Software Quality Management - Course Handout

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING PROGRAMME

Digital Content (Flipped Learning Model)

Part A:  Content Organization

Course Title	Software Quality Management
Course No(s)	SS ZG661 /QM ZG662/ MBA ZG661
Credit Units	4
Credit Model	1 + 1 + 2  (Class Hours + Assignment + Student preparation)
Course Author	K G Krishna
Version No	Ver 2.0
Date	14 Jan 2016

Content Development Team

Developer	Name	Email	Mobile
Lead Developer	K G Krishna	kgk@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in	98491-71224

Reference Books 

R1	Software Quality Engineering – Jeff Tian, Wiley India, 2015
R2	Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach – Roger S. Pressman, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010
R3	Software Testing – A Craftsman’s Approach  – Paul C. Jorgensen, 4th Edition, CRC Press, 2014

Note:

There is no single recommended text book for this course. The suggested reference books are only indicative of the topics which get covered in them.  The course is mostly delivered from a practitioner’s perspective and hence no chapter-wise references could be provided.  If students find the books hard to understand, they can substitute any good ref/text book/material they could find in their library or book-store or from web sources. Please note as this subject is (soft) and evolutionary, the terminology/standards adopted may vary from organization to organization. Students are strongly advised to refer to their organization’s internal QMS documentation for comprehensive understanding of the subject

It’s strongly recommended that students actively participate in online lectures and discussion-forums for demystifying the jargon to highlight the core concepts in Software Quality Management.

** Course-code specific to collaborating organization

Glossary of Terms

Module	M	Module is a standalone quantum of designed content. A typical course is delivered using a string of modules. M2 means module 2.
Recorded Lecture	RL	A recorded lecture will consist of a sequence of topic recordings (typically less 10 minutes each). There will be assessments between topic recordings to allow the learner test his/her understanding of video material previously viewed. RL2.1 = Recorded Lecture 1 in module 2.
Contact session sub-module/topics	CS	Contact session topics refer to topics in form of concepts, discussions items, problems which will be taken up by the course instructor during the contact hours. A contact hours is built by stringing a bunch of contact session topics. CS3.2 = Contact session sub-module  2 associated with Module 3 CS3.0 = Contact session associated with all sub-modules of Module 3
Case Problem	CP	Case problems/topics (experienced by practising project managers) to be discussed in the class
Self-Study	SS	Specific content assigned for self-study
Homework	HW	Specific problems/design/lab exercises assigned as homework

Module Structure

                                                                                                                                Reference Book / Chapter No*

No	Title of the Module / Recorded Lecture	Ref.#	Video	~mins.
M1	Introduction of Key Concepts of Quality, Quality Assurance and Quality Management
	RL1.1  Software Quality Management – An Overview	R1/C-1,2	ü	45
	RL1.2 Demystifying Quality Concepts	R1/C-1,2	ü	60
	RL1.3 Software Quality Processes (Agile Methods)	R2/C-2	ü	55
M2	Software Quality Assurance: The Process & Activities		ü
	RL2.1  SQA Activities	R1/C-3,4	ü	70
	RL2.2  Software Testing	R1/C-6,7	ü	40
	RL2.3 Testing Techniques	R1/C-6,7	ü	30
	RL 2.4 Reviews & Inspections	R1/C-14	ü	50
	RL 2.5 Fault Tolerance	R1/C-16	ü	40
M3	Quality Planning, Metrics and QMS	ORG
	RL3.1 Quality Planning in Projects	R2/C-24	ü	35
	RL3.2 Quality Metrics and Baselining	R2/C-25	ü	40
	RL3.3 Product Metrics & Defect Propagation	R2/C-23	ü	50
	RL 3.4 Quality Management Systems	R2/C-30	ü	70
M4	QC Tools, Six-Sigma Methodology and Quality Culture	Net
	RL4.1  7 QC Tools	IPM	ü	30
	RL4.2  Six-Sigma Thinking	IPM	ü	70
	RL4.3  Cross-Cultural Issues in Quality Management	IPM	ü	60
	RL4.4  Software Quality Management – A Summary	IPM	ü	25

*Ref Book/Chap Ref: At times the topics presented in the lecture-videos or PPTs may not have exact mapping to the cited references; student is expected to explore sources within the organization and on the web for up-to-date treatment of the topic

#R1,R2 (Reference Books); IPM: Instructor-provided Material; ORG: Material/documents sourced from students’ organization. While effort is made to ensure the topics covered in this course are in alignment with referenced text-books, due to changing technologies and emerging practices in this field, it is strongly advised that students refer to their own sources on the net or their own organizations for comprehensive understanding of the concepts.

Software Quality Management: Course Overview & Terminology

This basic level course on ‘Software Quality Management (SQM)’ under Work Integrated Learning Programme (WILP) of BITS-Pilani is targeted for working professionals in the IT industry who would like to update their knowledge and skills in Software Testing, Quality Assurance and Software Quality Management.

