Your course project is your chance to do something creative using the computer! The goals for the project are to hone your skills in HTML, JavaScript, Java or graphical software, while working on a topic of interest to you that relates to the course content.

Possible Projects:

• Pick a topic on the connection between computer science and biology, psychology or the arts. Design materials about this topic that could be used in a future offering of this class or to interest high school students in computer science. The materials could include a short lab, powerpoint presentation, a web page, and/or interactive activities. The topic could be something already covered in class, or something new. Examples might be: describe the field of humanities computing; explore a specific problem in the area of bioinformatics, compare the works of two computer artists, do an assessment of a societal use of computers, e.g., in electronic voting, or study the implications of computer technology for individual privacy in Canada or your home country.
• Pick a topic related to the course and describe how it could be analyzed or presented from a feminist perspective. The topic could be something already covered in class, something new, or could center on the work of someone in the field of computer science. The project could be presented as a web page or could involve other materials.
• Using Ultimate Paint or a computer drawing/paint program of your choice, explore the possibilities for creating art. Your project could be generated entirely using the tools provided by the program or could incorporate your own photographs or artwork. (Though remember that you have limited disk space on the departmental machines.) Advance your technical knowledge of the software you use. You could prepare a lab that could be used by others to master the new skills you've learned or an essay describing your goals in creating the artwork and the process you followed. Something similar could be done with music or sound, although in that case you would have to find suitable software to use.
• Build on the program from the "Art in Java" lab to generate your own artistic designs. Use the part of the lab on animation (at the end of the lab handout), for example. Or, borrow the random number generator from the Eliza code and see if you can incorporate it into your code.

Notes

• If you decide to do a programming project, you should keep your goals really simple. If you can successfully make even fairly minor modifications to existing code in a directed way, you are demonstrating a lot of understanding of how the code is structured.
• Regardless of which project you do, but particularly in the case of a web page project, remember that the material you present should be your own work. It is ok to include quotations from someone else's work if they are clearly marked as such. If you take an image from another web site, make sure you have the appropriate permission and acknowledge the source.
• Many of these projects lend themselves well to groups, and I strongly encourage you to work in groups of two or perhaps three for your project. Make sure everyone has a chance to contribute.

What you need to do:

1. Decide what you would like to work on, and find a partner or two to work with.
2. Submit a short project proposal by 17:00 on Friday, 4 November 2005. Your proposal should be in the form of a web page (please keep it simple!), and add a link from your class personal web page to your project proposal . At the beginning of your proposal, list the title of the project, the names of all participants (with e-mail addresses) and your lab section (weekday). Your proposal should contain a title and indicate which lab you are in. Send the URL to your class personal page to me (Holger) as well as to the TAs for your lab section via e-mail. We will review the project proposals on-line, from your web pages. Check the link from the class web page to your page, to make sure that the link to your project proposal works.

   Your proposal should include a short (about 1 page) summary of what you plan to do, and a breakdown of which person in the group is going to assume responsibility for which parts of the project (including proposal and final report preparation, and presentation), along with time lines for getting each part done.

3. Submit a final project report by 18:00 on Friday, 25 November 2005. You should put a link from your home page to your project final report. The final report should include:
   • A short description of the completed project.
   • A summary of the concepts from class that you used and the new concepts that you learned while doing the project (with code fragments to illustrate new techniques, if appropriate). Particularly if you choose to do an art project, it is important to document the underlying computer techniques used.
   • A short statement of who in the group contributed what.
   • Clear acknowledgements of all sources (other web pages, articles, books, etc.) that you used in preparing your project. Check the information in the text about respecting copyright law.
4. Give a short presentation about your project. Presentations will be held during lab times on the last week of class, in a suitable location. Each group will have 10 minutes for their presentation. A laptop with internet access will be available.

Projects will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Original content.
• Demonstration of technical knowledge. Show off what new technical knowledge you learned while doing the project.
• Well-prepared reports and presentation. Keep the format of the reports simple (text on a plain white background is just fine), but write clearly and use good sentence structure. Proof-read your report and presentation carefully.
• Your individual contribution to the project, as well as the overall team organisation. Make sure everyone on the team has the opportunity to contribute substantially.
• Timeliness and availability of your proposal and the final report.