SYLLABUS
SWE 620-001 SOFTWARE
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS AND SPECIFICATION
Fall 2008
Note: This course is delivered to the Internet section online by Network EducationWare (NEW). Students in all sections have accounts on NEW and can play back the lectures and download the PDF slide files at http://disted.ite.gmu.edu.
PROFESSOR: Dr. Frank Armour
OFFICE HOURS: Before and after Class
PHONE: (202) 251-3554
INTERNET: frank.armour@att.net
COURSE
DESCRIPTION: In-depth study of methods, tools, notations, and validation
techniques for the analysis, specification and management of software requirements. Students participate in a group project on software requirements.
CLASS HOURS: Wednesday 4:30 – 7:10 Science and Technology 1 120
TEXT: : Leffingwell, D, and Widrig, D.,
Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Driven Approach, Addison
Wesley Longman,
Armour, F and Miller G. Advanced Use Case Modeling , Addison-Wesley,
GRADES: 35% - Group Project
30 % - Exam #1
30 % - Exam #2
5% - Article Writeups/ Presentation
Groups: There will be around 6 groups with about 4 to 6 people in each. The groups will be self-formed the first night of class. Each group will have two roles: User Group and Requirements Group. As a User, the group will formulate a Statement of Work (SOW) that they will pass to their partner group (week 2 - 4). They will receive a SOW from their partner group which they will use in their role as Requirements Group. In this role, they will elicit requirements from the partner group to develop a Systems Requirement Specification (SRS) (week 5 - 8), and screen prototype the requirements, and document their final SRS (week 8 - 13). Their partner group will be doing these same functions with the SOW they received. At the end of this process, each group will evaluate the product of their partner group (week 13 - 15). I will give a few minutes each week in class to meet with your group and to elicit information from your partner group. 10 % of your grade for this project will be based on peer evaluations.
Partner group assignments will be made
after the SOW is complete.
Tests: Two in-class exams covering the lecture and readings. .
Article write-ups/presentations: Students have two options:
Select two contemporary articles on
requirements engineering and write a two to three page critique of each.
OR
Select one article, write a one page critique on the article and present your finding to the class in a Ten minute formal presentation. Assignment of article presentation night will be randomly made. The student will be responsible for bringing 45 copies of the article to class the week before their presentation. The student is also responsible for turning in a one page synopsis. Everyone else will be expected to read the article and be prepared to discuss it in class.
I would like around 15 to 20 students to select this option; I will limit the number of presentations to around 20. I will also randomly select students to give presentations if less than 15 students choose this option.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
Week 1 > 27 August > Background; Introduction,
review of group & article assignments
Week 2 > 3 September > Lecture: High level Analysis and Elicitation Techniques;
Leffingwell Chapters 1,3,4,5,6; Armour Chapter 3 Group Requirements SOW
Week 3 > 10 September > Lecture: Facilitation
Leffingwell Chapters 7,9,10,11,12 Group: Requirements SOW
Week 4 > 17 September > Lecture: Intro to Use
Cases, Armour Chapters 1,2,4; Group: Requirements
SOW due to professor;
Week 5 > 24 September > Lecture: Use cases:
Armour Chapters 7, 8. Leffingwell Chapters 14 Group: Mate Group Assignments
& Begin Requirements Elicitation.
Week 6 > 1 October
> Lecture: Use Cases; Armour Chapters 9, 10.
Article Presentations; Group: Requirements SRS; Article
Presentations.
Week 7 > 8 October > Lecture: Use Cases, Armour
Chapter 13; Group: Requirements SRS; Article Presentations. First set of article write-ups due
Week 8 > 15 October > Test Number 1 [Covers chapters in Leffingwell and Armour, class
lectures, handouts and notes.]
Week 9 > 22 October > Lecture: Business Process Models; Article Presentations Group: Requirements SRS
Week 10 > 29 October > Lecture; Requirements
Specification and Nonfunctional requirements, Leffingwell Chapters 22 Armour
Chapter 11;Group: Requirements SRS; Article Presentations, ; Group: Project Checkpoint:
Preliminary SRS review
Week 11 > > 5 November Lecture: Requirements
Specifications. Leffingwell Chapters 23,27 Group: Requirements SRS; Article
Presentations
Week 12 > 12 November > Lecture: Validation, Quality requirements and Prototyping;
Leffingwell Chapters 13, 29 Group: Requirements SRS; Article Presentations Second
set of article write-ups due
Week 13 > 19 November > > > Lecture:
Advanced Topics
Week 14 > 26 November > Thanksgiving Break, NO
CLASS
Week 15 > 3 Decenber> Group Presentations of
final SRS and prototype Group
Deliverables
Due: to include SOW and Evaluation for each project from
Users Group as well as SRS,
Prototype,
and Final SRS for each project from Requirements Group: Final draft SRS due
to professor & begin Requirements Evaluation Requirements SRS;
Week 16 > 10 December > Test Number 2 [Covers chapters in Leffingwell Armour, class lectures, handouts and notes since test
1
Literature
Review & Presentation
The field of requirements engineering and prototyping is changing rapidly. Therefore, students will be required to conduct literature searches to find a current article(s) in this field. Students will be required to write critiques of the articles and make oral presentations of their findings (optional). The articles should be taken from refereed journals.
Instructions
for Literature Review
1. Literature should be reviewed for the last several years only. Since the search deals with most recent periodicals, you would be better off checking the "current periodicals" shelves in the library in addition to a computerized search.
2. The topic of the articles must be directly related to the content of this class.
3. The content of the article should be such that it contributes to the class (e.g. new theory, interesting application, applications with important practical lessons). The content should supplement the textbooks, not repeat information.
4. Prepare a two to three page review (one page, if doing presentation) (typed, single spaced) of each article assigned. Each summary must include:
Abstract: What the article is about.
Justification: Why did you select that article, what is unique about it?
Critique: Your opinion on the article.
5a. If you have selected the presentation option, submit 45 copies of the article for students in the class one week prior to your presentation. I will select the class dates that each student will present their papers. Give me a copy of both your presentation and critique as well as making sure your name and the date of the presentation is at the top of the article.
The presentation should take 10 minutes. I do time these presentations. You will be asked to stop after 10 minutes. You should use computer presentations or transparencies. There will be a class discussion period after each presentation. All students will be expected to read each article and be active in class discussion of the article
OR
5b. If you have selected the write-up option, your must submit your write-ups and a copy of the articles to me on the due dates.