ELEN499 - Senior Seminar Project

Course Details

Course Code: ELEN499 Course ID: 4618 Credit Hours: 3 Level: Undergraduate

After completing the design of their approved project in ELEN498 - Senior Seminar Design, students will implement that design into a working prototype and write a senior thesis. The senior thesis will be completed and an oral defense presented. Selected senior papers will be retained in our library. The student is further encouraged to submit work to peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and/or senior design competitions. NOTE: This course requires the student to purchase additional materials that are not covered by the book grant. Please refer to the Course Materials section for additional details. (Prerequisite: ELEN498)

Course Schedule

Registration Dates Course Dates Start Month Session Weeks
07/31/2023 - 12/29/2023 01/01/2024 - 04/21/2024 January Winter 2024 Session A 16 Week session

Current Syllabi

After completing the course, the student should be able to accomplish these Course Objectives (CO):

  1. Apply the engineering design process.
  2. Analyze reasoned positions on a specific chosen engineering design
  3. Discuss system engineering attributes, properties and characteristics
  4. Evaluate the identification and collection of engineering experimental data
  5. Execute testing and failure analysis on designs
  6. Demonstrate a working prototype that achieves goals and objectives from proposed design
  7. Prepare technical information through oral presentation, reports, and logbooks
  8. Evaluate and optimize team organization, relationships, and working dynamics

Instructor announcements: Weekly announcements will appear on Monday of each week in the online classroom. This announcement will also be e-mailed to each student. The announcement will discuss the assignments for the week along with any other pertinent information for the week.

This is an upper-level course; all students’ work is to be presented as such in terms of quality and content. The grading system will be based on your participation in the forums (12.5% of your total grade), homework assignments (25% of your grade), lab work (25% of your total grade) and three exams (300 points or 37.5% of your grade).

Reading Assignments: Please refer to the Course Outline section of this syllabus for the weekly reading assignments.

Week 1 Introduction: Within 7 days of course start, each student must log into the classroom and introduce him- or herself to the class. This is a required assignment and your introduction is due by Sunday of Week 1. Your response must be 250-300 words (a requirement) and include the following information.

  1. Your name
  2. Your university major or program
  3. Where you are in the program of study
  4. Your academic goals, to include why you are taking this class
  5. Information that you would like to share about yourself

Forums: The weekly discussion forum is for students to post their questions on course content for that week. This forum should not be used to discuss specific test questions prior to receiving feedback from the instructor (after the test is graded). If there is a question on a specific question, find a similar problem in the book and ask a question on that problem or concept. Asking specific questions on test questions creates an unfair advantage and defeats the purpose of the assessment tool. Specific topics will occur throughout the course and will require critical thought/research for your input – be sure to keep up with ongoing discussions! Discussion Board posting are graded at the end of the session and will constitute 12.5% of your final grade,

Homework Assignments: There will be homework assignments during the course worth a total of 25% of your total grade. Each assignment will cover one or more chapters in the book used in this course. For all problems requiring mathematical calculations, all work must be shown.

Lab: There will be lab work assigned throughout the course. Labs will count for a total of 25% of your grade.

Exams: There will be three exams worth 37.5% of your final grade. Each exam will be worth 100 points. Exams will be open book, open note tests. Exams will be administered without a proctor. Students must complete the numbered exam by the end of the week indicated in the schedule.

Late Assignments: Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date and to complete the course according to the published class schedule. As adults, students, and working professionals, you must manage competing demands on your time. The policy for late exams is ten percentage points deducted for each day late. After five days late, no credit will be given. The third exam must be completed by the last day of the course. No assignments will be accepted after the end of the course unless a student has an approved extension (see extension policy). Should you need additional time to complete an assignment please contact me before the due date so we can discuss the situation and determine an acceptable resolution. Routine late submission of assignments will adversely affect your final course grade.

There is no extra credit or redo's allowed on work once submitted, and no extra credit or make-up assignments.

The points earned on the graded course assignments will determine the course grade. The final grade in the course will be based on total points.

Students’ course grades will be posted as soon as the instructor receives and evaluates the last exam. Official grades will continue to be issued by the University on the grade report form. Instructors have 7 days from the end of the semester to submit their grades to the University.

NameGrade %
Discussions 9.00%
Week 1: Introduce Yourself 3.00%
Week 3: Design Considerations and Concerns 0.75%
Week 5: Do's and Don't of Presentations 0.75%
Week 7: Career Services at APUS 0.75%
Week 9: Preparation for Engineering Job Interviews 0.75%
Week 11: Importance of Verifying Results 0.75%
Week 13: Career Plans 0.75%
Week 15: Engineering Job Market 0.75%
Week 16: Course Evalution 0.75%
Weekly Memorandum 1.00%
Week 1 Memo 0.06%
Week 2 Memo 0.06%
Week 3 Memo 0.06%
Week 4 Memo 0.06%
Week 5 Memo 0.06%
Week 6 Memo 0.06%
Week 7 Memo 0.06%
Week 8 Memo 0.06%
Week 9 Memo 0.06%
Week 10 Memo 0.06%
Week 11 Memo 0.06%
Week 12 Memo 0.06%
Week 13 Memo 0.06%
Week 14 Memo 0.06%
Week 15 Memo 0.06%
Week 16 Memo 0.06%
Assignments 90.00%
Week 1 Assignment #1 - Roles and Responsibilities Summary 1.00%
Week 1 Assignment #2 - Problem Statement Review Update Curriculum Checklist 1.00%
Week 1 Assignment #3 - Bill of Materials 1.00%
Week 1 Assignment #4 - Order Confirmation Paperwork 1.00%
Week 2 Assignment #6 - Gantt Chart and Curriculum Checklist 1.00%
Week 2 Assignment #7 - Flowchart Review Update 1.00%
Week 4 Assignment #10 - Preliminary Design Report 10.00%
Week 6 Assignment #13- Final Design Review 10.00%
Week 10 Assignment #18 - Experimental Data Analysis 1.00%
Week 11 Assignment #20 - Test Plan Validation Results 1.00%
Week 12 Assignment #22 - Final Paper Outline 1.00%
Week 12 Assignment #23 - Team Evaluation 1.00%
Week 13 Assignment #25 - Final Presentation Prototype Demo 10.00%
Week 14: Prototype Demo 20.00%
Week 15 Final Poster Presentation 10.00%
Week 16 Final Report 20.02%

Previous Syllabi

Not current for future courses.