- Prerequisites:
- senior standing; open only to CSC and CMIS majors.
- Official Course description:
-
Form teams and apply expertise from other CSC courses in solving substantial real-world
information systems problems. Each team will research, propose, design, implement, and
report on solutions to one or more such problems, with careful and professional-quality
documentation at each step.
- More details:
-
You'll each spend most of the semester (either individually or in a team of two) working
on a single project, preferably one with a Real Client (a person or organization, not a CS
professor, who actually wants the project done). This will give you not only experience
translating what a non-computer-scientist says (s)he wants into what (in CS terms) the
client actually wants, but also a substantial product that you can show off to prospective
employers. Along the way, you'll need to apply skills you've learned in various CS and/or
Business classes along the way -- programming, system analysis, software engineering,
databases, networking, security, etc. as appropriate to the project you choose.
You'll report back to the class and to your client at several steps along the way:
requirements analysis, initial design, prototype, and one or more "real" versions. There
will be no exams, except an "assessment exam" (see below).
- Goals of the Course
- Recall, integrate, and apply techniques learned from many previous courses
- Build a project of significant scope (which you can show off to potential employers)
- Gain experience working with a Real Client
- Gain experience in technical writing and oral presentation
- Provide data for Department and University to assess themselves
- What's a “Capstone”?
This course serves as the “capstone experience” of the CS and CMIS majors.
This means three things:
- You'll need to recall and use skills you've learned in other CS and/or
Business courses
(e.g. programming, languages, Unix, algorithms & data structures,
software engineering, systems analysis, databases, networking, security, GUI, game programming)
in order to complete your project.
- The Department uses your performance on projects and a standardized "assessment exam"
to evaluate how well the CS curriculum is working, so we can improve it for future classes of
students. For example, if there's a particular CS topic on which many students do poorly,
it tells us we need to change the way we teach and emphasize that topic.
- The University uses your performance on projects to evaluate how well the Adelphi
General Education curriculum (you know, "written and oral communication," "quantitative
reasoning," "information literacy," "critical and analytic thinking", "global learning,"
"civic engagement," "artistic understanding and expression") is working, so we can improve
it for future classes of students. For example, if many of the writing assignments turned in for
this course are ungrammatical or incoherent, it tells us we need to change the way we teach
and emphasize writing.
After the class is over,
Adelphi professors from a variety of departments may read your project materials.
Since they care more about the “average” student than your
individual performance,
they won't see your name, and the results will have no effect on your grade.
- Tentative Schedule
-
- Week 1: Choose projects; form teams; write project proposal
and have it accepted by professor
- Weeks 2-4: Requirements analysis; write detailed requirements document,
including identifying stakeholders and impacts on them;
present to class. Also present to client (if you have one), to confirm that you've
understood things correctly.
- Weeks 4-5: Develop initial design, with what features to implement in what order;
present "design walkthrough" to class
- Weeks 5-7: Develop working prototype.
Present to class; be prepared to walk through some code. Demonstrate to client for feedback.
- Weeks 8-10: Develop next major version.
Present to class; be prepared to walk through some code. Demonstrate to client for feedback.
- Weeks 11-14: Develop final version.
Present to class; be prepared to walk through some code. Demonstrate and turn over to client.
- Grading / Deliverables
-
- 5% Project proposal (due by Jan. 31)
- 10% Requirements document & presentation (due by Feb. 14)
- 10% Initial design & presentation (due by Feb. 28)
- 20% For each version (due Mar. 14, Apr. 11, May 7 respectively),,
- Behavioral specification
- User's manual
- Testing plan
- Design (e.g. UML diagrams, discussion of issues, evaluation of
alternative solutions)
- Implementation (e.g. source code)
- Test results
- Development log
- In-class presentation
- 5% Critical self-reflection (what was learned, personal strengths and
weaknesses, connections to prior experience and goals, team performance).
- 5% References (e.g. course materials, textbooks, reliable online sources)
- 5% Assessment exam (primarily for the Department's benefit; we count it towards your
grade so you take it seriously)
- Readings:
Readings as necessary to complete the project. This may
involve consulting previous course materials, textbooks, the library, and
reliable online sources.
In addition, we'll go through about half of the Crookshanks textbook, Practical Tools
and Techniques for Software Development, in the first half of the semester.
You may use either the 2nd or the 3rd edition
(the sequence of chapters is the same, and the content is mostly the same).
- Special Accommodations:
- According to the University Statement on
Accommodations or Adaptations Needed: If you are a qualified student with a
disability seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disability Act, you
are required to self-identify with the Office of Disability Services, 3rd
floor, University Center. Please see me as soon as possible for special
arrangements, seating and other accommodations if necessary.
- Integrity and Academic Honesty:
- Integrity is a crucial part both of the academic experience
and of professional conduct (especially relevant to
this course, your gateway to the professional world).
I expect you to be honest with me in all conversations and
discussions and to treat me and fellow students with respect. You
also must observe the University Academic Integrity Policy:
academics.adelphi.edu/policies/honesty.php. You must always
do your own work, and you may never plagiarize or cheat on tests
or papers. Follow the guidelines in this syllabus and any others
provided during the semester. Unless otherwise specified (e.g. team
project), all work you turn in must be completed by you. Failure
to do so could lead to an "F" in the course and even
expulsion from the University. By taking
the course and by attending Adelphi University, you agree to these conditions -
please see me at any time with questions.