INTRODUCTION TO CAPSTONE PROJECT

The Commission on Higher Education has approved programs for Computer Science, Information Technology and Information Systems.

        The Thesis/Capstone Project are required for candidates for graduation in all Computing Programs. Both the thesis and capstone projects are terminal project requirements that would not only demonstrate a student’s comprehensive knowledge of the area of study and research methods used but also allow them to apply the concepts and methods to a specific problem in their area of specialization.

        BS Information Technology students must complete a capstone project in the form of an IT application, a Multimedia Systems development, or an IT Management project.

        It is expressly understood that Computing Thesis and Capstone projects need not require surveys, statistics, and descriptive methods, unless appropriate.

A Capstone Project is an undertaking appropriate to a professional field. It should significantly address an existing problem or need.

        An Information technology Capstone Project focuses on the infrastructure, application, or processes involved in introducing a Computing solution to a problem.

The Capstone Project should integrate the different courses, knowledge, and competencies learned in the curriculum. Students are encouraged to produce innovative results, generate new knowledge or theories, or explore new frontiers of knowledge or application areas.

       For Information Technology Capstone Projects, recommended infrastructure and its implications on other systems should be clearly specified in the final report with the introduction of the new project.

       The capstone project adviser should determine the appropriate complexity level of the specific problem being addressed and the proposed solution, considering the duration of the project, the composition of the team, and the resources available.

A.  Software Development

a.   Software Customization

b.   Information Systems Development for an actual client (with pilot testing)

c.   Web Applications Development (with at least alpha testing on live servers)

d.   Mobile Computing Systems

B.      Multimedia Systems

a.       Game Development

b.       E-Learning Systems

c.       Interactive Systems

d.       Information Kiosks

C.     Network Design and Implementation and Farm Configuration and Management

D.     IT Management

a.       IT Strategic Plan for sufficiently complex enterprises

b.       IT Security Analysis, Planning and Implementation

Students should preferably work in teams of two (2) to four (4) members depending on the complexity of the project. The adviser should be able to determine whether the team can complete the project on time.

  Multidisciplinary teams are also encouraged, provided that team members prepare separate documentation per program.

The adviser must have completed a computing project successfully beyond the bachelor’s degree project. As much as possible, the adviser should be a full-time faculty member of the HEI. Otherwise a full-time faculty co-adviser is required.

     Advisers and Panel Members should have a degree in a Computing or allied programs or must be domain experts in the area of study. At least one of the panel members must have a master’s degree in Computing (preferably in the same field as the thesis or project) or allied program. For IT and IS, at least one of the panel members should preferably have industry experience.

      The adviser must be able to guide the students throughout the whole project life cycle, including the capstone project defense and possible project deployment.

     Faculty advisers should preferably handle at most five project at one time, and in no case should exceed ten (10) projects. Panel members should preferably be limited to at most ten (10) projects and in no case should this exceed twenty projects in one semester, counting all projects in all HEIs.

       In case of the participation of an external client, then the organization for which the project is intended should be represented as much as possible.

Capstone Project must be presented in a public forum. This forum may be an international, national, regional, or school-based conference, meeting, or seminar that is announced and open to interested parties. This may be separate from the presentation before the Panel. A school-based colloquium organized for this purpose would suffice to satisfy this requirement. Presentation in a public forum, such as the National Conference on IT Education (NCITE) of PSITE, is encouraged.

Upon completion of the Capstone Project, the students shall be required to submit copies of documentation of their work by team. This may be in the form of a research report in journal article format such as ACM or IEEE Format, a bound technical report, or comprehensive electronic documentation. The format is left to the discretion of the HEI.

         Sample Outline for Capstone Projects

-          Title Page

-          Executive Summary

-          Table of Contents

-          List of Figures, List of Tables

-          Introduction

o   Project Context

o   Purpose and Description

o   Objectives

o   Scope and Limitations

-          Review of Related Literature/Systems

-          Technical Background

-          Methodology

o   Requirements Analysis

o   Requirements Documentation

o   Design of Software, Systems, Product, and/or Processes

o   Development and Testing, where applicable

o   Description of the Prototype, where applicable

o   Implementation Plan (Infrastructure/Deployment), where needed

o   Implementation Results, where applicable

-          Results and Discussions

-          Recommendations

-          Appendices may include the following

o   Relevant Source Code

o   Evaluation Tool or Test Documents

o   Sample Input/Output Reports

o   User’s Guide

o   Process/Data/Information Flow

o   Screen Layouts

o   Test Results

o   Sample Generated Outputs

o   Pictures showcasing the data gathering, investigation done

o   One-page Curriculum Vitae

All projects must not infringe on existing IP. All prior works, including open source, open content and creative commons content shall be properly cited.

Copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights arising from the Capstone Project shall be bound by the IP Policies of the HEI provided that any such policies shall not be grossly disadvantageous to the creators of IP.