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Thesis Writing Guide
Thesis Writing Guide
Capstone Project
Paper Guidelines
Table of Contents
1. Objectives........................................................................................................................3
5. Forms.............................................................................................................................15
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1. Objectives
The Capstone Project is a non-classroom learning environment in which students apply the skills,
methods, and theories learned throughout their stay in the college program. The main question that the
project document must answer is “What is the application of specific fields of Information Management /
Technology?”
With the goal of adequately preparing students for their respective careers by involving them in a project
that extends over several months, the project paper is put in place to demonstrate application of concepts
and exhaustive and convincing related literature.
The Capstone Project officially starts upon enrolment of the course and ends with the submission of an
approved project paper document and system. However, a student may choose to start his project study
two semesters before he actually enrolls in the project course; upon consultation and approval of the
Capstone Project instructor and the Chair of the department.
The project paper instructor must ensure that the actual project is feasible/attainable within a semester
with adequate preparation from previous semesters.
In order to finish the course, the student must go through the following stages:
Submission of three preferred project study topics with 1 page preliminaries each.
Project Paper Proposal Writing and Submission
Final Project Paper and System Defense
Submission of edited, approved and hard bounded copy of the Project Paper; and softcopy of the
Project Paper and system in CDs.
This results in the identification and approval of a project paper topic. There is no defense at this stage.
The students are encouraged to consult with faculty members and Department Chairs regarding their
topic.
Suggested Projects
Software Development
o Software customization
o Information systems for an actual client (avoid payroll, inventory, etc)
o Web applications development (implemented on live servers)
o Mobile computing systems
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Multimedia Systems
o Game development
o E-learning systems
o Interactive systems
o Information kiosks
Network design and implementation; and server farm configuration and management
IT Management
o Strategic plan for sufficiency complex enterprise
o IT Security Analysis, Planning and Implementation
Upon receiving an approval on the project study topic from the project study instructor, the student may
start enforcing and reinforcing his approved study topic. The following activities should be covered:
a. search of related literature
b. investigation of existing solutions to the identified problem(s)
c. evaluation of existing solutions
d. application of methods and theories learned to design of a solution to the problem(s)
The deliverable at the end of this stage is an approved proposal that includes a partial project paper
documents covering Chapters 1 to 3, as well as Appendices and References. These chapters include the
following:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Systems
Chapter 3: Methodology
and the description and initial design of the system to be developed.
The student should be enrolled in the Capstone Project course before he can proceed to this stage. The
student must also have gone through the following activities:
a. implementation/development of the solution identified in Methods of Research
b. analysis of the solution
c. testing and gathering of results
d. documentation of the results
e. finalization of the project paper document
f. preparation for the project paper presentation and defense
The student must provide an initial copy of the project to the Capstone Project instructor to assess if the
project is ready for presentation and defense. Together with the approval for defense, the instructor will
form a group of panelists that will assess the validity of the study on an agreed date.
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a. ACCEPT WITH REVISIONS. Minor revisions are necessary to enhance the document and/or
software, but they do not have to be presented in front of the panelists. The panelists are tasked to
make sure that all the revisions are made.
b. REDEFENSE. Another formal defense is necessary because the proponent failed to present his/her
project paper properly and/or the documentation and/or software contain major errors.
c. NOT ACCEPTED. Either the objectives of the study have not been met or the proponent cheated.
The verdict is a unanimous decision among the three members of the project paper defense panel. Once
issued, it is final and irrevocable.
It is encouraged that the students schedule their defenses (2) months before the end of the semester to
give the students more time to revise the final project paper for verdicts of ‘ACCEPT WITH
REVISIONS’ or ‘REDEFENSE’. It also allows the student to improve or redo their final project paper in
cases of ‘NOT ACCEPTED’.
4. Document Format
The margins of the document should be one inch on all sides of the stationery except the left margin
which will be one and a half inches. The font used for the entire document must be Times New Roman
with a point size of twelve (12). Paragraphs must be double-spaced, with no extra spaces except at the
end of every chapter. Each chapter will start on a new page.
Approval Sheet ii
Acknowledgment iii
To be submitted in the final project paper document only.
Executive Summary iv
From 150 to 200 words of short, direct and complete sentences, the Executive Summary should be
informative enough to serve as a substitute for reading the project paper itself. It states the rationale
and the objectives of the project. Do not put citations or quotes in this section. Avoid beginning the
Executive Summary with “This paper/document/project/study/project/…”
Table of Contents v
(Observe the following format, sample only for the Table of Contents)
Title Page i
Approval Sheet ii
Acknowledgement iii
Executive Summary iv
Table of Contents v
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Project Context 2
1.2 Project Objectives …
1.2.1 General Objective …
1.2.2 Specific Objectives …
List of Figures …
List of Tables …
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List of Diagrams …
…
Note that the page numbering for preliminary pages like title page, etc. is based on roman numerals
while the page numbering for main body of the document is based on decimal numbers. Thus the first
page of Chapter 1 is at 1.
