CS 364 SYLLABUS
There are two parts of CS 364: requirements engineering and design specification. The first part relates how we as software engineers come to understand the client's needs and how those needs are documented. The second relates to how we as software engineers develop and represent a design for a software system that meets the client's needs.
Why do I care?
There are two main purposes of this class. The first is to understand the purpose and techniques behind software elicitation and system design. These are essential processes that all software engineers will need to master.
The second and perhaps more important purpose is to learn how to work in large teams on large projects. There are some issues that simply do not crop up unless the team and project size is a big. After having done this twice in CS 364, you will be far better prepared for similar situations in the workplace.
Outcomes
Successful graduates of CS 364 will:
- Critique the quality of a given article and identify the assumptions on which an author's conclusions were made.
- Enumerate and explain the various parts of an SRS and SDD.
- Enumerate, define, compare & contrast, select, and use a variety of requirement elicitation techniques.
- Enumerate, define, select, and use a variety of approaches for documenting and reviewing a design.
- Develop and demonstrate team membership and team leadership skills.
- Accept the principles of software engineering and commit to apply them in the workplace.
Schedule
The course is organized around a weekly schedule designed to facilitate the creation of the SRS and SDD:
Week 01 Course Overview | Overview of requirements engineering, pick a project, and organize into teams |
Week 02 Elicitation Techniques | Group presentations on different elicitation techniques |
Week 03 Elicitation Application | Debate elicitation issues and collect data for the project |
Week 04 SRS Standard | Create the first draft of the SRS |
Week 05 SRS Application | Work on the SRS |
Week 06 Midterm | Complete the SRS and reflect on the process |
Week 07 Design Techniques | Group presentations on diffrent design techniques |
Week 08 Design Application | Create the first draft of the design of the project |
Week 09 SDD Standard | First draft of the SDD document |
Week 10 Design Representation | Group presentations on different representation tools & techniques |
Week 11 Software Engineering | Overview of the entire software engineering process |
Week 12 Software Engineering Careers | Career options and how to find a job |
Week 13 Final Exam | Review all that was learned this semester |
Week 14 Course Conclusion | Complete the SDD and reflect on the process |
Course Materials
All the material for this course will be provided on the course I-Learn site. This includes assigments as well as reading material.
Assessment
The grading breakdown for the class will be:
Preparation | 10% | Thirteen reading quizzes due Monday night. The amount of material will vary wildly from week to week. |
Teach-One-Another | 20% | Every week, there will be a Teach-One-Another activity. Mostly this will take the form of a class debate, research, team presentations, and participation in creation of the SRS and SDD. |
Ponder & Prove | 10% | There will be an assignment at the end of each week. |
SRS & SDD | 60% | 20% of the overall grade is the SRS and 40% of the overall grade is the SDD document. Since these constitute the majority of your grade, the majority of your effort should be spent on them. |
Letter Grade | Percentage Range | Description |
---|---|---|
A | 100-90% | Demonstrated mastery of the class |
B | 89.9-80% | All of the key concepts and skills have been learned |
C | 79.9-70% | Acceptable, but might not be ready to graduate |
D | 69.9-60% | Developing, the class has yet to be mastered |
F | 59.9-50% | Failed to understand or complete the course |
There will also be the usual +’s and -’s. All grades are reported on I-Learn. If you feel that I-Learn does not accurately reflect your earned grade, please discuss this with your instructor.
Most of the learning activities have a time estimate associated with them. These signify how long it takes the average student to complete the activity for the average grade. Some students will complete the assignment significantly faster or slower than the average, and getting an "above average" grade may take much more time and effort. Please use the estimates as guidelines; they are not guarantees.
Communication
There will be three main ways to communicate with the instructor in CS 364: BYU-Idaho e-mail, Announcements, and through the Project Manager (PM):
- E-Mail. All students are required to use their BYU-Idaho e-mail when communicating with the instructor. Please do not count on using the phone (unless explicitly arranged by the instructor), Facebook, smoke signals, or any other form of communication. The instructor will answer all your e-mails in less than 24 hours.
- Announcements. Please check the announcements every single day. The instructor will periodically post important and time-sensitive items in the announcements.
- PM. By the end of the first week, the class will select on individual to serve as the project manager and several to serve as team leads. This will function much like the typical work environment where feedback funnels through the leads up to the PM and then up to the "big boss" (read: instructor). Information and instructions will then funnel back through the PM to the leads and on to the individual contributors. The instructor and the PM will be in daily contact.
Policies
You may work with your classmates, but all submitted work must be original. The penalty for copying or plagiarizing of assignments might be one or more of the following: -100% on an assignment, being asked to withdraw from the class, a failing grade in the class, or disciplinary action by the university.
Homework assignments are to be completed as scheduled. Late work is generally not accepted. However, assignments may be rescheduled for a limited number of emergency situations if you discuss your situation with me before (not on and especially not after) the scheduled due date. There will be no routine extensions of due dates; be prepared to justify any requests for extensions.
Accessibility
BYU-Idaho is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by BYU-Idaho Disability Services. If you need assistance or feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established policy and procedures.
If you have any disability that may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact Disability Services as soon as possible, preferably before the beginning of the semester, in order to insure that you receive appropriate accommodations.
Disability Services Contact Information:
- Phone: 208 496 9210
- Email: disabilityservices@byui.edu
- Fax: 208 496 5210
- Website: http://www.byui.edu/disabilities/disability-services
Discrimination
BYU-Idaho prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in its education programs or activities. Prohibited sex discrimination includes incidents of sexual harassment (including sexual violence), dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking (collectively “sexual misconduct”).
As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment for my students and for the campus as a whole. University policy requires that I report all incidents of sexual misconduct that come to my attention. If you encounter sexual misconduct, please contact the Title IX Coordinator at titleix@byui.edu or 208-496-9209. Additional information about sexual misconduct and available resources can be found at www.byui.edu/titleix