Scope:

This course is complementary to the core course of Software Project Management or Software Engineering in that it provides a holistic view of managing software quality from the perspective of programmer to quality manager.  While in Software Project Management, much of the attention is on planning, risk management, scheduling and tracking of project activities, in Software Quality Management greater emphasis is placed on planning of quality assurance activities like testing, reviews, audits and organizational Quality Management Systems (QMS) compliant with ISO 9000/CMMi models.

Perspective (Vendor/Developer):

Typical profile of students taking this course may include working professionals from Indian IT services companies, Multi-national captive R&D centres, or from non-IT organizations in Government, Space, and Defence sectors—in the roles of Project Manager, Quality Manager or Software Developers aspiring for roles in organization’s Quality initiatives.

Typical IT projects may include development of custom software or product engineering services. However, catering to wider students’ interest and without loss of generality, the recorded modules of this course adopt a narrative from the perspective of a typical Indian offshore IT services provider in Quality Assurance of software for an overseas customer. 

Terminology: 

As with technology, the vocabulary of Quality Management undergoes metamorphosis in alignment with new models, ideas and practices. Notwithstanding the cultural differences among nations (organizations), different words are in use representing the same concept, function or roles.  In order for the student to remain focused on the hard technical aspects of Quality without getting side-tracked by subtle differences in the vocabulary, the below table identifies few such often-used terms with their semantic equivalents.

Commonly used Term (Organization-neutral vocabulary)	Related Terms / Synonyms (used without major loss of meaning, Org-specific terms) / Working Definition
Master Contract	Master Business Agreement (MBA), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Contract	Statement of Work (SoW),
Invitation To Tender (ITT), Bid Docs.	Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ)
Vendor Prequalification	Request for Information (RFI), Due Diligence
Proposal	Tender, (Technical/Commercial Proposal Response from Vendor)
Project Manager	(Project Leader), Delivery Manager, …
Program Manager	ODC Manager, Account Manager,
Business Manager	Sales Manager, Relationship Manager,
Domain Expert	Someone with experience/knowledge of  customer’s business
Quality Management System (QMS)	Quality Assurance Model, Software Quality Assurance (SQA),…
Process	System, Method, Methodology,… (Agile, Waterfall,…)
Version Management	Configuration Management, Release Management, Build Management
Development Model	Software Engineering Model, Process Model
Business Model	Revenue Model, Payment Terms (Fixed-price, Time&Material,…)
Outsourcing	Customer outsources his non-core processes/services to vendors
Offshoring, Nearshoring	Location of vendor (far-away on a different country/time-zone,  near)
Offshore Development Centre (ODC)	Vendor’s premises (dedicated to serving customers’ business)
Onsite (Development) Centre	Vendor’s office/location (near the customer, typically for coordination)
Nearshore Development Centre	Vendor’s development centre located (or co-located)  near to customer
Development Model vs. Business Model	Waterfall, Agile, Prototyping   vs. Fixed-Price, T&M,…
Project Manager vs. Program Manager	Project Manager (PM): Responsible for single project; Program Manager (PgM): Managing resources/delivery for multiple projects
Project Manager vs. Business Manager	Business Manager: Counterpart of PgM responsible for business development (sourcing of new customers/projects)
Architect vs. Designer	Architect: Develops framework/model, Designer: Detailed Engineering
ISO 9001 vs. CMMI	ISO 9000 (generic QMS certification) vs. CMMI (software development maturity assessment)
Program	Code, Software
(Code) Inspection	(Code) Review, Walkthrough
Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control	QA (more of prevention) vs. QC (controlling/checking after production)
Stakeholder vs. Shareholder	Shareholder’s (outside the company) with  ‘distant interest’ in profits  vs. Stakeholders in the company who vouch for project/program success
Engineering vs. Programming	(Professional ) Design/Development following a methodology vs. individual effort in coding/testing
Custom Software Development vs. Product Development	Bespoke software (tailored to the needs of the customer) vs. Off-the-shelf (ready-to-deploy software with minimal customization)
Software Engineering vs. Product Engineering	Development of software (typically bespoke, using structured methodology) vs. R&D,  Maintenance and Enhancements (multiple products/releases over a common product platform, aka product-line architecture)

Prof K G Krishna

kgk@bits-pilani.ac.in

Detailed Structure

Introductory Video/Document: << Introducing the faculty, overview of the course, structure and organization of topics, guidance for navigating the content, and expectations from students>>

§  Each of the sub-modules of Recorded Lectures (RLx.y ) shall delivered via 30 – 60mins videos followed by:

§  Contact session (CSx.y) of 2Hr each for Illustrating the concepts discussed in the videos with exercises, tutorials and discussion on case-problems (wherever appropriate); contact sessions (CS) may cover more than one recorded-lecture (RL) videos.

