New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
College of Computing Sciences (CCS)
CIS485-451/CIS 786-851: World Wide Web Standards, Fall 2001
Professor: Michael Bieber

Class Quick Links: [Home] [Schedule] [WebBoard] [Standards] [Definitions/Links] [Homeworks]

---

Individual Project Report Format & Grading

This document describes the format for your individual project final written report (Part 1) and the grading criteria. The project itself is described in the actual assignment posted on the course Web site.

Your report should have the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Detailed Study (can have multiple subsections)
3. Comparative Analysis
4. Speculations
5. Recommendations
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendices and Technical Appendices (if appropriate)

Grading

The grading point breakdown is:

• Introduction (5 points)
• Detailed Study (20 points)
• Comparative Analysis (10 points)
• Speculations (10 points)
• Recommendations (15 points)
• Conclusion (5 points)
• References (5 points + minus points)
• Overall Quality (25 points)
• Justifying Points (5 points)
• Follows Editing Guidelines (down to minus 5 points)
• Length (down to minus 15 points)
• Extra Credit (up to 5 points extra credit)

Unless otherwise noted, the grading categories used below are:

• great: fully discussed, explained well and well-justified
• good: partial discussion, explained decently and mostly justified
• ok: partial discussion; not explained well or well-justified
• poor: scant or poor discussion
• zero: not addressed 

Section: Introduction (5)

• Describe your objectives or goals for your report, motivation for studying this topic, and any relevant background for this topic.
• Provide an outline of your entire report, stating what sections you have and a 1-2 sentence description of each section.

Grading: great - 5; good - 4; ok - 3; poor - 1

Section(s): Detailed Study (20)

This is the main part of your report.

Notes

• Remember the non-technical focus required, as explained in the main assignment.
• Be sure to cite your references whenever appropriate. For each citation explain clearly what relationship it has to that part of your report. Use the citation format explained below.
• Be very careful about copying materials you find in your research, as explained in the main assignment.

Grading: great - 20; good - 16; ok - 12; poor - 8 or less

Section: Comparative Analysis (10)

Most of the topics people have selected for this project involve multiple standards or a set of standards. Please do a detailed comparative analysis of these. (If your project has no possibility of comparative analysis, please explain this explicitly in a note to me attached to your project. If I agree, then I will leave this section out of the grading. You can also check with me in advance if you have any question about this.)

Where to place this:

You may choose to integrate this comparitive analysis throughout your detailed study section. If so, in this "Comparative Analysis" section you should put a review, summary, overview or table of the comparative analysis found elsewhere in your report.

Grading: great - 10; good - 7; ok - 4; poor - 2

Section: Speculations (10)

Grading: great - 10; good - 7; ok - 4; poor - 2

Section: Recommendations (15)

Grading: 8 points for each recommendation, covering the four bullet points described in the assignment.

Section: Conclusion (5)

Please do not give a summary repeating what you have already written. Instead provide an insightful set of final thoughts about your topic. Leave the reader inspired about your topic and analysis. For example, you could end with a vision of the future if your standards are fully agreed upon and properly deployed...

Grading: great - 5; good - 3; ok - 2; poor - 1
Just a summary: 2 points

Section: Appendices and Technical Appendices (if appropriate)

Any detailed information that would clog down the main report, such as technical details. These are outside the 12 page count.

Section: References (5, and also negative points)

This section lists all references you cited in the rest of your report. (Be sure to use citation markers (e.g., [Bieber & Vitali, 1997] or [NY Times 5/20/01] for articles or [Sun URL] for Web sites) inside your report whenever you refer to a reference. Do not list references you have not referred to.

Then in this reference section you should give the details for each reference:

• [Bieber & Vitali, 1997] Bieber, Michael and Fabio Vitali, "Toward Support for Hypermedia on the World Wide Web" IEEE Computer 30(1), January 1997.
• [NY Times 5/20/01] Jones, Martha, "Standards hit e-commerce", page 12.
• [Sun URL] Java XML Pack - http://java.sun.com/xml/javaxmlpack.html

Explain Your References

Explicitly refer to each of your references within your paper. Do not simply mention them, but write at least 2 sentences explaining why each reference is relevant as part of your paper.

References Grading:

• Explain Your References:
  Explicitly refer to each of your references within your paper. Do not simply mention them, but write at least 2 sentences explaining why each reference is relevant as part of your paper.
  Grading: great /good - 3; ok/poor - 1
• Mark the references inside the main body of your report
  Grading: great /good - 2; ok - 1; poor: 0
• Full Citation
  Put the full citation for each reference in the reference section, as shown above. If you cannot find it, then state this explicitly as part of the reference.
  Grading: minus 1 point for every two incomplete references

Other Aspects of your Project Report

Overall Quality (25)

Is the answer thorough, well thought-through and insightful?

Is the answer clear?

Does it not repeat much information from the course Web site, beyond a summary?

Grading: great - 25; good - 21; ok - 15; poor - 10 or less

Justify, Justify (5)

You must justify your findings in your written reports. Readers should be able to ask "why" at any reasonable point and find a satisfactory answer.

Grading: great - 5; good - 3; ok - 2; poor - 1

Editing (negative points)

Spell Checking and Grammar Checking

You have to be able to express yourself clearly for others to understand you and your ideas. Proofread and check the grammar of your work . Make sure it would be clear to every member of the class. All word processors come with spell checkers. In addition, most include grammar checkers. Note that spell checking is but a small part of proofreading. Ewe can still use ungood grammar even if the spell checker does knot find any spelling miss takes.

Style: Pitch to your Audience

Aim your written report at an audience of professionals who are only computer-semiliterate to your classmates. Explain all technical terminology and concepts clearly.

Editing Grading

Have the answer been prooofread? Are the spelling and grammar correct? (Fully explain any points taken off!)

Grading (maximum of 5 points off):

• proofread, with correct spelling and grammar - full credit
• a few spelling mistakes: minus 1 point
• several spelling mistakes: minus 3 points
• a few grammatical mistakes: minus 1 point
• several grammatical mistakes: minus 3 points

Length (negative points)

Your report should be at least 12 pages long, using Times New Roman font size 12 single spaced, 1 inch margins and without large gaps between sections. (It doesn't have to be in Microsoft Word, however.)

This page amount does not include your title page, illustrations, long or numerous tables, reference list and appendices.

Grading: minus 1 point per every two pages missing.

Extra Credit (up to 5 points)

Was the answer exceptional in some way?

Grading:

• exceptional in some way - extra 3 points
• exceptional in multiple ways - extra 5 points

Plain Format

Please do not put your project report in a special folder. Please either staple it together or use a binder clip. Please use black and white, unless you absolutely need color.

Project Report Checklist:

My full project report includes:

_ introduction

_ outline

_ explicit comparative analysis, including perhaps a summary in a special comparative analysis section

_ speculations beyond the basic information

_ 2+ Recommendations, which I discuss according to the project guidelines

_ a conclusion, not just a summary

_ I have fully justified every point made

_ explicit references in the report body to every citation

_ I have thoroughly proofread the report; I have not just spell checked it

_ I have stapled or fastened the report with a binder clip and it is not in a fancy folder