Create a fictitious company, develop a business/organization plan and design a computing infrastructure to
support the business (servers, databases, client nodes, software requirements, etc.) You could research
various businesses and understand their computing facilities and make trade off decisions, etc.

 Design a sub-system (human resources, network support, etc.) within a company. You could look at various
software products available (email servers gmail vs. outlook, etc., database servers MySQL vs. Oracle, etc.)

Technical Support Oriented

 Study/research the components that make up a computer network and do a comparative study of
components (routers, switches, WiFi, Ethernet, TCP/IP, etc.) and make informed decisions about which
components to include in a system dependent on its requirements. You may want to look at a network
suitable for a large company and one suitable for a small business and contrast the designs.

As a CSC major you will most likely design/implement a large software system. Example topics are:

Mobile Application Development

 Create an application to be run on a mobile device. For example, an app to help find available parking on
campus or to coordinate/schedule activities.
 Create a mobile device game.

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Desktop Application
 Create a client/server/database application to maintain a music or picture library
 Create an Augmented or Virtual Reality simulation
 Perform an in depth study of data sorting algorithms
 Create a multi-media system consisting of video, sound, and human interaction

Details of the project are to be determined in collaboration with your capstone advisor (CSC 499 instructor.)
Regardless of your major/topic, you will engage in the entire development process from proposal to development to
documentation to delivery to presentation. Two documents are mandatory: The Proposal and The Final Report.
Format of the documents will be specified by the capstone advisor as will additional assignments throughout the
semester/term. The CSC499 Capstone course is 4 credits and, as Carnegie such, the project should consume
approximately 200 Carnegie hours per semester/term (approximately equivalent to 4 hours of class time, 8 Carnegie
hours of homework) where 1 Carnegie hour is 50 minutes of actual time.

The primary goal of the capstone project is to create a comprehensive system that allows you to demonstrate all that
you have learned in your years as a CIS/CSC major. Ideally, the project can be presented to perspective employers
or grad school admissions counselors as part of your “portfolio.”

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