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The Software Engineering research project gives students in-depth experience in researching complex, open-ended Software Engineering problems, and developing and evaluating potential solutions. Participants work individually to investigate and develop solutions for a complex real-world problem. At the end of this course you will have practiced the skills required to be a senior Software Engineer, capable of leading a team of engineers to develop solutions for complex problems involving the development of substantial software solutions of significant complexity. You will also be comfortable with dealing with vague (and often conflicting) customer requirements, working under pressure and providing technical leadership.
For more information see the course Learn site.
● Knowledge outcomesIn this course students will learn how to analyse open ended software engineering problems and design, implement and evaluate potential solutions. Having completed the course students will be able to: ○ Demonstrate the research and problem solving qualities and abilities of a senior Software Engineer ○ Evaluate existing solutions and approaches ○ Evaluate and, where appropriate utilize, up to date open source software development projects to solve complex software problems ○ Identify risks and benefits posed by integrating open source software versus developing bespoke solutions, and apply techniques for risk mitigation● Skill outcomesThrough practical experience the course will develop advanced industry skills. The successful student will be able to: ○ Demonstrate an understanding of, apply and communicate complex research and analysis techniques ○ Apply scientific evaluation to the analysis of complex problems and development of solutions ○ Delivering solutions given the constraints of the project ○ Ability to communicate complex information to a range of stakeholders ○ Planning and logging effort● Personal Attributes developed ○ The key personal attributes that will be developed are problem solving ability and research skills. Students will also develop their ability to apply creative thinking to the solving of complex problems.
SENG301, SENG302
There is one hour per week reserved for occasional lectures, and there are four hours of labs per week to provide guaranteed time for students to focus on their project, for example to meet with stakeholders, or a group if you are involved in a project that interacts with that of another student. Students are also expected to meet regularly with their supervisor/s.
Austen Rainer
You will be assessed on the process as well as the final product. For this reason, you are required to keep a log of your time, and there are intermediate progress reports. The "log book" can be digital or paper, but must be kept on a regular basis, and not written at the end of the course! You supervisor will need to have access to it on a weekly basis, so an online shared document or system is best. If your supervisor agrees, a properly used version control system with regular well documented commits would be suitable.The progress reports are intended to check that your work is going in the right direction, but also because your final report will be about the process you went through, these progress reports can also be considered as early drafts of parts of your final report.
The Computer Science department's grading policy states that in order to pass a course you must meet two requirements:1. You must achieve an average grade of at least 50% over all assessment items.2. You must achieve an average mark of at least 45% on invigilated assessment items.If you satisfy both these criteria, your grade will be determined by the following University- wide scale for converting marks to grades: an average mark of 50% is sufficient for a C- grade, an average mark of 55% earns a C grade, 60% earns a B- grade and so forth. However if you do not satisfy both the passing criteria you will be given either a D or E grade depending on marks. Marks are sometimes scaled to achieve consistency between courses from year to year.Students may apply for special consideration if their performance in an assessment is affected by extenuating circumstances beyond their control.Applications for special consideration should be submitted via the Examinations Office website within five days of the assessment. Where an extension may be granted for an assessment, this will be decided by direct application to the Department and an application to the Examinations Office may not be required. Special consideration is not available for items worth less than 10% of the course.Students prevented by extenuating circumstances from completing the course after the final date for withdrawing, may apply for special consideration for late discontinuation of the course. Applications must be submitted to the Examinations Office within five days of the end of the main examination period for the semester.
Apart from occasional lectures (see below), this course is almost entirely practical. It requires self-directed work by students, with supervisors being available for consultation, and regular supervisory meetings (typically weekly or fortnightly). Day to day input (as required) can be provided by a workplace advisor (if the project is an industry project) or by the academic supervisor from the CSSE department.The project will require students to prepare a detailed project proposal (including the identification and description of a problem statement and the definition of the objectives of the work), study literature or technologies, identify candidate solutions (technologies, processes etc) and select the most appropriate solutions, typically implementing a solution. Students will write intermediate reports, and the main result of the project will be a final report and other artifacts developed in the project (e.g., a software system). The report must describe the background to the work, methods, processes, techniques or practices applied, a description of the solution, results obtained, and so on.Students will be responsible for arranging meetings with their supervisor(s), getting feedback from other sources (if needed), and meeting the deadlines and milestones of the project. Thus, most work will be done on the students’ own time. However, students are urged to have one on one meetings with supervisors to discuss progress as required. Students are expected to see their supervisor(s) regularly to report progress and to get feedback.
Domestic fee $1,888.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
Maximum enrolment is 30
For further information see Computer Science and Software Engineering .