View source for ECT 437 Fall 2026

ECT 437 Senior Project 1: Project Management and ECT 438 Senior Project 2: Capstone together comprise the senior project for students in the following majors: computer science, information technology, computer and electrical engineering technology. ECT 437 is taken in the fall, and ECT 438 is taken in the spring. For ECT 437, we will be doing some "standard textbook" material on project management, do a project together as a class, and get started with project proposals that will be completed in the spring (in ECT 438).

This website is used to keep track of the sections of ECT 437 that are for the CS majors, taught by Jeff Kinne. The sections for other majors is managed separately and taught by Dr. Javaid.


=General Information=
'''Course website''' - https://cs.indstate.edu/web/index.php/ECT_437_Fall_2026

'''Your Instructor'''

[https://kinnejeff.com Jeff Kinne], [mailto:jkinne@indstate.edu jkinne@indstate.edu] <br>
''Office:'' Root Hall A-165 and in Microsoft Teams, phone 812-237-3394 <br>
''Instructor Office Hours:'' I am normally in my office between roughly 8:30am-3pm when I am not in class or meetings. I am normally available for online meetings - MTWRF 8am-4pm, SMTWR 8-10pm if I am not in class or a meeting. I have class/meetings the following days/times (so not available these times): MWF 10-11am, MW 1-3pm, T 3:30-4:30pm, TR 11am-12:30pm. <br>
''Schedule a Meeting with Me:'' https://cs.indstate.edu/jkinne-meeting

'''Graduate assistant help''' - TBD. See https://cs.indstate.edu/web/index.php/ISU_CS_People#CS_Departmental_Graduate_Assistants

'''Lecture, Exam'''

''Lecture:'' MW 1-2:50pm in Myers Technology Center (TC) 316, over Teams (link in Canvas/Teams, see below), and recorded<br> 
''Final exam:'' We have two exam slots that we will likely use for project presentations: Monday Dec 7, 3-4:50pm and Wednesday Dec 9, 1-2:50pm. <br> 

'''Prerequisites''' - Junior or senior standing. For those that graduate in the spring, you take ECT 437 in the preceding fall; for those who graduate in a fall semester, you take ECT 437 the previous fall (so that you can take ECT 438 in your last spring term).

'''CRN numbers''' - 52352 (ECT 437-003), 50880 (ECT 437-301).

'''Required text'''
For the project management content of the course, we will the the following.
* Free online - [https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/ Project Management – 2nd Edition] by Adrienne Watt.
* Information technology Project Management by Schwalbe (maybe not free).
Note that the other sections of the course use the following textbook. This is not required for Jeff Kinne's sections of the course.
* [https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/project-management-for-engineering-and-technology/P200000001110/9780132817523?srsltid=AfmBOorbY72RPx2VISEBqx9WhJLN3_N5KnkwO2Q-OzlVwimjnNKmgcce Project Management for Engineering and Technology] by David L. Goetsch.

'''Technology Requirements'''
* Desktop or laptop computer (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or Chrome OS) with the ability to save files and install programs.
* Your ISU account, to access Canvas and course notes.
* Free programs you will install: TBA

'''Class notes''' - Notes during class will mostly be kept in the documents in '''[https://sycamoresindstate-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/jeffrey_kinne_indstate_edu/EiJJbQVND3FMr25IAoHydnUBADrC7z-tZH_OTaD1h_A8Ow this OneDrive folder]'''.  Note that you will need to authenticate with your ISU account to view the folder. Some files from lecture may be kept at https://cs.indstate.edu/~ect437/ which can also be seen when you are logged into the terminal by doing: <code>cd ~ect437/public_html/</code>.

=Announcements/Assignments/Quizzes/Exams=
'''HW'''
These are posted in Canvas or on the CS server. Some HWs are due the next lecture day, some are due a week after assigned. All times are Eastern US time.

'''Rules'''
Rules for HWs, quizzes, exams are in the course policies below.

'''Announcements'''
Announcements will normally be posted to the course in Canvas (and will probably be emailed to your ISU email address if you have the default settings for notifications in Canvas).

=Course Description and Content=

'''Course Description''' 

The official description of this course from the catalog is  

"Evaluation of control computers in an industrial environment; the direct and indirect cost trade-off of implementing a hardwired vs. a programmed controller. The effect of management decisions on industrial computer applications. Economics of open and closed systems, software vs. hardware, in-house vs. contract maintenance, and multi-vendor vs. single vendor systems." 

Since these are the sections of the course for CS majors, we will be focusing our discussions and projects on software management and development. We may have some groups that work together with students in the other sections of the course if there are projects that make sense for this to happen.

'''Course Outline'''

This course outline is subject to change.  

Unit 1 Project Management

Unit 2 Class Project

Unit 3 Student Projects

Note that we will be working through units 1 and 2 at the same time (we will be doing "textbook" style material and getting to work on a class project simultaneously).

'''Learning Outcomes'''
# Demonstrate proficiency in the correct usage of PM and technical terminology.
# Explain PM concepts of scope, schedule, resources, constraints, risks, and closure and apply this information to the semester project.
# Explain the research approach for analyzing the project details for design.
# Demonstrate skills for project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure. 
# Demonstrate ability in written, oral, and graphical communication in well-defined technical and non-technical environments; and an ability to identify and use appropriate technical literature.
# Demonstrate communication skills for change, diversity, and adversity. 
# Demonstrate an ability to function effectively as a member as well as a leader on technical teams.
# Demonstrate ability to use software development tools as part of a team.

=Assignments=

'''Start Assignments and Exam Studying Early''' - 
I suggest attempting an assignment the day it is given, or the day after, so that if you have a problem you can ask early. If you continue to have problems in trying to complete the assignment, you will have time to ask again. Many of the assignments require thought and problem solving, which takes "time on the calendar" not just "time on the clock". By that I mean that spending an hour on 3 consecutive days is likely to be more productive than trying to spend 3 hours at once on the assignment.

'''Expected Amount of Work''' - 
If you take this class seriously and get what you should out of it, some weeks you will likely be spending around '''6-10 hours or more''' on the class.  The students who get A’s in their CS courses and have an easier time finding jobs do spend this much time on this course.  Not everyone would need to spend this much time and not all weeks will be the same, but you should plan on putting in whatever time it takes.  Note that the federal government definition of 1 credit hour as requiring 2 hours worth of time on the course for each credit hour of lecture, so you should think of this as the default for all of your courses. 

'''Note - your classes in your major should ideally be more important than your part-time job.'''

'''Each week''', you will normally have at least one assignment, often more than one (in particular at the beginning when the assignments are pretty small).

=Grade Meanings=
The letter grades are intended to have the following rough meaning. For letter grades I will use the usual breakdown as a starting point (90 is A-, 80 is B-, etc.), but will raise letter grades above this if I think it is needed (e.g., if assignments, exams, and quizzes are really tough).
* A+/A: You understand everything and probably could teach the course yourself.
* B+/A-: You understand nearly everything, and should be all set to use this knowledge in other courses or in a job.
* C/C+/B-/B: Some things you understand very well and others you don't (more towards the former for a B and more towards the latter for a C).
* D-/D+/C-: You did put some effort in, and understand many things at a high level, but you haven't mastered the details well enough to be able to use this knowledge in the future.
* F: Normally, students that get an F simply stopped doing the required work at some point, or cheated on something in the course.

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