Module Overview
The industry project module introduces students to the concepts, skills, and knowledge of working in a collaborative team environment on technical development projects. Students work in groups to design, develop, and evaluate an industry-oriented project using contemporary project management principles. Through collaborative work, students experience industry-standard agile methodologies, develop self-directed skills in their chosen specialisations, and engage with professional, ethical, and legal issues in computer science. Teams will manage their projects using sprint-based development, version control, and professional communication practices.
Lecture Slides
- 1. Orientation, Project Ideation and Specialism Mapping — Module introduction, project examples, and matching projects to technical specialisms
- 2. Briefs, Requirements and Early Technical Validation — Writing design briefs and early feasibility testing
- 3. Project Management & Sprint Zero — Agile workflows, backlog creation, and project setup
- 4. Development Sprint 1 (Core Foundations) — Architecture patterns and building core functionality
- 5. Development Sprint 2 (Feature Build) — Feature-driven development and version control workflows
- 6. Ethical, Legal & Professional Issues + Sprint 2 Continuation — BCS codes, GDPR, ethics in technical decisions
- 7. Development Sprint 3 (Integrations Sprint) — API integration, testing, and debugging strategies
- 8. Development Sprint 4 (Refinement & System Cohesion) — Code quality, refactoring, and internal demonstrations
- 9. Development Sprint 5 (Polish and Stability) — Performance optimization, security, and documentation
- 10. Presentation Sprint 1 (Building the Presentation & Demo) — Structuring technical presentations and demo rehearsal
- 11. Development Sprint 6 (Final Feature & Integration) — Final development push and system integration testing
- 12. Final Presentation Sprint — Assessment rehearsals and demo quality assurance
Module Quizzes
Interactive quizzes to test your knowledge of each session's content.
Quizzes coming soon...
Further Reading & Resources
Agile & Project Management
- Official Scrum Guide — Understanding Scrum framework and agile principles
- Atlassian Agile Coach — Comprehensive agile methodology resources
- Trello Guide — Kanban board basics for project management
Version Control
- Pro Git Book — Complete guide to Git version control
- GitHub Docs — Getting started with GitHub collaboration
- Learn Git Branching — Interactive Git tutorial
Professional & Ethical Standards
- BCS Code of Conduct — Professional standards for computing practitioners
- ICO GDPR Guide — Data protection and privacy regulations
- WCAG Guidelines — Web accessibility standards
Development Tools
- Git, GitHub/GitLab for version control and collaboration
- Trello, Jira, or GitHub Projects for sprint planning
- VS Code, IntelliJ, PyCharm for development environments
- Postman for API testing and development
- Docker for containerization (optional, advanced projects)
Testing & Documentation
- Pytest Documentation — Python testing framework
- Jest — JavaScript testing framework
- Write the Docs — Technical documentation best practices