Project Information


Use the project as an opportunity to delve more deeply into Web programming, or to explore in more depth a topic related to computer science or the Internet that you are interested in. Have fun! Be creative! Your project, which is worth 20% of your final grade, may be one of the following types:

  1. An interactive Web site, including supporting documentation. There are many possibilities here. In the past, students have written games (for example, blackjack, battleship, adventure, slot machines, logic puzzles), a weekly planner/calendar, quizzes, even an interactive Web site for fashion advice. Use your imagination and be creative! Your project must include a significant amount of code in JavaScript. I encourage those of you who are considering going on in Computer Science to undertake such a project.

  2. A research paper. This should be a thorough, in-depth discussion of some aspect of computers and computing, around 10 pages in length. There are lots of possible topics here. Examples might be some aspect of artificial intelligence, social issues related to the Internet, legal issues (Microsoft and Napster come to mind), privacy issues, advances in computer hardware, viruses and computer security, electronic terrorism, computers and music, or computers and education. Your research should focus on references within the past 2-3 years, and must include some non-Internet sources of information, such as books or magazine and newspaper articles.

  3. Mix and match. A combination of an interactive Web page and a research paper. You can take advantage of the multi-media capabilities of the Web to present your ideas in more creative ways than traditional print media allow. For this option, you could present your research paper as a Web page with scripts illustrating the concepts discussed in the paper.

Projects may be on a topic of your choice, subject to my approval. Spend some time looking around at what's on the Web to help you come up with ideas for your project. If you choose Option 1, you may work in teams of two if you wish. In this case, each member of the team will receive the same grade on the project.

Due Dates

At the end of the semester, each student will give a short, informal presentation of their project to the class.

Due Tuesday, April 15:
A one-page project proposal. This should include the names of team members, the type of project (Web site, paper, or combination), and a description of the proposed topic. If you are doing a research paper, you should include a preliminary list of information sources.

Due Tuesday, May 6:
Your complete project, in final form.