Reference no: EM133058389 , Length: word count:3200

Data Warehouse Designs: An Investigation Study

The aims of this course are to:

A. provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate a good understanding and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of the specialist programme area;

B. enable you to develop a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to your own research or advanced scholarship;

C. create an environment where you can develop originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline;

D. let you demonstrate that you can deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate your conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences';

E. give the opportunity for you to demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level;

F. develop your ability to appraise critically, by producing an academic report of your project (explaining the problem, aims and objectives, methods/approach and techniques used, your literature review and critical evaluation of it, a body of your project work and your findings, conclusions together with references and citations);

G. provide an opportunity for you to build on your knowledge from one or more of your taught courses, of which it must include either one 30 credit core course or two 15 credit core courses, as well as extend such knowledge into new areas with your independent yet planned learning;

H. apply competently and professionally some key elements of your domain knowledge and skills acquired in the programme of study to a realistic problem of real industrial or research relevance.

Learning Outcome 1: manage a substantial individual project relevant to your programme of study, including the planning, documentation and control of a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of the specialist academic discipline;

Learning Outcome 2: apply competently and effectively key subject specific knowledge and technical skills involving tools, techniques and methodologies to a real or realistic industrial or research problem in the programme specialist area;

Learning Outcome 3: specify and scope a project at the forefront of their specialist knowledge appropriately;

Learning Outcome 4: carry out an in-depth investigation of context, literature and related work (or products) in the field focused on the research questions and or project aims and requirements;

Learning Outcome 5: analyse, interpret, integrate and synthesise the findings of the investigation;

Learning Outcome 6: evaluate the relevance of current legislation, examine the role of the professional and professional bodies, and reflect upon the social and ethical implications from the client, employer and personal perspective;

Learning Outcome 7: write a project report to a given standard which should include a critical appraisal of the project;

Learning Outcome 8: provide a clear and critical description of the stages of the life cycle undertaken and evaluate its effectiveness including a description of how testing was applied at these stages;

Learning Outcome 9: provide a clear and critical appraisal of software/hardware architectural choices, modelling techniques and technologies used;

Learning Outcome 10: describe and evaluate the use of tools and methodologies to support the development process;

Learning Outcome 11: produce a quality product and be able to explain and demonstrate how it works;

Learning Outcome 12: critically evaluate or contrast the quality of the final product(s) relating this to key project choices made.

The tasks the role encompasses are to:
1. Approve the project proposal when it meets the associated programme's criteria and identify any ethical issues that may arise and deal with these appropriately.
2. Contact the relevant project co-ordinator if your student does not make contact with you or achieve an agreed project proposal.
3. Agree on the supervision structure and the associated time allocation.
4. Discuss a general project strategy and approve the outline project plan.
5. Discuss possible avenues for literature search.
6. Discuss possible research methods, if applicable.
7. Discuss/advise on hardware and software and liaise with support staff, if applicable.
8. Offer advice re progress and warn of major problems (the initial and interim reports will feed into this process),
9. Agree with the student and second marker a convenient time for the presentation.
10. Be the first marker and complete the development and final project assessment forms.

Choosing a Project

A project will contain (at different proportions - topic dependant) a constructive part, an evaluative part, an analytical part and an empirical or investigative part:
? Constructive part: involving the design and implementation of a system or subsystem
? Evaluative: evaluating of a particular system in terms of its function, performance or human-computer interaction with the purpose of generating a set of guidelines for future developments in this field.
? Analytical: analysing particular policies or strategies with respect to the implementation of computing techniques or methods in organizations with the aim of producing a set of guidelines for improving or developing future systems of this type.
? Empirical or investigative: practical experiments or investigations into particular systems or parts of a system or comparisons of alternatives with the aim of producing a set of guidelines for developing future systems of this type.
An MSc project must produce an artifact that maps onto the system lifecyle and it must also include an analysis of the problem area, a review and critical analysis of the pertinent academic literature, and an evaluation of the results. An MSc project must contain a detailed section covering project specific Risk and Project management and Legal, Social, Ethical, Professional and (where applicable) Commercial issues. There are three key stages

Stage One: Identify areas of interest which seem to have potential and reflect the Programme you are studying. Good places to start are:
• Project conference materials
• Any substantive questions that you would like to follow up during your course of studies.
• Topics studied in the programme which were especially interesting personally (as opposed to professionally). Check out some of the articles in professional journals, books, book reviews and the internet to see if there is enough there to maintain the interest. If there is an interesting journal article look in the section entitled "Suggestions for further study". Is there anything there of interest?
• Discussions with those regarded as experts in the field of interests.
• Discussions with lecturers about possible project topics.
• Is there a project that could be carried out in the workplace?
• Read past projects online on the project website.
The chosen topic should be a problem or issue that requires a solution (don't expect to produce the definitive solution) but try to avoid topics which are too general. At this stage, focus on one central theme. Try to formulate a question in one sentence the answer to which will be the body of the project. Start with an idea of what the subject area will be, even if that idea is

contained in a single term like ‘Object Databases' or ‘e-commerce' or ‘data processing in the Health Service'. Then refine it to produce the project topic.

