University of Alberta
CMPUT 401 - Software Process and Product Management
LEC-A1
Fall 2024

eClass Page: https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/course/view.php?id=98625

Lecture

  • In-person
  • Fridays, 9:00AM to 10:50AM, VVC 2-210

Labs/Seminars

  • In-person
  • Wednesdays, 9:00AM to 10:50AM, VVC 2-210
  • Some Mondays, 9:00AM to 10:50AM
    • Monday, September 9th, CSC B-10
    • Monday, December 9th, CSC B-10
  • Sunday, September 15 12:00PM to 3:00PM, ETLC E2-001

Hackathon

  • Friday evening, Sep 13th, 5:00PM - 9:00PM, ETLC E2-001
  • Saturday, Sep 14th, 9:00AM - 6:00PM, ETLC E2-001

Presentations and Demo Fair

  • Friday, Dec 6th 9:00AM - 10:50AM, VVC 2-210
  • Monday, Dec 9th 9:00AM - 10:50AM, CSC B-10

Instructor

  • Dr. Mark Polak
  • Email: mpolak1@ualberta.ca
  • Office: CAB 3-05
  • Office hours (CAB 3-05): Before class or after class by appointment
  • Office hours (Zoom): (email to make an appointment)

Course Content

Course Description: All phases of software development are reviewed from a process perspective. Best practices in software project and product development and management are introduced. Architectural and technological impacts on management. Group projects require specification and initial design or redesign of a software system.

Prerequisites: CMPUT 301.

Objectives and Learning Outcomes: This course aims to provide students with an authentic experience of working with a client as a team member. Some clients are non-profit organizations or Universities, while others are startup companies. We are partnering with the Community Service-Learning Office to create opportunities for you to work on projects identified by community-based organizations as serving their needs. In the process, you will have to apply your knowledge on analyzing requirements, designing, developing, documenting, and testing software, and develop new technical skills working with new programming languages and tools. You will also acquire new knowledge on how to work with others, how to interact with clients to elicit their needs and explain how the delivered software meets these needs, how to negotiate task sharing and manage one’s tasks, how to plan and how to mitigate risks.

Course Schedule and Assigned Readings:

The weekly topic schedule is likely to be updated during the term; in general terms, the topics to be covered are:

  • Personality and Teamwork
  • Software Product Management
  • Software Requirements
  • Software Development Process
  • Software Architecture
  • Estimation and Planning
  • Project Management
  • User-Interaction Design
  • Testing
  • Measurement

Learning Resources

Textbook: There is no required textbook for this course. Each module will cite online resources as required readings. You will find the links to each topic on the course eClass page.

Recommended or Optional Learning Resources: Additional resources may be provided by links from this site or the course eClass page.

Course Fees: No fees are anticipated. Every effort has been made to provide access to online services needed for free. However, since every course project is unique, an unanticipated online service that requires a paid subscription may be needed.

Academic Success Centre

The Academic Success Centre provides professional academic support to help students strengthen their academic skills and achieve their academic goals. Individual advising, appointments, and group workshops are available year round in the areas of Accessibility, Communication, Learning, and Writing Resources. Modest fees apply for some services.

Grade Evaluation

Team Project (70% total)

Your team will deliver the project through an evolutionary process in five sprints. All project deliverables will be submitted through the project repository and must be available for inspection by the TAs by 8 pm two days before the sprint demo (for example, if your sprint demo is on Wednesday, you must submit a release on Monday, no later than 8 pm). Make sure that your release is on GitHub before 8 pm, there will be a penalty for late submissions (the late submission policy is outlined in the Sprint Rubrics document). The team is marked as a whole (left section in the table below), i.e. each team member receives equal marks.

We may retroactively update your sprint marks based on your contribution factor. It means that your sprint scores may get either higher or lower. The coefficients depend on:

  • How your team feels about your contribution to the project (based on the peer feedback forms).
  • The instructor and TA's assessment of your individual contribution.

