Developing Software Engineering Class Projects with an Internal Client Dr. Christelle Scharff Computer Science Department Internal Client: Michelle Perez Director Office of Housing & Residential Life Contact: Diana White Office of Housing & Residential Life Students: Asif Baksh, Sze-Man Chan, Brian Hernandez, Zulfikar Shameer, Denny Singh, Sonny Szeto

Outline Software Engineering Software Engineering Class: CS 389 Project Requirements List of Projects for Spring 2004 Partnering with an Internal Client How? Why? Impact? Assessment? Students Interviews Demonstration Conclusions and Future Work

Software Engineering Software = Computer Program + Documentation Software Engineering is a discipline, which is concerned by all aspects of building high-quality software from the early stages of software specification, development and validation, to the maintenance of the system after it has been deployed Quality depends on the methods, techniques and tools used during the software engineering process

Some Numbers In 2002, 34% of software products were completed on budget, and 17% were complete failure [Standish Group] Defective software cost companies more than $200 billions annually [Sustainable Computing Consortium] It takes $10 to fix a bug during development, $100 to fix a bug during quality assurance, $1000 to fix a bug during beta test, and $10,000 to fix a bug post-deployment [Alan Zeichlick, SD Times]

Software Engineering Course: CS 389 Core course of the Computer Science curriculum taken by junior and senior students Main Topics: Software Engineering Process Models Requirements Engineering Object-Oriented Design and UML Programming and technologies Testing Semester-long software development group project Students choose their groups and projects Students have the opportunity to work with an internal client

Two Important Questions Concerning the Project What software engineering process model to use? Waterfall model How to best simulate the “real world” conditions? Type of project, group work, technologies, deliverables, deadlines and other constraints, client…

Projects – Spring 2004 Online Web Pages Builder 8 students Online Wedding Planner System Online Volunteers Management 7 students System for NYC 2012 Online Pace University Schedule Builder Online Room Transfer Requests 6 students System Online Work Order Requests System

Projects Requirements Communication skills Documentation Feasibility Study Requirements Document Design Document Testing Document Code Listing Professional experience Impact: Users Satisfaction Survey Visibility (web page) Programming Learn at least one new technology Practice with at least one CASE tool

Partnering with an Internal Client Steps: First Contact with the Housing and Residential Life Office Regular follow up with the client and the students Invitations to presentations and demonstrations Assessment

Survey Results: Why Some Students Did not Work with the H & RL? 15 students out of 21 Proposed projects not challenging enough Scope and size of the proposed projects too large Decision of the team Interest in their own software to be developed Needed to be ensured that the H & RL will be committed and helpful Needed to be ensured that the software will be deployed and used Needed an extra-curriculum reward!

Advantages of Partnering with an Internal Client 1 Real world experience Understand clients’ needs and changes in requirements Project management experience Development of communication and negotiation skills Acquire experience and diverse skills valuable on the market place

Advantages to Partnering with an Internal Client 2 Experiential learning to support students’ academic, ethical, and social development Developing software that will directly benefit a large number of students’ peers Intimate understanding of various policies and procedures An opportunity to directly impact the quality of services students’ receive Inspires students’ to become involved and active citizens of the residential community

Experience as a Client Initial Contact The process: Time investment to meet the students Attendance to demonstrations and presentations Interest: Customized software developed to meet the specific needs of the residential community Significant needs of customized software for the residential community

Survey Results: Students who worked with H & RL Why did they choose to work with a client? Challenge, gain experience, resume, participating in the community , time management and follow-up Experience with the client Very proactive, helpful, committed and understanding client Changes in the requirements were introduced smoothly because of the regular meetings and discussions All of the students would repeat the experience

Students Interviews How much time did you spend on the project? What required the most time? How would you describe your experience with the internal client? Was the scope and size of the project well-defined from the beginning? Would you like to see partnerships like this one in other Computer Science classes? What do you believe are the impacts of this experience on your career?

The OLWOR System OnLine Work Order Request System Asif, Damian, Denny Client: Michelle Perez, Director of Housing & Residential Life Supervisor of the project: Diana White. H & RL

OLWOR Stakeholders and Main Features All users of the system (Residents, H & RL Staff and Direction) have a profile in OLWOR Residents can submit work order requests online DoIt, B&G, S&S, CoinMac Confirmation emails sent to the staff and residents about all requests and updates Residents keep track of the status of their work order requests (submitted, in progress, closed) Staff and Director of H & RL have access to all work order requests (using different criteria)

OLWOR Demonstration

Conclusions and Future Work Problems and questions Server? Support for the Server? Financial support? Availability and willingness of the students to finish the project? Maintenance of the system afterward?

Conclusions and Future Work Success story: Deployment of the OLWOR system Internship offered by the Office of Housing and Residential Life Summer I 2004: Deployment Summer II 2004: Use of the system by the RAs in Maria’s Tower, and assessment Fall 2004: Use of the system by the students in Maria’s Tower, and assessment On the road for Fall 2004 and Spring 2005…

Questions & Answers