Instructor: Dr. Josef M. Breutzmann Office: BHS 218 Phone: 352-8342
Office Hours: Daily 8:30 - 9:30 and Tue 2:00-3:00 and before and after class on Tuesday evening.
Course Meeting Time: Tuesday at 6:30-9:30 p.m. plus individual weekly meeting time
Course Prerequisite(s)
Computer Science or Computer Information Systems Major in final Winter term at Wartburg.
Textbook(s)
None required. The student will need a systems analysis or software engineering text for an early assignment, and as a general guideline for the term. Other resources will depend upon the project selected/assigned.
Course Description
The goal of CS 460: Systems Design Project is to have the student design and implement a computer hardware/software system of complexity consistent with the length of the course (approx 120 hours/person) and their prior training. The student will also develop organizational skills necessary to work independently on a semester long project. The student will learn to find and identify useful resources for their project and learn to work in an environment which is less structured than their previous programming courses.
The course serves a variety of similar clienteles, CS majors, CIS majors, MIS minors and possibly CS minors. Projects are individualized with this in mind.
Course Expectations
The student, under the supervision of the instructor and a project supervisor will select, design and implement a computer hardware and/or software system. The project will be selected with the expectation that the student will average approx 10 hours in each of the 12 weeks spent on the project. If appropriate "real" projects are not available then the instructor or project supervisor will propose project simulations. Larger projects may be done in teams. Students will be expected to supply weekly progress reports including a log of project related activity. The student will meet weekly (in person or virtually) with the instructor/class to review progress and present the goals for the next week.
The student will produce a final project report. This is expected to be a significant document which will discuss the purpose, design, implementation and use of the project. The student will also present an oral report to their peers and also present a poster at the Winter Term research poster session.
In addition to weekly updates and the final project document, other documents and assignments include a review of the systems development life cycle, an initial project proposal (oral and written), and a midterm progress report (oral and written).
Grading
Students will negotiate the project level with the instructor during the first week(s) of class.These negotiations will provide the negotiated maximum project grade, or NMPG. It is better to propose a "B+ level" project and follow it through to completion than it is to propose an "A++ level" project and fail to achieve most of the goals. Conversely however, proposing a project too easily within the student's current knowledge and skill level will result in a lower NMPG.
The final grading will be based on the NMPG and how well the team achieved their goals both technically and managerially. Late assignments, inadequate assignments and failing to meet basic project objectives will result in varying numbers of (for lack of a beater word) "strikes", "demerits" or "missed opportunities". Each set of three (3) "strikes" will result in the loss of one grade step (i.e. A to A-).