Computer Science 507
Software Engineering

Spring 2013, The College of Saint Rose

Syllabus

Instructor:

Dr. James D. Teresco, Albertus Hall 400-2, (518) 485-3755
Electronic mail: terescoj AT strose.edu (best contact method)
Class URL: [Link]
Class hour: Monday 6:00-8:30, Albertus 205
Office hours: Monday, 2-3:30, Wednesday 1:30-2:30, immediately after class, and by appointment

Disclaimer

Everything on this syllabus is subject to change. Changes will be announced in class and updated in the online version of the syllabus.

Course Objectives

From the course catalog: "Software engineering is a dynamic and expanding field. This course aims to give students practical experience and theoretical foundations in the following areas: software design, information systems and software quality, managing the software development process and human computer interaction. There is a strong emphasis on object orientation and the use of Unified Modeling Language for analysis and design."

Prerequisites

Texts

The required text for the course is Software Engineering, Ninth Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2010, ISBN 0137035152) by Ian Sommerville. This is available from the Saint Rose Bookstore (and elsewhere). If you buy elsewhere, be sure to get the correct edition.

Lectures

Everyone is expected to attend class and participate in discussions. There is no formal attendance policy, but a lack of regular attendance is certain to result in lower grades on assignments and exams. Do not expect sympathy if you are struggling but are rarely seen in class and during office hours. Supplemental readings are listed on the lecture and reading schedule. You will be responsible for all material in the reading, even if we do not specifically discuss each topic in class.

Be prompt, prepared, and ready to focus on the day's topics. This should go without saying, but this means your phones and other devices not being used exclusively to follow along with class materials and/or to take notes must be powered off. You may bring food or drink to class, as long as you are not a distraction to your classmates or instructor. When we have College computers out, no food or drink will be allowed.

Most lectures will include an assignment due at the start of the next class. These will usually be designed to focus your attention on some aspects of the assigned readings. Some lectures will include a quiz on the assigned readings. No late submissions of these "lecture assignments" or quizzes will be accepted, as they will often be discussed in class on the due date or immediately following the quiz. Some assignments will be graded for correctness, while others will be graded based on whether an honest effort was made.

The class meetings will include a series of invited speakers (some who will join us in person, others will be by video conference) who work in the software industry. Each speaker will give a brief description of his or her work as it relates to software development, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions of each of our guests. For each guest speaker, you will be required to submit a brief (approximately 1 page) summary of our discussion with that speaker.

The lecture and reading schedule has a link to a web page for each lecture highlighting the day's topics, listing any class examples, assigned readings, and the lecture assignment due the next class. The notes used to guide in-class presentations are also available as PDF files linked from the lecture and reading schedule.

Lab Assignments

A series of lab exercises will be assigned approximately weekly. The number of points available will vary with the complexity of the assignment.

Some assignments will require programming. For programming assignments, you may develop your programs anywhere (computers in the lab, your own PC, etc.) but it is your responsibility to ensure that your program works on the specified grading platform. Programming assignments will be graded on design, documentation, style, correctness, and efficiency.

Unless otherwise specified, late lab work may be turned in with a penalty computed as 1.08h%, where h is the number of hours late. Extensions will only be granted in serious situations. You can find a Java program that prints out a table of the late penalties here. Work turned in after solutions have been made available cannot receive credit. All assignments are to be submitted electronically unless otherwise specified. For written work, please submit plain text where appropriate and PDF otherwise. Please avoid other formats such as Word documents. If in doubt about a file format, please check first. Keep a copy of all submissions for yourself.

Design Project

The entire course will be built around a semester-long design project. Each team will design, implement, document, and present a significant software system. Details of this project will become available early in the semester.

Exams

The only exam will be a final, which will take place on Monday, May 6, during our usual class meeting time.

Grading

Grades for individual assignments and exams are not scaled. Any scaling deemed appropriate will take place at the end of the semester by adjusting the thresholds. The following thresholds may be adjusted downward (thereby raising grades) but will never be adjusted upward.

Breakdown:

Scale:
Lecture Assignments/Speaker Summaries/Quizzes 20% A >= 93% A- >= 90%
Lab Activities 20% B+ >= 85% B >= 80%
Design Project 40% C >= 70%
Final Exam 20% F < 70%

Attendance

Every college student should be motivated to attend every lecture and lab meeting for all the right reasons (e.g., desire for knowledge, desire to get the most out of every very expensive minute, etc.). As college students, you understand that regular attendance is essential to your ability to master the course material.

Therefore, there is no formal attendance policy. You are expected to attend regularly, and should still see the instructor about any excused absences. An excused absence may be any of the following:

  1. A documented athletic or academic event that conflicts with a class meeting. The required paperwork must be presented in person at least one week prior to the event.
  2. A family emergency.
  3. Personal illness.

While there is no formal penalty for unexecused absences, missing class regularly will be considered a sign that you are not taking the course seriously. History shows that students who are frequently absent perform poorly on graded work. Do not expect compassion when final grades are assigned or extensive extra help if you do not understand a topic that was covered while you were absent without a valid excuse.

Disability Accomodations

If you are a student with a documented disability and require academic accommodations please register with Lynn Cantwell, the Director of Services for Students with Disabilities, located in the Academic Support Center on the 2nd floor of St. Joseph Hall (campus extension 2335 or 518-337-2335, off campus) for disability verification and for determination of recommended reasonable academic accommodations. After you have made arrangements with that office, please see me to discuss your accommodations. Please remember that timely notice will help avoid a delay in your receipt of accommodations.

Academic Integrity

You are encouraged to discuss the concepts related to course assignments and exams with your classmates. This is an essential part of a healthy academic environment. However, work submitted for grading must be your own (or the combined work of group members, for group assignments). Any unauthorized copying or collaboration is considered a breach of academic integrity and will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty cases are unpleasant and uncomfortable for everyone involved. You are responsible for reading and understanding The College of Saint Rose Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity.

The minimum penalties for a first violation will include failure (0 grade) for the assignment or exam in question and the filing of a Academic Dishonesty Report Form with the Registrar's office. A second violation will result in failure of the course and a second Academic Dishonesty Report Form.

If there is any doubt about the degree of collaboration allowed or the permitted sources for a particular assignment, please ask for clarification before collaborating or consulting the source. Any such collaborations or sources must be cited properly.