CS 421 Empirical Software Engineering
Course Outline

• CS 321 - Software Engineering

1. Understand the foundations of the scientific method and empirical research with its quantitatively or qualitatively approaches.
2. Design and implement ethical software engineering research experiments involving human participants.
3. Describe data sources in software engineering and the associated data collection techniques.
4. Demonstrate the ability to apply software data analysis in industry contexts.
5. Evaluate software engineering research papers and identify the strengths and weaknesses in design, methodology, and presentation.

There are weekly milestones for each project. The milestones designed to break your research project into smaller parts, which leads you to work better with your group members and can allow me to provide support and feedback more efficiently.

The following table lists the expected content of each milestone.

• There will be a project at the end of each week for the first three weeks.
• For most milestones, every group will give an oral presentation with slides to update the rest of the class on your progress. Each group member should present the part they worked on. Everyone in the class is expected to ask questions and everyone in the group is expected to answer questions.
• Attending classes is an easy way for you to work with your group members and/or get help from me. So you are expected to attend classes. Let me and your group members know beforehand if you have to miss a class.

This policy applies to anyone you work with other than your partner.

Computer science, both academically and professionally, is a collaborative discipline. In any collaboration, however, all parties are expected to make their own contributions and to generously credit the contributions of others. In our class, therefore, collaboration on homework and programming assignments is encouraged, but you as an individual are responsible for understanding all the material in the assignment and doing your own work. Always strive to do your best, give generous credit to others, start early, and seek help early from both your professors and classmates.

The following rules are intended to help you get the most out of your education and to clarify the line between honest and dishonest work. We reserve the right to ask you to verbally explain the reasoning behind any answer or code that you turn in and to modify your project grade based on your answers. It is vitally important that you turn in work that is your own. We do use automated plagiarism detection software, so please be sure to abide by these, rather minimal, rules. Reports of academic dishonesty are handled by an academic review board and a finding of academic dishonesty may result in significant sanctions. For more details on Colby's Academic Integrity policies and procedures, see colby.edu/academicintegrity.

• If you have had a substantive discussion of any programming project with a classmate, then be sure to cite them in your write-up. If you are unsure of what constitutes "substantive", then ask me or err on the side of caution. As one rule of thumb, if you see more than 10 lines of someone else's code, then you should cite them. You will not be penalized for working together.
• You must not copy answers or code from another student either by hand or electronically. Another way to think about it is that you should be talking English with one another, not program languages.
• Assistive code autocomplete systems that generate more than a single token of code are not permitted. You are expected to write all your code on your own and be able to explain it and rewrite it without assistance.

We might use some AI tools in this course, yet I expect you to use AI (like ChatGPT) only when assignments explicitly ask you to do so. Creating and using AI is an important skill at this age, and I will provide a controlled way for you to use AI to your learning advantage.

Be aware of the limitations of AI, including the ones in this list:

• Language models capture statistical regularity in language and data. There is no fact checking, so assume that it is wrong unless you either know the answer or can check in with another reliable source.
• AI is a tool, but one that you need to acknowledge using. Please include AI use in your acknowledgment section, detailing what you used AI for. Failure to do so is in violation of academic honesty.
• Be thoughtful about when AI tools are used. Don't use it if it is not allowed and appropriate for the case or circumstance.

Colby College is a community dedicated to learning and committed to the growth and well-being of all its members.

As a community devoted to intellectual growth, we value academic integrity. We agree to take ownership of our academic work, to submit only work that is our own, to fully acknowledge the research and ideas of others in our work, and to abide by the instructions and regulations governing academic work established by the faculty.

As a community built on respect for ourselves, each other, and our physical environment, we recognize the diversity of people who have gathered here and that genuine inclusivity requires active, honest, and compassionate engagement with one another. We agree to respect each other, to honor community expectations, and to comply with College policies.

As a member of this community, I pledge to hold myself and others accountable to these values. More ...

Colby College prohibits and will not tolerate sexual misconduct or gender-based discrimination of any kind. Colby is legally obligated to investigate sexual misconduct (including, but not limited to, sexual assault and sexual harassment) and other specific forms of behavior that violate federal and state laws (Title IX and Title VII, and the Maine Human Rights Act). Such behavior also requires the College to fulfill certain obligations under two other federal laws, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Statistics Act (Clery Act). To learn more about what constitutes sexual misconduct or to report an incident, see: http://www.colby.edu/studentlife/handbook-section/f-sexualmisconduct/

I am committed to all Colby students feeling safe, accepted, and included in all aspects of their college experiences, including this course. Colby prohibits and will not tolerate sexual misconduct or gender based discrimination of any kind and is obligated, by federal and state laws, to respond to reports and provide resources to students. As your professor I am considered a "responsible employee" which requires me to report incidence of sexual misconduct, dating violence, or harassment to the Title IX Coordinator.

If you wish to access confidential support services, you may contact:

• The Counseling Center: 207-859-4490
• The Title IX Confidential Advocate, Emily Schusterbauer: 207-859-4093
• The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life: 207-859-4272
• Maines's 24/7 Sexual Assault Helpline: 1-800-871-7741

Colby College supports the religious practices of students, faculty, and staff, but we don't always know which people will observe which holidays. Since I need to plan course activities in advance, I need to know in advance, if you need to miss a class or have a deadline adjusted in order to observe a holiday. Please notify me by email at least 14 days in advance of any religious holiday that will affect your ability to participate in this course.