Qualifications
Candidates must:
- be current UBC undergraduate students (preference may be given to students in CS programs) with third-year standing or above,
- have completed CPSC 221, CPSC 310, and CPSC 344 with a grade of at least 72% in each by the end of the term before the practicum course plus have an overall average of at least 72%,
- have excellent teamwork skills,
- commit to a 6 credit course with a commensurate workload of about 20-25 hours per week during that term, and
- be available to work the equivalent of two days per week onsite at the Centre for Digital Media. (Specific arrangements subject to their team's mutual consent, but note that the CDM is easily accessible by bus from UBC.)
Useful but optional: more software design background; graphics, vision, or animation background; demonstrated success on team projects; web/mobile development experience; story or game design experience; etc.
We will consider applications from applicants who do not meet a very small subset of the requirements above, but having all the requirements will grant an advantage to applicants. (We would also prefer that you register for the CPSC 491 waitlist. If you are unable to register for the waitlist, please apply at the link below and document your reasons for being unable to register.)
Application
To apply to participate in the next session, please register for the CPSC 491 waitlist via the UBC Student Service Centre (if possible given your credit limit) and then fill out the UBC Digital Media Practicum Application Form.
Successful candidates will be invited to interview at the Centre for Digital Media.
Applicants will be advised of their status within about 4 weeks from the deadline for applications. Selection will be based partly on fit with the students/projects available at CDM and partly on the applications and possible interviews. We will do our best to match accepted students to projects that best match their career goals (though all projects are relevant to any area in digital media), but we cannot guarantee particular topics, tools, teammates, or other details of the project.
Interested students may want to review UBC's notes on the required report and presentation
UBC/SFU Digital Media Practicum Main Page.
FAQ
How does this fit into your degree?
You will receive six credits in CPSC 491. Your Faculty or department may restrict the total credits available from research/independent study credits from courses like CPSC 448 (directed study), CPSC 490 (student-directed seminar), or CPSC 491 (practicum). Here are some notes that you should confirm with your program's advisors:
First-degree CPSC students can generally use up to six credits of research coursework toward their 4th year CPSC requirements. The CPSC department has indicated that CPSC 491 counts for this restriction. So, you likely cannot use more than six credits combined of CPSC 448 and CPSC 491 toward your fourth year CPSC requirements
BCS students can generally use up to three credits of research coursework toward their fourth year CPSC elective requirements. The CPSC department has indicated that CPSC 491 counts for this restriction. So, you likely cannot use more than three credits combined of CPSC 448 and CPSC 491 toward your fourth year CPSC requirements. BCSers can use the remaining three credits as third year CPSC elective requirements, exemption replacements, or (if it fits your module) as CPSC bridging credits. BCSers with prior degrees relevant to digital media may be able to use three credits toward the non-CPSC bridging credits; contact bcs-director@cs.ubc.ca for more information. Pick one use for each three credit piece; no double-counting
BA students can use CPSC 491 to fulfill their research-intensive course requirement
Other programs may have additional restrictions
Do I have additional assignments?
To fulfill your requirements, you will participate in all assessments assigned by the CDM faculty project supervisor, and you will also submit a 3-minute video talking through your own personal most exciting lesson learned or technical challenge faced in the project. You will provide an overview of your project and present your individual contribution. The faculty member for your university will review these reports and the team assessments to assign a final course grade. Interested students may want to review UBC's notes on the required report and presentation
How is this different from UBC's CPSC 319?
This course is similar in that you'll complete a project on a team for an external client. However, your team will be a highly interdisciplinary group of Master's-level students with project management/design experience that typically comes from outside CS. Your project will be an interactive media design project (which could be true in CPSC 319 as well). Your external client will typically be from industry, rather than 319's usually local, non-commercial organizations (but both are usually authentic, external clients).
Also, as intense as CPSC 319 is, this course is more intense. After all, it's worth more credits!
Who is my home institution’s faculty supervisor?
Professor of Teaching, Steve Wolfman, is your home institution’s faculty supervisor.