About Senior I.S.
To meet the graduation requirements of The College of Wooster, the major in Computer Science requires a two-course Independent Study Project, which culminates in an Independent Study Thesis along with an oral presentation describing the Thesis.
Independent Study is the student's opportunity to do a significant piece of work in an area of personal interest and to expand his or her understanding of computer science. Although the faculty advisor must approve all topics, the student is free to pursue virtually any area of computer science that is of interest. The topic should be challenging, but manageable with the resources and time available. A typical I.S. involves a theoretical investigation of a topic in Computer Science accompanied by a software implementation that illustrates concepts developed in the theoretical investigation.
Timeline For First & Second Semester
Each student meets with his/her advisor once a week to discuss ideas relating to the project, review progress, and map out work to be done. Students submit a typed document for each item by 4:00 p.m. on the indicated day. Students submit the final thesis to the Registrar's office on the indicated day; all other documents will go to the advisor.
- Week 1:
Email your advisor a copy of this timeline, where the weeks have been replaced by the calendar date of the corresponding Friday for the indicated week. - Week 3:
Project Abstract - Week 6:
I.S. Student Meeting where you give a 5-minute presentation of your I.S. topic to your peers and department faculty. Also turn in thesis outline and student/advisor agreement on the chapters to be completed by the end of the semester. - Week 8:
Annotated bibliography - Last week of classes, fall semester:
Chapters specified in above agreement completed - Last week before spring break:
Final Draft - End of spring break:
Final Thesis - TBA
CD, Web document - TBA
Oral Defense