CSC2033 : Software Engineering Team Project
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Christopher Bull
- Lecturer: Dr John Colquhoun, Dr Laura Heels
- Teaching Assistant: Mr Nicholas Smith
- Owning School: Computing
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 30 |
| ECTS Credits: | 15.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
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
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 15 | 1:00 | 15:00 | Team preparation for trade fair/technical demonstration |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | Team preparation of design document |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 5:00 | 5:00 | Preparation time for reflective report |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 22 | 1:00 | 22:00 | Lectures on software processes, techniques, project management- PIP, recorded for those not present. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 15 | 1:00 | 15:00 | Preparation for portfolio reflection |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 40 | 1:00 | 40:00 | Team programming/submission for final code |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 22 | 2:00 | 44:00 | Team programming – present in person, in labs. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 10 | 1:00 | 10:00 | 2 weekly group meetings (in person). Module leaders will visit teams for Q&A,mins for non-attendees |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 10 | 1:00 | 10:00 | 2 weekly group meetings (online) Module leaders will 'visit' teams meetings for Q&A |
| Guided Independent Study | Skills practice | 15 | 1:00 | 15:00 | Employability activities |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Technical demonstration (Teams given the option of pip or online) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 9 | 2:00 | 18:00 | Toolchain tutorials e.g. version control in a team, unit testing +continuous integration –PIP lab |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | Weekly (Online and pip) – like office hours - 1 staff online, 2 staff in person |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 67 | 1:00 | 67:00 | Background reading |
| Guided Independent Study | Online Discussion | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Mini Lectures and demos (asynchronous) |
| Total | 300:00 |
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 Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prof skill assessmnt | 2 | M | 15 | Technical demonstration (team) |
| Practical/lab report | 2 | M | 50 | Final system and Formal design document (team)(submitted code with 3000 word report) |
| Reflective log | 2 | M | 35 | Portfolio reflection (2000 words) |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical/lab report | 2 | M | practical work is formative and students get face to face feedback during the session |
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.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- CSC2033's Timetable