15-413 Time Management


Managing time is one of the most challenging aspects of developing software in industry.  It is also, of course, challenging for students in an ordinary course.  To help you manage your time and to build time management skills, we will be asking you to track your time spent on all aspects of the course.  Each week, you should track the number of hours spent on:
These categories should be mutually exclusive, so that they total to the time you spent for that week.  We will ask you to report your time weekly.

This is a 12-unit course, and it is my intention to manage it so that you spend close to 12 hours a week on the course, on average.  In general, 3 hours/week will be spent in class, 3 hours/week on readings and assignments, and 6 hours/week on your project.  In week 1 you do not have your project, so there is more time allocated to reading.  Your time reports will help me to gage whether I am giving the right amount of work to the class.  If 3 hours/week seems like not enough for the assignments, remember that all but the first two assignments are done by your group, so you can spread the work around.  Assignments will be worth a number of points approximately equal to the number of hours spent on the assignment (and related work on the project).

It is *your* responsibility to manage the project to keep it to around 6 hours/week.  In other words, you will be in charge of estimating how much you can do in the amount of time given for the whole course, and if your estimate is off, you will have to reduce the scope of the project.  Do not just work more if you get behind; this will result in a worse course grade than reducing project scope.

To help you, here is a recommended time allocation, broken down by each week in the course.  Note that this time allocation assumes you will do some of the assignments in advance of when they are due; this is to your benefit in evening out the course load.

Week
Class Hours
Reading/Assignment Hours
Project Hours
1
3
5 - case study, 3 - XP reading
1 - project bidding
2
2
2 - XP
5 - requirements, domain understanding
3
3
3 - planning / risk assignment
6 - requirements, planning, domain understanding
4
3
3 - requirements document
6 - requirements, domain understanding, planning prototype
5
3
3 - prototype report
6 - prototype implementation, requirements
6
3
3 - problem frames
6
7
3
3 - architecture document
6
8
2
3 - detailed design document
6
9
3
3 - formal modeling
6
10
3
3 - formal modeling 6
11
3
3 - test plan
6
12
3
3 - code review
6
13
1
3 - tool eval
3
14
3
3 - tool eval
6
15
3
3 - studying
6
Finals
3
6 - final presentation and report
3 - release

Late Work Policy

Each team has 5 late days for the semester which can be used in any assignment.  When turning in your work, just let the instructor or TA know how many late days you are using.  Work turned in late after the late days are used up will only be accepted under extraordinary circumstances.

Late individual assignments (assignments 1 and 2) will lose 10% credit for each day late, except under extraordinary circumstances.