INFO 425 - Design Problem I
Fall 2014
Professor:
Glenn Booker, Ph.D.
E-mail:
gbooker@drexel.edu - please include course and assignment in subject line
Office and Phone:
Rush 334, 215-895-1004
Office Hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 to 2 pm, or by appointment.
Class Schedule:
Text:
UCROSS 153 on TuTh from 11:00 am to 12:20 pm
None. It is expected that you’ll use materials from previous relevant
courses, e.g. INFO 110, 200, 355, 420, etc.
Additional references and general course information (e.g. grading policies,
etc.) are available on my web site: http://cci.drexel.edu/faculty/gbooker/.
Be sure to read General Course Information!
IEEE standards 830 and 1016 are cited; these can be downloaded using the
links in the week 1 lecture.
Additional
Materials:
Course Objective
INFO 425 and 426 are the capstone sequence for the iSchool. They are designed to be the
culmination of your learning by giving you a chance to demonstrate understanding and
application of skills and techniques from many of the courses that led you here. Because this is a
writing intensive course, there is heavy emphasis on written communication skills.
You will use the same group and same project for INFO 425 and 426. They do not have to be
the same group or project you worked on in INFO 424. Keep this in mind when choosing
teammates – look for people with whom you will also be able to take INFO 426.
Course Overview
Iterative Development – Projects will be developed using a series of short development cycles;
every team must complete 3 cycles over the 2 terms. The two terms for INFO 425 and INFO 426
can be approximately mapped to the phases of the Rational Unified Process.

INFO 425 covers the Inception and Elaboration phases in Cycle 1. The system
requirements are identified, and key risks of the project are resolved during this term.
This includes implementation of the core architecture, and key use cases.

INFO 426 covers the Construction and Transition phases in Cycles 2 and 3. The rest of
the system is developed (or at least more of it), and materials to prepare for deployment
are created, such as user documentation.
Development Artifacts - This course is more clearly defined by the artifacts that student teams
produce (documents, code, etc.) than by lecture topics. Many of these artifacts will be built
cumulatively across the development cycles, as you saw started in INFO 424.
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Project Selection - Each team will develop a system over the two terms. The team can choose
the product, subject to instructor approval. In general, the product must be a reasonable size,
feasible with available resources (including both technology and student ability), and must have
a sponsor or reasonable proxy user. Students may define their own project. The best projects are
those that have real or, at least, virtual customers. Many students have used these classes to
develop systems that have later been used in the real world.
Project Teams: Since software developed in the real world is a team effort, all assignments,
presentations, etc. will be done by teams. Teams will be established by you at the first class
meeting and will consist of 3-4 people per team.
Course Outline
The schedule below is approximate – your team may choose to work on some things sooner, or
add other tasks such as development of prototypes. Course schedule changes, if needed, will be
posted to the course web site.
Week Tuesday is
1
9/23/2014
2
9/30/2014
3
10/7/2014
4
5
6
10/14/2014
10/21/2014
10/28/2014
7
11/4/2014
8
9
10
11/11/2014
11/18/2014
11/25/2014
11
12/2/2014
12
12/9/2014
Focus
Team Formation
Prepare Cycle 1 Launch Report
Prepare Cycle 1 Requirements
Prepare Cycle 1 Requirements
Due Thursday: Cycle 1 Launch Report and Requirements (SRS)
(paper)
Conduct Cycle 1 Design, Test Specification, and Implementation
Conduct Cycle 1 Design, Test Specification, and Implementation
Conduct Cycle 1 Design, Test Specification, and Implementation
Conduct Cycle 1 Design, Test Specification, and Implementation
Due Tuesday: Cycle 1 Demonstration (Presentation and CD)
Due Tuesday: Cycle 1 Design and Test Specification (paper)
Conduct Cycle 1 Post-mortem & prepare Cycle 2 Launch Report
Refine Cycle 2 Requirements
(Mostly holiday)
Due Tuesday: Cycle 2 Launch Report (paper) and Requirements
(SRS) (presentation and paper)
Due Tuesday: Peer Evaluation (email only)
(Finals Week)
For planning purposes, INFO 426 will consist of:



Three weeks for designing and implementing Cycle 2
Seven weeks for launching, refining requirements, designing and implementing Cycle 3
Cycle 3 will include preparing customer documentation
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Course Expectations
The course expectations are similar to those you saw in INFO 424, except now we’re on a much
faster timeline for each Cycle. Each Cycle for INFO 425 and 426 is nominally:




