Posted: July 7th, 2015

Topic: System test management tool

Requirements – JavaScript, Java, SQL server 2008 R2, user stories, Some UML diagrams

Some development work to be carried out and then the report written about that development. I have included the marking scheme at the end of this document for guidance.

 

Working title: System test management tool

 

The solution that I would propose would be to create a web interface that can be used to record system tests. It would allow users to log in, create and allocate system tests. It would also record the length of time that particular tests had taken to be run. This would be very useful as that information is then available the next time system testing takes place allowing more accurate predication of time lines. I would like to be able to run reports which would display information such as total number of tests, number of tests completed, number of tests passed and number of tests failed.

 

Lifecycle choice:

Having considered these models I have decided the best approach for me will be to use the prototype model. This model will be suitable as I will be taking an agile approach to the development. I will compile a list of user stories and prioritise them in order of importance. Another reason for choosing this model is that I don’t need to predict in advance how much functionality to include. I can simply start with the most important stories and then continue to implement more as time permits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Project activities

When you submit TMA03 you will be expected to have made progress on the following project activities, which are derived from the module learning outcomes.

• Refining the goals and content of your project in the light of progress. Assess the risks to the availability of resources you need to complete your project. Plan the final phase of the project.
• Gathering, analysing and evaluating relevant information to complete your project successfully.
• Demonstrating comprehension of the key literature that underpin the project by relating and/or applying them to the project work undertaken so far.
• Demonstrating and applying a systematic understanding of the fundamental technical concepts and principles relevant to your project.
• Demonstrating and applying an understanding of the context in which technical knowledge can be applied.
• Analysing a practical problem and, where appropriate, devise and implement a solution building on the knowledge and skills developed throughout your previous OU studies.
• Demonstrating the ability to report clearly and critically on the outcomes of your project work.
• Reviewing progress against your latest project plan. Identify major risks to success in the next phase and propose ways to manage these appropriately.
• Learning independently. Communicate regularly with your tutor on progress, seeking guidance as and when needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3.1

Draft project report	Learning outcome
Project title
Problem description ·                        a.nature and context of the problem ·                        b.proposed solution or recommendations ·                        c.analysis of likely impact	LO2. Identify and refine the goals and content of your project
Account of related literature	LO4. Gather, analyse and evaluate relevant information to complete the project successfully LO6. Make effective use of a variety of information sources including the internet, demonstrating awareness of the credibility of the source
Account of project work and its outcome	LO1. Demonstrate and apply a systematic understanding of the fundamental technical concepts and principles relevant to your project
Review of current stage of project work
Review	Learning Outcome
Review your project management. Identify those elements of your plan that have not progressed as satisfactorily as you expected and briefly record the reason(s)	LO9. Plan and organise your project work appropriately, and keep systematic records of plans, progress and outcomes
Assess the risks to project completion (remember that this is not the same as whether you expect to pass or not). Identify any significant risks to project completion and determine how these are going to be managed. Identify those elements of the project that may not be addressed if plans need to change	LO3. Identify, list and justify the resources, skills and activities needed to carry out the project successfully. Identify and address any associated risks
Review your personal development	LO8. Learn independently and reflect on what has been done, with a view to improving skills and knowledge
Briefly indicate to your tutor any issues on which you would like specific feedback	This will enable your tutor to advise you.
References
Appendices

 

4.1 Draft Project Report

Problem description

One useful framework is to give short, one- or two-sentence answers to each of the following questions:

• What is the problem?
• Why is it considered a problem?
• What will be the benefits of analysing it or solving it?
• What is the scope?
• What might the solution or recommendations look like?
• What, specifically, did you aim to deliver?

You may need to adapt some of these to suit the nature of your project. In particular, you will need to expand a little on the context within which the problem arose: the audience is not familiar with the problem you are solving. In discussing the scope, be very clear about what part of a system or aspect of the research problem/question you set out to develop, evaluate or research and what you decided to leave out. A good problem description and scope are crucial as they are the starting point for the analysis of the problem you are addressing.

The description of the proposed solution or recommendations could be about what you aimed to deliver rather than what you will eventually deliver or what you believe you have already delivered or completed.

