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For the undergraduate curriculum in Software Engineering leading to the degree Bachelor of Science. The Software Engineering Program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

The Bachelor of Science degree in software engineering is jointly administered by the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Software Engineering program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn software engineering fundamentals, to study applications of state-of-the art software technologies and to prepare for the practice of software engineering. The student-faculty interaction necessary to realize this opportunity occurs within an environment motivated by the principle that excellence in undergraduate education is enhanced by an integrated commitment to successful, long-term research and outreach programs.

The software engineering curriculum offers many elective choices in software engineering. Students may also take elective courses in computer engineering and computer science.

Program Educational Objectives

Within five years of graduation, the graduates should:

1. attain a productive career in Software Engineering or related fields;

2. attain leadership roles and become effective collaborators to advance professional and organizational goals;

3. engage in lifelong learning and professional development;

4. encourage and support diversity and inclusiveness in their workplace.

We expect that these objectives will be manifested in our graduates through the following five key attributes: (a) peer-recognized expertise, (b) engagement in professional practice, (c) sustained learning, (d) leadership and (e) teamwork.

Demonstration of expertise involves applying state-of-the-art practices for solving problems in the design, development, validation, evolution and sustainment of (software) products. Demonstration of professional engagement involves contributing locally and globally to the use of ethical, competent, and creative practices in industry, academia or the public sector. Demonstration of sustained learning involves the ability to adapt to rapid technological, environmental, and organizational changes through self-study and group study and through opportunities of professional development or graduate study. Demonstration of leadership involves the ability to take initiative, and to facilitate the advancements of individuals and the community by influencing others and by having a widespread, positive impact on critical issues and projects. Finally, demonstration of teamwork involves the ability to work with collaborators who have varied expertise, and with diverse cultural and interdisciplinary backgrounds.

As a complement to the instructional activity, the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences provide opportunities for each student to have experience with broadening activities. Students have the opportunity to gain practical industry experience in the cooperative education and internship program. Students have the opportunity to participate in advanced research activities. Through international exchange programs, students learn about engineering practices in other parts of the world.

Curriculum in Software Engineering

The Software Engineering program is an interdisciplinary program delivered jointly by the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Leading to the degree bachelor of science.

Total credits required: 125 cr. Any transfer credit courses applied to the degree program require a grade of C or better (but will not be calculated into the ISU cumulative GPA, Basic Program GPA or Core GPA). See also Basic Program and Special Programs. Note: Pass/Not Pass credits cannot be used to meet graduation requirements.
International Perspectives: 3 cr.1
U.S. Diversity: 3 cr.1
Communication Proficiency/Library requirement:
ENGL 150 Critical Thinking and Communication (C or better in this course) 3
ENGL 250 Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition (C or better in this course) 3
LIB 160 Information Literacy 1
Choose one of the following: 3

ENGL 309

 Proposal and Report Writing (C or better in this course)

ENGL 314

 Technical Communication (C or better in this course)
Total Credits 10
General Education Requirements: 24 cr.2
Arts and Humanities 6
Social Sciences 3
Additional Arts and Humanities or Social Sciences course 3
Choose 1 course from the following: 3

ECON 101

 Principles of Microeconomics

ECON 102

 Principles of Macroeconomics

I E 305

 Engineering Economic Analysis
ENGL 250 Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition (C or better in this course) 3
Choose one of the following ENGL courses (C or better in this course) 3

ENGL 309

 Proposal and Report Writing

ENGL 314

 Technical Communication
SP CM 212 Fundamentals of Public Speaking 3
Total Credits 24
Basic Program: 24 cr.

A minimum GPA of 2.00 is required for this set of courses (please note that transfer course grades will not be calculated into the Basic Program GPA). See Requirement for Entry into Professional Program in College of Engineering Overview section.

