Seminar in Software Process

Recommended Prerequisites

All previous courses in the MSE program are assumed to have been completed.

Teaching Methods

Seminar is a readings and discussion course. Students are assigned, in advance, a significant amount of readings (mostly scientific papers) that they must complete before class. The lecturer guides discussions about key topics from the subjects the students previously prepared.

Learning Outcomes

The Seminar in Software Process course is a self-study and discussion course. Discussions center on how to implement effective and efficient software processes. The focus of the seminar is on systematic approaches to building software better, faster, and cheaper. A variety of quality management strategies and frameworks related to process improvement frameworks are discussed, namely CMMI, ISO 15504, ISO 12207, ISO 15288, TQM, ISO 9001. Specific processes addressing project management and engineering practices are discussed, as are the people-related issues such as culture and change management.

After completing this course, students will:

• understand systematic approaches to software development and maintenance;
• developed people, organizational, and change management skills;
• have a greater understanding of quality assurance process and controls;
• be better prepared to impact and implement change within their organizations in the software development area.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

P00: An Introduction to Software Process Improvement

P01: Software CMM^® v1.1

P02: ISO 15504, ISO 12207, ISO 15288, CMM Integration

P03: TQM and ISO 9001

P04: People, Culture, Change Management

P05: Criticisms of Process Management

P06: Agile Methods

P07: Project Management, Customer Relationship Management

P08: Software Engineering, Support Processes (SQA, SCM), Peer Reviews

P09: Organizational Learning, Assessments

P10: Process Definition, Institutionalization

P11: Measurement, Statistical Thinking

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Class participation: 10.0%
Homeworks: 40.0%
Project: 50.0%

Bibliography

M.B. Chrissis, M.D. Konrad, and S. Shrum, "CMMI: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement, Second Edition," Addison-Wesley, 2006 or M.C. Paulk, C.V. Weber, B. Curtis, and M.B. Chrissis, "The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process," Addison-Wesley, 1995.

 

Dozens of scientific papers and reports about the frameworks, models, and practices discussed in the course.