You may not yet be at a stage where you can indicate the likely impact of what you will be developing or, for research projects, what you will be concluding. If that is the case, leave some placeholders for the parts of this section that you intend to work on later for your final report.

 

 

Account of related literature

You should now have a well-developed draft of what is needed in this section. And again, you will be able to get feedback from your tutor on this work. How you organise this section will depend very much on the nature of your project. Some research projects will use references to the literature sources throughout the main body of the report. Your coverage of the literature should display appropriate skills of comparative and critical reading and evaluation. The sources that you select should be those that are most important for the critical aspects of your project; they should not be dealing with peripheral issues. This section of your draft should read as a narrative, not as a bullet list of sources.

Account of project work and its outcome

At this stage you should have made substantial progress with your project work. Work that was exploratory, sketchy or tentative in TMA 02 should now have been refined and polished (assuming it is still relevant), but some recent work may still be at an early stage.

In your draft report, show the structure you intend to have for this section and start filling in the parts that you may have already done. You may want to structure it in terms of analysing a problem, synthesising some sort of solution, and evaluating this solution. Of course, how these activities are organised within any project management framework may differ considerably.

You may be able at this stage to draft most of the analysis of the problem – that is, some sort of expression of the problem that pointed towards the nature of a solution or recommendations. You should also outline what you have done so far in terms of synthesis. For example, for a research project you may have drafted some conclusions and recommendations based upon a detailed study of the literature. For a development project you should have by now carried out a careful requirements analysis of the problem, designed a solution and made progress developing the solution. For an evaluation project then you should have completed the analysis aspect and be producing recommendations based upon your evaluation.

For TMA03, providing evidence of the work you have done and its quality is of particular importance as the TMA includes a draft of your project report. Your EMA, which is the final project report, will be second marked by another TM470 tutor who will not know about you or the work you have done so he or she will be relying heavily not only on the project report itself but on the supplementary evidence in your appendices, to confirm what work you have done and establish its quality. So including this evidence in TMA03 is good practice and will provide your tutor with the opportunity to comment upon how well you have done this.

The evidence of your progress which is central to the argument of your TMA should be in the main body of the report. However, you will need to provide supplementary evidence of progress in appendices. For development projects and evaluation projects supplementary evidence might include interview plans plus summaries of interview findings, program designs and code, UML diagrams, evaluation findings, concept maps, design documentation, a business process model etc.

If you include program code, you must omit any auto-generated code as this will be picked up by Turnitin and make it appear that you have been plagiarising.

The appendices must support the main body of your report as it is the report that will be the focus of the assessment rather than the appendices. So the appendices should be referenced from within the main body of your report. Your tutor is not required to read the appendices in detail – only to scan them and dip into them as necessary.

 

4.2 Review

Review of current stage of project work

Begin the account of how you feel the project is going. This is not an analysis and evaluation of the work that you have already reported in the earlier sections: this is your reflection on the process you have been going through and what you have achieved. It should include your thoughts on what went well/badly, and you how you would do things differently another time. Be critical: as an understanding of the process can be just as important to your personal development as it is to future projects you are involved with.

Review project management

You may want to start writing a short account of the project management method/lifecycle model that you are using. However, you will probably want to leave the discussion of its effectiveness until the final report. This section should be specifically about the approach you have taken; do not include generic discussion of life cycles or the theory of project management methods.

Review of personal development

Critically reflect on your own experience in order to identify what you have learnt so far, effective ways in which you learn and work, and what you need in order to extend your current knowledge and skills in relation to the work and context of the project.

Reflect on the skills you have acquired or appreciably improved so far in the project. The skills considered may include both project management and self-management skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Indicative marking scheme

