ELEC5618: Software Quality Engineering (2013 - Semester 1)
| Unit: | ELEC5618: Software Quality Engineering (6 CP) |
| Mode: | Normal-Day |
| On Offer: | Yes |
| Level: | Postgraduate |
| Faculty/School: | School of Electrical and Information Engineering |
| Unit Coordinator/s: |
Pardo, Abelardo
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| Session options: | Semester 1 |
| Versions for this Unit: |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | This unit will cover software quality planning, validation and verification methods and techniques, risk analysis, software review techniques, software standards and software process improvement and software reliability. Students who successfully complete this unit will understand the fundamental concepts of software quality engineering and be able to define software quality requirements, assess the quality of a software design, explain specific methods of building software quality, understand software reliability models and metrics, develop a software quality plan, understand quality assurance and control activities and techniques, understand various testing techniques including being able to verify and test a unit of code and comprehend ISO standards, SPICE, CMM and CMMI. |
| Assumed Knowledge: | • You are capable of writing programs with multiple functions or methods in multiple files. • You are capable of design complex data structures and combine them in non trivial algorithms. • You know how to use an integrated development environment. • You are familiar and have worked previously with software version control systems. • You know how to distribute the workload derived from the unit of study effectively throughoug the week and make sure that time is truly productive. |
| Lecturer/s: |
Pardo, Abelardo
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| Tutor/s: | Yu Zhao | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Timetable: | ELEC5618 Timetable | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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| T&L Activities: | Tutorial: Weekly tutorial on course materials. Follows the weekly lecture material. The lab session each week is used to provide some structured learning experiences. The lab sessions also provide time for you to meet as a group and work on your projects. Independent Study: As well as the scheduled hours, each student is expected to devote eight (8) extra hours each week to ELEC5618. This includes time spent doing assessment tasks, reading the reference books, trying out ideas, planning your work, meeting your group, etc. |
Attributes listed here represent the key course goals (see Course Map tab) designated for this unit. The list below describes how these attributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment tabs for details of how these attributes are assessed.
| Attribute Development Method | Attribute Developed |
| Students analyse the various activities in the several stages of software development and assign risk to various activities using well-defined methodologies. | Design (Level 4) |
| The use of feedback to improve development and the QA process itself is demonstrated and templates for review provided. | Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4) |
| Students rank activities according to risk and be able to calculate and justify such rankings. | Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3) |
| Students are given reading lists and topics throughout the semester. Students must be able understand and analyse the various activities in the several stages of software development. Students must calculate the various `costs` involved in performing/not-performing various QA activities. | Information Seeking (Level 3) |
| Students write a report evaluating an independent third-party website installation and commenting on its usability. | Communication (Level 3) |
| Students are exposed to best-practice development and QA methodologies. Students write a group report. |
Professional Conduct (Level 4) |
For explanation of attributes and levels see Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table.
Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. They are listed according to the course goal supported by each. See Assessment Tab for details how each outcome is assessed.
Design (Level 4)
1. Ability to develop QA tasks by using a clearly defined approach in addressing all of the quality factors and risks that may impede or otherwise affect the resulting software development.
Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4)
2. Ability to use QA procedures to improve the development quality and efficiency of specific engineering projects, drawing on the concepts and principles developed and presented throughout the course.
3. Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the review process of software development using tools and techniques presented.
4. Capacity to demonstrate an understanding of QA processes with respect to software development as part of professional practice and the adherence to standards.
Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3)
5. Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the nature of risk in general terms, to the extent of the material presented.
Information Seeking (Level 3)
6. Ability to use simple models to describe and analyse the benefit of performing/not performing various testing and review tasks.
Communication (Level 3)
7. Ability to write reports to communicate and argue the importance of test strategy, procedures and activities in software development, using clear and concise language at a level appropriate with the expected aptitude of the stakeholders.
Professional Conduct (Level 4)
8. Ability to recognise the benefits of QA procedures in design, implementation and operation of software systems at a professional standard in line with professional practice to the extent of the material presented.
9. Ability to work together to design and implement a test strategy and write up the results.
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Description: |
Assignment: Software quality plan, verification and software testing Assignment: Software test plan, case studies. Final Exam: Final exam. |
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| Grading: |
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| Faculty Policies & Procedures: | Academic Honesty in Coursework. All students must submit a cover sheet for all assessment work that declares that the work is original and not plagiarised from the work of others. Coursework assessment and examination policy. The faculty policy is to use standards based assessment for units where grades are returned and criteria based assessment for Pass/Fail only units. Norm referenced assessment will only be used in exceptional circumstances and its use will need to be justified to the Undergraduate Studies Committee. Special consideration for illness or misadventure may be considered when an assessment component is severely affected. This policy gives the details of the information that is required to be submitted along with the appropriate procedures and forms. Special Arrangements for Examination and Assessment. In exceptional circumstances alternate arrangements for exams or assessment can be made. However concessions for outside work arrangements, holidays and travel, sporting and entertainment events will not normally be given. Student Appeals against Academic Decisions. Students have the right to appeal any academic decision made by a school or the faculty. The appeal must follow the appropriate procedure so that a fair hearing is obtained. Note that policies regarding assessment submission, penalties and assessment feedback depend upon the individual unit of study. Details of these policies, where applicable, will be found above with other assessment details in this unit outline. All university policies can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/policy Various request forms for the Faculty of Engineering and IT can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/forms/ |
| Prescribed Text/s: |
Note: Students are expected to have a personal copy of all books listed.
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| Recommended Reference/s: |
Note: References are provided for guidance purposes only. Students are advised to consult these books in the university library. Purchase is not required.
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Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendar https://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp
| Week | Description |
| Week 1 | Course description and scenario |
| Week 2 | Software quality in a company |
| Week 3 | Software Quality Planning, Assurance and Control |
| Week 4 | Software Requirement Specification and Use Cases |
| Week 5 | Verification vs. Validation |
| Week 6 | Software Testing |
| Assessment Due: Assignment | |
| Week 7 | No class |
| Week 8 | The Software Test Plan |
| Week 9 | Practical Case Study (I) |
| Week 10 | Tools for Testing |
| Week 11 | Practical Case Study (II) |
| Week 12 | SQE in Agile Environments |
| Week 13 | Course revision |
| Assessment Due: Assignment | |
| Exam Period | Assessment Due: Final Exam |
Course Relations
The following is a list of courses which have added this Unit to their structure.
Course Goals
This unit contributes to the achievement of the following course goals:
| Attribute | Practiced | Assessed |
| Project Management and Teamwork (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| Design (Level 4) | Yes | 20.42% |
| Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4) | Yes | 38.76% |
| Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3) | Yes | 15.42% |
| Information Seeking (Level 3) | Yes | 3.75% |
| Communication (Level 3) | Yes | 5% |
| Professional Conduct (Level 4) | Yes | 16.67% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table for details of the attributes and levels to be developed in the course as a whole. Percentage figures alongside each course goal provide a rough indication of their relative weighting in assessment for this unit. Note that not all goals are necessarily part of assessment. Some may be more about practice activity. See Learning outcomes for details of what is assessed in relation to each goal and Assessment for details of how the outcome is assessed. See Attributes for details of practice provided for each goal.
