CS 471 Fall 2020 > Syllabus

CS 471 Fall 2020
Syllabus

COURSE:	CS 471 Senior Capstone I. 3 credits.
Time & place:	10:30–11:30 am MWF, via videoconference (Zoom): `https://alaska.zoom.us/j/93446379409` (passcode distributed via e-mail); a video of each class meeting will be posted on UA Blackboard Learn within 2 3 hours of the end of class.
Prerequisites:	CS major; senior standing; CS 311; CS 371.
INSTRUCTOR:	Glenn G. Chappell, Dept. of Computer Science.
Office hours:	No face-to-face office hours during fall 2020; private Zoom sessions are available by appointment.
Office phone:	[474-]5736. E-mail is preferred to phone calls.
E-mail:	`ggchappell@alaska.edu`
TEXTS:	Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited, 3rd ed. Eric Brechner, Agile Project Management with Kanban It is expected that CS 472 will use the same texts in the coming spring semester.
WEB PAGE:	`http://www.cs.uaf.edu/~chappell/class/2020_fall/cs471` UA Blackboard Learn will be used only for assignment & exam submission and videos.

Course Topics & Goals

CS 471 is the first half of a two-semester capstone sequence comprising CS 471 (fall) and CS 472 (spring). It is intended to be taken by CS majors in the final year of their BS degree program—or in the equivalent portion of a BS/MS program. The sequence covers software engineering and project management, culminating (in CS 472) with a group software project developed for an external organization.

Course topics will include an overview of software engineering, writing as a software professional, software requirements, software process models (Waterfall, Scrum, XP, etc.), software testing (unit, integration, usability, etc.), code review, and software-development case studies.

Upon successful completion of CS 471, students should:

Have a basic understanding of software-engineering, project-management, and software-testing ideas and methods used in building large software systems.
Have exposure to several software process models, primarily Waterfall and Kanban.
Have experience performing multiple kinds of software testing, including usability testing.
Have improved skills and knowledge in technical communications, professional ethics, and legal issues.
Be prepared to complete a high-quality group software project in the following semester.

Important Dates

Also see the Semester Plan, on the class webpage.

Mon, Sep 7	No class meeting (Labor Day)
Wed, Oct 14–Fri, Oct 16	No class meeting (Take-Home Midterm Exam)
Tue, Oct 20	Take-Home Midterm Exam due 5 pm
Fri, Oct 30	Last day to withdraw (“W” on transcript)
Wed, Nov 25–Fri, Nov 27	No class meeting (Thanksgiving)
Fri, Dec 4	Last regular class meeting
Fri, Dec 11	No class meeting; Take-Home Final Exam due 11 am

Procedures

Class meetings—Lecture-discussion format, via videoconference. Some class meetings will be designated as required. For these, students must attend class synchronously, by going to the class-meeting Zoom site at class time. Other class meetings may be attended either synchronously or or asynchronously, by watching a video of the class meeting. The video will be posted on UA Blackboard Learn within 2 3 hours of the end of class. Students attending asynchronously are expected to view each class video within 24 hours of its posting,

Assignments—Homework assignments will reinforce lecture concepts and demonstrate application of critical thinking skills. All assignments must be done individually—except for the Case Study Slides, which is a group assignment. No graded work will be accepted after the end of the final exam period.

Exams—Two take-home exams will be given: a Midterm and a Final. Both will be open-book, open-note exams. See Important Dates.

Presentations—Near the end of the semester, each student will make an in-class presentation as part of a group. These will be recorded. Professional dress and delivery are expected.

In order to participate in required classes and make the presentation, students must have access to a computer with a camera, microphone, and decent quality network connection.

Grades

Course grades will be based on points earned, using a 90-80-70-60 scale. The +/− grading system will not be used. Point totals will be as follows.

Class Participation	100 pts
Assignment 1 (Algorithm Implementation)	50 pts
Assignment 2 (White Paper Draft)	100 pts
Assignment 3 (Software Requirements)	100 pts
Assignment 4 (White Paper Final)	50 pts
Assignment 5 (Case Study Slides Draft)	100 pts
Assignment 6 (Book Summary Draft)	100 pts
Assignment 7 (Book Summary Final)	50 pts
Case Study Presentation	50 pts
Take-Home Midterm Exam	150 pts
Take-Home Final Exam	150 pts
TOTAL	1000 pts

Policies

Students are expected to attend each required class meeting synchronously and, for all other classes, either attend synchronously or view the class-meeting video within 24 hours of its posting, to do all assigned readings promptly, and to turn in all assignments.

Students who fail to attend the first required class meeting after registering for the class, or who miss three consecutive required class meetings, may be dropped/withdrawn from the class without warning, unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with according to UA procedures.

Students pay the CS lab fee. Payment allows access to the CS labs.

UAF academic policies: http://catalog.uaf.edu/academics-regulations
CS Department policies: http://www.cs.uaf.edu/departmental-policies

This course is designated as Writing Intensive (W). This designation applies to upper-division courses and means that a majority of graded work in the course will be derived from writing activities. Writing activities in this course will follow these rules: