Preparation Masterproject Software Engineering

6 EC

Semester 1, period 1, 2, 3

5364PRMS6Y

Owner Master Software Engineering
Coordinator dr. ir. Martin Bor
Part of Master Software Engineering, year 1

Course manual 2023/2024

Course content

During paper sessions you learn skills to find, read and assess relevant scientific publications. You will also learn to build argumentation structures you need for your theory and analysis.

For your graduation project, you can choose from a number of defined themes. It is also possible to define a project yourself, once you have thoroughly examined the foundation and feasibility of your idea.

The lecturer will help you during the preparation. You will also discuss your ideas with other students.

Study materials

Other

  • Study materials are made available through the course’s Canvas page.

Objectives

  • Problem analysis
  • Scientific literature survey
  • Theory building
  • Hypothesizing
  • Structuring research and validation
  • Project planning
  • Scientific reporting

Teaching methods

  • Self-study
  • Presentation/symposium
  • Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
  • Supervision/feedback meeting
  • Seminar

This is a mixed theoretical and practical course. The format is aimed at exercising skills needed to complete the Master’s project. There are interactive sessions where scientific reading, writing, research design, and presentation skills are covered.

Learning activities

Activity

Number of hours

Workshops

12

Presentation

2

Self-study

154

Attendance

Requirements concerning attendance (TER-B).

  • Participation in practical exercises, tutorials and study group sessions is obligatory. Detailed rules are laid out in the study guide and/or the course catalogue for each unit of study.
  • Assessment

    Item and weight Details Remarks

    Final grade

    Project Proposal

    MandatorySubmission via DataNose. Marked as passed when approved by the acacemic supervisor and thesis coordinator.

    Assignments

    First reading assignment

    • This is a reading assignment. Imagine you are a reviewer for the provided paper and you must decide whether to accept or reject its publication in a scientific venue. During the next PMP class, you will debate with your colleagues what the final verdict should be.

    Second reading assignment

    • This is a reading and comparison assignment. There are three items to consider: a thesis, a workshop paper based on intermediate work, and a conference paper based on the thesis. During the next PMP class, you will debate with your colleagues what the quality and the verdict should be.

    The writing assignment

    • For this assignment, you are asked to describe the problem statement of your master project (either executed on industry data or in a research group). 

    Pitch Presentation

    • Present your project proposal in an elevator pitch for your peers and supervisors.

    Project Proposal

    • Write a project proposal detailing the context and relevance for a challenge within software engineering, and your proposed solution, approach, planning, and risks. Your proposal will be approved by the academic supervisor and thesis coordinator to pass the course.

    Fraud and plagiarism

    The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

    Course structure

    Blok/Week Subject
    B1W2 Introduction
    B1W4 The first reading assignment
    B1W6 The second reading assignment
    B2W2 Project workshop
    B2W4 Project workshop
    B2W6 Project workshop
    B3W1 Literature Surveys & Proposal Workshops
    B3W2 Research Questions and methods & Proposal Workshops
    B3W3 Proposal Workshops
    B3W4 Pitch Presentations

    Additional information

    • An interest in reading and writing scientific literature
    • Affinity with reading and writing English text
    • Knowledge of current challenges and results in software engineering

    Contact information

    Coordinator

    • dr. ir. Martin Bor

    Staff

    • dr. Kostas Papagiannopoulos
    • Divya Ravi