CSIS 321 · Software Engineering

CSIS 321 Software Engineering

Course Description

An introduction to the formal processes and industry-standard tools used in producing quality software. The entire life cycle of software development is presented and utilized. Students work in teams to specify, design, implement, test, release, and maintain a non-trivial software project using a modern software development methodology.

Instructor

Jasmine Gnanadurai
Office hours: Wood-Mar 222 (see schedule)

Texts

required

F. Tsui, O. Karam, and B. Bernal, Essentials of Software Engineering, 3rd Ed. Jones & Burlington, MA: Barlett Learning, 2013.
ISBN: 1449691994.
Ian Sommerville, Software Engineering, 10th Edition, 2016, Pearson.
ISBN-13: 9780133943030.
Access the textbook

optional

F. P. Brooks, Jr., The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Ed. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Professional, 1995.
ISBN: 0201835959

Resources

Objectives

This course will introduce you to the theories and practices of software engineering.This course is the near end-product of a computer science degree. The vast majority of the CSIS degree is obtaining knowledge and tools which you apply in some capacity to solve problems. Software engineering is the application of that knowledge and those tools. A formal definition: software engineering (SWE) is the systematic development, operation, maintenance, and retirement of software. This course is designed to give you the big overview of SWE. Each topic within this course could easily be (and is at some large universities) the topic of an entire semester-long course.

Course Organization

Attendance and participation are critical in this course. This course requires group work on software project; group membership is therefore mandatory. Once the projects start, groups will be set for the remainder of the course. You will have the opportunity to vote for your preferred project.

Groups will use a modern software process methodology to design and implement a non-trivial software project. This will include numerous weekly deliverables; participation from each individual group member will be assessed. Moreover, the overall success of the project will be assessed for the group as a whole.

The course will include regular homework and/or programming assignments. There will be no credit given for late assignments (without an excused absence)—turn in as much as you can. Unless otherwise specified, no handwritten work will be accepted.

Reading should be completed before the lecture covering the material per the provided schedule. Not all reading material will be covered in the lectures, but you will be responsible for the material on homework and exams. Quizzes over the assigned reading may be given at any time.

Collaboration and Academic Integrity

See the GFU CS/IS/Cyber policies for collaboration and discussion of collaboration and academic integrity. See also the university's policy on the use of generative AI and related tools in an academic setting. Most students would be surprised at how easy it is to detect collaboration or other academic integrity violations such as plagiarism in programming—please do not test us! Remember: you always have willing and legal collaborators in the faculty. We encourage you to ask questions in class, ask for help in the CS lab, use the class mailing list, and visit office hours for assistance.

Unless otherwise specified (e.g., for a group assignment or project), you are expected to do your own work. This also applies to the use of online resources (e.g., solution guides), help forums (e.g., StackOverflow), and generative models (e.g., ChatGPT). Put simply: if you are representing someone (or something) else's work as your own, you are being dishonest. Any suspected incidents of academic integrity violations will be investigated and reported to the Academic Affairs Office as they arise.

Almost all of life is filled with collaboration (i.e., people working together). Yet in our academic system, we artificially limit collaboration. These limits are designed to force you to learn fundamental principles and build specific skills. It is very artificial, and you'll find that collaboration is a valuable skill in the working world. While some of you may be tempted to collaborate too much, others will collaborate too little. When appropriate, it's a good idea to make use of others—the purpose here is to learn. Be sure to make the most of this opportunity but do it earnestly and with integrity.

Oral Defense Policy

I may require an oral defense for any assignment at my discretion. This is a brief meeting where you explain and defend your submitted work. This process mirrors the business world, where professionals routinely present and defend their analyses to supervisors and clients, and ensures your work represents authentic learning. If required, you must schedule and complete your defense within 72 hours of notification to receive a non-failing grade; without the defense, you will receive a zero on the assignment. If the work product is a group submission, all team members must be present at the meeting. Routine scheduling conflicts (work, other classes, social commitments) do not qualify for extensions. Be prepared to summarize your arguments, explain your methodology, defend your conclusions with evidence, and answer questions about your work and your problem solving process. You should be ready to articulate and defend the rationale behind your work.

