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II1302 Projects and Project Methods 7,5 hp

Course memo Spring 2024-60102

Version 1 – 02/29/2024, 11:27:37 AM

Course offering

Spring 2024-60102 (Start date 18 Mar 2024, English)

Language Of Instruction

English

Offered By

EECS/Computer Science

Course memo Spring 2024

Course presentation

The course aims to develop the student's ability to carry out a design project in IT. The course and project is proceeding in collaboration with other students in a smaller project team. The goal is to give students a foundation for effective participation and management of IT projects. The course is conducted by a technical design assignment as a driver. Students work throughout the course in a project group with 4-8 participants with the task of solving a design task. During the course students develops, through learning activities and active project work, knowledge and skills of project model and project process against the learning outcomes listed below. The course has few traditional lectures and exercises but instead it uses short "morning meetings", "stand-up meetings”, group seminars, presentations from the groups, spontaneous discussions. The purpose of the various activities is to emulate modern project methodology and what might happen in commercial IT projects. 

Headings denoted with an asterisk ( * ) is retrieved from the course syllabus version Spring 2023

Content and learning outcomes

Course contents

  • Group dynamics, leadership and communication in practical work in project group about 3-8 individuals.
  • Theoretical and practical project model according to established science and practice.
  • Practical development, in groups, of an IT prototype with specification, architecture, design, programming/design, implementation and test.
  • Project economy in the form of budgeting, planning, evaluation and time reporting of the work.
  • Written system documentation, planning documentation and writing of report.
  • When needed, analysis of sustainability aspects and working environment are included. 

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of the course, the student should, for small IT projects, be able to

  • suggest and give an account of an appropriate, adapted and largely proven project method
  • from the perspective of some management role state and with evidence, through a connection to experience from a completed project, justify the strengths and weaknesses of the method
  • contribute with ideas and system development work
  • based on some management role, practically suggest, plan, organise, lead and follow up the work of the project group
  • admit a socially including, encouraging and responsible approach to the project group
  • relate to social aims, concerning e g sustainability, which are relevant for the project and also for a developed product and product use.

Learning activities

The course utilizes problem-based learning in project groups. The main task is to design and develop a cloud-based Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution with a product prototype and associated application software. The course goes through the project management lifecycle's four stages: initiation, planning, execution, and closure.

Detailed plan

Initiation and planning phases (4 weeks)

Students are randomly assigned to project groups. Each student group initiates the project by identifying the project scope and proposing a cloud-based IoT solution, which must be approved by the teaching team. 

After the student group’s project idea is approved, the project group makes a plan for their project development, for instance, breaking down and scheduling tasks, allocating resources, and assessing and managing risks.

During these two phases, students will learn key concepts in project methods, including planning, management, and development. Students must complete course activities related to these concepts, such as quizzes and seminars, which are used as part of the grade assessment. The course focuses on agile methodology. Seminar attendance is mandatory.

Activities related to English writing support are also provided during these phases.

 

Execution phase (4 weeks)

Each project group works in iterations with incremental progress toward completion. Each iteration ends with a so-called “demo,” in which the group reports results achieved/added during the iteration. Each iteration is about one week long, and the project group does four iterations during the execution phase. Demo attendance is mandatory.

Each group must agree on common timeslots for project work, during which participation is mandatory. Each student must work at least 20 hours per week during these iterations and contribute their fair share of work. Thus, each student must track and report their time spent on the project every week.

 

Closure phase (3 weeks)

All project groups present their “working” prototype and reflect on their project work. Moreover, they must submit reports, which include group and individual reports. In this phase, there are also seminar sessions during which participation is mandatory.

Preparations before course start

Recommended prerequisites

  • II1300 Engineering Skills, or have equivalent knowledge in basic engineering methods to work in a small IT project in a group.
  • IS1200 Computer Hardware Engineering, or have equivalent skills to design, implement, test and debug both software and hardware for an IoT device.

Equipment

A laptop with standard performance or better.

Examination and completion

Grading scale

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Examination

  • INL1 - Hand-in assignments, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
  • PRO2 - Project work, 3.5 credits, Grading scale: P, F
  • UTV1 - Evaluation documents, 1.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Other requirements for final grade

Attendance requirement at project work.

Reported working time during the project development phase. Each student must work at least 20 hours per week.

Grading criteria/assessment criteria

The course uses continuous examination. Students must fulfill the attendance requirements. Students also get points for different course activities. The final grade derives from the percentage of the total points a student scores by the end of the course. The table below shows the minimum percentages for different grades.

Percentage Grade
85 A
80 B
75 C
70 D
65 E
63 Fx

A student who scores at least 65% will pass the course and receive a P grade for the PRO2 and UTV1 modules, and the INL1 grade is the same as the final grade.

A student with scores lower than 65% but higher than 63% will receive the Fx grade and must complete complementary work within a given time limit to pass the course with the final grade of E. Otherwise, the student will receive an F grade on all course modules.

A student with scores lower than 63% will fail the course and receive an F grade on all course modules.

After an overall assessment, the examiner can lower or raise the grade one step.

Opportunity to raise an approved grade via renewed examination

It is not possible to raise an approved grade.

Ethical approach

  • All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
  • In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
  • In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Further information

No information inserted

Round Facts

Start date

18 Mar 2024

Course offering

  • Spring 2024-60102

Language Of Instruction

English

Offered By

EECS/Computer Science

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