Proposal

How to Start

If you have a choice to choose your supervisor, please find someone that you think can get along. Someone that care about you. Someone that able to supervise you.

If your supervisor give you choices to choose title for your project, you might need to do desk research.

If you have chances to make a choice, what you have to is to meet your supervisor to be. Discuss with him/her what you expected and ask his/her expectation. Give time for you and him/her to really understand each other. Usually this is done a semester before you do your project.

Next step is you need to do a little bit of research. You need to review previous project by your senior. You might also need to search the Internet and review some project. And you might need to go window shopping and review any software that available in the market. Then you have to ask yourself, which tools or programming language that you think you really expert with it.

So, if let say you have made your decision, identify the keywords. Start more thoroughly your desk research, plan your methodology and final testing. Choose your application tools and programming language that suitable with your project and make sure your hardware specification suitable with your proposed project.

Proposal

Your proposal should include, Introduction, Literature Review, Problem Statement, Project Objectives, Project Scope, Methodology, Research Schedule, Expected Result and list of References/Bibliography.

Introduction

You should introduce you propose project starting with definition and available project. Briefly explaining the background of your project.

Literature Review

First stage, you should review all the software that available in the market that suitable to be used to develop your project. You should review the advantages and limitation of this software.

Second stage, you should review all the system that similar to your proposed project and available in the market. Review the limitation and the advantages.

Third stage, you should review methods on how to build your project by reviewing reading materials.

Conclude this chapter by relate it to your own project. Identify the problem statement and the scope, and give reasons.

Problem Statement

In this section you should not explain your problem. You should explain problem that motivate you to do this project. Reason and justify your problem statement and support your justification with reference materials. These references materials either can be journal publication, conference proceeding, book references or even any software that available in the market.

Project Objectives

Never ever put your objective as to fulfill the requirement to graduate. Although that actually the purpose of you taking this project but it is not the project objective. Make sure your project objectives not exceeding three points. Eventually at the end of your project you need to justify your achievement by measuring these objectives. Start each point with word "To..."

Project Scope

You need identify the scope of your project and identify your target user. By doing this, it will simplify your work. Meaning you will limit the size/burden of your project.

Methodology

SDLC. Feasibility, Analysis, System design, Implementation, Testing and Maintenance.

Usually FYP will not include up to maintenance accept project that involve with web. Please do not explaining the SDLC in this section. What you should write is how you conduct your project by using SDLC methodology. (How ever I do not think using SDLC is appropriate for your project as you only have one semester). You can also use RAD or JAD methodology. You should relate all your activities with all the steps in SDLC/RAD/JAD. You have to write how you conduct your feasibility, your analysis, how are you going to design your project and propose your design, how you plan to implement your system, and how are you going to test your project. You should explain your testing approach, whether using qualitative or quantitative approach to test your system. If you think it is necessary to write questionnaires, you should define and justify sampling size, null hypothesis and your statistic technique that you are planning to use. You should also draw proposed flowchart or proposed frame work for your project. If necessary, your proposed Data Flow Diagram and story boarding. May I remind you, it is just a proposal that you use as guidance, not necessary you will follow 100%.

Research Schedule

You can either start with previous semester or first date of this semester. If possible include the milestones.

Expected Results

In this section, you should write your expectation of the final output. What kind of system that you expect to develop. What actually you want to achieve. How your final system interact with the user and how the expectation system fulfill user needs.

Conclusion

In this section, you should conclude what methodology that you follow, what technique that you use, and what application/system that you are going to use.

References/Bibliography

Any reading material that you refer in the text you should put in this list. Any sample of system or any web that you refer you should write in this list follow standard format. Any fact that you refer to any materials you should refer it in your text. Failing to do so, you will accused as plagiarisms. Bibliography is a reference material that you did not mention in your text but you use it while doing your project.