CHEM 167 General Chemistry for Engineering Students 4
or CHEM 177 General Chemistry I
ENGL 150 Critical Thinking and Communication (C or better in this course) 3
S E 101 Software Engineering Orientation 3 R
S E 185 Problem Solving in Software Engineering 3 3
LIB 160 Information Literacy 1
MATH 165 Calculus I 4
MATH 166 Calculus II 4
PHYS 221 Introduction to Classical Physics I 5
Total Credits 24
Math and Physical Science: 17 cr.
COM S 227 Object-oriented Programming (C- or better in this course) 4
COM S 228 Introduction to Data Structures (C- or better in this course) 3
MATH 267 Elementary Differential Equations and Laplace Transforms 4
Math Elective: Choose one of the following: 3

MATH 207

 Matrices and Linear Algebra

MATH 265

 Calculus III

MATH 304

 Combinatorics

MATH 314

 Graph Theory

MATH 317

 Theory of Linear Algebra
STAT 330 Probability and Statistics for Computer Science 3
Total Credits 17
Software Engineering Core: 37 cr.

A minimum GPA of 2.00 is required for this set of courses, including any transfer courses (please note that transfer course grades will not be calculated into the Core GPA):

CPR E 281 Digital Logic 4
Choose one of the following: 3

COM S 327

 Advanced Programming Techniques

CPR E 288

 Embedded Systems I: Introduction
Choose one of the following: 3

COM S 321

 Introduction to Computer Architecture and Machine-Level Programming

CPR E 381

 Computer Organization and Assembly Level Programming
Choose one of the following: 3

COM S 352

 Introduction to Operating Systems

CPR E 308

 Operating Systems: Principles and Practice
Choose one of the following: 3

COM S 230

 Discrete Computational Structures

CPR E 310

 Theoretical Foundations of Computer Engineering
COM S 311 Introduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms 3
COM S 363 Introduction to Database Management Systems 3
S E 309 Software Development Practices 3
S E 317 Introduction to Software Testing (Introduction to Software Testing) 3
S E 319 Construction of User Interfaces 3
S E 339 Software Architecture and Design 3
S E 421 Software Analysis and Verification for Safety and Security 3
Note: CPR E 288, CPR E 381 and CPR E 308 are 4-credit courses. The core credit requirement (37 credits) is given in terms of 3-credit courses. If the 4-credit courses are taken instead, then the extra credits will be used as credits for Supplementary Electives.
Total Credits 37
Other Remaining Courses: 23 cr.
S E 166 Careers in Software Engineering R
S E 491 Senior Design Project I and Professionalism 3
S E 492 Senior Design Project II 2
Software Engineering Elective 2 6
Supplementary Elective 2 9
Open Elective 2 3
Total Credits 23
Optional Co-op/Internships
Transfer Credit Requirements

The degree program must include a minimum of 30 credits at the 300-level or above in professional and technical courses earned at ISU in order to receive a B.S. in software engineering. These 30 credits must include S E 491 Senior Design Project I and Professionalism and S E 492 Senior Design Project II and credits in the core professional curriculum and/or in technical electives. The software engineering degree program requires a grade of C or better for any transfer credit course that is applied to the degree program.

  1. These university requirements will add to the minimum credits of the program unless the university-approved courses are also approved by the department to meet other course requirements within the degree program. U.S Diversity and International Perspectives courses may not be taken Pass/Not Pass.
  2. Choose from department approved lists.
  3. See Basic Program for Professional Engineering Curricula for accepted substitutions for curriculum designated courses in the Basic Program.

See also: A 4-year plan of study grid showing course template by semester.

Note: International perspectives and U.S. diversity courses are used to meet the general education electives.

