Seminar Title

The Final Project

Dissertation Structure

Slide
Dissertation Structure
● Title Page
● Abstract
● Table of Contents
● Introduction
● Literature Review
● Problem Definition
○ Requirements specification
○ Analysis
● Recommendation
○ Solution design
○ Solution implementation
● Evaluation
○ Testing
○ Results & discussion
● Conclusion
○ Future work
● References
● Appendices
Dissertation Structure

● Abstract
○ Approximately one page summary of the whole project
from start to finish
○ Include a statement of the problem to be solved
○ How the problem was addressed
○ How the project was evaluated and what conclusions
could be drawn from the work.
● TIP: You should work on the abstract last as this is the
summary of what was achieved throughout the project.
Dissertation Structure

● Introduction
○ Concise section that works on 2 main elements:
○ 1 - clear definition of the problem to be addressed
○ 2 - guide to the rest of the report.
Dissertation Structure

● Literature Review
○ Documents the research you managed to find in your
respective field.
○ Make use of Summon and any other relevant research
tool to highlight modern, state of the art research in the
domain
○ Show evidence of scholarly activity in demonstrating the
ability to research, collate and integrate information into
a coherent document
○ Remember the importance of referencing and quote
correctly.

● A minimum of 60 distinct REFERENCES !!

Dissertation Structure

● Requirements Specification
○ Use formal techniques to give the information required
with regards to your development.
○ Functional and Non-functional requirements are
suggested.
○ Detail with regards to elements that you are specifying
such as usability - how is it going to be assessed?

● Problem Definition
○ Describes the unique nature of your problem
○ Provides a differentation from the the current solutions
present in literature
○ Justifies a scope for your dissertation
Dissertation Structure

● Analysis and Design

○ Formal methods are once again suggested.
○ UML is considered to be the standard language for the
proper design of software developments.
○ With this regard make sure to incorporate all the designs
required to properly design your system - use cases,
class diagrams, sequence diagrams etc.
○ Properly explain how design decisions have been made.
Dissertation Structure

● Implementation
○ Explain the actual procedure with regards to your
software implementation.
○ You should be able to explain how the software product
has been developed without your readers having to run
the application itself.

● Recommendations
○ Provides the aspects of your original work
○ Should describe a model, simulation, prototype
○ Reflects the throught and contribution of your
dissertation
Dissertation Structure

● Testing
○ Go into details regarding the testing. We appreciate
comprehensive testing.
○ Issues such as software performance should be
measured against a test plan.

● Demonstration
○ Highlight the capabilities of your software / prototype or
artefact.
Dissertation Structure

● Evaluation
○ Evaluate whether you managed to tick all of the
requirements list documented in your thesis. Keep in
mind issues such as program performance etc.
○ Make use of graphs, literature and any other means to
explain the results you obtained.