We will review your contribution and apply individual coefficients twice during the term:

  1. After Sprint 3 (individual coefficients will be applied to Sprints 1, 2, and 3),
  2. After the end of the project (individual coefficients will be applied to Sprints 4 and 5).

Team Project Grade Structure

The team is marked as a whole, individual coefficients may be applied based on individual contribution.

Component Weight
Sprint 1 12%
Sprint 2 12%
Sprint 3 12%
Sprint 4 12%
Sprint 5 12%
Screencast 3%
Presentation 3%
Final assessment by client 4%
Total 70%

Individual Work (30% total)

Besides the final exam, your individual work component involves:

  1. One assignment (due date per class schedule)
  2. Reflection forms (four peer-review forms (one after each Sprint) and a final reflection), due by the end of each Sprint demo day (5) and by the end of the class (1)
  3. In-class and hackathon participation
Component Weight
Assignment 5%
Reflection forms 3%
Participation 7%
Final exam 15%
Total 30%

Students must verify the Final Exam date on BearTracks when the Final Exam Schedule is posted.

Grades are unofficial until approved by the Department and/or Faculty offering the course.

Participation

Students are expected to attend and participate in all classes and labs. Each class may include one or more individual or group exercises. Each lab usually includes a stand-up meeting and may also include other individual or group activities. Missed participation work will not be excused.

Letter Grades

There is no fixed formula for translating your composite marks into a final grade. The final letter grade will be assigned based on how your course percentage represents mastery of the course material according to the University of Alberta grading system guidelines. The guidelines state that "Grades reflect judgements of student achievement made by instructors and must correspond to the associated descriptor. These judgements are based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance in a class. " This quote and further information about the grading system including the descriptors can be found in the University Calendar. The CS Department policies about grading also apply.

How many % do I need in the course to get an A? To get a B? To get a C? We do not use pre-defined percentages of your final mark to compute your final grade, but instead use our judgement of how your final percentage indicates the level of mastery in the table above for an A, B, C, D+. This is done at the end of the semester. A 50% or better final grade usually earns at least a D.

This is the standard system in use by most Computing Science courses at the University of Alberta. However, it may not be what you are used to from other institutions. The department of Computing Science believes this produces a fair evaluation and our extensive experience supports this.

Letter Descriptor Interpretation
A Excellent Consistently original thinking that extends the material, demonstrated depth and breadth in the material, ability to integrate material with other subjects, ability to analyze and synthesize material at various levels of abstraction.
B Good Like an A, but not consistent over time, or weak in a specific area.
C Satisfactory Understand the core material but not its subtleties, can apply it to simple situations on own and to more complex situations with hints, evidence that the material has changed the way of thinking.
D+ Poor Understand some of the core material but not its subtleties, can apply it to simple situations but often needs assistance, evidence that the material has had some change on the way of thinking.
D Minimal Pass Shows some understanding of parts of the material, cannot apply it without some direction, little evidence that the material has changed the way of thinking
F Failure Little evidence of understanding of even the surface issues, poor analysis and synthesis, inability to apply the material.
  • At the end of the semester, the minimum overall percentage demonstrates "Excellent" in the table above will be the minimum percentage for an A-.
  • The minimum overall percentage demonstrates "Good" will be the minimum percentage for a B-.
  • The minimum overall percentage demonstrates "Satisfactory" will be the minimum percentage for a C-.
  • The minimum overall percentage demonstrates "Poor" will be the minimum percentage for a D.
  • Anything over 50% is usually at least a D, sometimes it is higher than a D.

Every semester contains different material, since every semester we try to improve the course, and we also need to constantly create new questions and assignments to mitigate cheating. Thus, the breakpoints change from semester to semester. However, these changes do not depend on the class average, they depend on the percentage that demonstrates different levels in the table above!