Plan of Study - 4 Year Plan*

Freshman
Fall Credits Spring Credits
MATH 165 4 COM S 227 4
ENGL 150 3 MATH 166 4
S E 101 R S E 166 R
LIB 160 1 PHYS 221 5
CHEM 167 or 177 4 Economics Elective 3
S E 185 3
15 16
Sophomore
Fall Credits Spring Credits
CPR E 2811 4 S E 3191 3
ENGL 250 3 COM S 327 or CPR E 2881, 2 3
MATH 267 4 Math Elective 3
COM S 228 3 General Education Elective 3
SP CM 212 3
17 12
Junior
Fall Credits Spring Credits
COM S 3631 3 COM S 352 or CPR E 3081, 2 3
COM S 230 or CPR E 3101 3 ENGL 314 or 309 3
COM S 321 or CPR E 3811, 2 3 COM S 3111 3
S E 309 3 S E 317 (Introduction to Software Testing) 3
General Education Elective 3 S E 3391 3
Open Elective 3
15 18
Senior
Fall Credits Spring Credits
S E 491 3 S E 492 2
STAT 330 3 Supplementary Electives 9
S E 421 3 Software Engineering Electives 3
General Education Elective 3 General Education Elective 3
Software Engineering Elective 3
15 17

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Courses

Courses primarily for undergraduates:

Cr. R.


Introduction to the procedures, policies, and resources of Iowa State University and the Software Engineering Program. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.

Cr. R.


Overview of the nature and scope of the software engineering profession, relationship of coursework to careers, and program of study planning. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.

(2-2) Cr. 3.

Prereq: MATH 143 or satisfactory scores on mathematics placement examinations; credit or enrollment in MATH 165
Introduction to software engineering and computer programming. Systematic thinking process for problem solving in the context of software engineering. Group problem solving. Solving software engineering problems and presenting solutions through computer programs, written documents and oral presentations. Introduction to principles of programming, software design, and extensive practice in design, writing, running, debugging, and reasoning about programs. Only one of ENGR 160, A B E 160, AER E 160, C E 160, CH E 160, CPR E 185, E E 185, I E 148, M E 160, and S E 185 may count toward graduation.

(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-1) Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: Minimum of C- in COM S 228 and MATH 165
A practical introduction to methods for managing software development. Process models, requirements analysis, structured and object-oriented design, coding, testing, maintenance, cost and schedule estimation, metrics. Programming projects.

Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 230 or CPR E 310; COM S 309; ENGL 250; SP CM 212.
Basic principles and techniques for software testing. Test requirements and management. Test design techniques, evaluation metrics, model-based testing, unit testing, system and integration testing. Software testing tools and programming projects.

(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: COM S 228
Overview of user interface design. Evaluation and testing of user interfaces. Review of principles of object orientation, object oriented design and analysis using UML in the context of user interface design. Design of windows, menus and commands. Developing Web and Windows-based user-interfaces. Event-driven programming. Introduction to Frameworks and APIs for the construction of user interfaces.

(Cross-listed with CPR E). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 309
Process-based software development. Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Project planning, cost estimation, and scheduling. Project management tools. Factors influencing productivity and success. Productivity metrics. Analysis of options and risks. Version control and configuration management. Inspections and reviews. Managing the testing process. Software quality metrics. Modern software engineering techniques and practices.

(Cross-listed with CPR E). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: S E 319
Modeling and design of software at the architectural level. Architectural styles. Basics of model-driven architecture. Object-oriented design and analysis. Iterative development and unified process. Design patterns. Design by contract. Component based design. Product families. Measurement theory and appropriate use of metrics in design. Designing for qualities such as performance, safety, security, reliability, reusability, etc. Analysis and evaluation of software architectures. Introduction to architecture definition languages. Basics of software evolution, reengineering, and reverse engineering. Case studies. Introduction to distributed system software.

(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-1) Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: Minimum of C- in COM S 228 and MATH 165; COM S 230 or CPR E 310
Study of concepts in programming languages, especially functional programming concepts. Overview of major programming paradigms, their relationship, and tradeoffs among paradigms enabling sound choices of programming language for application-specific development. Programming projects.

