CS3003 Software Engineering

Department of Computer Science

Undergraduate Study Guide for 2020/21

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Module details
Access to support material and additional information
Introduction/aims/background
Learning outcomes
Method of teaching
Lecture Seminar Programme
Reading List
Assessment
Deliverables and Feedback - important dates
Additional Vital Information

MODULE DETAILS
Module Leader Professor Steve Counsell
Department Computer Science
Credits 20
Other staff Dr Giuseppe Destefanis
3 GTAs
Contact and private study time Lectures 11 hours
Labs/Seminars 15 hours
Coursework Study 60 hours
General Study 114 hours
Total 200 hours
Assessment Method                    Coursework and Examination.
Coursework             Task 1 – Threshold coursework.
Examination            Task 2 – Unseen examination to determine final
module grade.     

ACCESS TO SUPPORT MATERIAL AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The majority of the teaching, learning and support material is provided electronically via the University’s
system. Note that the details provided in this study guide are based on the formal module syllabus for this
module which sets out the agreed content, learning outcomes, assessment and teaching methods. Module
syllabus and scheme of studies documents for your programme of study can be found by on the University’s
Quality Assurance web pages.

INTRODUCTION/AIMS/BACKGROUND
Software engineering is a discipline concerned with the development and maintenance of useful software
which conforms to agreed quality standards. The process of developing quality software is a challenge
informed by many software engineering issues. The main aims of the module are first, to provide a grounding
in topics that directly influence the quality of software; second, to provide an understanding of the key
artifacts that inform software quality both from a process and product perspective; in particular, the use of
and application of software metrics. Finally, the module aims to articulate the state-of-the-art in terms of
topics such as code analysis, software structure and software testing.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Whatever module or programme of study you are studying for at Brunel University London, there are learning
outcomes (LO) that you must meet/achieve in order to be awarded the credits which comprise the module
and programme of study. In order to get a pass grade (D- or above) in this module, you must meet these
learning outcomes below, that is, you must demonstrate ability to:

LO1: Describe the attributes of quality software and the implications of poorly designed software.

LO2: Describe and evaluate the processes and techniques which may be used to produce quality software
and be able to create software artefacts which display these attributes.

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LO3: Critically evaluate, select and appraise software metrics in order to assess software process and product
attributes.

METHOD OF TEACHING

The module will be delivered through the use of lectures, practical workshops and seminars as follows:

Term 1: there will be a weekly one-hour lecture that will look at the core topics in the module. During Term 1
there will also be one-hour practical lab sessions and one-hour seminar sessions. Labs and seminars will focus
mainly on techniques for the analysis of software. Understanding and applying these techniques are crucial to
you achieving a pass grade in your coursework. The effectiveness of the labs and seminars depends critically
on your doing the preparatory work. Attendance at the lectures, labs and seminars is compulsory.

As is the case for all modules in higher education, you will need to do significant private study – you can do
this by yourself, with others in the class or (more likely) a combination of the two. We expect you to read
texts and journal papers related to the topics covered in the module, including but not limited to reading that
we will set for you. You will also have to prepare for each seminar. At this level of study, you are expected to
not only understand a topic but to be able to apply this knowledge in a critical and reflective manner. Reading
around the topics will be greatly beneficial in developing your understanding of software engineering and will
support you in the assessment tasks.

LECTURE /SEMINAR PROGRAMME

This module has been scheduled to run during Term 1 and the lectures are scheduled as follows NOTE the
dates are week commencing.

Term 1
Week Lecture Topic Lecturer Week Commencing
1 Introducing the module and Software Steve Counsell 28th Sept.
Engineering
2 Software maintenance and Evolution Steve Counsell 5th Oct.
3 Software metrics Steve Counsell 12th Oct.
4 Test-driven development Giuseppe Destefanis 19th Oct.
5 Software structure, refactoring and Steve Counsell 26th Oct.
code smells
6 Software complexity Steve Counsell 2nd Nov.
Coursework released 3rd Nov.
7 ASK week N/A 9th Nov
8 Software fault-proneness Steve Counsell 16th Nov.
9 Clean code Steve Counsell 23th Nov.
10 Human factors in software engineering Giuseppe Destefanis 30th Nov.
11 SE techniques applied in action Steve Counsell 7th Dec.
12 Guest Lecture (tba) Guest Lecture 14th Dec.
th
Coursework hand-in Monday 14
December

Labs/Seminars are scheduled as follows:

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Term 1
Week Seminar Labs Week Commencing

1 No seminar No labs 28th Sept.

2 Seminar Lab (Introduction) 5th Oct.

3 Seminar Lab 12th Oct.

4 Seminar Lab 19th Oct.

5 Seminar Lab 26th Oct.

6 Coursework Brief seminar No lab 2nd Nov.

7 ASK week ASK week 9th Nov

8 Seminar Lab 16th Nov.

9 Coursework technique seminar Catch-up Lab 23th Nov.

10 Seminar Work on coursework (no Lab) 30th Nov.

11 No seminar Work on coursework (no Lab) 7th Dec.

12 No seminar No lab 14th Dec.

Please note: Week 7 in Term 1 is ASK week and there are no scheduled lectures, labs or tutorials during this
week.

