Syllabus for
CS-4311 Senior Project Design
 Spring 2007		  

Instructor
 Dr.  Michael Sobolewski
Room: CP-310
Email: sobol@cs.ttu.edu
URL: http://sobol.cs.ttu.edu
Office hours: Wednesday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or by appointment

Course Information
 CS-4311-001: Senior Project Design
Location: CP 201
Time: 11 a.m. - 11:50 a.m., MWF

Course webpage is  http://spd.cs.ttu.edu or http://4311.cs.ttu.edu. We will make extensive use of the class WWW site. You should check the WWW page on a near daily basis for updates.

Description
This course is designed to give the student experience in designing and developing a significant software project  in a team environment similar to what they might encounter in research and development, or industry settings. This course assumes a good foundation in the concepts of computer science and software engineering (SE). SE based approaches will be used to architect, design, develop, deploy, and document the project. Projects are formally proposed, documented, and developed using accordingly tailored iterative SW development process.  Each project team will present in class a walkthrough on a regular basis.  Regular walkthroughs are conducted in order to gain feedback about the technical quality or content of design documents and/or to familiarize the team members with the content. Formal design documents and presentations will be required from each ream along with demonstrations of prototype portions of the project as they developed. Regularly scheduled walkthroughs between the team  and instructor are required. The final project will be demonstrated in the prototype form by the end of the semester.

 Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully completed this course will be able to:
1. Collaborate on a SW development team to architect, design, and develop a moderate sized real-world SW application (2, 7)
2. Meet with customers to develop an understanding of the client's requirements (2, 7)
3. Design a SW system that will meet the customer's requirements (2, 5)
4. Document the design using UML (2, 3)
5. Develop and demonstrate a prototype of their design (4, 7)
6. Perform your work within the constraints of a design/development schedule/ethic such that all elements of the work are delivered on time (2,6)

Methods of Assessment of Learning outcomes
a. Progress meetings with the instructor on a regular basis
b. Online progress reports on a regular basis
c. Delivery of design documentation on a scheduled basis
d. Demonstrations of prototype phases of the project
e. Peer evaluation of team members
f. Customer evaluation of team activities
g. Student evaluation of course learning objectives
Prerequisites:  CS 3365, 3364, COMS 3358 or PETR 3308, and 12 additional hours of upper-division computer science course work and senior standing.
 

Textbook:
No specific textbook, however some titles of recommended reading will be discussed in class

Tentative Topics:

  1. Quick review of some SE concepts
  2. Quick review of OO design
  3. Team forming storming norming performing
  4. Project assignments
  5. Customer meetings
  6. Configuration of SW development environment
  7. Discussion of architecture, design, OO models, and relevant documentation
  8. Team review meetings with instructor
  9. Progress reports, documentation delivery and presentations
  10. Prototype demonstrations

Grading
Design Documents 20%
Progress Meetings 20%
Team Peer Evaluation 20%
Final Presentation, Demo/Acceptance Test 20%
Customer Evaluation, User's Guide, Final Report, and Handover 20%

Course Delivery Format/Policies
 Student Workload: This is a combined teamwork-oriented lecture/lab/discussion/workshop course, falling somewhere between a traditional lecture/lab-oriented class and a seminar class. Material will be presented by the project team members and students are expected to participate in walkthrough meetings. This is a writing intensive class.

Failure of any member to attend a walkthrough meeting results in an automatic 10% reduction in their final grade. Students must receive prior approval if they can't attend a meeting. A User's Guide, Final Report, and SW bundle must be handed over to both the instructor and the customer at the end of the semester. Arrangements should be made to have the customer attend the acceptance test, failure to do so will also result in a grade reduction of 10%. If the customer can't attend the acceptance test during class time schedule the test outside of class time should be arranged.

Project's that don't work as per the requirements can receive as much as 15% reduction in the final grade.

The peer ratings will be anonymous and will include all group members.

Miscellaneous
The purpose of these different instruments is to have a positive learning experience, critical thinking about SW development process and OO design issues, and some sound grasp of fundamental architectural and design patterns. If you feel any of these instruments is not working for any reason, please send me email and I will consider a change in the format of delivery.
 
Student-teacher relationships are based on trust. Acts, which violate this trust, undermine the educational process. Your classmates and the instructor will not tolerate violations of academic integrity (see Statement of Academic Conduct for Engineering Students, College of Engineering Texas Tech University).