Statement of Expectations for AI Use

You MUST not submit work by Chat GPT as your own, that is plagiarism. This also applies to other "AI" and Generative Models: Lex.page, DALL-E2, Google BARD, Microsoft Bing, and others. If you use ChatGPT you must cite it. This includes the Entity, Resource, Subject, and Date. For example:

// The following function from Microsoft, Bing, "How do I write a merge sort in JavaScript?", 2023-08-31
function mergeSort(array) {

If you use ChatGPT you must cite it, but it's probably better to Google what it tells you and find a real citation because:

ChatGPT is wrong a lot. It does not understand computer science. It understands how to form sentences and paragraphs well enough to be convincing, but it doesn't actually understand what anything it is saying means. When it has the choice between two sentences, with opposite meanings, it will pick the sentence that looks more like English it has seen, it does not pick the one that is most correct. This means you need to double-check that what it tells you is actually correct.

Stackoverflow is always a better resource than Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, but of course if you use code from Stackoverflow or any other website, you must cite it.

ChatGPT and similar services are recording everything you tell it, and tracking you. Using ChatGPT/Bing/Bard etc. they are recording everything you say and how the LLM responds to you. There is no privacy.

  • ChatGPT example from CMPUT 229:
    • Me: "What is the difference between the b and j pseudoinstruction in RISC-V?"
    • ChatGPT: "... The b instruction is actually a shorthand for the more general beq (branch if equal) instruction, which compares two registers and branches if they are equal. However, > > in the case of b, one of the registers is always x0 (the zero register), so the comparison > is always false, effectively causing an unconditional jump. ...the key difference between b > and j is that b is a relative branch instruction that jumps to a location within a limited range, while j is an absolute jump instruction that can jump to any address within the range of the program counter."
    • There are 3 problems with this answer:
      1. b is not shorthand for beq: RARS replaces it with jal -- the actual replacement depends on the assembler used and the situation it is used in.
      2. This also makes ChatGPT's conclusion about relative limited range jumps and absolute jumps wrong. All jumps and branches in RISC-V are relative, short range jumps except jalr. RARS also (at least in every case I've seen) translates j to jal, not jalr, and jal is also a short-range, relative jump.
      3. If b gets translated to beq x0, Y, label then what guarantees that the other register isn't also zero? The comparison with beq x0, Y cannot always be false, despite what ChatGPT claimed. This really doesn't make any sense. It would make more sense for it to be translated to bne x0, x0, label ... but that's the opposite instruction of what ChatGPT claimed.

Re-Evaluation of Term Work

Re-Evaluation of Term Work follows the Computing Science department course policies. Any questions or concerns about marks on a particular assignment must be brought to the attention of the instructor (not a TA) within 10 days of its return date. After that, we will not consider remarking or re-evaluating the work. So do not expect anyone to re-evaluate all the work you did all term long in the hopes of getting a higher final grade. However, clerical errors such as incorrectly computing or recording a mark may be raised at any time prior to 2 working days following the final exam. It is the student's responsibility to confirm that their term work has been recorded properly.

Re-examination

There is no possibility of a re-examination in this course.

Past or Representative evaluative Material

Will be posted on eClass.

Policies for Late and Missed Work

Late Policy: Absolutely no late work will be accepted.

Missed Term Work or Final Exam Due to Non-medical Protected Grounds (e.g., religious beliefs): When a term assessment or final exam presents a conflict based on non-medical protected grounds, students must apply to the Academic Success Centre for accommodations via their Register for Accommodations website. Students can review their eligibility and choose the application process specific for Accommodations Based on Non-medical Protected Grounds.

It is imperative that students review the dates of all course assessments upon receipt of the course outline, and apply AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to ensure the timely application of the accommodation. Students who apply later in the term may experience unavoidable delays in the processing of the application, which can affect the accommodation.

Missed Term Work: A student who cannot complete a course component (except the final exam, see the next section) due to incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction or other compelling reasons must contact the instructor within two working days of missing the assessment, or as soon as possible, to request an excused absence. If an excused absence is granted, then weight will be transferred to other course components. An excused absence is a privilege and not a right. There is no guarantee that an absence will be excused. Misrepresentation of facts to gain an excused absence is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour. In all cases, instructors may request adequate documentation to substantiate the reason for the absence at their discretion.

