Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering - HCMC University of Technology

Department of Systems and Networks

Computer Network 1 – Guidelines for Preparing Assignment Report

RECLAIMS: We adapt much of the material from other guidelines (1) (2) (3) for local course
material distribution only.
USAGE: The coordinator of the project, or technically i.e. scrum master, verifies these item
in the following checklists
Basic structure of a (assignment) technical report (1):
REPORT COVER PAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS/IMAGES
TABLES
SUMMARY (1/2 page maximum)
1. INTRODUCTION
a. BACKGROUND (1 page maximum)
b. OBJECTIVES ( ½ page maximum, max of 5 bullet items)
c. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
2. THE RESEACH PROBLEM (adapt from assignment descriptions)
3. METHODOLOGY (can be omitted in scope of assignment, usually important in
thesis later)
4. PROJECT OUTPUTS
5. PROJECT OUTCOMES
6. OVERALL ASSESSMENTS
7. REFERENCES
APPENDIX
ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS
FOOTER
SUMMARY
We need to write the summary and verify the following checklist items (adapt from (2)):
Checklist Y/N
Is it ½ page maximum
Is it written in active voice?
Does it answer Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?
Does the opening paragraph describe project objectives and its purpose?
Does it present contextual background and principle (in short aka less than 1 page)?
Does it highlight the report final finding or project contributions or results?
Does the closing paragraph provide conclusion (optional: next step
recommendation)?
Is it consistent in the usage of the same keywords, terms, technical phrases?
Have the authors check and eliminate the statement/information that is not discussed
in the main body of the report

BACKGROUND
 Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering - HCMC University of Technology
Department of Systems and Networks
Computer Network 1 – Guidelines for Preparing Assignment Report

Checklists Y/N
Why was the work done?
What must be known to understand the rest of the report?
Explain the historical issue behind the research and its significance?
Did a specific issue/event impact this study?
Is it a subsequent phase of R&D study? (YES- it illustrate class theory)
Is it breaking new ground? (Usually assignment NO)

Objectives
Checklists Y/N
Provides statements (keep it (max) of 5 bullet items)
What project should achieves?
Verify the consistency these statement with evaluations do later
What the work conducted for the project?
Minus listing the work conducted.
Major task completed for the projects

METHODOLOGY (omit it as the scope of the assignment)

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
We leverage some materials in guidelines, but as usual, this section has a lot of material
intensively. Try to keep it not too long
Checklists Y/N
What was done? Address question such as:
With the available resource, we design this, implement that
With the meeting, we minus/refine the work target
Describe the activities supported under the project
Describe the timeline or scheduling
What was learned about the implementation and management of the projects’
activities?
Design and implementation (3-4 pages, try to keep it less than 6 pages)
Simulation, testing or evaluation (3-4 pages should be balance with the previous
section)
Does these experiment consists with objective statement? Double check.
 Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering - HCMC University of Technology
Department of Systems and Networks
Computer Network 1 – Guidelines for Preparing Assignment Report

Did it determine participants’ role and contributions

Who is coordinator, design the plan, integrated need to verify and design
test/evaluation method
Who is the architecture design should provide proof-of-concept or at least
prototype working code
Who is the main developer to implement the details and fix bug
Who is quality analyst design the sanity test, the module test or self-test
and test scenario

PROJECT OUTPUTS:
We describe in this section as better as possible the materials to draw conclusions. The tutors
usually skim this section and seeking the related in proving these output items in the project
activities section. The more consistency of these pairs the better evaluation of the team’s
work conducting.
Checklists Y/N
Directly achievable product of project’s completed activities
Standalone standards: Protocol, rule, procedure, algorithm, guidelines
Software product: program/application, libraries, APIs
Verify the matching of these outputs with the project’s completed activities?
Is it over claim?
Is there any completed activities without nothing (output),
if yes, re-evaluate: we did it unfinished or /
lost focus on the objectives or problematic planning?
What were the main output of the project?
Identify any output that were planned but which has not materialized
Specify when these output will be completed, if it falls into out-of-scope
including plan for any future publications (if possible)
What were the main specific achievements or practice influence
What were learned about the production or realization of the project.
What contributed to these output and what lessons you may draw from
your experiences
If appropriate, highlight any unique or innovative outputs
If appropriate, explain why output were not completed or were poor of quality

PROJECT OUTCOMES:
Project outcomes include changes that promote sustainable development or the resulting
consequences together with derived learning.
Checklists Y/N
Did the project contribute to scientific, research or knowledge innovations?
Did the project change the behaviors, capacities, action or relationship of
researcher? (at least, you were complete a solid work and a report ^_^)
 Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering - HCMC University of Technology
Department of Systems and Networks
Computer Network 1 – Guidelines for Preparing Assignment Report

Did the project contribute to technology development, adoption and adaption?

What contributes to these outcomes and what lessons did you draw from the
experiences?
In minimum, this is a chance for you to review the course outcome and make the matching.
To distinguish, the outcomes is what the work wants to achieve while the outputs are the
items that contribute to achieving or resulting consequently the outcome. In turn, outputs are
matched with the completed activities.
Overall Assessment:
This section gives the general picture of the report for those who want to be reminded of what
they have read or for those who will never read the whole report (3) (1).
Checklist
Comment on the usefulness in achieving the project’s objectives.
What contributions to development did the project make?
Did the project produce any recommendation?
Is there any including plan for future publications? (usually for the scope of
assignment, NO, it’s done and it’s better gone)
 Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering - HCMC University of Technology
Department of Systems and Networks
Computer Network 1 – Guidelines for Preparing Assignment Report

References
1. IDRC-CRDI. Guidelines for Preparing Final Technical Reports. International
Development Research Center, Centre de recherches pour le developpement international.
[Online] 2022.
2. Research, Office of. Guidelines for Preparing a Final Report - FDOT. [Online] 2022.
http://www.fdot.gov/research/docs/T2/University.Guidelines.2016.pdf.
3. IET. A guide to technical report writing. [Online] 2022.
https://www.theiet.org/media/5182/technical-report-writing.pdf.