| Module |
Credits |
Compulsory/optional |
|
Measures and Models for Software Engineering
|
30 Credits |
Compulsory |
| In this module advanced issues of software engineering theory and practice are examined. The range of software engineering products and processes making up a software project are measured and modelled.
Typical software engineering products explored in the module may include: user requirements, design documents, code etc. Typical software engineering processes explored in the module may include: testing, debugging etc. The aim of the module is to use the modelling and measuring of such products and processes to allow quantified decision-making during software development. The module offers students the opportunity to explore both the state-of-the-art and the-state-of-the-practice in software engineering. The module will examine the most up to date research findings about software engineering as well as investigate the current practices of many software engineering companies.
A more detailed description of the module content is provided in the module delivery information for students. |
|
Programming for Software Engineers
|
30 Credits |
Compulsory |
| Software engineering places great emphasis upon the use, and re-use, of components that are tightly specified and thoroughly tested. This approach is supported by the provision of software frameworks within which programs can be developed. A software framework typically provides an Application Programming Interface (API) implemented as a set of libraries, and supported by a set of tools that may be used during development. But where do APIs, ABIs and software libraries come from? How do we decide what components are required? How are they designed and implemented? Who builds them? How do they go about it? How are they tested? How can we be sure that they work? What effect does the design and implementation of APIs and software libraries have upon the performance of systems that employ them? This module attempts to address these and other issues associated with the design, construction and use of software frameworks. |
|
Software Engineering Practice and Experience
|
30 Credits |
Compulsory |
| This module gives students the opportunity to extend their understanding and experience of software engineering practice. It offers students exposure to the development and evolution of software. The module is very practical and is based around a substantial piece of software. The aim of the module is to enable students to develop software engineering knowledge and skills that are transferable to software companies.
The module covers each element of the software engineering process. It explores the use of overarching development approaches such as eXtreme Programing and Component Based Software Engineering. Leading edge practices are introduced such as using program slicing to find code faults.
Specialised software development approaches are investigated such as those required for application areas such as safety critical systems. Process models popular with industry, such as one of the SEI models, are also used and evaluated during this module.
A more detailed description of the module content is provided in the module delivery information for students. |
|
Software Engineering Masters Project
|
60 Credits |
Compulsory |
| The project is a showpiece opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know about current research and practices in software engineering and show off their skills in applying software engineering models, methodologies, measures and tools in order to conduct a practical investigation or tackle a particular software engineering problem.
The project is a self-directed piece of work, conducted with minimum online supervision that demonstrates the student’s ability to plan and manage a substantial piece of work, and steer their own efforts.
Students are expected to be thorough in their work, and, particularly, identify and tackle any difficult or challenging aspects of the problems they are trying to solve. It is not just the quantity, or even the quality of work that is considered when grading the project, but the level of difficulty and the scope of the problem being addressed. |
|
Team Research and Development Project
|
15 Credits |
Compulsory |
| Students working at, and beyond, Master’s level are expected to understand both generic and domain-specific investigative methods, and to be able to apply them in their work. This module explores a range of such methods and helps students to enhance their proficiency in the skills that are expected of those working at postgraduate level.
Furthermore, this module involves working actively as part of a team of fellow students on a complex, multi-domain computing problem. Typically, the project can be a research project to answer a research question, a thorough empirical investigation of a specific topic, or a development idea from student themselves, or a virtual or real client. Each team would be expected to manage the project, to report regularly to their supervisor(s) on the progress of the project, and to collectively deliver a set of appropriate outputs from the project. The output(s) of the team project will typically be a computing product or system and its presentation together with appropriate documentation. |
|
Legal and Ethical Practice Exercise
|
15 Credits |
Compulsory |
| The module will involve a broad case study involving the provisioning of a system which adheres to ethical and professional guidelines and standards. This will be a team project.
One such case study might take the form of a large online platform where teams would have to create policies both for developers and users. The likely topics of those policies would be: issues involving sharing of user content, licensing of third party codes, moderation of content, consents from users relating to the tracking of user activity). The team would have to edit the platform such that all forms and submissions of user data are compliant with regulations particularly operative in the UK and the European Union. |
|
Preparation for Project
|
0 Credits |
Compulsory |
| This module provides preparation for the MSc Project. The module covers: Defining and gauging the suitability of a personal project to address a complex problem; Setting individual targets and goals relevant to the undertaking of the project; Determining ethical, professional and social considerations related to project design, implementation and delivery; Developing self-evaluation skills to support self-analysis of learning, skill acquisition and performance; Understanding particular models and methods used to initiate, plan, report on and manage complex technical projects. |
|
Advanced Research Topics in Computer Science
|
30 Credits |
Compulsory |
| This module aims to develop research and enquiry capabilities and is therefore structured around guided activities in terms of seminars, tutorials and research oriented courseworks.
The module will build on introductory research experience from core modules and provide a structured approach to develop area specific expertise by undertaking a research activity in a chosen area of specialisation and in a group setting that mirrors contemporary research methods. A concrete outcome is a technical report that synthesizes problem definitions from relevant literature and identifies a research problem in a chosen topic. |
|
Research Methods
|
30 Credits |
Compulsory |
| This module explores a range of generic and domain-specific research methods in computer science to enable students to understand such methods and apply them in their work, particularly in an advanced MSc project or a research project. The module helps students to enhance their proficiency in the skills that are expected of those working at postgraduate level.
Whilst some material will be presented in lectures, tutorials and labs, the module will be largely literature- and activity-based. It will place strong emphasis on self-management and will encourage students to reflect upon, and learn from, their own work. As the module progresses students will be expected to select an increasingly large proportion of the reading matter for themselves, so that they can tailor their learning to their individual needs in which they evaluate and choose an appropriate set of research methods for the investigation of a problem in a given sub-domain of computer science, and identify the principal advantages and limitations of those methods. |
