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Capstone Project Overview

The capstone project for FOSS is designed to give you the opportunity to apply some of the skills and ideas from the rest of the course to one of your own projects, get support and feedback from your peers, and share your experiences with the rest of the attendees.

Objectives

  • "Level up" the openness of an existing or planned project
  • Apply a skill or concept from FOSS
  • Discuss your applied skills/concepts with groupmates
  • Determine possible next steps to "level up" your project
  • Share your experiences with the rest of the attendees

Description

Choose one (or more) skill(s) or concept(s) from FOSS and apply it to one of your own projects. Here are some example projects you might consider:

Example Projects

  • Make a fully developed Data Management Plan (DMP) for a current or future project
  • Deposit your data in an open repository that is appropriate for your field (cannot be a previous effort)
  • Create a Git repository that shares code or data from a current project. Must have a detailed README that explains exactly how colleagues would use the code or data. Repo should provide an 'environment' file that allows others to reproduce your environment on their computer OR the scripts should be containerized.
  • Create a fully developed personal website hosted in Github
  • Create documentation of a project, tool, or workflow using Mkdocs or similar template
  • Develop an educational tutorial or how-to guide to teach colleagues some aspect of your research. Use mkdocs or similar template on the web.
  • Pre-register a protocol on a platform like Open Science Framework
  • Publish a protocol on protocols.io or other 'protocol' website
  • Conduct an open peer-review of new research in a preprint server
  • Demonstrate how you are using a remote computing resource to run your analyses (e.g., Cyverse, HPC)

You should have your skill/topic chosen by Week 8, and you will then enter your name/topic into a spreadsheet (shared during the week 8 session). We'll use this to help learners find others working on similar projects.

  • You can do a project completely solo
  • You can work solo, but join a 'support group' to:
    1. discuss your experiences applying your skill or concept
    2. give each other help with sticking point you may encounter
  • You can work directly with a FOSS colleague on a joint project

Final Presentations

Each student or group will deliver a short (3-7 minute) presentation to the rest of the class on the final day of the course (Nov. 21, 2024)

Your short presentation should focus on the challenges and tips you may have for other FOSS attendees who want to utilize your skill or concept in the future. Here are some prompts that you should address during your presentation:

Presentation Thoughts

  • What was the general topic or skill that members of your group worked on?
  • What are some challenges you encountered while working on your projects?
    • Were you able to overcome these challenges? If so, how?
    • Where did you look for help?
    • Do any roadblocks remain? How might you try to overcome them?
  • Are there any new things you learned while working on your project?
    • Did you end up using any new or different tools?
  • What are some tips you might have for other FOSS attendees who want to work on the same topic/skill in the future?
    • Are there any pitfalls to avoid?
  • What things do you want to do next?
    • How might you "level up" in the current topic/skill compared to your project's current state?
    • Are there any other FOSS skills that you want to tackle next? If so, how might they integrate with the topic/skill you focused on for your project?