A question that I’m regularly asked is: “what do I need to submit?”
The answer is pretty simple: you only need to submit a Word single document. Some obvious follow questions are, of course: “what should my Word document contain?” and “I’ve written some software as a part of my project, should I include this? If so, how?” or “During my project, I’ve done a lot of design work, and I have a load of sketches and some prototypes – how can I submit these?”.
A principle to return to this: TM470 is all about showing off. You can ‘show off’ in a couple of different ways. One of the most important sections of your EMA is the section of your report that summarises the account of the work that you have carried out on your project. In this section, you should make sure that you highlight the best bits of work that you have done. This might include a design, a diagram, or bits of code for important functions that may have been particularly develop. If you have a lot of code, or many different screenshots or sketches, choose the best ones, and put all the others within a series of appendices. An important point to remember is: you can include any number of appendices in your EMA report.
A related question that I’m sometimes asked is: “should I include a weblink to some working software, or an app that can be downloaded?” The answer is: no; you don’t have to do this. Whilst your examiner (the reader of your EMA) may appreciate this, there isn’t an obligation to provide links to a working version of any software you have created. Your project report must, however, be sufficiently detailed to ensure they can evaluate the learning that has taken place over the duration of your project.
If your project relates to a particular setting or context, a further practical suggestion is to provide some photographs of that setting. If you are developing an app that solves a problem, you might want to include a photograph of the setting where your app is used. Give your photograph a figure number, and refer to it in the body of your text.
To summarise, you only need to submit a written report, your EMA. You don’t need to need to provide a working prototype, but you do need to provide sufficient detail to ensure that the examiner is convinced about what you have done. If you haven’t got things working at you had hoped, it is okay to say this too; this makes for an interesting report. It isn’t what you have built that is the focus, it is what you have learnt (and demonstrated) through the building of something, and how you write about it that really matters.
TM470 What should I submit?
A question that I’m regularly asked is: “what do I need to submit?”
The answer is pretty simple: you only need to submit a Word single document. Some obvious follow questions are, of course: “what should my Word document contain?” and “I’ve written some software as a part of my project, should I include this? If so, how?” or “During my project, I’ve done a lot of design work, and I have a load of sketches and some prototypes – how can I submit these?”.
A principle to return to this: TM470 is all about showing off. You can ‘show off’ in a couple of different ways. One of the most important sections of your EMA is the section of your report that summarises the account of the work that you have carried out on your project. In this section, you should make sure that you highlight the best bits of work that you have done. This might include a design, a diagram, or bits of code for important functions that may have been particularly develop. If you have a lot of code, or many different screenshots or sketches, choose the best ones, and put all the others within a series of appendices. An important point to remember is: you can include any number of appendices in your EMA report.
A related question that I’m sometimes asked is: “should I include a weblink to some working software, or an app that can be downloaded?” The answer is: no; you don’t have to do this. Whilst your examiner (the reader of your EMA) may appreciate this, there isn’t an obligation to provide links to a working version of any software you have created. Your project report must, however, be sufficiently detailed to ensure they can evaluate the learning that has taken place over the duration of your project.
If your project relates to a particular setting or context, a further practical suggestion is to provide some photographs of that setting. If you are developing an app that solves a problem, you might want to include a photograph of the setting where your app is used. Give your photograph a figure number, and refer to it in the body of your text.
To summarise, you only need to submit a written report, your EMA. You don’t need to need to provide a working prototype, but you do need to provide sufficient detail to ensure that the examiner is convinced about what you have done. If you haven’t got things working at you had hoped, it is okay to say this too; this makes for an interesting report. It isn’t what you have built that is the focus, it is what you have learnt (and demonstrated) through the building of something, and how you write about it that really matters.