The proposal is the first stage in the development of your project. The proposal is a narrative description of what you intend to accomplish along with initial thoughts regarding the design of the system. The proposal should indicate that you have given considerable thought to the project as a whole. Major deviations from the proposal will require review and approval from the instructor.

Expected duration
2 hours
Deadline
2359 on Lesson 8
Points
25 points
Submission
the Learning Management System (LMS)

Learning Objectives

  • Compose a well-written project proposal that describes the system you intend to develop over the semester
  • Practice technical writing skills

Help Policy

Authorized Resources
Any, except classmates working on other teams
Notes
Never copy another person’s work and submit it as your own.

You must document all help received from all sources, including the instructor and instructor-provided course materials (such as the textbook).

Assignment

The project proposal is a narrative description of your project, including an initial sketch of the database and application.

Your project team will develop a 1–2-page description (approximately 250–500 words) of the proposed project that addresses the following:

Abstract
Summarize the project in 3–5 sentences. This paragraph is your “elevator pitch” to capture someone’s attention in 30 seconds or less. How would you describe the project and its value proposition? If applicable, be sure to mention the project’s external client.
Description
This section should comprise multiple paragraphs. Comment on why the topic is important / relevant and how likely it will actually be used upon completion. Will there be an external client? If so, who is it and how do they intend to use the project upon completion? If the project is broad (i.e., cannot be completed in its entirety in one semester), identify which part(s) you will focus on.

Describe the functionality that will be provided to the user. That is, what functions will the user be able to perform using the application that you develop? How will users perform these functions (e.g., web forms vs. SQL commands)?

Design
This section should comprise multiple paragraphs indicating that you have given considerable thought to the proposal.

Enumerate at least 3–5 entities that will be modeled in your system and the relationships among them. Provide a brief description of each. A simple entity-relationship (ER) diagram would be ideal, but is not required at this stage.

Identify 3–5 queries (data retrieval or updates) that will be supported by your system. Provide a succinct description of each, including why (or how) they will be used.

Where will you acquire representative data for your database? This data can be synthetic, but must be representative (e.g., US phone numbers have 10 digits). If you are using existing tools or data sets, be sure to mention their license(s).

Ethics and Social Issues
Later in the course, we will discuss ethics and social issues. In one paragraph, identify and summarize any ethical or societal issues that are relevant to your project. While you are not expected to be an expert about these issues, privacy is increasingly important, and you should be thinking about appropriate mechanisms to safeguard data.

A well-written proposal is sufficiently detailed to prove that you have given considerable thought to the project and what you hope to accomplish over the semester. You may use bullets, diagrams, etc. – whatever is best to communicate your idea – but these elements are no substitute for formal written prose, particularly in the abstract and description.

If you choose a project from the list of project ideas, you must still give thought to the system’s functionality, and your project proposal should – if anything – be slightly more detailed with regards to the design.

Submission

Submit your proposal using the Learning Management System (LMS). Include your documentation statement as part of your submission.

If working with a team, only one person should submit the proposal, but be sure to indicate all team members as part of the submission.

Grading

The following grading rubric will be used for this assignment:

Description Points
Abstract 5
Description 10
Design 10