SOFTENG 701 : Advanced Software Engineering Development Methods

Engineering

2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Advanced studies in methods and techniques for developing complex software systems including topics in software engineering environments, advanced software design, tool construction and software architectures. The core taught skills are extended by individual projects in which independent research is undertaken to address challenging software system problems.

Course Overview

The motivation for SOFTENG 701 is to make you a better object-oriented programmer, by teaching you some advanced Software Engineering development topics. These topics are considered advanced because a certain degree of experience in software development is needed to fully appreciate their value; being aware of these topics will prove invaluable in the development of complex applications. The course covers two themes to address this goal, as outlined below.

Theme 1: Good Design [Tentative, and might be different in 2024]
It is an article of faith among many software developers that "Design Matters" - that the choice of design of the software can make a difference to various aspects of a software system. This belief is indicated by slogans such as "Gotos considered harmful", "Favor object composition over class inheritance", and "Design Patterns Rule!" (to paraphrase many things said about Design Patterns). The problem is, mostly these slogans aren’t followed: everyone uses gotos all the time, many use inheritance when they could use composition, and very little code that’s written follows a design pattern. So what’s going on? The problem with slogans is that they are necessarily simple and the truth is almost always very complex so the slogans are not enough to really help us do "Good Design". The primary goal of this part of the course is to go beyond the slogans to investigate what good design might mean, and improve our understanding of what it should mean. More specifically, we will:
  • Learn a little bit of history of thinking on good design - where did some design ideas come from and are they still valid
  • Learn some new ideas about how to do good design - what other cool ways are there to do designs
  • Learn a little bit on how to evaluate how good a design is - we have a design, but how do we know it is any good
  • See a few bad designs - how to recognise known bad designs.
Coursework for this theme will consist of some or all of the following: writing code, reading lots of code, reading research papers and writing reports on all of the above.

Theme 2: Developing Software with Educational Theory
It is an important skill in a Software Engineer’s toolkit to be able to develop artifacts that are well supported by educational theory to ensure their users can learn effectively. Users are constantly learning; how do they navigate a website, how do they perform a task in an app, how can they teach others to use the software. These are all aspects that can be enhanced by applying a good understanding of educational theory. This is particularly important for education-based applications, however, much of this theory is applicable across a broad range of projects. You will also learn about the importance of incorporating Sustainability and Ethics principles into your design. In this section, your learning will be applied in a group project to design and develop your own software artifact. 
 In particular we will:
  • Learn about different educational theories and why they are important in a Software Engineering context.
  • Learn how to analyse existing software.
  • Work in medium to large groups to develop a tool using the educational theory you have studied.
  • Learn and apply effective ways to discuss and present your outputs.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: COMPSYS 302 or SOFTENG 306

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand different educational theories and how to apply them within a software engineering context. (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
  2. Analyse software artifacts to evaluate their effectiveness. (Capability 3.2 and 4.2)
  3. Develop a software artifact in a group setting, using your understanding of educational theory. (Capability 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1 and 7.1)
  4. Synthesise educational literature and present findings in a report. (Capability 4.1, 4.2, 6.1 and 7.1)
  5. Learn and apply some new ideas about how to do good design - what other cool ways are there to do designs (Capability 3.1, 3.2, 4.1 and 4.2)
  6. Learn and apply how to evaluate how good a design is and how to recognise known bad designs. (Capability 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.1)
  7. Learn a little bit of history of thinking on good design - where did some design ideas come from and are they still valid. (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
  8. Present and discuss findings and outputs to an audience. (Capability 6.1 and 7.1)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Assignments 80% Group & Individual Coursework
Test 20% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Assignments
Test

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For each week in this course, you can expect 3 hours of lectures and 7 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Lectures will be available as recordings. 
The course may include live online events including group discussions.
Attendance on campus is required for the test and project discussions.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Readings for the course will be made available on Canvas.

Health & Safety

Students must ensure they are familiar with their Health and Safety responsibilities, as described in the university's Health and Safety policy. In this course, as elsewhere on campus, students must comply with all University health and safety protocols. There are no labs associated with this course, so there are no special health and safety requirements.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

The course is improved each year based on student feedback. Given that the course will have a new teaching team for one of the Themes, there will be changes in place that are yet to be finalised. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Diversity: We embrace diversity of age, background, beliefs, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, and other visible and non-visible categories. The teaching team and the University of Auckland have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination. If you experience or know of discrimination, you have many options for support and/or reporting; see https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/equity-at-the-university/about-equity/zero-tolerance-for-discrimination.html. You are also welcome to contact the teaching team with concerns.

Names/Pronouns: You deserve to be addressed in the manner you prefer. To help the teaching team address you properly, you are welcome to tell us your pronoun(s) and/or preferred name at any time, either in person or via email.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 09/11/2023 08:48 p.m.