The MBC information booklet - RMIT University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

$journal of latex class files, vol. 6, no. 1, january ... - RMIT University$

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project 48 Some people think of a Masters by Research as comprising one quality publication. The Masters Degree by Coursework and Minor Thesis Traditionally, Masters degrees in Australia have been of the research variety. The Masters degree by coursework and minor thesis is a comparatively new degree. It seeks to combine a formal graded study of current postgraduate topics in Computer Science with a minor, Masters by Research-level, thesis. It is smaller in scope than a Masters by Research thesis simply because less time is available. A Masters by Research thesis usually comprises two full-time years of research. By comparison, a minor thesis comprises only half a year of full-time research (or one year part-time). Clearly, in such a short time, the scope of the thesis must be narrowed and the task carefully refined. A minor thesis should: 1. review literature relevant to the thesis; 2. critically appraise ones work especially as it relates to the work of others, or critically appraise the work of others; 3. describe an investigation which may involve the gathering and analysing of information; 4. present information in a manner consistent with publication in an academic Computer Science Journal; and 5. demonstrate the carrying out of supervised research. An Example To be more concrete, we begin with a mythical problem (sic). The problem is usually identified by your supervisor. Our mythical problem is in the domain of real-time applications for an intelligent networking hub. It is found that the robustness and ease of re-use of code (written in a 3rd generation language) is unsatisfactory. Changes to the code are increasingly difficult to implement and fraught with side-effects. The PhD The PhD candidate undertakes a detailed analysis of the problem. The candidate seeks to carefully identify the shortcomings of the current approach. In constructing a solution, the candidate effectively invents a new programming paradigm. The candidate implements a prototype using the new paradigm and demonstrates its effectiveness not only in the context of the original problem domain but as a general programming paradigm. The candidate compares and contrasts the new approach with others and identifies any open problems. The Masters by Research The Masters by Research candidate (who does not go on and convert the thesis to a PhD) uses a different approach. This involves the construction of a series of specialised libraries (a repository) which are to be strictly used as the building blocks for a re-write of the existing system and future enhancements. The code is developed with reference to a formal mathematical software specification; implementing this specification. A prototype is built. The thesis examines the approach of repositories in general and contrasts these to that described in this thesis. The candidate reflects on the shortcomings of the approach and the advantages. The approach may not be an ideal solution but useful nonetheless. The Masters by Coursework The Masters by coursework candidate works for the networking company in question. The company has identified the problem but is not that concerned with it because the economy is in a down-turn; there is little money available for research and development; and the problem appears not to be hurting sales. The candidate convinces the boss that the problem should be addressed and points out that newly developed expertise in formal methods should be used to map out a prototype for a repository. The boss supports the investigation and the candidate undertakes the research. The thesis presents only the formal specification and places the specification into the context of the problem and the overall approach. The literature survey looks at the building of specific software repositories, investigating those which utilise formal methods 1 .
11.3.2 The Minor Project 11.3.3 Examination of the minor project 11.3.4 Progress Reports Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project In some instances a candidate may choose a topic which has more of a developmental flavour than an inquisitorial one. That is, the major contribution of the project can be measured more in terms of a quality high level industrial strength implementation of an advanced system than a prototypical system that is used to determine results and support a hypothesis. Where a candidate undertakes a minor project, a major part of the examination will be a demonstration of the software that has been developed. The accompanying documentation will be in the same form as a thesis. The chapters will ordinarily comprise: • An introduction which motivates the need/use of the program. • An optional literature chapter (where relevant) which compares the approach taken to existing approaches. • A specification chapter. The program requirements are specified possibly using formal notation. • A design chapter. The program design is specified using formal notation. • A testing chapter (sic). This describes the testing regime employed and the actual tests performed. • A conclusion. • An appendix consisting of a user manual. • A CD which includes the source code and a script enabling the software to be installed completely from the CD. This will be in two stages: In stage one an examiner, usually from the School, will read your documentation. At this stage, your documentation should be bound in a loose form. Subsequent to this, the examiner may meet with you and your supervisor and have a “test-drive” of the software or install and run it themselves. The examiner may: • recommend changes to the documentation • recommend changes to the code (not the specification) to fix any bugs or ask that you implement something which has been specified but not implemented as per specification or design. Note that your project needs to come with explicit installation instructions for the examiner. You should ensure that an installation script has been written and that it actually works (on other platforms/machines as per the specifications). When a student is undertaking research methods and has agreed and been accepted for one of the topics, they must: • Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the topic • Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the name of their supervisor • Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the normal day/time of meetings with their supervisor/s • CC the above email to their supervisor/s. All students must use an on-line ‘blogger’ (Web Logger) and keep this up to date. Here is the link to install the blogger: https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/support/docs/mtype/ The idea is that, at the end of each day that students work on their thesis, they use their blogger to record the things they have done/are doing. Their supervisor/s and Dr. Michael Winikoff will look at the blog regularly. If students have no evidence / don’t use the blog, then there is little for the supervisor/s and Dr. Michael Winikoff to go on. 1. In case you were wondering, after the work was completed, the mythical candidate was appointed to lead a team to commercialise the concept started in the minor thesis. The candidate was considered suitable for this because of the new expertise the candidate had brought to the company and the management skills acquired during the course. 49
Page 3 and 4:
INFORMATION BOOKLET For Local and I
Page 5 and 6:
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Terminol
Page 7 and 8:
CHAPTER 8 SEARCH ENGINES 8.1 Introd
Page 9 and 10:
14.4 After-Hours Access ...........
Page 11 and 12: 14.31 Homepage ....................
Page 13: 14.62 Transfer.....................
Page 16 and 17: Chapter 1: Introduction 2 Students
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 1: Introduction 1.6.4 Summe
Page 20 and 21: Chapter 1: Introduction 1.14 Academ
Page 22 and 23: Chapter 1: Introduction 8
Page 24 and 25: Chapter 2: Masters Program Format a
Page 32 and 33: Chapter 3: Advanced Databases 3.2 C
Page 34 and 35: Chapter 3: Advanced Databases 3.2.4
Page 36 and 37: Chapter 4: Bioinformatics 4.2.2 MAT
Page 38 and 39: Chapter 4: Bioinformatics 24
Page 40 and 41: Chapter 5: Computer Security 5.2.2
Page 42 and 43: Chapter 5: Computer Security 28
Page 44 and 45: Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems 6.2
Page 46 and 47: Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems 32
Page 48 and 49: Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed
Page 50 and 51: Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed
Page 52 and 53: Chapter 8: Search Engines 8.2.3 COS
Page 54 and 55: Chapter 9: Software Engineering 9.1
Page 56 and 57: Chapter 9: Software Engineering 42
Page 58 and 59: Chapter 10: Web-based Computing 10.
Page 60 and 61: Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project 11
Page 74 and 75: Chapter 12: Vocational Electives 12
Page 84 and 85: Chapter 13: Master of Applied Scien
Page 86 and 87: Chapter 14: Frequently asked questi
Page 112 and 113:
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questi
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118:
show all

The MBC information booklet - RMIT University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?