(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: Minimum of C- in COM S 228 and MATH 165; ENGL 250
Object-oriented requirements analysis and systems design. Design notations such as the Unified Modeling Language. Design Patterns. Group design and programming with large programming projects.

Cr. R. Repeatable. SS.

Prereq: Permission of department and Engineering Career Services
Professional work period of at least 10 weeks during the summer. Students must register for this course prior to commencing work. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.

Cr. R. Repeatable. F.S.

Prereq: Permission of department and Engineering Career Services
Professional work period. One semester per academic or calendar year. Students must register for this course before commencing work. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.

(Dual-listed with COM S 509). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 309; for graduate credit: graduate standing or permission of instructor
The requirements engineering process including elicitation, requirements analysis fundamentals, requirements specification and communication, and requirements evaluation. Modeling of functional and nonfunctional requirements, traceability, and requirements change management. Case studies and software projects.

(Dual-listed with COM S 512). (Cross-listed with COM S, CPR E). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 311; STAT 305 or STAT 330 or STAT 341; for graduate credit: graduate standing or permission of instructor
A study of formal techniques for model-based specification and verification of software systems. Topics include logics, formalisms, graph theory, numerical computations, algorithms and tools for automatic analysis of systems. Graduate credit requires in-­depth study of concepts.

(Cross-listed with CPR E). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 309
Practical importance of software evolution and maintenance, systematic defect analysis and debugging techniques, tracing and understanding large software, impact analysis, program migration and transformation, refactoring, tools for software evolution and maintenance, experimental studies and quantitative measurements of software evolution. Written reports and oral presentation.

(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-0) Cr. 3.

Prereq: COM S 309, COM S 230 or CPR E 310, ENGL 250
An introduction to software testing principles and techniques. Test models, test design, test adequacy criteria; regression, integration, and system testing; and software testing tools.

(Cross-listed with CPR E). (3-3) Cr. 4.

Prereq: COM S 363 or COM S 352 or CPR E 308; COM S 228
Software tools for managing and manipulating large volumes of data, external memory processing, large scale parallelism, and stream processing, data interchange formats. Weekly programming labs that involve the use of a parallel computing cluster.

(Cross-listed with CPR E). Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: COM S 309; CPR E 310 or COM S 230
Significance of software safety and security; various facets of security in cyber-physical and computer systems; threat modeling for software safety and security; and categorization of software vulnerabilities. Software analysis and verification: mathematical foundations, data structures and algorithms, program comprehension, analysis, and verification tools; automated vs. human-on-the-loop approach to analysis and verification; and practical considerations of efficiency, accuracy, robustness, and scalability of analysis and verification. Cases studies with application and systems software; evolving landscape of software security threats and mitigation techniques. Understanding large software, implementing software analysis and verification algorithms.

Cr. arr. Repeatable.

Prereq: Senior classification in software engineering
Investigation of an approved topic.

(Cross-listed with CPR E, E E). (2-3) Cr. 3. F.S.

Prereq: CPR E majors: CPR E 308, completion of 29 credits in the CPR E professional program, ENGL 314. E E majors: E E 322, completion of 24 credits in the E E professional program, ENGL 314. SE majors: S E 329 and S E 339, CPR E 308 or COM S 352, ENGL 309 or ENGL 314.
Preparing for entry to the workplace. Selected professional topics. Use of technical writing skills in developing project plan and design report; design review presentation. First of two-semester team-oriented, project design and implementation experience.

(Cross-listed with CPR E, E E). (1-3) Cr. 2. F.S.

Prereq: CPR E 491 or E E 491
Second semester of a team design project experience. Emphasis on the successful implementation and demonstration of the design completed in E E 491 or CPR E 491 and the evaluation of project results. Technical writing of final project report; oral presentation of project achievements; project poster.

Cr. R. F.S.

Prereq: Credit or enrollment in S E 491
Portfolio assessment for Software Engineers. Guidelines and Advice to improve software engineering portfolios and to better use portfolios as a tool to enhance career opportunities. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.