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Monash University

FIT5136 Software engineering - Semester 1, 2014

This unit provides an introduction to the discipline of software engineering at the postgraduate level. The emphasis is upon a broad coverage of various aspects of software engineering. We assume the students will at this stage have adequate programming skills and are able to put theories to practice. The notion of a software system as a model or approximation of a desired system is introduced, and used as a way of describing such things as the software life cycle and its various models, programming by contract, design and testing issues, maintenance, reuse, complexity, divide and conquer strategies, metrics and measurement, project management and software legacy.

Mode of Delivery

Caulfield (Day)

Workload Requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

  • Two hours of lectures
  • One 2-hour tutorial

(b.) Additional requirements (all students):

  • A minimum of 8 hours independent study per week for completing lab and project work, private study and revision.

Unit Relationships

Prerequisites

FIT5131 or FIT9017 or equivalent

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Caulfield

Chris Ling

Your feedback to Us

Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:

www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit students should be able to:
  • describe the breadth and nature of the discipline of software engineering;
  • explain the effect and implications of complexity in large software systems;
  • describe the issues in constructing large software systems from its components, and the nature and design of these components;
  • use basic modelling techniques to define and describe the behaviour of software systems;
  • employ group working skills in solving software development problems;
  • describe the wider software engineering context, software engineering processes and the responsibilities of software engineers.

Unit Schedule

Week Activities Assessment
0 Check your lab class enrolments No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1 Introductions No prac/lab this week. Prac/Lab classes start in Week 2
2 Software Life-cycle Models Assessment task 1: Weekly quizzes (Weeks 2-12) to be submitted via Moodle, closing each Wednesday before 11.59pm. Assessment task 2: Practical class assessments - Weekly in Lab classes.
3 Requirements  
4 Analysis  
5 Dynamic Modelling  
6 Design  
7 Modules  
8 Testing  
9 Implementation  
10 Formal Methods  
11 Ethics  
12 Tools/Review Assessment task 3: Work Folio due Friday
  SWOT VAC No formal assessment is undertaken in SWOT VAC
  Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.

Teaching Approach

Lecture and tutorials or problem classes
This teaching and learning approach helps students to initially encounter information at lectures, discuss and explore the information during tutorials, and practice in a hands-on lab environment.

Assessment Summary

Examination (3 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Weekly Quizzes 5% Weekly, on-line, before 11.59pm Wednesday (Week 2 to Week 12)
Practical class assessments 30% Weekly in lab classes (Week 2 to 12)
Work Folio 5% Friday, Week 12
Examination 1 60% To be advised

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Weekly Quizzes
    Description:
    Weekly on-line quizzes. These will be open on-line each week and should be completed by Wednesday of the following week.
    Weighting:
    5%
    Criteria for assessment:

    Correct answers demonstrating basic knowledge and understanding of course material.

    Due date:
    Weekly, on-line, before 11.59pm Wednesday (Week 2 to Week 12)
    Remarks:
    Each quiz will cover material from the previous week's lecture.
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Practical class assessments
    Description:
    Range of tasks, including team exercises, software design,implementation.  
    Some work will be assessed individually, whereas for some assessment activities, students will work in pairs.
    Weighting:
    30%
    Criteria for assessment:

    For group work, some marks will be for the group as a whole, some for an individual's contribution; details will be specified in the assessment task description. 
    Some tasks will be assessed in the lab class itself. When marking is done outside the lab, in most cases students must submit their work at the end of the lab class. Details will be given with each lab class description provided each week.

    Due date:
    Weekly in lab classes (Week 2 to 12)
  • Assessment task 3
    Title:
    Work Folio
    Description:
    Students must produce a range of documents (text, UML diagrams, code, etc) from tutorial and laboratory class activities. These will be collected in a Google Documents folder that will form an "eFolio". A more detailed decription of the requirements for the eFolio will be available on the unit Moodle site.
    Weighting:
    5%
    Criteria for assessment:

    A set of guidelines for the eFolio is provided online.
    Criteria for assessing the folio are:

    1. Inclusion of all specified documents (completeness)
    2. Appropriateness of contents and presentation
    3. Organisation
    Due date:
    Friday, Week 12

Examinations

  • Examination 1
    Weighting:
    60%
    Length:
    3 hours
    Type (open/closed book):
    Open book
    Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
    None

Learning resources

Reading list

Recommended (good general "classic" software engineering texts):

  • Pressman, R. S. (2010). Software Engineering - A practitioner's approach, McGraw-Hill. 
  • Sommerville, I. (2011). Software Engineering, Addison-Wesley.
  • Satzinger, J.W, Jackson, R.B., S. D. Burd (2005). Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with the Unified Process, Course Technology.

Also, for the "Ethics" topic, the reading will be Chapter 8 from Michael J. Quinn. Ethics for the Information Age, 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2011 (available electronically from the Monash library reading list).

Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Faculty of Information Technology Style Guide

Feedback to you

Examination/other end-of-semester assessment feedback may take the form of feedback classes, provision of sample answers or other group feedback after official results have been published. Please check with your lecturer on the feedback provided and take advantage of this prior to requesting individual consultations with staff. If your unit has an examination, you may request to view your examination script booklet, see http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/procedures/request-to-view-exam-scripts.html

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

  • Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes
  • Graded assignments with comments
  • Graded assignments without comments
  • Quiz results
  • Solutions to tutes, labs and assignments

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

Resubmission of assignments

If students do not attend a laboratory class, they cannot submit work for that assessment later. Late or resubmissions may be permitted at the discretion of the demonstrator or lecturer, for example if there have been technical difficulties during the laboratory class.

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an online quiz). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Prescribed text(s)

Limited copies of prescribed texts are available for you to borrow in the library.

Stephen R. Schach. (2008). Object-Oriented Software Engineering. (1st Edition) McGraw-Hill (ISBN: 978-0-07-352333-0).

Recommended Resources

Note: Schach's "Object-Oriented & Classical Software Engineering", 7th Edition and 8th Edition are very similar, and can be used in place of the prescribed textbook mentioned above. 

Examination material or equipment

The exam will be an "open book" exam. Students may bring in textbooks, any of the unit teaching material and any notes they have made themselves. More details will be provided on the unit website prior to the exam.

Other Information

Policies

Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html

Key educational policies include:

Faculty resources and policies

Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/

Graduate Attributes Policy

Student Charter

Student services

Monash University Library

Disability Liaison Unit

Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis.

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