Stage Two: Make sure that it meets the National Qualifications Framework for a Master project (Section 2) and the course aims and objectives (Appendix A).

Stage Three: Carry out some research to find out if it is feasible.

Remember the project must produce some new information and not simply apply existing information. For instance, producing a web enabled database would be applying existing knowledge. If one was to use a new approach or technology (this could have been discussed in a recent academic paper or devised by the student) then one would be able to discuss something new in the dissertation. This does not mean that there has to be an entirely new contribution; that is at Doctorate (Phd) level. It is sufficient to solve a problem in a slightly different way or use a new technique that has not been fully explored or apply the application to a new environment.
Once a topic is decided upon the next stage is to apply for a supervisor on the project website. Even if you cannot decide on a project you should apply for a project supervisor by the end of April - please see the project website assessment details for further information,

Project Proposal

This is the next stage of the project process following on from the project registration. Once complete it should be uploaded via the project website upload system. Note: the proposal must be signed off as accepted by your supervisor before you can upload any further project documentation.

Do some preliminary reading. Because most fields of engineering and science, and especially the field of computing, change rapidly, using textbooks alone is not enough; neither is concentrating solely on manufacturers' literature.

You could start with a trade journal, a scientifically or technically oriented general magazine such as Science, Scientific American, IEEE Computer or Byte. Our Librarian, Karen, who you met during the library induction (part of the main induction process) can also guide you to suitable publications in the topic area. The Internet is obviously a good place to start. The INSPEC database is held in the library on CD ROM and is a very good source of computing journal abstracts. Alternatively, to get a good grounding in a new topic area, find a good textbook. Decide first, what information to look for. The table of contents, preface and the introduction are a good general guide to the value a book is likely to have.

The following also need to be considered:
? If the project relies on 3rd parties (eg employers, clients, University personnel), can they be relied on?
? If a new skill needs to be acquired, how realistic is it that it can be mastered and what will happen if it can't?

? Can the project scope be changed if it turns out to be too simplistic or complex?
? How will the product be tested? If qualitative testing is used will there be sufficient users for a statistically relevant sample?

The answers to these questions are not easy and guidance may be needed - this will involve the support of your supervisor. The critical determinants of the success of a project are defining its breadth, depth and the supporting resources.

The more effort that is done at this stage can often avoid problems later on. The Project Proposal must contain the following elements and an electronic template is available via the project website.

The Initial Report (1,000-1500 words)

The aim of this report is to inform the supervisor of your current project status and to review the feasibility of the project and objectives. It is important that this procedure concentrates on the key issues and that it requires the minimum of effort on your part. The report should give a summary of the overall project status. It should include a header page and three sections: current situation, problem areas and key work during the next period.

Final Report (10,000 - 15,000 words)

The project report is the outcome of your research project. It is a scholarly document, which must be able to fit in just one volume (including all appendices). It incorporates:

? the results of your literature survey;
? a report on the way in which you have carried out your analysis, and the reasons for your choice of techniques;
? a synthesis or design based on your analysis;
? a critical re-evaluation of the project itself and its outcomes.

Demonstrating the Product/Dissertation

You must demonstrate software and other multimedia products to your supervisor and second marker. The purpose of the demonstration is to allow them to see the product running, to check that you are its author, and to help them to visualize the product when they read through your description of it in the project report.

1. Understanding of Problem Domain

Identify and investigate a suitable problem, and follow an appropriate project methodology to solve the problem.

• Identified an area to research or investigate and a problem to be solved
• Demonstrated understanding of the problem domain
• Shown how project objectives were formed and project planning took place
• Discussed the research or investigation within the context of the project
• Critical evaluation (of the appropriateness) of the current thinking on the research area
• Compared similar products and systems
• Selected suitable criteria for development of product and ideas
• Chosen appropriate tools for modelling and development
• Production of requirements specification/client brief of suitable complexity
• Identified any legal, social, ethical and professional issues that are relevant to the project

2. Development of product and ideas

• Demonstrated complexity in the design and implementation of the product
• Discussed the development process
• Shown that a number of alternative approaches have been considered
• Explained the reasons for selecting a particular solution
• Demonstrated changes in the project plan
• Resolution of relevant legal, social, ethical or professional issues

3. Product build and evaluation
• Demonstrated technical ability in building the product
• Demonstrated the full scope of product developed
• Shown that the product has been tested and evaluated appropriately
• Discussed the quality of the product in relation to original objectives and criteria
• Demonstrated the usability and appropriateness of the product for the problem domain
• Identified where and how improvement can be made

4. Conclusions and critical review
• Demonstrated critical thinking in writing up the project
• Discussed lessons learnt whilst completing the project
• Identified any problems encountered and discussed how they were tackled
• Identified mistakes made and lessons learnt
• Reflected on how the project plan changed during the development
• Made suggestions as to how the work can be improved
• Identified how the project might be taken further or expanded

Attachment:- Current problems.rar