Chapter 1
Introduction
This section ends with a discussion on the problems faced by or that still exist in the specific
technology or field (e.g., limitations of existing software or algorithms).
What platforms will the system run to (windows XP only)? Identify what the system can and
cannot do. You may tell something about security.
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In sentence form. In sentence form. This section explains why project must be done in this area.
Describe general contribution of the project to new knowledge, society and or to development in
general (Individuals, Corporations, Country, World or humanity in general).
The researcher should indicate and defend why it is necessary to undertake the research.
The researcher should indicate the benefits that will result from the research and to whom it will be
beneficial.
Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature and Systems
Contents of this section is must support, enhance and strengthen the claims (problems and
solutions) of the Project Paper. Additional materials gathered during Project Paper Writing stages
must also be included.
Chapter 3
Project Methodology
This section lists and discusses the specific steps and activities that will be performed by the
proponent to accomplish the project. The discussion covers the activities from proposal to Final
Project Paper Writing.
Activities include:
a. Requirements Specification
b. Analysis
c. Design
d. Development and Testing
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when and how long will the activity be done
where will it be done
why should be activity be done
A Gantt Chart showing the schedule of the activities should be included as a table. For example:
ACTIVITY JAN FEB MAR APR …
1. Requirements Specification **** **
2. Analysis **** **** ****
3. Design **
4. Development and Testing ***
Chapter 4 The <XYZ> System for System Development OR Implementation Plan for
Infrastructure Projects
This section gives an overall view of the main features and capabilities of the software.
This section states the specific requirements that must be met by the system. This should be able
to solve all the identified problems in 1.3 Purpose of the Project. For example:
a. To improve customer response time
b. To process transactions in order to update records and generate reports
c. To aid in managerial decisions
d. To aid managers in diagnosing problems or in problem-solving
This section provides a listing of all the functions that must be performed or delivered by the
system in order to achieve the 4.2 System Objectives. Screen designs may be included, to help
visualize the function being discussed. Usually, the functions are based on the menu and toolbar
options. If a function generates reports, the report formats must be included in this section.
This section discusses the hardware and software resources needed to implement and to execute
the system. If the system has a special set of target users, this section also includes the user
specification (e.g., educational level, experience, and technical expertise). For certain uncommon
resources, a discussion of why such resources are necessary must also be included.
This section presents the initial internal design of the system, by discussing its major components
and their interactions. These components include the software components (e.g., modules,
database systems, etc.), as well as the hardware components (e.g., processors, devices, etc.). The
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components and their interactions are graphically represented using design tools, such as
hierarchical charts, structure charts or object models. A Data flow level 0 diagram may also be
included to show how information passes among processes. In addition, discussion on why
certain alternative and trade-offs were chosen must be included (e.g., issues on software
decomposition, cost of hardware).
Chapter 5
Recommendation
This chapter gives an assessment of what happened in this project. It presents explanations and
justifications on how the objectives of the project were met, to what extent and why some objectives
were not met.
References
(Use APA Style formatting. See 4.2.5 Basic Forms for Sources in Print, and 4.2.6 Basic Forms for
Electronic Sources)
Appendix A.
Diagrams and other documentation tools
May consist of proposed architectural design, algorithms, Data Flow Diagrams, Entity Relationship
Diagram, etc.
Appendix B.
DFD & ERD Approval Sheet
Appendix C.
Relevant Source Code
Appendix D.
Evaluation Tool
Appendix E.
Sample Input/Output/Reports
Appendix F.
Users Guide
Appendix G.
Resource Persons
For each resource person:
<full name and title, e.g., Dr. Juan de la Cruz>
<profession, e.g., faculty>
<department, e.g., College of Computer Studies>
<name of institution, e.g., De La Salle University>
<e-mail address>
Appendix H.
Curriculum Vitae
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4.2 Format for References, Citations, and Quotations
The following discussions are based from the American Psychological Association (APA) format *.
When using APA format, the author-date method of citation is being followed. This means that the
author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, and a complete
reference should appear in the reference list.
Examples:
Smith (1970) compared reaction times . . .
In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, 1970), . . . **
In 1970, Smith compared reaction times . . .
Smith, et.al., (1970) compared reaction times . . .
