The tutorial is a web-based instructional reference guide. In this project, you will research and produce a web page that serves as a valuable reference for some practical topic. The objective of this exercise is to develop experience:
The project result will be a document published on the web. The tutorial length should be about two to three pages when formatted to a printer. Your web page will briefly introduce your topic, and provide pointers to well selected and annotated resources on the net.
You will select a topic, research it, and then publish your results as a web page. A good tutorial can be achieved only with careful attention to each of those three areas.
Topic selection is important. A poorly chosen topic will be a hindrance from the outset. What makes a good topic? Choose a topic that is valuable and interesting. Choose a narrow focus for your topic. A topic such as "Electronic Commerce" is too general to be explored in just one web page. A more specific topic, such as "Obtaining a Certificate for a Secure Web server," could be the basis of an excellent tutorial.
Your tutorial topic must be approved by the instructor. You must email a proposal to the instructor by the start of class 6. Please indicate in your email the proposed title of your tutorial, and a brief description of what you plan to cover. Tutorials for unapproved topics will not be accepted. The final grade will be penalized for late proposals.
Since the tutorial will be a fairly short document, it is essential that you focus on a very specific topic area. I very rarely reject a topic outright, but I've been known to return as many as a third of them for rework because the topic chosen was too broad.
Here are some sample topics, to give you some ideas:
The quality of your research is important. Your mission is to find the best resources available on the net that relate to your chosen topic. Your tutorial will present and evaluate these selected resources. Your tutorial should include only those resources you deem valuable and authoritative.
Once your topic is approved, you should begin researching your topic immediately -- even before we begin discussing HTML. After all, you don't have to know HTML locate and evaluate resources, and that is the most significant part of this project.
This will be the first non-trivial web page for many students. The focus, therefore, is upon correct HTML and clear presentation. You should strive to produce a web page that is proper and attractive, not one that is fancy. Grading requirements will emphasize function over form.
Please observe the following requirements for your web page:
Your tutorial is due at the start of class 12. At that time, your tutorial must be on the web. Please email the instructor the URL of your completed project. Do not send the HTML source. Once published, please plan to keep your tutorial on-line for at least the duration of the semester.
Although this is subject to change, the grading criteria I have used for previous classes is as follows:
The key dates for this project are:
Chip Rosenthal$Id: ass-tutorial.html,v 4.4 1999/04/01 04:32:50 chip Exp $