A SYSTEMATIC-APPROACH TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FINAL YEAR PROJECT IN AN ELECTRICAL-ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE COURSE

This paper describes a computerized management system for the processi ng of final year project in an electrical engineering undergraduate co urse including a structured project allocation to students, a comprehe nsive assessment procedure, an automated processing of marks, and a ma nagement supporting system. An optical reader is used to scan the proj ect selection made by all the students, and the allocation algorithm a llocates as many projects as possible in meeting the students' prefere nces. A new attempt using a grading category index for each assessment criterion is implemented and the assessment of the student's performa nce is evaluated through five main components with 31 assessment crite ria. The marks for each student are scanned by an optical reader and c alculated by a weighted linear conversion of all the grading category indexes. The assessment system is more valid as it has many specific c riteria and more reliable as the process is consistent. The management supporting tools and experiences in handling very large groups of stu dents especially in the maintenance of a uniform marking standard to a ll the students are highlighted. It is hoped that some of our approach es can be selectively adopted for undergraduate course work on continu ous assessment even for a smaller student population.