Course coordinator
Dr Guowei Yang
Please email me to schedule an appointment for in-person or on-line consultation.
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Elec Engineering & Comp Science School
Software lifecycle as an industrial process, definable, manageable and repeatable. Requirements engineering, object-oriented analysis. Software requirements specification, prototyping, verification and validation, configuration management, maintenance. Software quality, process standards, process improvement. Software engineering tools.
“The software process is the set of tools, methods and practices we use to produce a software product” - Watts Humphrey, Managing the Software Process, 1989
Many software products are developed in an ad-hoc fashion by developers using their own personal methods and techniques. This situation would be acceptable if it reliably produced software products of high quality, at or below the budgeted cost, and on or ahead of schedule.ﾠSadly, this is not the case and the software industry is infamous for projects being over budget and delivered late, and for delivering software that is unreliable.
While there have been improvements over the past fifty years, software development is still considered to be inadequate, unreliable and lacking in the discipline associated with engineering and other comparable professional disciplines. As we increase the size and complexity of the problems that we attempt to solve, so our development process (the way in which we do the work) increases in importance.
This course aims to make students aware of the need of a software engineering process to create an effective, disciplined and professional software development team. Students will be able to select an appropriate process from the range of different processes. Students will see how activities undertaken in other courses fit into a software engineering process and how the tools used in those courses support the process. Students will learn how to identify and manage requirements in a disciplined process.
Course Changes in Response to Previous Student Feedback
The feedback from the first team project will be leveraged to improve the work in the second team project, and less weight is given to the first team project while more weight is given to the second team project. The assessment specification, especially regarding the individual components, is refined to make it less ambiguous.
Course requirements
Assumed background
Students are expected to:
- be able to design a software system, making use of design patterns and design notations (such as UML),
- be able to implement a medium size software application in a modern programming language (e.g. Java),ﾠand
- have experience working in teams to deliver a software product.
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
((COMP2140 or CSSE2002) and (DECO2500 or DECO2800 or DECO2850)) or CSSE3200
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
COMP3500 or COMP7503 or CSSE3002 or CSSE7001
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Guowei Yang
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Pracs start in week 2. Pracs include activities directly related to the continuous assessment. Consequently, it is extremely important that you regularly attend the pracs in which you are allocated.
Aims and outcomes
This course aims to help students learn:
- why the process used for developing software is as important as the product itself,
- how to organise the different activities that are, collectively, required to produce software, and
- how to perform requirements engineering as a critical stage of a development project.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
decompose the overall software lifecycle into appropriate activities and tasks for a software project.
LO2.
decide on an appropriate software process for a particular development task and context.
LO3.
evaluate software engineering activities in the context of established standards.
LO4.
analyse and document system requirements using appropriate requirements engineering techniques, tools and methods.
LO5.
use appropriate quality assurance techniques to manage product and process quality.
LO6.
manage the coordination of team activities to deliver project artefacts.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project |
User Stories
|
12% |
1/04/2025 3:00 pm |
| Presentation |
Research Presentation
|
10% |
29/04/2025 3:00 pm |
| Project |
Use Case Modelling
|
28% |
27/05/2025 3:00 pm |
| Examination |
Final Exam
|
50% |
End of Semester Exam Period 7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025 |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
User Stories
- Team or group-based
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Project
- Weight
- 12%
- Due date
1/04/2025 3:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Peer assessment factor.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L04, L05, L06
Task description
As a small team you will produce a high-level requirements model of a system using user stories.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Assignments are to be submitted online via Blackboard unless otherwise specified for a particular assessment item.
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Teams working in industry are expected to plan to meet their deadlines and allow for contingencies and other issues as they arise through good team management and appropriate redundancy in workload allocation. The same is expected of teams in CSSE3012. In many instances, late submissions of reports, tender documents, etc. will not be accepted. For this reason, this assignment has ADA approval for no extensions or deferrals.
If teams encounter extraordinary difficulties in meeting a deadline, they should contact the course coordinator in advance of the due date. All team submissions received after the one-hour grace period will either; (1) receive a zero mark (or failing grade), or (2) if an earlier version of the team’s work was submitted then this will instead be graded.
Late submission
100% Late Penalty after 1 hour grace period. The one-hour grace period is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Research Presentation
- Hurdle
- Identity Verified
- Mode
- Oral, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 10%
- Due date
29/04/2025 3:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L03
Task description
The presentation is an identity verified assignment. You must provide evidence of your identity (i.e. valid UQ student card or government issued id) at the start of your presentation. The assignment specification provides further details about how to provide your identity for your presentation.
