FYP Progress Report

1. Introduction

Unless your advisor requested that you radically change your introduction or you changed the scope and aims of your FYP, you probably don't need to rewrite your introduction. Just follow your CT's suggestions to perfect it.

2. Methodology

In this section, think of the investigative process that you have gone through; the trial and error. Did you think that Giddy's algorithm should work, but, in testing it, it didn't work? Why didn't it work? What did this [the fact that it didn't work] tell you? How did you apply this knowledge to the next algorithm you chose? This section is important as it shows your team's ability to think analytically and to problem-solve.

2.1 Design

Refine and formalize ideas and methods [For example: optic design, data structure design].

2.2 Implementation

Describe in detail three things:

• The ideas and designs you have FULLY implemented and how and why they differ from what you originally proposed to implement.
• The ideas and designs you have PARTIALLY implemented and how and why they differ from your original proposal.
• The ideas and designs you will implement IN THE FUTURE and how and why they differ from your original proposal.

Note that the verb tense will vary according to what work is completed. For example:

• Completed: We used PHP to set up the database. (Past Tense)
• In-progress: We are using HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build the UI. (Present Perfect Continuous Tense)
• Not started yet: We will add the machine learning feature after enough data has been collected. (Future Tense)

2.3 Testing

You can update this section by doing the following:

• Provide a test plan, if possible.
• Try to be more detailed than you were in the Proposal.
• Try more and/or bigger data sets, if possible.
• Think of how you will determine if it is efficient - how will you interpret the results.
• Think about how can you tell whether your implementation is effective and efficient.

2.4 Evaluation

To evaluate your system so far, you can try the following:

• Find a comparable system.
• If your system is a multifaceted system, take out one component and compare the results.
• Think about what else have you achieved in the project so far.

Focus on the project, not on yourself:

• Bad example:
  We had the opportunity to apply several concepts that we learned from our software engineering course. (This sounds a little like an essay,'My Summer Holiday', rather than a research paper.)
• Good example:
  To ensure that our software would operate across platforms, we drew upon three well-established concepts in software engineering: X, Y, and Z. (This gives some good information, telling why something was done.)

3. Project Planning

Update the Gantt Chart and the Division of Work, including everything that you have done and will do.

4. Required Hardware and Software

Update this section as appropriate, including any new itmes and removing any items that are no longer required.

5. References

Update these if necessary.
Remember, most CSE advisors like the IEEE citation and reference style.

6. Appendix A - Meeting Minutes

More meetings=more minutes

• Keep your minutes up-to-date.
• Do them within a day of the meeting.
• Don't wait until just before the Progress Report is due trying to remember what you said at a meeting five weeks ago.

Remember when writing up your minutes that they should cover:

• tasks done
• problems and suggested solutions
• tasks to do, by when, by whom

Meetings are a platform for YOU to ask questions. Don't leave technical questions unanswered - it is your job to bring these questions to your supervisor.

7. Appendix B - [Title or Description]

Other things that you can find in an appendix:

• detailed proofs
• results from experiments
• illustrations
• diagrams
• tables

If a table, illustration or diagram is critical for explaining an abstract idea, it may be better to include it in the body of the paper and not in the appendices. Ask your supervisor if you are unsure, but the general rule of thumb is: if it's big and bulky and of little relevance to most readers, put it in an appendix.