CS 411W – Professional Workforce Development II
Lab I - Descriptive/Persuasive Paper
Fall 2015
Image obtained from: http://simplystatedbusiness.com/
Paper Requirements (Individual Assignment)
The goal of this assignment is to prepare a descriptive paper that communicates the
characteristics of your team’s CS 410 product to the stakeholders who could be a
colleague, a customer, or anyone with interest in the associated societal problem. The
paper should describe innovative aspects of your product and persuade the stakeholders
of the intrinsic value of your product. This must be supported with reference material
identified in CS 410 along with the results of any additional research performed.
The purpose, in your role as a designer of the prototype of the CS 410 project, is to
inform the stakeholders of the differences that will exist in the laboratory prototype to be
developed this semester.
You need to communicate what elements will be
modeled/simulated, what elements will be eliminated, and what will be added to facilitate
testing.
You should not assume that any reader has knowledge about any of the salient topics of
the product other than those that are commonly available in the current media. That
media is the Internet, the local news, newspapers, and television and radio broadcasts.
Your paper should have a transparent connection with the descriptive material that was
prepared during CS 410 and contains the technical characteristics of the project. Figures
and/or tables may be incorporated in the paper, but these elements are not essential. You
will be evaluated on your technical writing skills as well as on grammar and style.
Your paper should be double-spaced and submitted via Blackboard. You should use a
font size that is no greater than 12 pts. Your paper's margins should be no greater than
one inch right and left, top and bottom. APA guidelines must be adhered to. Guidance
and course specific interpretations of the guidelines are provided in Blackboard.
The paper must follow APA style, and must include a cover page, table of contents,
glossary, and references. Your paper must strictly adhere to the content defined below.
The information within the brackets “<” and “>” describe the content to be written within
each section. Replace “XXX” with the title of your product.
Following your submission of the paper, make sure to add your professional development
reflections on your blog in Blackboard.
1 INTRODUCTION
<Introduce the CS 410 product and the approach to demonstrating its characteristics
through prototyping (essentially an abstract). Should be approximately one page in
length. Should summarize the societal problem with some reference/date support.
Should outline problem and needed solution characteristics. Should introduce your
product by name as the solution.>
2 XXX PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
<Top level description of CS 410 product for the average reader – summary of the
solution – and its goals and objectives. This section should be one paragraph minimum.>
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities
<What does it do? What is significant/unique/innovative about it? What does it
accomplish? Describe how this solves the problem.>
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)
<Overview of the hardware needed to support the solution. Describe how it is structured
based on CS 410 Major Functional Component Diagram (MFCD). Define and describe
the software to be developed.>
3 IDENTIFICATION OF CASE STUDY
<Who is this product being developed for and why? Who else might use this in the
future?>
4 XXX PRODUCT PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION
<Top level description of the CS 411W prototype as it relates to the end product (410) –
goal. Are capabilities reduced or eliminated? Simulated – modeled?>
Include a table of comparison between RWP and Prototype either in section 4.>
4.1 Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)
<How will the prototype be structured to demonstrate key features of the 410 product.
Prototype MFCD provided and described.>
4.2 Prototype Features and Capabilities
<What does the prototype demonstrate – why is that significant in showing how the
problem is solved – or why you have demonstrated success? How does the prototype
address the 410 project risk mitigation? Describe the functional goals and objectives.>
4.3 Prototype Development Challenges
<Challenges expected while completing the objectives of the prototype – ie knowledge
missing, capability missing, supporting technology issues.>
Grading criteria:
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Product Description
Section 3: Case Study
Section 4: Prototype Description
Title page, table of contents, glossary
Number of and use of references
Grammar, punctuation, spelling and
paragraph structure
APA conformance
10%
20%
10%
20%
10%
10%
10%
10%