KTU Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Engineering Project-I and Project-II Courses Implementation and Evaluation Directive
Project-I and Project-II courses are elective courses that students of the Department of Forest Engineering can take in their 7th and 8th semesters. As part of updates to our departmental curriculum, the inclusion of these courses is based on the idea that "every engineering candidate should have the ability to identify, define, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems, as well as design experiments, conduct experiments, collect data, analyze results, and interpret findings."
Purpose: Article 1. The purpose of this Directive is to determine the principles of implementation and evaluation of the Project-I and Project-II courses conducted in the KTU Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Engineering.
Article 2. Preconditions: At the beginning of each semester, half of the class capacity is determined by the Department Chairmanship for Project-I and Project-II courses. Students enrolled in Project-I cannot enroll in Project-II in the spring semester. Students who do not enroll in Project-II in the fall semester can enroll in the following semester.
Article 3. The number of students in Project-I and Project-II courses is divided by the number of project supervisors to form project groups.
Determination of Project Topics and Students: Article 4. The project topics to be provided within the scope of the course are requested from the Departments of Basic Sciences (at least 5 from each department) and announced on the department's website during the registration week.
Article 5. Project topics should be application-oriented rather than compilation-based, meeting the program outcomes of the Department of Forest Engineering and involving interdisciplinary studies.
Article 6. Project topics should be determined for groups of 2-3 students.
Article 7. The topics on which students will work in the courses are determined by draw in a briefing meeting held in the first week of each semester in front of all students. However, students may exchange topics through mutual agreement using a barter method.
Article 8. Project topics, students enrolled in the project, and advising faculty members are announced on the department's website.
Presentation Date, Location, and Format: Article 9. A poster for each project is prepared at the beginning of the semester. Poster presentations are held every semester on Friday between 09:00-12:30 in the foyer hall in front of Ahmet Şener Amphitheater after the classes end.
Article 10. Presentation panels for each project are prepared by the Department Chairmanship one day in advance.
Article 11. Project students present their work at the specified times in front of their posters.
Poster Content and Dimensions: Article 12. The poster is a presentation method that facilitates information exchange between the presenter and interested parties without the need for an oral presentation of the research. When preparing the project, the following points should be considered:
Avoid designs consisting solely of plain text. It is advisable to use bullet points, tables, and graphical elements as much as possible. There are no color restrictions in preparing posters; emphasis should be placed on using colored shapes and photos to enhance visual appeal. Characters in figures should be of an appropriate size for easy readability from a distance.
Poster presentations resulting from project work may include sections such as summary, general information, work done, results, and references.
In the summary, briefly describe the purpose and significance of the work done; specify the methods and techniques used and provide the results obtained. The abstract should be concise, clear, and informative about the work done. It should not exceed 150 words.
The General Information section should provide more detailed information about the topic emphasized by the author/authors compared to the summary section.
The Work Done and Results sections should showcase the work done in the project and the results and findings obtained. It is preferable to present results using graphs, photos, and pictures rather than long sentences. Additionally, highlight key points and explain the meaning of the figures shown.
Article 13. Each poster should include the topic title and the name(s) of the author(s), but not the name of the project advisors. The title should be prepared in the largest possible font size.
Article 14. Posters should have dimensions of up to 100 cm (height) x 70 cm (width). Poster presentations can be prepared as a single piece within these dimensions or can consist of several pieces side by side or one below the other. Text should be large enough to be read from a meter away.
Article 15. Posters will be removed by the Department Chairmanship after hanging for one week according to the specified period.
Article 16. Prepared poster presentations will be sent in PDF format via e-mail to the authorized department chairman.
Evaluation: Article 17. Interim evaluation of the project course is conducted one week before the midterm exam week (Week 8). Students prepare an interim evaluation report not exceeding 5 pages, describing the work done so far and the tasks to be completed. The interim report includes a summary of no more than 150 words. The cover page of the report is signed by the advisor. The evaluation of this interim report is conducted by the project advisor(s) on a 100-point scale and sent to the department chairmanship along with the report. The impact of this evaluation on the end-of-term grade is 20%.
Article 18. The evaluation of projects is conducted using a project work evaluation form distributed to faculty members and participants following the presentations. Each project is evaluated by at least 5 faculty members/participants, and the average of the evaluations is calculated. The impact of the calculated grade on the end-of-term grade is 50%.
Article 19. To ensure objectivity and evaluation by different disciplines, project advisors and faculty members in the same department will not evaluate posters in the foyer area.
Article 20. The impact of the grade given by the project student's advisor on the final grade will be 30%.
Article 21. The Department Chairmanship is authorized in matters not covered here.
Prof. Dr. Ömer KARA
Department Chair of Forest Engineering
