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COIT20258 - Software Design: Principles, Models and Patterns

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This course introduces students to the practical issues involved in the design and implementation of modern software applications. From a design perspective, the use of design patterns as a means of reusing design models that are accepted best practices and UML as a mechanism for the modelling of software components are emphasised. Students are also provided with a grounding in the principles of object oriented design. The importance of documentation, requirements traceability and testing will also be emphasised. Software design is discussed within the context of both plan driven software development and agile software development. Note: If you have undertaken COIT20226 Software Design and Implementation then this course cannot be enrolled.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites: COIT20247 Database Design and Development, COIT20256 Data Structures and Algorithms, and COIT20248 Information Systems Analysis and Design

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2015

Term 1 - 2017 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2017 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2018 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2018 Profile
Brisbane
Distance
Melbourne
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2019 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2019 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 50%
2. Examination 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was .00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 33.33% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student Evaluation
Feedback
Generally, all aspects of this unit have received a strong agreement in the level of satisfaction, especially the learning of software engineering processes, model-driven development, and the use of many industry standard tools.
Recommendation
Keep the current structure and content including the teaching of software engineering processes and the industry practices and standards.
Action Taken
The current structure and content were kept.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Workshops can be more interactive including activities to promote engagement, practice, and discussions.
Recommendation
Review workshop materials and update as necessary to include short task completion activities.
Action Taken
The overwhelming number of lecture slides was reduced. Reduction of some other lecture slides and workshops is in progress.
Source: Unit Coordinator
Feedback
Too many topics make it hard to learn for students and difficult to assess the learning outcomes
Recommendation
Reduce the number of topics
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply user interface and object-oriented principles in the design of software systems.
  2. Employ UML and design patterns in the design and documentation of software systems.
  3. Use SQL effectively in a range of different design scenarios.
  4. Critique the design alternatives available to a developer for an application.
  5. Design and implement non-distributed, layered applications.
  6. Exploit the software engineering life cycle support functionality provided by modern software development environments.

Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is in use in over 100 countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles.

ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile at https://acs.org.au/sfia-certification/mysfia

This course contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA:

  • Systems Design(DESN)
  • System Integration (SINT)
  • Programming/Software Development (PROG)
  • Data Analysis (DTAN)
  • Database/Repository Design (DBDS)
  • Testing (TEST)
  • Applications Support (ASUP)

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Practical Assessment
2 - Examination
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge
2 - Communication
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Practical Assessment
2 - Examination