CS476 Course Schedule

Fall 2024

(This is a mirror of the schedule presented here https://www.ceias.nau.edu/cs/CS_Capstone/CS476-schedule_Fall.html)

(Tentative. Dates may be adjusted slightly and other assignments may be added)

Class number/Day	Topics and Assignments	Deliverables
1 (8/30)	Welcome! The first day of class is Friday, 30 August, 2024 Opening Comments and Introduction Review: Presentation of available projects	ASSIGNED: Syllabus Quiz Class: Intro + Presentation of projects
2 (9/6)	In-person activity: team distribution Assignment: Project Preferences Memo	DUE: Project prefs memo due by Wednesday, 4 September, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Team members will be assigned in class on Friday 6 September, 2024 ASSIGNED: Schedule Mentor meeting times by Monday 9 September, 2024 First meeting must occur during Week 3 (next week)
3 (9/13)	In-person Lecture: Conflict management Task: Team startup Assignment: Create an Initial Team Website Assignment: Mini-Intro Task: Bring/send Weekly Task Report to the first Mentor meeting for discussion (Weekly Task Report Template)	DUE: Team Startup task, Thursday, 12 September by 5:00 pm
4 (9/20)	NO MEETING THIS WEEK Assignment: Fully initialized team website Assignment: Team Standards Doc and Team Inventory	DUE: Team Initial website IMPORTANT: All mentor meetings: Weekly task report. Students will be graded on these reports every week
5 (9/27)	IN-CLASS PRESENTATION: Mini-intro	DUE: Mini-Intro: live, in-class presentations
6 (10/4)	NO MEETING THIS WEEK Assignment: Technological Feasibility Reading Assignment: Tech Writing QuickRef	Team Standards Team Inventory
7 (10/11)	NO MEETING THIS WEEK	DUE: Team website, ready for review. Peer Eval#1
8 (10/18)	In-person Lecture: Requirements Acquisition/Prototyping
9 (10/25)	NO MEETING THIS WEEK Assignment: Requirements Specification Document	DUE: Tech Feasibility draft: send to mentor
10 (11/1)	In-person Lecture: Configuration Management Review: Requirements Doc spec, planning Assignment: Presentation Poster (Poster Template/Example)	DUE: Tech Feasibility final. Peer Eval#2.
11 (11/8)	NO MEETING THIS WEEK Review: Design Review I: Presentation guidelines spec Task: Mini-team updates	DUE: Poster review, approval by Mentor
12 (11/15)	In-person updates: 3 min Team updates, verbally, in class Planning for Design Review and Tech Demo	DUE: Requirements Document Draft to mentor. Design Review Presentations, dry-run with mentors. DUE after Design Review Dry-run: Peer Eval#3
13 (11/22) Thanksgiving	HOLIDAY Assignment: Project Info Mini-Video Assignment: Technical Prototypes Demos (Tech Demo "flight plan" template)	Enjoy the Holiday: Thursday/Friday, No Class
14 (11/29)	IN-PERSON PRESENTATION: Design Review I presentations (Teams-Room Assignments will be linked here shortly before)	DUE: Design review 1 (DR1), delivered live at conference/presentation (Date TBD)! NOTE: Presentations must be using slides Task: Schedule the Prototype demo with the mentor Fill out the Tech Demo flight plan to the mentor for approval, then schedule the Tech Demo
15 (12/6)	Prototypes, progress, and questions. Presence not mandatory. (The last class meeting is 6 December)	DUE: Requirements Doc FINAL Website is up-to-date and ready for grading. Tech Demo completed with the mentor Project Info mini-video completed Proof of Course Eval
16 FINALS WEEK	OFFICIAL FINAL EXAM TIME: 9-December-2024 12:30-2:30 You must take the final on Canvas within this window. Task: Course Evaluation	DUE by final exam time at the latest Signed Requirements document to your mentor Peer Eval#4.

In the table above:

In most cases, the due dates will be provided each week. If it is not otherwise specified, the due date for that week's assigned product will be 5:00 pm on Friday in the course Instructor's office or under his door if he is not there. If a specific day, date, or time is provided, the product is due then. Finally, for some products, your mentor may specify a time that is related to your team meetings and/or progress.

A TASK is a small, fast job that you need to get done. Tasks may or may not have deliverables; if they do, they are generally very short, e.g., send me and/or someone an email. Due dates for tasks are generally expressed in "days after the task can start", which usually means after I tell the class to get it done.

An Assignment is a larger deliverable that you will want to get started on right away in the week that you see it in the schedule. Assignments are generally larger deliverables that will take the team a week or more to prepare.

Example of GANTT Chart for the above project calendar: here

Don't forget:

All deliverables should have a cover sheet with the team logo, team name, team members, class, assignment title, and date. For evolving documents, a version number is also desirable.
For electronic documents, they must be packaged in a single, professional, and clean PDF document.