One week for Launch
Two weeks for requirements (SRS) expansion and refinement
Two weeks for design (SDS) expansion and refinement
Two weeks for additional implementation
Call the first cycle of the term Cycle 1 even if you are using the same project you used in
INFO 424; and use the Cycle N Launch report. Consider the previous cycle to be cycle 0.
The project portfolio and peer evaluation processes are the same as used in INFO 424.
Course Assessment and Assignments
Assignments and presentations are weighted as follows:
Activity
Weighting
Due
Written papers
Cycle 1 Launch Report and SRS
15%
10/9/14
Cycle 1 SDS and Test Specification
15%
11/4/14
Cycle 2 Launch Report and SRS
15%
12/2/14
Presentations
Cycle 1 Demonstration (Implementation and Presentation)
15%
11/4/14
Cycle 2 SRS
15%
12/2/14
Individual contribution
25%
100%
There are no tests, quizzes, midterms, or final exam.
Assignments must be submitted both in writing, based on the templates provided, and presented
orally to the class when indicated. There are no page limits, either minimum or maximum, for
the written assignments. A slide show or other visual medium is highly recommended to
augment the oral presentations.
Between class sessions, the instructor will be available for questions via email, during office
hours, or by appointment. It is STRONGLY encouraged that you take advantage of this!
Everyone on a team is generally given the same grade for each assignment, unless special
circumstances apply. Notice that the peer evaluation and presentation grades could result in
different people within a team getting different overall course grades.
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Peer Evaluations
There will a peer evaluation during the term to assess individual contributions toward the term
projects. The Peer Evaluation form must be filled out by each group member to assess
everyone’s participation in the group project – including your selves – and emailed to me.
Presentation Criteria
Presentations are evaluated based on several criteria. Practice your presentations before giving
them to the class, and help check each other for these characteristics.
Individual criteria

Use of appropriate volume, pitch, and tempo (speed or pacing) for speaking.

Understandability of each speaker. Generally you need to speak louder than a normal
conversation and a little slower so that your words don’t run together. Make sure
people in the back of the class can hear and understand you (don’t just focus on
wherever the instructor is sitting!). You may also need to exaggerate articulation of
your words slightly.

Appropriate choice of vocabulary (no jargon, unless defined in the presentation).
o Avoid filler words (er, um, like, you know?). It’s much better to say nothing
briefly than use filler words.

Speak with confidence about your subject. Tell what your team ‘will’ do or ‘have’
accomplished, not what you ‘might’ or ‘could’ do. Being vague conveys weakness.

Avoid inappropriate non-verbal signals (fidgeting and other mannerisms), especially
while others in your team are talking!
Group criteria

Good scope for the presentation. Remember that the purpose of the presentation is to
summarize the subject, not to repeat every word of your written documents.

Keep the presentation within the time allowed (10 minutes per team).

Clear flow (or at least sequence) of the topics being discussed.

Slides or other accompanying visual aids need to use large enough font to be legible
to the whole audience, and the slides should cover key points you wish to emphasize.
Class Meetings
Class time activities will include presentations by project teams, discussions and feedback
related to the project work, and exercises or presentations in areas where students seem to lack
knowledge. During many weeks of the term, the class will not meet as a whole. It is strongly
urged that you use this time to hold team meetings. Teams should arrange for meeting with the
instructor during office hours, or by appointment, during the term to discuss progress on the
assignments and resolve questions.
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The Course Outline section lists the due dates for each of the team project deliverables. Note
that this schedule is subject to change – so check the web site often. (Changes to course materials
will be dated on the course web site if and when they occur.)
Blackboard
Even though this is an in-person class, you have the option of using Blackboard Learn to
coordinate work on the project. Once you have established a group to work with, let me know
who’s in your group, and I’ll create a Group section for you. Only your team (and I) will have
access to your Group– and I won’t monitor it. The only time I will revisit your Group is if you
wish additional Forums created.
The Blackboard Group pages are the location of the project portfolios. All your drafts and
individual contributions to the team should appear in File Exchange, and not just stuffed there at
the end of the term. Your final versions of each paper (Launch report, SRS, and SDS) for each
Cycle should also appear in the File Exchange section.
Retention and Future Use of Student Work
We are working on creating a repository of student work for use in future classes (either as
examples or as the basis for future projects). If there is some reason why your project should not
be part of this repository, please discuss this with the instructor.
Extra work
You may not submit extra work or re-done assignments as a way to improve your grades. Please
put your effort into the scheduled project submissions.
Expect that this class is going to require
SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS of time outside of class.
Writing Intensive
“The Drexel Writing Center is a free resource for all students (graduate and undergraduate) at Drexel. I
encourage you to visit the Writing Center website (http://drexel.edu/engphil/about/DrexelWritingCenter/)
to make appointments with peer readers who can work with you on any part of the writing process for this
class. Peer readers are available at the Writing Center (MacAlister Hall) and at the Hagerty Library. If
you would like to submit your work for electronic peer review, please use the “WCOnline Scheduling
system” found under the “Appointments” section of the Writing Center website
(http://drexel.edu/engphil/about/DrexelWritingCenter/appointments/).”
The Launch reports and Test Specifications are exempt from peer review. The SRS and SDS
documents must include proof of review, either by a Peer Reader from the Writing Center, or
by a classmate outside your team.
Thanks to Profs. TJ Smith and Greg Hislop for most of the syllabus content.
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