Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

To provide practical experience of real-world software development and team working.
To develop employability skills and provide experience of working with appropriate industrial-strength tool-chains
This module gives students the opportunity to work within a team situation that simulates a real-world environment. The module takes place over an intensive period of 7 weeks and consists of some career development activities as well as practical software engineering experience.
Career Development. A variety of employability-based activities will take place throughout the module, including CV and covering letter workshops which will be held to help students develop their CV writing skills.
Practical Software Engineering. Students will research into relevant skills required for a software engineer (beyond coding, for example project management and collaborative development). All students are allocated into teams and given a project brief, alongside a course of lectures on software processes and lifecycles and techniques. This is supported by toolchain tutorials where experience will be gained with a variety of tools for collaborative planning, building, verification and release of software systems by working on small- scale tutorial examples.
For the remainder of the module teams will work on the project, with guest talks from industry practitioners where possible. Progress will be checked regularly during practical labs or tutorials, whereby all team members are expected to be able to briefly explain their current work, and also through timesheets and weekly reports. Project work will continue into the normal semester 2 exam period with a final trade fair and demonstration and submission of final reports, peer assessment and self-reflection.
The class will be divided into a number of teams with between 5 and 10 students in each team. Team membership will be determined by the module leader – team will comprise of students with diverse backgrounds, abilities and skills. Students will need to make the most of the skills within their team and allocate tasks and roles accordingly.

Outline Of Syllabus

Professional skills:
-       The software engineering skillset
-       Employability techniques i.e. interviews/CVs
Processes and Project Management:
-       Life-cycle and process models
-       Team organisation, roles and responsibilities
-       Configuration management principles
Software Engineering Techniques and Tools
-       Requirements Engineering, UML design, Principles of verification
-       Tools for collaborative planning, building, verification and release of software systems

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

To be able to:
- compare available tools for software development, communications, version control and project management and -- select an appropriate toolset for a particular application
- categorise the typical roles and skills of a software engineer
- reflect on the issues that relate to planning and execution of a team-based software project.
- critically evaluate common software engineering processes and process models.

Intended Skill Outcomes

To be able to:
- design and implement a large software system.
- work as a member of a team.
- demonstrate practical experience in issues such as team structure, document preparation, project management.
- fulfil appropriate roles within a team and to apply particular skills to the job in hand.
- evaluate own learning, progress and quality of solution objectively.
- demonstrate technical writing & report writing.
- practise critical self-evaluation, reflection & peer evaluation.
- demonstrate effective presentation of results.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This is a practical course with students learning and developing skills within a team environment. Lectures are used to introduce and explore the main topics. The tutorials provide background in the range of software development tools. Students are expected to work together and individually to develop a large piece of software and provide appropriate documentation. Regular meetings are held with staff to check progress of the teamwork.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Assessment is via an individual deliverable and team deliverables. The individual deliverable is designed to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the problem to be solved, and their team role and to provide a reflection on what they have learned from the module.
Team deliverables require students to work together to produce software and its documentation and to demonstrate that they are able to work collectively to produce an end product. To simulate the real world environment, students will present their final system at a trade fair/workshop and receive feedback in discussion with employers. Peer assessment is employed to identify each individual's contribution to the team. Details of the deliverables may vary from year to year depending on the involvement of an industrial consultant. Full details will be available at the beginning of the module through the University VLE.

General Notes

N/A