Software Engineering (CPTR460) 

Andrews University

Affiliated and Extension Program

UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN

FACULTY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course exposes the student to the fundamental concepts and principles of software planning, construction and implementation. The student is exposed to the software development life cycle; the various activities that occur; methodologies for designing, developing and maintaining effective information systems. It is fundamental to a successful career in Information Technology. Therefore, this course should be viewed as the cornerstone upon which all subsequent IT/ IS activities are based. Skills you learn in this class will be applied throughout your college and IS careers. Consequently, you should expect to work hard in this course to develop these skills.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Students would be introduced to the concept of a System and the different paradigms of software.

1.  To give students an appreciation of the different life cycle models and the phases of a “System Life Cycle”.

2.  To teach students various methods and approaches of  gathering information about a system and determining the problem(s) to be solved.

3.  To help students gain an appreciation of various system/software design approaches; to help students to acquire experience and expertise in analyzing, designing and planning of software.

       4.  To expose students to the challenges of software development and maintenance.           

COURSE TEXTBOOK

·         John W. Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen D. Burd  - Systems Analysis & Design  in a Changing World. Course Technology – 3^rd Edition.  (REQUIRED).

Additional (recommended) resources for the course:

·         K. E. Kendall & J. E. Kendall. Systems Analysis & Design. Prentice Hall Publishing.

·         Whitten, Bentley, Dittman. Systems Analysis and Design Methods. McGraw-Hill – 6^th Edition.

·         James A. O’Brien. Management Information Systems. McGraw-Hill – 5^th Edition.

·         James A. O’Brien. Introduction to Information Systems. McGraw-Hill – 11^th Edition.

·         Ian Sommerville. Software Engineering. Addison Wesley – 6^th Edition.

GRADING POLICY

A minimum grade of C will be recognized for Computer Science majors and D for other students doing the course for appreciation.

COURSE WEIGHTS

COURSE PROCEDURE

1.   Read the textbook. It will be imperative that students observe this assignment for their own good.

2.   Assignments and Tests will be used as a means of reinforcing the student's understanding of material covered in lectures.  As performance on these will contribute to the student's final grade, full participation is expected; consideration will be given to certified, legitimate excuses only.  Late assignments and presentations are acceptable and will therefore have a 50% discount of the total grade of that specific assignment or presentation.

3.   Class Attendance will be very important.  As such, the Class Absence Policy of the CUC will be adhered to. Additionally, students are required to be at class on time. For each absent, the grade of the "Class Attendance" item will be reduced by 2 points (out of 10).

      Remember:

• 3 tardies = 1 absence of class.

• 5 absences and 1 late during the whole semester are the maximum allowed to a student of a three (3) credits course.

4.   Any form or intent of cheating or dishonesty will be severely punished.  All cases of dishonesty or suspected dishonest will be dealt with as outlined in the CUC Handbook.  Cases involving suspected dishonesty will be forwarded to the office of the V.P.  for Student Development for placement in the student’s file.  Cases involving known dishonesty will be handled by the student withdrawing from the class with a failing (F) grade. Christian maturity is assumed of all students.

5.   Since the lectures, grades, assignments specifications, notice board, etc. are in the Official Web Site of the instructor, each student is expected to check for news in the referred site minimum twice a week.

6.   One of the communication channels between the instructor and the student is via E-Mail. Each student is expected to have an active CUC e-mail account address and to check for personal messages from the instructor or other members of the course as minimum once a week.

7.   Every student is expected to build a Web Site for the publication of the Final Project of this course. The Web Site must have a formal and professional look, but must have also a very personal style. Each student is encouraged to build the best Web Site he can do.

8.   The course schedule is subject to changes. Such changes (if any) will be announced in class and will have the same effect as if they were initially in the schedule.

Survival Hints

To do well in this class, you should:

1.   Thoroughly read the pertinent sections in the book both before class and again throughout the week, as some points may not become clear until they have been explained and discussed in class.

2.   Do exercises (you should attempt to do problems not assigned by the instructor).

3.   Feel free to stop the instructor and ask questions when questions arise during class discussions.

4.   Know the theory as well as the practical (i.e., resist the urge to simply learn little snippets of code-learn how to come up with those pieces instead).

5.   Practice!  Programming is as much an art as it is a science, and it does not come quickly unless, you take the time to practice often.

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES

Required independent reading to reinforce prior learning and depth

·         Designing Inputs, Outputs, and Controls

·         Human-Computer Interaction

·         Packaged Software and Enterprise Resource Planning

·         Appendix A

·         Appendix B

·         Appendix C

·         Appendix D

Last Revision: May 2, 2006

*** End of Syllabus ***

Software Engineering (CPTR460)