Introduction to Software Engineering

CS 3302 Spring 1997


General course information and policies

Electronic information

The use of electronic technology in the classroom will play a critical role in this class, for two reasons. First, as with other classes, we will use electronic means to disseminate information about the class, such as project assignments, grades, and general announcements outside of class. Second, we will use the Web as the means for assembling the project notebooks which fully document the project design.

The three major electronic means of exchange will be electronic mail, a class newsgroup and a class World Wide Web (WWW) home page. If you aren't already familiar with these Internet-based tools, now is the time to find out.

Electronic mail

Probably the most dependable way to contact the instructor is by e-mail. Whenever you send e-mail, please make sure you include your full name on the message, as it is sometimes difficult to decipher student mail addresses. Do not rely on a speedy response to electronic mail. A one-day turnaround is about as good as it will get.

WWW

You are currently reading text from the WWW class home page for CS 3302. There are a variety of ways to access this page using any of a number of WWW browsers. For example, you can traverse links directly from the College of Computing home page (look for the link to "Classes using World Wide Web" under the category of "Education"). Or you can access this page directly by opening the URL http://c2000.gatech.edu/c2000/cs3302_97_spring/. The instructor generally uses Netscape and checks that the pages work OK on that browser.

The class syllabus, indicating lecture topics, reading, homework and lab assignments, will be posted on the class Web page and will be continually updated throughout the quarter. You should make it a regular habit to consult the syllabus.

Newsgroup

The newsgroup for this class is git.cc.class.3302. Occasionally, this newsgroup will be used by the instructor or TA to make general announcements to the class outside of lecture time. You should make it a habit to consult the newsgroup on a regular basis. Students can post general class-related announcements to the newsgroup. The newsgroup is NOT the best way to get a message through to the instructor, so do not rely on it to get answers from the instructor on urgent matters. It should be used to facilitate discussion among the students (and perhaps the TA).

Grading

Individual grades for this course will be based on a mixture of individual assignments, exams, class participation and group project work.

The current weighting of assignments is listed below. It is possible that this weighting scheme will be adjusted as the quarter progresses. Any such changes will be announced to the class. It is up to the graduating students to make themselves known to the instructor at the beginning of the course.

Grade weighting
Category Non-graduating Graduating
Group project consisting of: 60% 60%
Project Plan/Scheduling 10% 10%
Requirements Doc 10% 10%
Design Doc 10% 10%
Final prototype 10% 10%
Final Notebook 5% 5%
Presentations 5% 5%
Individual Contribution 10% 10%
Exam 1 10% 15%
Exam 2 10% 15%
Final Exam 10% n/a
In-class quizzes 10% 10%
The instructor reserves the right to adjust overall grades based on the general class performance. As a general guideline, you can assume that the cutoffs for grades will be no worse than 93% (A), 86% (B), 79% (C), 72% (D).

Quizzes

There will be unannounced quizzes throughout the quarter based on previous lecture material, and these will be held at the beginning of class. The quiz will take no more than 5 minutes to complete and is mainly used to help keep you up-to-date on the important material from the course.

Exams

There will be two exams during the quarter and a final exam. The exams will be based on class readings and lectures. The instructor will provide a study guide for exams prior to the exam date. Graded exams will be returned within one week. Questions about exams grading should be directed to the instructor within one week of the return. Adjustments in exam grades will be rare and could equally well result in a lowering or raising of the grade.

Group project

A large part of this course will consist of a project done in groups. More complete information on the project will be presented as the class progresses. Project groups will usually consist of 4-5 members. Project teams and project themes will be decided during the second week of class. You will fill out a survey as part of this team determination process.

There will be several project milestones that will contribute to the overall assessment of the project. These are outlined in the grading table above and will be explained during the course. The basic deliverables for the class will consist of written documents, demonstrations of software, presentations on group work. All of this information will be assembled in a Web-based project notebook and written in HTML.

All written deliverables will be graded twice. On the stated due date, the instructor will begin to grade a written deliverable. The project team will receive comments and a grade from the instructor within one week. The team has an additional week to do a revision of the deliverable and this revision will be graded by the TA. The final grade for this deliverable will be a weighted average of the two scores, with the revision grade counting double. If a team chooses not to do a revision, then the initial grade will stand. For the most part, the grade received by a project team impacts the grade for all students on that team. Individual contributions to the group project, however, will be assessed in two ways. First, for each deliverable for the group, at least one member will be deemed responsible for that deliverable and the grade received for that project will impact the individual contribution component of the project grade. In addition, there will be an opportunity toward the end of the quarter for a peer assessment. A negative peer assessment will also impact the individual contribution component of the project grade.

Class participation/Attendance

The instructor expects that each student will attend all lectures and contribute constructively to the discussion. There will be several mechanisms for assessing class participation. The first is through the occasional quizzes. Missing a quiz will result in roughly one percentage point reduction in your overall grade. Attendance will be monitored during in-class project status reports. Attendance will also be mandatory on days in which group presentations are scheduled.

I want to know who you are, so please make an effort to speak in class and talk to me outside of class. If by the end of the quarter I don't know your name, it won't necessarily be my fault.

Class policies

Students are expected to attend all lectures on time. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner. This expectation includes showing up for exams at the appointed time. Late make-up exams will not be given. Any conflicts with exam times should be brought to the instructor's attention as soon as possible and in all cases PRIOR to the examination period. In the event that the midterm is missed, for any reason, the policy will be to use the score on the final exam as a replacement for the midterm grade (applies to non-graduating students only). Students are expected to follow the university's codes of academic conduct. Cases of suspected academic misconduct will be immediately forwarded to the Dean of Student Affairs, and will be pursued to resolution. This is an unpleasant process for all involved, so please do not put yourself in this situation.

Above all, I would like to adhere to the reasonable person principle.


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