Table 5.1 Indicative marking scheme

			Grade (indicative %)
Learning outcome	1 (85%+) Distinction	2 (70–84%)	3 (55–69%)	4 (40–54%)	5 (0–39%) Fail
LO1. Demonstrate and apply a systematic understanding of the fundamental technical concepts and principles relevant to your project.	Has successfully undertaken purposeful project work that addresses one or more of the core aspects of the problem and its solution.	Has progressed with project work, which addresses a valuable but possibly routine aspect of the project.	Work may be either inappropriately ambitious, or appropriately focused but underdeveloped.	Some project work undertaken but it has focused on issues that are very peripheral to the successful outcome of the project.	Little or no project work undertaken. Much or all of it may have very little relevance to the eventual solution/deliverable.
LO2. Identify and refine the goals and content of your project.	Based on progress to date has a realistic assessment of what can be achieved in the next phase and has a clear and plausible schedule to achieve it. Has judged risks (likelihood and impact) appropriately. High-risk elements have been excluded and other risks are manageable.	As Grade 1 but somewhat unrealistic about what can be achieved.	On the basis of experience and progress to date, the work proposed for the next phase is either too ambitious or too insubstantial. There may be high-risk elements of future work that threaten a successful outcome.	Has not made a realistic assessment of progress to date and has not made appropriate refinements to the project specification. The future plan and schedule is achievable, if slightly overambitious.	Has not made a realistic assessment of progress to date and has not made appropriate refinements to the project specification. The future plan and schedule is highly overambitious and/or lacking in credibility.
LO3. Identify, list and justify the resources, skills and activities needed to carry out the project successfully. Identify and address any associated risks LO4. Gather, analyse and evaluate relevant information to complete the project successfully LO6. Make effective use of a variety of information sources including the internet, demonstrating awareness of the credibility of the source.	Has identified the resources, skills and activities, the timely availability of which is essential. Has continued to find relevant material, from a range of sources of information, clearly showing an understanding of the credibility and significance of the source. Effectively and succinctly identifies how they can contribute to the work to be done.	Has missed at most a couple of less important resources, skills and activities. The quality or relevance of the sources of information may be more diverse and credibility and authority of some of the sources may be less clear. How they relate to the project may be less clear.	Has missed an important and obvious resource, activity or skill. The relevance, credibility or authority of many of the sources of information is unclear.	Identifies only ‘routine’ resources, skills and activities. Very few additional sources have been identified or sources of information may be lacking relevance, credibility and/or authority. They may be out of date. They may bear only general relevance to the project. Sources mainly based on OU modules.	Has still not developed an adequate list of key resources, skills and activities. Sources of information are very general, have little credibility or authority and it is not clear that they contribute at all to the work to be done.
LO7. Communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions clearly.	Clear, concise structured communication using diagrams or other illustrations where appropriate. Opinions and judgements are always supported by relevant argument or evidence as appropriate. Effectively written for a knowledgeable specialist audience.	Clear, concise structured communication using diagrams or other illustrations where appropriate. Opinions and judgements are sound but are not always fully justified. Broadly successful in writing for audience.	Accessible communication style, perhaps lacking in structure. Perhaps misjudging audience by explaining common and familiar concepts.	Ineffective communication, inclusion of irrelevant material. The most important opinions and judgements are supported with some reasons, though these may not be entirely convincing. Perhaps requires a second reading to glean what is being said.	Style obscures what is being conveyed, difficult to comprehend, little or rambling structure. Features opinion and anecdote rather than informed opinion and evidence. Requires a third reading or more.
LO8. Learn independently and reflect on what has been done, with a view to improving skills and knowledge.	Makes progress under own supervision, communicating regularly and accurately in respect of progress. Seeks guidance when needed, but offers own ideas when doing so.	Makes progress under own supervision but communication is more intermittent and is sometimes vague in respect of progress and/or problems. Seeks guidance when needed.	Makes some progress under own supervision. Communication is more intermittent and rarely specific about progress and problems. On occasions has struggled with a problem for too long without seeking guidance.	Either makes some progress but hardly ever initiates communication about progress, or does not ask for help when needed, which inhibits progress.	Even with close supervision and support, does not make progress. Communication is sporadic and doesn’t highlight problems being encountered, except in the most general terms.
LO9. Plan and organise your project work appropriately, and keep systematic records of plans, progress and outcomes.	Makes an accurate assessment of progress in relation to the original plan. Understands what has gone well and what has not gone to plan.	Makes an accurate assessment of progress in relation to the original plan. Identifies things that have gone well and some things that have not gone to plan.	As for Grade 2 but the review is less accurate, perhaps a degree of ‘denial’ about what has not gone so well.