First-day information: lecture-A, slide 12.
I'll have much more information later. Right now, just a few points to answer some common questions.
Group formation: Please do not form groups yet! I want to have some say in the group formation. But certainly a couple of people could work together in creating a project concept proposal.
Topic selection: These are (ideally) to be service projects, which someone outside the course might be able to use. Example: something needed by a UW staff member or faculty member; a club or organization (but see following constraints). They should not be related to any paid work or employment of any class member. They should not be applications to specifically benefit any particular class member or a friend or relative thereof. They should be projects that all group members can equally participate in (e.g., should not require travel or special equipment or sensitive data which all group members might not be able to participate in). They should not be applications or databases which already exist but need improvements. And they should be something which the group can getting running in the time allotted. Your group will have to make a convincing demonstration of a live system loaded with data.
We might end up with more good project ideas than groups, in which people who came up with ideas that aren't used would find themselves working in a completely different project.
Schedule and grading breakdown. These milestones are not completely linear. There may be a certain amount of iteration.
Topics proposed (mini-requirements statements)
Groups formed
Overall requirements statement completed
DB conceptual design complete
DB schema implemented
First SQL queries on small amounts of data
UI ready to demonstrate
Final projects due: December 5 (there may be small point incentives to turn in early).
Presentations based on project. Representatives of a few projects will be invited to present them in class. This will have mostly to do with how the topic fits in with the course. You can't improve your project grade by making a presentation. But there might be some tiny course grade incentive (like counting it as an additional perfect homework or something). There will be relatively few of these opportunities, unfortunately, so don't count on it as a way to improve your course grade.
Papers posted on course Web. Groups who wish to can have materials from their projects (without grades or instructor comments) linked from the course Web.
Help along the way. The UW College of Engineering has a Writing Center precisely to help students improve their writing. This might apply to documentation that the project produces.