You will conduct independent research on a prescribed software engineering topic and submit a video presentation of your findings. There will be a sign-up process to select your topic for the video. These videos will be made available to other students in the course.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Hurdle requirements
Your final grade will be capped at 2 if you fail to obtain at least 35% of the mark for the research presentation. Your final grade will be capped at 3 if you fail to obtain at least 40% of the mark for the research presentation.Submission guidelines
Assignments are to be submitted online via Blackboard unless otherwise specified for a particular assessment item.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
This course uses a progressive assessment approach where feedback will be released to students within 14 days.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Use Case Modelling
- Hurdle
- Team or group-based
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Project
- Weight
- 28%
- Due date
27/05/2025 3:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Peer assessment factor.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L04, L05, L06
Task description
As a small team you will produce a detailed use case model of the requirements for a system.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Hurdle requirements
Your final grade will be capped at 2 if you fail to obtain at least 35% of the mark for the individual assessment component of the use case modelling project. Your final grade will be capped at 3 if you fail to obtain at least 40% of the mark for the individual assessment component of the use case modelling project.Submission guidelines
Assignments are to be submitted online via Blackboard unless otherwise specified for a particular assessment item.
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Teams working in industry are expected to plan to meet their deadlines and allow for contingencies and other issues as they arise through good team management and appropriate redundancy in workload allocation. The same is expected of teams in CSSE3012. In many instances, late submissions of reports, tender documents etc will not be accepted. For this reason, this assignment has ADA approval for no extensions or deferrals.
If teams encounter extraordinary difficulties in meeting a deadline, they should contact the course coordinator in advance of the due date. All team submissions received after the one-hour grace period will either; (1) receive a zero mark (or failing grade), or (2) if an earlier version of the team’s work was submitted then this will instead be graded.
Late submission
100% Late Penalty after 1 hour grace period. The one-hour grace period is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Final Exam
- Hurdle
- Identity Verified
- In-person
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 50%
- Due date
End of Semester Exam Period
7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025
- Other conditions
- Time limited.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05
Task description
The final exam will be an on-campus, invigilated paper-based exam. Specified materials permitted: Two A4 double-sided sheets of handwritten or typed notes, and a UQ approved calculator. No other materials or computing/communication devices are permitted. You are required to cite resources that you use in answering questions.
This exam will assess your ability to reflect on the content of the course and identify connections between the various topics covered. The exam will also confirm that skills developed in the projects have been retained. Simple verbatim quoting of resource material that does not demonstrate understanding of the question topic will not obtain a passing mark for the question.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Hurdle requirements
Your final grade will be capped at 2 if you fail to obtain at least 35% of the mark for the final exam. Your final grade will be capped at 3 if you fail to obtain at least 40% of the mark for the final exam.Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | (In person) Casio FX82 series only or UQ approved and labelled calculator |
| Open/closed book | Closed Book examination - specified written materials permitted |
| Materials | Two A4 sheets of handwritten or typed notes, double-sided, are permitted |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 19 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 20 - 46 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 47 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
Your final mark will be calculated by adding up your marks for the course assessment (out of 100), and you will be awarded a grade between 1-7 inclusive as described above. Your final mark will be rounded to the nearest whole number before grade cutoffs apply. The course coordinator reserves the right to moderate marks.
For team projects, peer assessment in terms of quality and quantity of the work, reliability, and communication and collaboration may be used to adjust individual marks. Peer assessments will be moderated by the teaching team and their observations of individual's contributions during contact sessions may also be used during the moderation process.
The following hurdles apply to your final grade.
Your final grade will be capped at 2, if you fail to obtain at least 35% of the mark for the
- individual assessment components of the use case modelling project,
- research presentation, and
- final exam
Your final grade will be capped at 3, if you fail to obtain at least 40% of the mark for the
- individual assessment components of the use case modelling project,
- research presentation, and
- final exam
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is not available for some items in this course.
Supplementary assessment will not be available if the reason for achieving a grade of 3 was due to results in team related assessment items (i.e. if your cumulative mark for the User Story Project and the team component of the Use Case Modelling project is less than 50%).
Additional assessment information
Having Troubles?
If you are having difficulties with any aspect of the course material, you should seek help. Speak to your teaching team and/or the course coordinator.
If external circumstances are affecting your ability to work on the course, you should seek help as soon as possible. The University and UQ Union have organisations and staff who are able to help, for example, UQ Student Services are able to help with study and exam skills, tertiary learning skills, writing skills, financial assistance, personal issues, and disability services (among other things).
Complaints and criticisms should be directed in the first instance to the course coordinator. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may bring the matter to the attention of the EECS Director of Teaching & Learning.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
Distribution of Notices
Announcements will be made in lectures, contacts or via Blackboard.ﾠStudents are expected to read Blackboard notices regularly, at least once per week and more frequently close to assessment deadlines.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Lecture |
Content Lectures Lectures on software engineering processes and process activities, quality management and requirements engineering. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05 |
Multiple weeks From Week 2 To Week 13 |
Practical |
Pracs and Assignment Assistance Students will engage in weekly prac sessions for project activities related to the software process. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
School guidelines
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: