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CS 5704 - Software Engineering - Fall 2008
Dr. Pardha S. Pyla

Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will be an introduction to software engineering. We will cover software development lifecycles, methodologies, tools, and real-world case studies. Major emphasis will be placed on the underlying principles of the discipline and how they apply to the real-world. Seminal and cutting edge research papers will be discussed in class. Working in teams, you will attempt to solve a research problem pertaining to software engineering and produce a detailed report on your contributions.

TEXTBOOK

Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 6/e by R.S. Pressman

ADDITIONAL STUDY MATERIALS

Class notes will be posted as pdf files on the calendar page at least one day before the corresponding class. They contain handouts for the same PowerPoint presentations I will use in class.This is the major source of content and discussion for the course. You are required to print these slides and bring them to every class in a notebook, so we can refer to them and you can use them for note-taking in class. Most of what we do in class and in your team projects will be based on these notes.

GRADING

*Individual project grades will be weighted by amount of participation in team effort (see Team Member Evaluations below).

HOMEWORK

The homework part of this course will include group work to develop a fictitious software application using an assigned software development methodology. Each team will get their homework assignment from the instructor.

PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES

There are several kinds of participation activities, including in-class activities, and individual presentations.

In-class activities

Getting full in-class participation credit is easy: Just be willing to participate in each in-class activity and do a good job of it. As a key part of active learning in the classroom, individuals and teams will be asked to perform part of an ongoing analysis or design exercise in class, to illustrate the application of concepts covered in the class notes and class discussion. In assessing the "do a good job" part of this activity, we'll be looking for:

• Presence or absence of the individual
• Preparedness, knowledge of material
• Care and correctness in applying it
• Intangibles (getting into role, etc.)

Team member evaluations

The parts of the project assignments are described separately in the course Web site, under "Projects". Each member of the team is expected to contribute equally to each part of the project. It is possible that the most difficult part of the project assignments is working well together in a group. Be aware of possible group problems and be ready to solve them. Don't make the mistake of taking this aspect for granted or waiting for it to fix itself; you have too much at stake.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, some team members end up not pulling their fair share of the weight. To ensure that each team member is given a project grade reflecting individual contributions, we use Team Member Evaluations. Each team member must INDIVIDUALLY turn in a confidential Team Member Evaluation Form as a required deliverable to report the relative effort/contribution of each person on your project team after each deliverable.

This form is not optional. Be professional and give a careful rating. The ratings on these forms will be used as weightings, as explained at the beginning of the semester, to convert team project grades into individual student project grades. The team is given a grade for each part of the project. Each individual team member's grade for each project assignment is a weighting of the team grade, where the weighting is based on an evaluation of individual contributions, collected from each team member at the end of the semester (and moderated as necessary by the instructor).

HONOR CODE

The Virginia Tech honor code is in effect for all work, whether performed individually or in teams. All assignments submitted shall be considered graded work unless otherwise noted. All aspects of your coursework are covered by the honor system. Any suspected violations of the honor code will be promptly reported to the honor system. Honesty in your academic work will develop into professional integrity. The faculty and students of Virginia Tech will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty.

ACCOMMODATING DISABILITIES

We wish to make any accommodations needed by any student because of a disability. Please contact the instructor during the first week of class.