University Resources

Accessibility and Disability

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please contact Disability & Accessibility Services (DAS) as early as possible so that your learning needs can be appropriately met. For more information, go to georgefox.edu/das or contact das@georgefox.edu.

My desire as a professor is for this course to be welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including students who are English-language learners, have a variety of learning styles, have disabilities, or are new to online learning systems. Be sure to let me know immediately if you encounter a required element or resource in the course that is not accessible to you. Also, let me know of changes I can make to the course so that it is more welcoming to, accessible to, or usable by students who take this course in the future.

Academic Resource Center

The Academic Resource Center (ARC) on the Newberg campus provides all undergraduate students with free writing consultation, academic coaching, and learning strategy review (e.g., techniques to improve reading, note-taking, study, time management). The ARC offers in-person appointments; if necessary, Zoom appointments can be arranged by request. The ARC, located on the first floor of the Murdock Library, is open during the academic year from 1:00–9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 12:00–4:00 p.m. on Friday. To schedule an appointment, click on the TracCloud icon on the Canvas dashboard, go to traccloud.georgefox.edu, call 503-554-2327, email the_arc@georgefox.edu, or stop by the ARC. Visit arc.georgefox.edu for information about ARC Consultants' areas of study, instructions for scheduling an appointment, learning tips, and a list of other tutoring options on campus.

Student Support Network

George Fox University uses a robust referral and support system, Fox360, to learn about students who are experiencing various student success concerns. Students who are referred by a professor, other employee, or fellow student will be contacted by a member of our Student Support Network to explore the student's situation, develop a plan, and connect with relevant campus resources. GFU community members who have a concern about a student's well-being can submit an alert by going to fox360.georgefox.edu. Our goal is to provide 360° care for students as they navigate their college experience. For more information see ssn.georgefox.edu or contact Rick Muthiah, Director of Learning Support Services.

Health and Safety Considerations

Please review the entirety of the university's official COVID-19 web page for the most up-to-date community guidance.

Grading

Grading Scale

The final course grade will be based on:

20% In-class activities
30% Exams
50% Group project

Topic: Design and Implmentation
Reading: _
Project: Testing and CLI

Week 12–13

Topic: Software Testing
Reading: _
Project: _

Week 13

Thu

Topic: Thanksgiving break—no classes
Reading: _
Project: _

Week 14

Tue

Topic: Refactoring and software quality; project wrap-up work
Reading: _
Project: _

Thu

Topic: Final project presentations and Live demo
Reading: _
Project: _

Week 15

Topic: Final project presentations and Live demo
Reading: _
Project: _

Week 16

Topic: Final exam
Reading: _
Project: _

Week	Day	Topic	Reading	Project
Week 1	Tue	Introduction	-	_
	Thu	Software engineering diversity: case studies of software failures and successes	_	Pre-project proposal
Week 2	Tue	Software process models	_	_
	Thu	Process activities; specification,design,implementation,validation,evolution	_	Gallery Walk
Week 3	Tue	Agile methods; scrumframework,agileprojectmanagement	What is Agile	Project Proposal
	Thu	Agile and plan-driven development tradeoffs; scaling agaile methods	Learn Scrum	_
Week 4	Tue	Functional and non-functional requirements; the software requirements document	_	Team Setup
	Thu	Requirements elicitation and analysis techniques	_	_
Week 5	Tue	Requirements specification and validation	User scenarios	_
	Thu	Requirements management and traceability	_	Requirements & Team policies
Week 6	Tue	Data modeling	_	_
	Thu	Best practices	_	_
Week 7	Tue	Mid-term review	_	_
	Thu 10/09	Mid-term exam	_	_
Week 8	Tue	Git and version control	SW Design theory: Git case study(sections 1-6)	_
	Thu	Architectural and design	_	Architecture and Design
Week 9	Tue	Build systems	_	_
	Thu	Application architectures	_	_
Week 10–11		Design and Implmentation	_	Testing and CLI
Week 12–13		Software Testing	_	_
Week 13	Thu	Thanksgiving break—no classes	_	_
Week 14	Tue	Refactoring and software quality; project wrap-up work	_	_
	Thu	Final project presentations and Live demo	_	_
Week 15		Final project presentations and Live demo	_	_
Week 16		Final exam	_	_

This page was last modified on 2026-08-08 at 22:33:14.

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