Deferred Final Examination: A student who cannot write the final examination due to incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction or other compelling reasons can apply for a deferred final examination. Such an application must be made to the student’s Faculty office within two working days of the missed examination and must be supported by appropriate documentation or a Statutory Declaration (see calendar on Attendance). Deferred examinations are a privilege and not a right; there is no guarantee that a deferred examination will be granted. The Faculty may deny deferral requests in cases where less than 50% of term work has been completed. Misrepresentation of facts to gain a deferred examination is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour.

Remote Delivery Considerations

Unless otherwise instructed by an instructor, this course requires attendance in-person.

Student Responsibilities

Academic Integrity and Student Conduct: The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty, as well as maintaining a learning environment that fosters the safety, security, and the inherent dignity of each member of the community, ensuring students conduct themselves accordingly. Students are expected to be familiar with the standards of academic honesty and appropriate student conduct, and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour and the Student Conduct Policy, and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of academic misconduct (e.g., cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts) and non-academic misconduct (e.g., discrimination, harassment, physical assault). Academic and non-academic misconduct are taken very seriously and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

All students are expected to consult the Academic Integrity website for clarification on the various academic offences. All forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable at the University. Any suspected academic offence in this course will be reported to the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. Suspected cases of non-academic misconduct will be reported to the Dean of Students. The College, the Faculty of Science, and the Dean of Students are committed to student rights and responsibilities, and adhere to due process and administrative fairness, as outlined in the Code of Student Behaviour and the Student Conduct Policy. Anyone who is found in violation is likely to receive a sanction. Typical sanctions for academic misconduct include conduct probation, a mark reduction or a mark of 0 on an assessment, a grade reduction or a grade of F in a course, a remark on the transcript, and a recommendation for suspension or expulsion. Sanctions for non-academic misconduct include conduct conditions, fines, suspension of essential or non-essential University services and resources, and suspension or expulsion from the University.

Appropriate Collaboration: Exams

Exams are confidential. No discussion of the contents of the exam is permitted except with instructors.

Appropriate Collaboration: Assignments

Students are not permitted to copy solutions on homework assignments. Here are some tips to avoid copying on assignments:

  1. Do not write down something that you cannot explain to your instructor.
  2. When you are helping other students, avoid showing them your work directly. Instead, explain your solution verbally. Students whose work is copied also receive academic sanctions.
  3. If you find yourself reading another student's solution, do not write anything down. Once you understand how to solve the problem, remove the other person's work from your sight and then write up the solution to the question yourself. Looking back and forth between someone else's paper and your own paper is almost certainly copying and will result in academic sanctions for both you and your fellow student.
  4. If the instructor or TA writes down part of a solution in order to help explain it to you or the class, you cannot copy it and hand it in for credit. Treat it the same way you would treat another student's work with respect to copying, that is, remove the explanation from your sight and then write up the solution yourself.
  5. There is often more than one way to solve a problem. Choose the method that makes the most sense to you rather than the method that other students happen to use. If none of the ideas in your solution are your own, there is a good chance it will be flagged as copying.

Appropriate Collaboration: Group Projects

As long as you are a part of a group, you are responsible for everything in the group project, whether or not you participated in every component.

More information about appropriate collaboration.

Exam Conduct:

  • Your student photo I.D. is required at exams to verify your identity.
  • Students will not be allowed to begin an examination after it has been in progress for 30 minutes. Students must remain in the exam room until at least 30 minutes has elapsed.
  • All electronic devices must be turned off and stored in your bags. The only permitted electronics are those being used for accessibility or accomodations.

Cell Phones: Cell phones are to be turned off during lectures, labs and seminars.

