Part of this assignment is due Wednesday, December 11, at the last
class of the semester. Part is due before the end of the year
(December 31).
-
Course evaluation.
We decided long ago that there was no point to a final exam in a class
like this one. But there is still a point to summary and reflection -
the benefits of
studying
for a final exam even when there are no benefits to taking one.
So you are to summarize and reflect on what you learned this
semester.
This part of the assignment has several purposes. I want to know what
you think you learned this semester.
And I want to know how the course might have been structured so that
you learned even more, and enjoyed it more.
Here are some things you might address. I hope more will occur to
you.
- The readings.
Were they valuable? What did you learn from them? Should
there be more or fewer? Should we spend more time on them?
- Choice of projects. Were
customer presentations useful? Should there be more projects to choose
from? Should teams be larger? smaller? Could the way team assignments
were made be improved?
- Guest lectures.
- Written assignments and presentation.
- Supervision of projects.
I have pretty much promised everyone an A. I will honor that promise
provided you do a responsible job on this last homework. (Read that
carefully. I am not saying I will
grade
this homework. There are no right or wrong answers. But I do
expect you to take it seriously.)
-
Your to do list.
Several weeks ago I asked you to start maintaining one. Submit yours
now. Each item should show when it was put on your list, when it was
completed, and a brief description of the task.
If you did not take this part of the assigned work seriously I expect
you to say so (and to do better in the future).
Do not rewrite history
just to satisfy this part of the assignment.
- Team document. Some time before the end of the semester
your team must submit a complete requirements document. This is
essentially the material the customer has (should have!) signed off
on. It includes
- The vision statement, in its final form.
- The functional requirements - a description of what the software
will do.
- Use cases elaborating on the functional requirements.
- Any UI prototypes that have been discussed with the customer,
even if they are not yet in final form.
- System specifications: where the software will run and what
tools and support the environment must provide to make that possible.
If possible, turn this on on the last day of class too. But I
understand that may not be possible. I will want hard copy, but the
material should also be available in an appropriate form on the
project web site.
Of course the document should be saved in your project CVS repository.