Senior Project

CS 498 - Fall 2022

Catalog description:

An opportunity for students to participate in design and implementation of a large project by a small team. Project chosen in consultation with instructor will help analyze the impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society, including ethical, legal, security, and global policy issues. Includes lectures and seminars reflecting on professional, ethical, and social responsibilities of computing professionals, as well as the need for professional development and life-long learning.

Logistics

Instructor Dr. Stan Kurkovsky, Professor of Computer Science
Office MS 303-06
Phone 860-832-2720
E-mail kurkovsky@ccsu.edu
Office hours TR 1230-1330 and W 1300-1600, booking info
Class meetings TR 1050-1205 @ MS 212

Textbook and other things you will need

  • No textbook is required
  • In-class handouts
  • Instructor's web site available at http://www.cs.ccsu.edu/~stan/ and other web sites recommended by the instructor

Course learning outcomes

Program educational objectives and student outcomes are supported by the following course learning outcomes achieved by students upon a successful completion of this course:

  1. Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions (ABET SO-1);
  2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements (ABET SO-2);
  3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts (ABET SO-3);
  4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles (ABET SO-4);
  5. Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in a software engineering project (ABET SO-5);
  6. Apply computer science theory and software engineering fundamentals to produce computing-based solutions that include information management and networking/communication components (ABET SO-6);

Important: self-care

Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Your physical and mental well-being is the most important thing. It has always been (or should have been) so, even before the current pandemic. Please email/message me to check in if I won’t see you or hear from you on a day we have class or an assignment is due.

Tentative schedule

Week 1 (August 29 - September 2): Inception

  • Introduction
  • Team info sheets are due by 0900
    Getting ready for the project kick-off

Week 2 (September 5-9): Inception

  • September 5: Labor Day holiday (no classes)
  • Course project kick-off: Meetings with project clients
  • Project update: team impressions about projects

Week 3 (September 12-16): Sprint 1

Week 4 (September 19-23): Sprint 1

Week 5 (September 26-30): Sprint 2

Week 6 (October 3-7): Sprint 2

Week 7 (October 10-14): Sprint 3

Week 8 (October 17-21): Sprint 3

Week 9 (October 24-28): Sprint 4

  • ABET visit (no class)
  • Project update: sprint 3 retrospective

Week 10 (October 31 - November 4): Sprint 4

Week 11 (November 7-11): Sprint 5

Week 12 (November 14-18): Sprint 5

Week 13 (November 21-25): Sprint 6

  • Project update: sprint 5 retrospective
  • November 23-27: Thanksgiving Recess (no classes)

Week 14 (November 28 - December 2): Sprint 6

Week 15 (December 5-9): Release

Week of final exams

  • There is no final exam in this class

Course project

A project is the focal point of this course. Working in teams and following an agile software process, students must coordinate closely with the external client or product owner to design and develop a complex software system meeting the desired functional and non-functional requirements.

Every week, each team will update the class about the current status of their project. Each team will need to briefly address the following during each weekly scrum (WS) sprint review/retrospective (SR):

  1. Briefly introduce your team and project.
  2. What is the timeframe of the current sprint?
  3. For the current week/sprint:
    • What did the team accomplish during the week/sprint?
      SR only: How many story points did you a) plan for and b) completed? Include a demo focusing on the work completed in this sprint.
    • What were the individual contributions of each team member during this week/sprint? Specifically, what were the tasks assigned to each team member and how much each team member was able to accomplish?
    • SR only: What aspects of the sprint (development/technologies/teamwork/etc) worked well for you?
    • What problems did you encounter and how did you resolve them?
    • SR only: What are the lessons learned so far?
    • SR only: What changes will you be making based on the lessons learned?
  4. For the next week/sprint:
    • What are your plans?
    • What challenges do you anticipate?

Sprint retrospectives will follow the same format and but include a brief demo focusing specifically on what was accomplished during that sprint. Be sure to address the amount of work accomplished during the sprint by comparing the number of story points planned vs story points actually completed.

Reading and discussions

During each reading and discussion session, two pairs of students will present alternative points of view on the issues raised in the corresponding reading materials. All students are expected to actively participate in each discussion session by asking questions and expressing their opinions.

Project reflection paper

Each student is required to write a term paper reflecting on their experience with the course project. Formatting requirements: Times New Roman 12 pt font, single spaced, 1 inch margins all around. Minimum length: 3 pages, not including figures, references, etc.

Academic misconduct

All students are expected to demonstrate integrity in the completion of their coursework. Academic integrity means doing one's own work and giving proper credit to the work and ideas of others. It is the responsibility of each student to become familiar with what constitutes academic dishonesty and plagiarism and to avoid all forms of cheating and plagiarism. Students who engage in plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct will face academic and possibly disciplinary consequences. Academic sanctions can range from a reduced grade for the assignment to a failing grade for the course. From a disciplinary standpoint, an Academic Misconduct Report may be filed and a Faculty Hearing Board may impose sanctions such as probation, suspension or expulsion.

For further information on academic misconduct and its consequences, please consult the Student Code of Conduct and the Academic Misconduct Policy.

Attendance

All students are expected to attend class sessions regularly. However, recognizing individual differences, each student is responsible for his/her own attendance and for making-up any missed study or work. Limited assistance will be offered to those with plausible reasons for absences; unexcused absences will result in the student being totally responsible for the make-up process.

Students with disabilities

Central Connecticut State University provides reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for students with documented disabilities on an individualized basis. If you are a student with a documented disability, and would like to request academic accommodations, you are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services (SDS) at 860-832-1952, or email disabilityservices@ccsu.edu. Please visit the SDS website to download an Intake form and documentation requirements. Once approved, SDS suggests that students discuss their approved accommodations with their professors, as well as any other additional medical emergency needs. Temporary impairments may also qualify for accommodations. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and must be requested each semester.

Other statements

Here's a link to a document containing information about other policies and resources.

Grades and evaluation

Students will be evaluated regularly during the semester and should be aware of their progress continuously during the semester. The final course grade will be reported according to the stated University policy.

The final course grade will be calculated according to the following distribution of points:

Course project 40
Teamwork 20
Reading and discussions 20
Project reflection paper 20
Total 100

Course letter grade will be determined as follows:

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F
94-100 90-93.99 87-89.99 84-86.99 80-83.99 77-79.99 74-76.99 70-73.99 67-69.99 64-66.99 60-63.99 0-59.99