In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, et.al., 1970), . . . * *
In 1970, Smith, et.al., compared reaction times . . .
To indicate short quotations (fewer than 40 words) in your text, enclose the quotation within double
quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete
reference in the reference list. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear
after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation
marks if they are a part of the quotation but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.
Examples:
She stated, "The placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were studied in this
manner" (Miele, 1993, p. 276), but she did not clarify which behaviors were studied. **
According to Miele (1993), "the placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were
studied in this manner" (p. 276).
Miele (1993) found that "the placebo effect disappeared" in this case (p. 276), but
what will the next step in researching this issue be?
Place quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation
marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five spaces from the left margin. Type the entire
quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation
five spaces from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. If you choose to use single-
spacing, then it has to be consistent all throughout the document/essay. The parenthetical citation should
come after closing punctuation mark.
Example:
* From the book entitled The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4 th Edition)
** Highly recommended to use.
*
*
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Miele's 1993 study found the following:
The placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner. Furthermore, the
behaviors were never exhibited again, even when real drugs were administered. Earlier studies
conducted by the same group of researchers at the hospital were clearly premature in attributing the
results to a placebo effect. (p. 276)
The reference list should appear at the end of your document. It provides the information necessary for a
reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the document. The reference list is arranged
alphabetically regardless of its sources. Each source you cite in the document must appear in your
reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. Note that online sources
are highly discouraged and kept to a minimum.
Basic Rules
Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give last name and initials for all authors of a particular
work. Your reference list should be alphabetized by authors' last names. If you have more than one
work by a particular author, order them by publication date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article
would appear before a 1996 article). When an author appears as a sole author and as the first author of
a group, list the one-author entries first. If no author is given for a particular source, alphabetize by
the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.
Use "&" instead of "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work.
Each item in the reference list should be hanging indent.
All references should be single-spaced. Each entry is separated from the next by a double space.
Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle of a work. Underline titles of books and journals.
Note that the underlining in entries often continues beneath commas and periods.
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of Publication, add month and of publication for
daily, weekly, or monthly publications). Title of article. Title of periodical, Volume Number,
pages.
N.B. You need list only the volume number if the periodical uses continuous pagination throughout a
particular volume. If each issue begins with page 1, then you should list the issue number as well: Title of
Periodical, Volume (Issue), pages.
Examples:
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Conference proceedings
Orasan, C. & Krishnamurthy R. (2000). An Open Architecture for the Construction and Administration of
Corpora. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Language Resources and
Evaluation (LREC-2000), pp. 22-29.
N.B. Give the secondary source in the references list; in the text, name the original work, and give a
citation for the secondary source. For example, if Seidenberg and McClelland's work is cited in Coltheart
et al. and you did not read the original work, list the Coltheart et al. reference in the References. In the
text, use the following citation: Seidenberg and McClelland's study (as cited in Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins,
& Haller, 1993)
Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
N.B. For "Location," you should always list the city, but you should also include the state if the city is
unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state.
Examples:
Book
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
A government publication
National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinicaltraining in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication
No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p.
A12.
N.B. For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the title
instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and underlining as appropriate. For example,
parenthetical citations of the two sources above would appear as follows: (Merriam-Webster's, 1993) and
("New Drug," 1993).
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A review of a book, film, television program, etc.
Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the book The self-knower: A
hero under control]. Contemporary Psychology, 38, 466-467.
An entry in an encyclopedia
Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago:
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.),
Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.
N.B. When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use "pp." before
the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in
periodical references.
Example:
An article or chapter of a book
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing,
transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp.
107-123). New York: Springer.
Wikipedia offers various types of information. However, for the purpose of this research/capstone project,
resources obtained from this website will not be considered suitable. Any encyclopedia is a starting point for
research, not an ending point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academic_use). This also applies to
information obtained from personal blogs (with exceptions), social networking sites (personal communication
through email is allowed, see below), websites with no valid author’s or supporting organization’s name,
advertisements, and other web pages with unverifiable reliability.
Author, A. A. (Date of Publication or Revision). Title of full work [online]. Available: full web address.
(Date of access).
N.B. "Date of access" should indicate the date you visited the website. This is important because online
information is frequently altered.
Example:
Daly, B. (1997). Writing argumentative essays. [online]. Available:
http://www.eslplanet.com/teachertools/argueweb/frntpage.htm. (May 12, 1998)
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of Publication). Title of article. In Title of full work [online].
Available: full web address (Date of access).
