CSE 379 Senior Project [3]

Instructor: Donald J. Hillman

Current Course Catalog Description 

Design, implementation, and evaluation of a computer science project that represents a real-world scenario; conducted by student teams working from problem definition to testing and implementation; written progress reports supplemented by oral presentations; grading on both team and individual basis.  Prerequisite; senor standing.

Textbook  

None 

References 

ANSI/IEEE Standard 830 (IEEE 84b)

Course Goals

The objective of the course is to provide seniors with a capstone experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a computer science project that represents a real-world situation.  Each project is selected by a team of seniors who work together to bring it from problem definition through measurable development stages to testing and implementation.  Written progress reports supplemented by oral presentations are required.  The aim is to provide as realistic a project environment as possible to better prepare seniors for prospective careers in computer science application development and the management of information systems throughout their useful life

Prerequisites by Topic  

programming; data structures; discrete mathematics; algorithms; software engineering; operating systems.

Major Topics Covered in the Course 

life cycle development; problem definition; planning; information system design; implementation; evaluation; software engineering.

Laboratory projects (specify number of weeks on each)

(1) project definition 4 weeks;
(2) project planning 3 weeks; 
(3) project design 3 weeks; 
(4) project implementation 4 weeks

               
Estimate CSAB Category Content

CORE    ADVANCED

Data Structures                                       0.5       0.5  
Computer Organization and Architecture   
Algorithms Software Design                      0.5       0.5  
Concepts of Programming  Languages       0.5       0.5
        
 

Oral and Written Communications

Every student is required to submit at least  _4____  written reports (not including exams, tests, quizzes, or commented programs) of typically  _12____  pages and to make  __4___  oral presentations of typically  __15___  minutes duration.  Include only material that is graded for grammar, spelling, style, and so forth, as well as for technical content, completeness, and accuracy. 

Social and Ethical Issues

Privacy, security, accuracy.  Elements of these topics are required in written reports and oral presentations.

Theoretical Content

Theoretical content covers advanced data structures (10%), software engineering principles (20%), and correctness of requirements analysis and software specification (10%).

Problem Analysis

Each team of students is required to provide a thorough analysis of information requirements of a selected project.  The requirements analysis conforms to the ANSI/IEEE Standard 830 (IEEE 84b).  Adherence to this standard provides students with both a real-world experience and a development discipline.

Solution Design

The students are formed into teams (ideally 4 per team).  The design experience is rigorously controlled and takes each team through the four stages of problem definition, requirements analysis, logical and physical planning, implementation, and evaluation.  In a majority of instances, the projects are suggested by external users, who may be computer science faculty members or representatives of local businesses and industry.  The course instructor evaluates each project for feasibility and establishes a level of technical difficulty so as to maintain approximate parity of skill requirements and effort. This is intended to furnish a design experience that is common to all student teams.