CS 316
Software Practicum
Software Practicum
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CS 316
Software Practicum |
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The prerequesite for this course is Computer Science 315, Software Design. In addition the student must be a junior or senior or have the permission of the instructor.
This course is completely focused on the team project. As a result, class meetings will be quite different from those in a typical class. On rare occasions, the instructor may take time to teach material needed for the project. Usually, however, the class meetings will revolve around discussions about the project or serve as times when everyone can work together on the project. Class meetings will often consist of one or more of the following activities:
In general, the course will involve a lot of cooperation, teaching to and learning from each other, and improving communication skills.
While we are all working together, everybody will be doing slightly different things. As a result, this course will not contain the usual, predictable homework assignments found in most courses. Instead, as we delve into this project, tasks will come up and get assigned to people. Grading will be based on how well you perform on your tasks, how well you cooperate and communicate with the others in the class and the client.
It is likely that different students will become expert in different activities as the semester progresses. For example, one person might be more involved in user interface design and development while another person becomes more familiar with JSP or some other server technology. While the nature of the work will vary from person to person, I expect the level of effort to be the same for everyone. It is your responsibility to keep track of how much time you put into the project so that tasks can be handed out equitably. I expect you each to spend at least 8 hours each week on the project, but no more than 10 hours each week.
In addition, there will be some routine tasks that will arise and people will need to take turns doing. For example, there will be an official notetaker each time we do some project work together. This notetaking role will rotate through the students. You will also be expected to submit written progress reports at each class.
Grading will be based on the following criteria:
Class participation is essential. Obivously, if you are ill or some other emergency arises, you should not come to class. Barring that, you are expected to be at each class session.
Copies of handouts and homework assignments will be available on the course web site. The home page for this course is http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~blerner/cs316/. We also have an Ella page for the course. I encourage you to use the Blogger, Chat room, or Wiki to communicate with each other.
It's probably hard to violate the honor code in this class! Beware of plagiarism. If you use code written by someone else, be sure it is an acceptable use and be sure to give credit to the developer.