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Example:
Kenneth, I. (1995). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. [9 pars.] Journal of Buddhist
Ethics [online serial], 2. Available: http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html. (June 15, 1998)
4.2.6.3 Email
Because e-mail is a personal communication, not easily retrieved by the general public, no entry appears
in your reference list. When you cite an email message in the body of your paper, acknowledge it in your
parenthetical citation: The novelist has repeated this idea recently (Salman Rushdie, email to author, May
1, 1995).
The Publication Manual of the APA provides extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential
sources. Below are some of the most commonly cited kinds of sources. If your particular source is not
listed below, use the basic forms (above) to determine the correct format, check the Publication Manual,
or call or email the Writing Lab for help at (765) 494-3723 or owl@cc.purdue.edu. (Many of these
examples are taken from the Publication Manual.)
All software systems are required to have a HELP MENU and a USER’S MANUAL.
Most of the contents of the User’s Manual are based from chapter 4 of the main project paper document
(specifically on the system functions and features). The difference lies in the manner of presentation.
Chapter 4 of the main project paper document is oriented towards highly technical systems designer, thus
it gives an overview of the major modules of the system and their interactions.
On the other hand, the User’s Manual is oriented towards end users, who might be naïve users.
Therefore, it gives a detailed step-by-step instruction on how to use each function and feature of the
system.
Title Page (see Section xxx, but add the line USER’S MANUAL below the project paper title)
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
This section gives an overview of the system. It includes the following subsections:
1.2 Installation
This subsection contains instructions on how to install the system, and the list necessary files and their
respective directories.
1.3 Convention
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This subsection presents the convention used in the manual, e.g., text in boldface for emphasis on
important concepts, text in italics are inputs from the users, etc.
5. Forms
A Capstone Project
Presented to
the Computer Studies Department
College of Science and Technology
Adventist University of the Philippines
In Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
by
<firstname middle initial lastname of proponents>
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5.2 Final Project Paper Approval Sheet
The approval sheet is only printed upon submission of the final copy of the project paper. This is to be
signed first by the instructor, panel members and finally by the college dean.
Approval Sheet
conducted from <start date (month, year)> to <end date(month, year)>, prepared and submitted by
<researcher’s name> in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of <program
name(BSIT)> has been examined, approved and accepted by the Project Committee.
Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of <program name>.
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5.3 Final Project Paper Defense Evaluation Sheet
The evaluation sheet is given by the Capstone Project instructor to the panel before the defense.
COMPUTER STUDIES DEPARTMENT
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TEHCNOLOGY
[ ] Re-defense
[ ] Not Accepted
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If applicable, the proponent must indicate the page # in which the revisions can be found in the revised
document.
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5.4 Final Project Paper Defense Approval Form
The approval form is attached as the cover page of a revised project paper document for approval.
Checked Approved
Panel Members
Signature Date Signature Date
Recommendation of Lead Panel:[ ] Accepted [ ] Revise and recheck by all panel members
[ ] Revise and recheck by (please specify)
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5.5 Final Project Paper Defense Proponent Guidelines
1. The Project Paper Defense normally takes 1.5 hours. Limit your presentation to 20 minutes.
2. Normally the presentation consists of the following:
prayer
brief topic and target dept. introduction
objectives
scope and limitation
design and implementation (DFD & ERD)
software demonstration and results
3. After the cross-examination part, the panel will ask you to step out for deliberation (normally 5 to 15
minutes), after which you will be motioned back for the verdict and your clarification of the verdict.
Defense Reminders:
a. Test your hardware (PC, printer, scanner, etc.), systems with considerate amount of pre-
populated dummy data, documentations, slideshows, even the screen projector at least 30
minutes before the defense.
b. Be in business attire.
c. Never ever read your slideshow presentation, or even copies of your presentation from
your phone/tablet or hard copy.
d. Keep it short, simple. Speak loud enough and clear. Be courteous and polite no matter
what happens.
e. Maintain eye contact with the panellists. Avoid facing away from the panellist.
f. Remember that even though your project is very good, if presented inaccurately, can
result into a disaster.
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Additional Pointers:
Chapter 1 Introduction
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Post Defense Instructions:
1. Based on the verdict of the panel, apply all corrections and recommendations both on the document
and the system.
2. Update the “Acknowledgement” page and the Users’ Manual.
3. Print out the Project Paper.
4. Seek the approval of the adviser regarding the corrections you have made.
5. Seek approval of the panel if they are satisfied with the applied corrections. If they are satisfied, ask
them to sign the Approval Sheet.
6. After securing all signatures, print two copies of the Project Paper (one for the IT Dept, one for the
JLDM Library).
7. Have the documents bounded.
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