SE 359 Agile Software Development
Summary
This course focuses on the fundamentals, principles, tools, and techniques of Agile software development. The objectives for this course are for you to:
- Understand common Agile development methodologies and how they compare to more traditional approaches.
- Work with some common techniques of Agile development including estimation and progress reporting.
- Write epics, user stories, and tasks; estimate their complexity; and participate in sprint planning.
- Apply agile principles during a small team project.
- Analyze what makes Agile development successful or unsuccessful in different environments.
Texts
There is no course text. Resources will include lecture notes, and various online articles, sites, etc.
Grading
Final grades will be calculated based on performance in the following categories:
| Project - Group Contribution |
25% |
| Project - Individual Contribution |
25% |
| Midterm Exam |
15% |
| Final Exam |
15% |
| Quizzes |
10% |
| Participation |
10% |
Prerequisites
Synchronous Sessions
We will use the synchronous class sessions to engage in activities and exercises that will help you to apply what you're learning and to engage with your peers. The synchronous sessions will be best utilized and most lively if everyone has prepared by watching the assigned lectures, reading the assigned texts, and completing any individual assignments or activities I've assigned earlier in the week. A portion of the synchronous session will also be reserved for questions and answers.
This synchronous class sessions or portions of synchronous class sessions will be recorded and available to the class during the quarter via our D2L course site. You may find it helpful to review these recordings, but watching the recordings will not be a substitute for attending and participating in the synchronous sessions. Portions of the recordings that contain images, questions, or commentary/discussion by students will be edited out of any recordings that are saved beyond the current quarter.
The motivation for Agile frameworks when compared to traditional “heavyweight'” methodologies. Iterative and incremental software development. Software economics. The principles of agile development and the Agile Manifesto.
Introduce the course project.
Capturing users with jobs and personas. Modeling requirements using themes, epics and stories. The INVEST framework for story writing. The definition of done and its impact on story writing and estimation.
Groups are assigned; begin release planning.
Using epics and stories to determine how we can provide release plans that are both accurate and defensible. We will look at team velocity, and use it to show that Agile planning is necessary and useful.
Continue release planning; review stories.
An overview of the Scrum framework and ceremonies including: sprint planning, backlog grooming, the daily Scrum, retrospective, and review. We’ll review the Scrum roles in detail to understand how they work together.
Continue release planning and prepare for sprint 1.
Release plan group presentations.
Midterm exam covering weeks 1-5.
Overview of eXtreme Programming values, principles, practices, and activities. How XP can coexist with Scrum.
End sprint 1 and prepare for sprint 2.
Present results of sprint 1 and begin sprint 2.
The principles of Lean development. Discussions of Kaizen. Kanban flows and bottlenecks. Metrics for evaluating the efficiency of Kanban. Kanban boards and organization.
End sprint 2 and prepare for sprint 3.
Present results of sprint 2 and begin sprint 3.
The challenges of scaling agile and an overview of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS).
End sprint 3 and prepare for final presentations in week 11.
Comprehensive final exam emphasizing weeks 6-10.
This syllabus is subject to change as necessary during the quarter. If a change occurs, it will be thoroughly addressed during class, posted under Announcements in D2L and sent via email.
Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course
content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The
evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely
separate from the student’s identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation.
Students complete the evaluation online in CampusConnect.
This course will be subject to the university's academic integrity policy. More information can be found at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/ If you
have any questions be sure to consult with your professor.
All students are expected to abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy. Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.
All students are required to manage their class schedules each term in accordance with the deadlines for enrolling and withdrawing as indicated in the University Academic Calendar. Information on enrollment, withdrawal, grading and incompletes can be found at http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/PoliciesandProcedures.aspx.
Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss their specific needs. All discussions will remain confidential.
To ensure that you receive the most appropriate accommodation based on your needs, contact the instructor as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first week of class), and make sure that
you have contacted the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at:
Lewis Center 1420, 25 East Jackson Blvd.
Phone number: (312)362-8002
Fax: (312)362-6544
TTY: (773)325.7296