Application Development Design Studio I

Course Composition and Objectives

This course provides a forum for students to practice skills in a supportive and collaborative environment in the semesters between the major concept courses required in the Design and Development option. Students completing this course will be able to:

• Describe and articulate the rationale for creating a human-centered application development project.
• Develop and document a design analysis and plan for the selected application development project.
• Implement and test the correctness and performance of the selected application development project.
• Assess and document the quality of the selected application development project.
• Instructors Choice: Instructors may choose topics and learning objectives that meet the spirit of the course as defined here. Instructors may choose to devote more time to the learning objectives listed above or to add additional, complimentary objectives. Supplementary material and objectives should not overlap with the defined content of other courses in the curriculum

Course Description

This studio course will provide opportunities for students to practice the technical skills acquired in their foundation application design and development courses, specifically, in IST 140 and IST 242. The course will follow the general format of experiential studios in the arts and architecture. It will be primarily problem-based and project oriented. Peer and instructor design critiques will be the major feedback and assessment mechanisms. Students in the IST Software Design Studios will be expected to complete deliverables in each phase of the systems development lifecycle (i.e. problem definition, requirements analysis, design, development, test) regardless of the development paradigm employed (plan-based, agile, etc).

A key objective of this design studio will be to introduce students to the challenges faced in different application design and development activities before exposing them to specific techniques to manage these challenges in upper-division courses.

Projects may be undertaken by individuals, pairs, or larger groups but each studio participant will be responsible for producing significant individual project deliverables. Project ideas may come from the student or from the instructor; however, projects related to students’ other course deliverables will require the agreement of both instructors.

Students will be required to maintain a design and development journal. This journal will be the analog of an engineering notebook or artist’s sketchbook and should contain a running account of the students design and development ideas, explorations, rationale, and other notes.

The IST design and development studios are a forum for serious students to engage with the concepts, process, tools, and materials used to envision and build software applications. Both collaboration and individual performance will be emphasized, as will experimentation, risk-taking, and enthusiasm for the process of designing and building working software applications. Students will be expected to improvise and then respond constructively to feedback from instructors and peers.