CS476 Course Schedule

 

Spring 2025
(Tentative. Dates may be adjusted slightly and other assignments may be added)

 

Week	Topics and Assignments	Deliverables
1 (1/13)	Welcome! First day of class: Friday, 17 January, 2025 Opening Comments and Introduction	Due: Syllabus Quiz, 24 January, see Canvas
2 (1/20) Holiday Monday	Review/Presentation of available projects	Class: Presentation of projects
3 (1/27)	Project preferences Assmt: Project Preferences Memo ASSIGNED: Schedule Mentor meeting times this weekend; first meeting must occur during week 4 (next week)	Due: Project prefs memo due by: Wednesday, 5 February at 5:00 pm in hardcopy (printed) form at Isaac's office, SICCS 306 (under the door if he is not there). Projects will be assigned in class on Friday 07 February
4 (2/3)	Team assignments, Task: Team startup Assmt: Team Standards Doc and Team Inventory First formal meeting with Mentor, training on weekly task report	Due: Team Startup task All mentor meetings: Weekly task report, Example task report You will be graded on these reports every week
5 (2/10)	Task: Create Team Website Lecture: Conflict management Assmt: Mini-Intro	Due:Team initial website
6 (2/17)	Assmt: Fully initialized team website	Due: Team Standards and Inventory
7 (2/24)	Lecture: Requirements Acquisition Discussion: Tech Writing QuickRef Assmt: Technological Feasibility	Due: Mini-Intro: live, in-class presentations Due: Peer Eval #1. Due: Team website, ready for review.
8 (3/3)	Lecture: Prototyping
-- (3/10) --	SPRING BREAK	No Classes
9 (3/17)	Lecture: Requirements in Industry Assmt: Requirements Specification Document	DUE: Tech. Feasibility draft: Hardcopy (or as specified by your mentor) to mentor
10 (3/24)	Review: Requirements Doc spec, planning
11 (3/31)	Review: DR Presentation guidelines spec Task: Mini-team updates	DUE: Tech. Feasibility final. Prepared: 3min Team updates, verbally, in class DUE: Peer Eval #2.
12 (4/7)	Lecture: Configuration Management Planning for Design Review and Demos
13 (4/14)	Assmt: Project Info Mini-Video Assmt: Technical Prototypes Demos (Tech Demo "flight plan" template)	Due: Requirements Document Draft to mentor. Due: Design Review Presentations, dry run with mentors. Due after DR: Peer Eval #3.
14 (4/21)	DR I and final components preparation	UGRADS Day - No Class Check out the CS 486c projects Task: Schedule Prototype demo with mentor Due: Filled out Tech Demo flight plan to mentor for approval
15 (4/28)	Design Review I presentations	Due: Design review 1 (DR1), delivered live in class! Due: Requirements Doc FINAL Due: Website up-to-date and ready for grading. Due: Approved & scheduled Tech Demo Due: Project Info mini-video completed
16 (5/5) FINALS WEEK	OFFICIAL FINAL EXAM TIME: Wednesday, 7 May, Exam Open: 12:30pm - 2:30pm Take Final on Canvas within this time window. Task: Course Evaluation	Due by final exam time at latest: -- Signed Reqs. document to your mentor -- Tech Demo completed with mentor -- Peer Eval #4. -- Proof of Course Eval

 

In the table above:

• Specific due dates are rarely used in the above schedule, because each team's mentor meeting is at a different time. Unless otherwise specified, due dates and times will be provided by the team mentor. If the mentor does not specify a deadline, all deliverables shown as "due" in a particular week are due by 5pm on Friday of that week


• 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 someone an email


• An Assignment (Assmt) 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.


• An example GANTT Chart from a previous project calendar: here

 

Don't forget:

• All deliverables (hardcopy or electronic) should have a cover sheet with team logo, team name, team members, class, assignment title, date. For evolving documents, a version number is also desirable.


• For smaller hardcopy document deliverables (<5 pages), a staple is adequate. Larger document deliverables must be bound in a professional report cover. No paper clips, dog-ears, or other "alternative" methods of grouping papers allowed.


• Document deliverables that are allowed in electronic form must be packaged in a single, professional PDF document.