CSC 480 - Senior Seminar in Information Systems

Dr. R. M. Siegfried

214 Post Hall (516)877-4482 siegfrie@adelphi.edu

Office hours:M 2:00-4:00PM; WF 12:00-2:00PM

Course Home Page | Announcements | Syllabus | Course Resources | Assignments

Prerequisites

Senior standing - Computer Science and CMIS majors only

Course description

This "capstone" course requires students to apply their classroom work to one or more substantial real-world problems, typically through teams of students researching, proposing, designing, implementing, and reporting on solutions to specific information systems problems. This course requires completion of a major computer science project (involving approximately 15 hrs/week of work). Students may find their own project, within or outside the school; otherwise a project will be assigned.

The Capstone Experience Pilot

To help the University measure how well its General Education program is working, Adelphi professors other than yours may read sample projects from this course after the course ends. They won't see your name, and the results will have no effect on your grade.

Tentative Schedule

Weeks 1-2: Projects chosen/assigned; working groups formed.
Weeks 2-3: Requirements analysis, culminating in a detailed requirements document.
Week 4: Plan what features to implement in what order; outline sequence of versions.
Weeks 5-12: Design and implement product, as a sequence of successively more-powerful versions, starting with a "prototype". Each version must have a behavioral specification, user's manual, testing plan, design, implementation, test results, and development log.
Weeks 7-8: Oral presentations to the rest of the class, with demonstration of the prototype.
Weeks 13-15: If possible, deliver product to actual end-users. Support installation, training, and bug fixes (if necessary, but plan to finish debugging before this point). If there are no end users outside of class, I will play the role of end-user. Finally, we will perform a "code walk-through" (or analogue, in non-software-development projects) one-on-one with the instructor; if you are working as part of a team, you are still responsible for understanding those parts completed by your partner(s).

Grading / Deliverables

10%	Weekly submission of progress reports
5%	Project proposal and outline of versions
10%	Requirements document
10%	Demo of prototype
10%	Oral presentation
25%	For each version Behavioral specification User's manual Testing plan Design (e.g. UML diagrams, discussion of issues, valuation of alternative solutions) Implementation Test results Development log
10%	Demo of final version
10%	Code walk-through of final version
5%	Critical self-reflection (what was learned, personal strengths and weaknesses, connections to prior experience and goals).
5%	References (e.g. course materials, textbooks, reliable online sources)

Assignments

Assignments are to be done individually unless specified otherwise, e.g. team project. Timely submission is very important in order to complete the project on-time. Note that part of the grade is based on weekly submission of progress reports.

Readings

Readings as necessary to complete the project. This may involve consulting previous course materials, textbooks, the library, and reliable online sources.

NB

This class will NOT meet on Wednesday, April 20 and Monday, April 25. We will make up the classes on Monday April 11 and Tuesday May 10 (if there are no snow closures).

Integrity and Academic Honesty

All students are expected to conform to the University's standards of academic integrity. Violations of these standard, including (but not limited to) plagiarism or misconduct during exams, will be dealt with in accordance with University regulations and procedures.