Syllabus
There are two parts of CS 432: software development models and project management. The first part relates to the software process, software life cycles, and processes used to guide the development of software systems. The second relates to how to work with the human members of the team.
Why do I care?
When you graduate, you will most likely be put into a group working on a large project. How will this group function? What procedures are you to follow? What is the purpose of the meetings and various documents the team uses? What role to you fulfill and what other roles are at work?
The purpose of CS 432 is to help you answer these and other related questions. The hope is that, on the first day of the job, you will find a familiar structure and know how you fit in.
Outcomes
Successful graduates of CS 432 will:
- Critique the quality of a given article and identify the assumptions on which an author's conclusions were made.
- Enumerate, define, explain, compare, and contrast the software development life cycle models.
- Be able to choose an appropriate life cycle model (or adapt a life cycle model) for a given software development situation.
- Enumerate, define, and explain the components of project management.
- Be able to apply the principles of project management to a given software project.
- Accept the principles of software engineering and commit to apply them in the workplace.
Course Materials
There are two sources of materials for this course:
- F. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition. Addison-Wesley, 1995. (ISBN 0-201-83595-9)
- A collection of articles (links will be provided in the course)
The Mythical Man-Month will be available in the university book store. Compare Prices for your textbooks through the University Store Comparison Site. They will show you all of the options from the University Store plus several online options to help you find the best price.
Additional material available through I-Learn:
- Schedule
- Assignments
- Additional material pertaining to a given week
Assessment
The grading breakdown for the class will be:
Prepare | 15% | Thirteen reading quizzes due Monday night. For most weeks, there will be about 15 pages of reading. |
Teach One Another | 20% | Every week, there will be a Teach One Another activity. Mostly this will take the form of a class debate, Q & A, and research. |
Ponder & Prove | 65% | There will be one assignment per week, each worth 5% of your overall grade. |
Grades are as follows: | 100% → 90% | A: | Demonstrated mastery of the class |
89.9% → 80% | B: | All of the key concepts and skills have been learned | |
79.9% → 70% | C: | Acceptable, but might not be ready to graduate | |
69.9% → 60% | D: | Developing, the class has yet to be mastered | |
59.9% → 0% | F: | 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.
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: zero 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 your instructor 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.
Communication
There will be two main ways to communicate with the instructor in CS 432: BYU-Idaho e-mail and the Announcements:
- 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. Please contact your instructor directly for questions about your grade.
- Announcements. Please check the announcements every single day. The instructor will periodically post important and time-sensitive items in the announcements.
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 ensure 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