READING LIST

There is no core text in software engineering that the course will follow. Much of the material will be on-line
resources and you will be pointed to these sources and reading at the end of every lecture. Many of the
following books can be found in the library. Some relevant chapters and pointed to by lectures can be found
in: Sommerville I. (2016) Software engineering. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson.

Pressman R. S. and Maxim B. R. (2015) Software engineering: a practitioner’s approach. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Education.
Fenton N. E. and Bieman J. (2015) Software metrics: a rigorous and practical approach. Boca Raton: CRC Press,
Taylor & Francis Group
Fowler M. and Beck K. (2000) Refactoring: improving the design of existing code. Boston, MA: Addison-
Wesley.

The above are therefore suggestions, but you are encouraged to search for and make use of other sources.

It is important that you learn to become self-reliant and able to access and assimilate material for yourself.
Many of the topics necessary for this project will not be covered by lectures. Therefore you will need to work
through the exercises and guidance material provided in labs, via Blackboard or from your own investigations.

ASSESSMENT

This module is assessed by a single assessment element separated into two un-weighted tasks.  The
assessment addresses all learning outcomes for this module.

Task 1: Threshold Coursework – The coursework specification will be distributed on Tuesday 3 rd November
2020, with a submission deadline of Monday 14th December 2020 at 11.00am.  The maximum grade/mark you
can achieve for this assessment is D-/40%, which demonstrates performance in the module at threshold
level.  Passing the threshold coursework means that you have passed the module overall. The assessment of

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Task 1 will be confirmed by the Panel of Examiners in January 2021 and, if necessary, the Board of Examiners
will offer a reassessment of Task 1 in Term 2, subject to the re-assessment limitations of SR2.
 
LATE COURSEWORK

The clear expectation is that you will submit your coursework by the submission deadline stated in the study
guide.  In line with the University’s policy on the late submission of coursework (revised in July 2016),
coursework submitted up to 48 hours late will be accepted, but capped at a threshold pass (D-). Work
submitted over 48 hours after the stated deadline will be graded as Non Submission (NS), without accepted
Mitigating Circumstances. Work submitted more than 5 days late will not normally be accepted.

DELIVERABLES AND FEEDBACK - IMPORTANT DATES

You should prepare and submit all coursework according to the Department's instructions for assessments
which are available on . You should make sure that you are fully aware of the Department's policy on
plagiarism and the marking of joint work. You should also be aware that you cannot later claim that you did
not know the rules and regulations as you must make yourself familiar with them. If you cannot complete any
work on time, you should look at the Department’s instructions on what to do.

The Department policy is that all coursework must be submitted electronically via the University’s Wiseflow
system. Please navigate to the pages for this module for further details. You will get feedback on your
performance via the Wiseflow Learn pages for this module. If do not receive your feedback by the given date,
you should first contact the module leader. If it proves necessary, you should also contact your Level Co-
ordinator.

The important dates:

In the table below, the key dates and tasks associated with the assessment for the module are set out.

Tas Available on Blackboard Submission Feedback due Weighting (%)

Assignment Title
k deadline
Mon. 14th Dec
Tues. 3rd Nov. 2020
T1 Software analysis 2020@11am 23rd Dec 2020 Threshold
@11am GMT
GMT
Note: the deadline date ends at @ 11am GMT (e.g., if the deadline is 1 February, it means the deadline is up
to 11am GMT on 1 February).

ADDITIONAL VITAL INFORMATION

The can be found on the College’s SharePoint site on the University’s web pages. The handbook is a useful
source of information for all aspects of your studies, including procedures of how to inform us of problems
you are facing with your studies, how to apply for an extension to your coursework, plagiarism, house style
for assignments, joint and group work submissions and other important matters. The Department assumes
that you familiarise yourself with this information, so you will need to look at these pages carefully at various
times throughout your studies. The Department also operates within the rules and regulations of the
University more generally, and you should also look at what are known as ' under the University’s web pages.
These policies and procedures might change from one academic year to another and it is in your own interest
to keep yourself aware about them and any changes.

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