Information Technology Capstone I and II

The capstone sequence for information technology (two 16-week courses) is designed to introduce students to a complete development lifecycle from project requirements all the way to delivery of a product. Students use a Unified Process/Agile approach working in teams to complete a number of systems deliverables.

In general, the projects for this class should be at a level of difficulty that requires a team of 4-6 students in order to complete the tasks over two semesters. Listed below are some more specific requirements.

1. In general, the project should require skills typical of IT-related jobs. It could, for example, involve the design and development of an E-Commerce web portal, or the design and installation of a network for a small to medium business, or a database-driven application or mobile app.
2. The project should require the design and integration of both custom-designed and off the shelf software and perhaps integration and installation of hardware components.
3. The system should require detailed levels of design and testing in order to accommodate the various lifecycle documents and other deliverables required for the class.
4. The project can involve concepts developed by the team members, or requirements defined by a local company or faculty research lab. In some cases, the project may involve second generation design and upgrades on existing platforms if an appropriate level of difficulty is apparent

Course Outcomes – Capstone I: By the end of this course, students will:
• Gather and refine user functional requirements and other functional and non-functional requirements and constraints for a large-scale information system, and create a system requirements specification document.
• Perform system analysis and design tasks using recognized software engineering methods to create a preliminary design specification for a system based on a requirements specification.
• Utilize software project management principles, skills and tools in creating the requirements and preliminary design specifications.
• Create a project management plan, including a schedule and budget for a large-scale information systems project.
• Create initial test and documentation plans for a project.
• Utilize configuration management, project management and design tools in the course of the project.
• Understand the classification and characteristics of large computing systems.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform common systems installation, integration, maintenance, and administration tasks.

Course Outcomes – Capstone II: By the end of this course, students will:
• Create a detailed systems design and implementation plan using standard software engineering tools and methodology.
• Implement the design for a large-scale information system.
• Create a test plan and series of test procedures for a project and execute the procedures against the components created.
• Create a delivery and maintenance plan for a large-scale information system.
• Utilize configuration management, project management and design tools in the course of the project.
• Create a lifecycle plan for the information system developed.
• Understand the classification and characteristics of large computing systems.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform common systems installation, integration, maintenance, and administration tasks.
• Demonstrate the ability to plan and execute the deployment of an IT system or components into a client environment.

Textbook – Capstone I and II: none

Topics – Capstone I
Note: the majority of the assignments in this course will relate to a large group project that will extend into the Capstone II class. There will be a few initial individual assignments and a number of group deliverables throughout the semester

Week 1 - Course Overview, Setup Team Room, Personal Assessment, Lecture: Nature of Design
Week 2 - Lecture: Team and Project Management, Determine Teams and Team Names, IA -1 presentations, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 3 - Lecture: Project Lifecycle, Brainstorm Project ideas, Meet with Client
Week 4 - Project ID and Need, Lecture: Development Methodologies, Lecture: Requirements, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 5 - RUP and Use Cases
Week 6 - Lecture: Preliminary Design Overview, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 7 - Work Week
Week 8 - Review Preliminary Design details, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 9 - Work Week
Week 10 - Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 11 - Lecture/Discussion Detailed Design
Week 12 - Lecture: Testing, Work Week, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 13 - Lecture: Reliability and Delivery
Week 14 - Work Week, Bi-Weekly Status Report
Week 15 - Crunch Week!
Week 16 - Final Presentations

Topics – Capstone II
Note: the majority of the assignments in this course will relate to a large group project that will be completed based on preliminary work in the Capstone I class. There will be a few initial individual assignments and a number of group deliverables throughout the semester.

Week 1 - Course Overview, Setup Team Room, Project Plan Updates
Week 2 - Detailed Design Review and Update, Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 3 - Lecture: System Implementation
Week 4 - Lecture: Testing, Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 5 - Lecture: Test Plans
Week 6 - Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 7 - Lecture: Test Procedures
Week 8 - Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 9 - Lecture: Maintenance Documents
Week 10 - Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 11 - Lecture: User Documentation
Week 12 - Work Week, Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 13 - Lecture: Reliability
Week 14 - Work Week, Bi-weekly Status Report
Week 15 - Delivery to Customer
Week 16 - Final Presentations (will be scheduled during Design Day program)