In accordance with the University of Alberta’s Discrimination, Harassment, and Duty to Accommodate policy, accommodation support is available to eligible students who encounter limitations or restrictions to their ability to perform the daily activities necessary to pursue studies at a post-secondary level due to medical conditions and/or non-medical protected grounds. Accommodations are coordinated through the Academic Success Centre, and students can learn more about eligibility on the Register for Accommodations website.

It is recommended that students apply as early as possible in order to ensure sufficient time to complete accommodation registration and coordination. Students are advised to review and adhere to published deadlines for accommodation approval and for specific accommodation requests (e.g., exam registration submission deadlines). Students who request accommodations less than a month in advance of the academic term for which they require accommodations may experience unavoidable delays or consequences in their academic programs, and may need to consider alternative academic schedules.

Recording and/or Distribution of Course Materials

Audio or video recording, digital or otherwise, of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Student or instructor content, digital or otherwise, created and/or used within the context of the course is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the content author(s).

Learning and Working Environment

The Faculty of Science is committed to ensuring that all students, faculty and staff are able to work and study in an environment that is safe and free from discrimination, harassment, and violence of any kind. It does not tolerate behaviour that undermines that environment. This includes virtual environments and platforms.

If you are experiencing harassment, discrimination, fraud, theft or any other issue and would like to get confidential advice, please contact any of these campus services:

  • Office of Safe Disclosure & Human Rights: A safe, neutral and confidential space to disclose concerns about how the University of Alberta policies, procedures or ethical standards are being applied. They provide strategic advice and referral on matters such as discrimination, harassment, duty to accommodate and wrong-doings. Disclosures can be made in person or online using the Online Reporting Tool.
  • University of Alberta Protective Services: Peace officers dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of U of A campuses and community. Staff or students can contact UAPS to make a report if they feel unsafe, threatened, or targeted on campus or by another member of the university community.
  • Office of the Student Ombuds: A confidential and free service that strives to ensure that university processes related to students operate as fairly as possible. They offer information, advice, and support to students, faculty, and staff as they deal with academic, discipline, interpersonal, and financial issues related to student programs.
  • Office of the Dean of Students: They can assist students in navigating services to ensure they receive appropriate and timely resources. For students who are unsure of the support they may need, are concerned about how to access services on campus, or feel like they may need interim support while you wait to access a service, the Dean of Students office is here to help.

Feeling Stressed, Anxious, or Upset?

It's normal for us to have different mental health experiences throughout the year. Know that there are people who want to help. You can reach out to your friends and access a variety of supports available on and off campus at the Need Help Now webpage or by calling the 24-hour Distress Line: 780-482-4357 (HELP).

Student Self-Care Guide: This Self-Care Guide, originally designed by the Faculty of Native Studies, has broader application for use during students’ learning. It provides some ideas and strategies to consider that can help navigate emotionally challenging or triggering material.

Additional Information

Policy about course outlines can be found in Course Requirements, Evaluations Procedures and Grading of the University Calendar.

Land Acknowledgement: The University of Alberta respectfully acknowledges that we are situated on Treaty 6 territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people.

To learn more about the significance of this land acknowledgement, please read this useful article and associated links to more information.

Disclaimer: Any typographical errors in this Course Outline are subject to change and will be announced in class. The date of the final examination is set by the Registrar and takes precedence over the final examination date reported in this syllabus.

Copyright:

  • Dr. Hazel Campbell, Department of Computing Science, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta (2023).
  • Dr. Mark Polak, Department of Computing Science, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta (2023).
  • Dr. Ildar Akhmetov, Department of Computing Science, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta (2023).

Update History

  • 2023-08-31 - Draft
  • 2023-09-01 - Draft
  • 2023-09-05 - Exam collaboration policy, add meeting dates and times.
  • 2023-09-07 - Room numbers and office hours update
  • 2023-09-20 - Added location of where meeting minutes should be placed (in /docs folder labeled as meeting-minutes.md)
  • 2024-01-05 - Edited for Winter 2024 term
  • 2024-02-02 - Specified where scrum roles should be, removed Belbin role links