Course Contents

Type	Title	Description
M1: Introduction of Key Concepts of Quality, Quality Assurance and Quality Management
RL1.1	Software Quality Management – An Overview	RL1.1  Software Quality Management – An Overview This introductory module gives an overview of Software Quality by illustrating its role in Software Engineering.  §  Quality - a technical definition §  Quality Concepts, Tools and Techniques
RL1.2	Demystifying Quality Concepts	RL1.2 Demystifying Quality Concepts This module demystifies various terms associated with quality—QA, QC, QM, Quality Engineering—as well as the role of process frameworks, methodologies and tools adopted for Software Quality Engineering. Also highlights formal definitions of Quality by Standards groups of IEEE/ISO along with various perspectives of Quality by Japanese and American Quality Gurus.
RL1.3	Software Quality Processes	RL1.3 Software Quality Processes Process is the bedrock of formal quality systems. This module introduces the concept of Quality Process and its associated Quality Assurance (QA) activities such as Testing, Reviews and Inspections with focus on “Continuous Improvement” which drives the overall maturity of Quality Management System in the organization.
CS1.0		Demystify the vocabulary associated with Quality and its relevance and importance in the development of complex software systems. Illustrate with examples how Quality Management in Software Development is different from that in traditional manufacturing.
M2: Software Quality Assurance: The Process & Activities
RL2.1	SQA Activities	RL2.1  SQA Activities This module highlights the difference between defect prevention and defect detection activities. Presents the big picture of SQA encompassing Quality Planning and Continuous Improvement by giving formal definition of ‘defect’, ‘error/bug’ and the role of defect measurement and analysis.
RL2.2	Software Testing	RL2.2  Software Testing This module highlights various Testing strategies—white-box and black-box testing—introducing Usage Based Testing and Coverage Based Testing. Also discussed is the issue of ‘when to stop testing and start delivering’.
RL2.3	Testing Techniques	RL2.3 Testing Techniques This modules continues previous discussion on Software Testing by describing Partition Based Testing, Testing based on Check-lists, Usage Based Statistical Testing and Coverage Based Testing, etc.
RL 2.4	Reviews & Inspections	RL 2.4 Reviews & Inspections “Prevention of defects is better than Testing for defects later” – is the spirit behind Reviews, Inspections and Walkthroughs. This modules highlights these important SQA activities—from formal reviews/inspections to little informal code-walkthroughs—adopted as part of most formal software development methodologies.
RL 2.5	Fault Tolerance	RL 2.5 Fault Tolerance In spite of rigorous SQA, certain undetected defects may percolate to the final system when delivered. When faults lurking in the built system cannot be tolerated at any cost for certain mission-critical applications/real-time systems, Fault-Tolerance techniques have to be employed to minimize or avoid catastrophic damage in the rare and unfortunate event of such a fault flaring up. This module highlights various Fault Tolerance (FT) techniques that can be designed for in the development of such critical systems.
CS2.0	Review of SQA activities in the Organization	Examine various SQA activities currently in practice in Student’s organization; How the above formal activities have evolved and integrated with the now widely adopted Agile methods; Analyse cost of SQA activities vis-à-vis overall software development effort; Discuss trade-offs in cost-of-quality vs cost-of-delivery, and most importantly when do we really stop testing and start delivering the product to customers.
M3: Quality Planning, Metrics and QMS
RL3.1	Quality Planning in Projects	RL3.1 Quality Planning in Projects This module explains how Quality gets embedded into a Project by Quality Planning as part of Project Planning; Illustrates the typical format of Quality Plan document; List of various SQA activities to be planned along with Product and Project Metrics/Goals to be defined and tracked throughout Project Life-Cycle.
RL3.2	Quality Metrics and Baselining	RL3.2 Quality Metrics and Baselining “What we can’t measure, we can’t manage”—measurement is the key to management of quality. This module illustrates the role of measurement and control in project management; Defines various S.M.A.R.T attributes for a well-defined metric and the concept of metrics ‘Baselining’.
RL 3.3	Software Product Metrics & Defect Propagation	RL3.3 Product Metrics & Defect Propagation This module illustrates differences between Internal vs. External software attributes and their related metrics; the problems of measurement; types of product metrics (Static vs. Dynamic) and the process of their measurement;
RL 3.4	Quality Management Systems	RL 3.4 Quality Management Systems QMS drives organization’s quality culture and processes. This module describes two common models of Quality Systems adopted in a typical Indian IT services organization—ISO 9001 and CMMi; describes maturity levels of CMMi and its key process areas.
CS3.0		CS3.0: Discuss with an example from the organization’s Quality Plan, how quality planning is different from project planning and how they are integrated in the overall project management and control; Discuss the role of Quality Manager vis-à-vis Project Manager; Illustrate typical Product, Project and Process metrics used and how they are related to each other or derived from each other; Defect propagation is one of the concern area for SQA and explain how discovering defects late in the project cycle is expensive and how to arrest Defect Propagation with effective reviews, inspections and walkthroughs.
M4: QC Tools, Six-Sigma Methodology and Quality Culture
RL4.1	Seven QC Tools		RL4.1  7 QC Tools Quality Control is the concept (precursor to Quality Assurance) that emerged during manufacturing era in the late 20th century. This module gives an overview of the popular 7 visual QC tools developed by Kaoru Ishikawa of Japan and these simple tools have since been widely used across industries to track quality.
RL4.2	Six-Sigma Thinking		RL4.2  Six-Sigma Thinking Six-Sigma is a statistical measurement and process improvement methodology pioneered by Motorola in the 80s and popularized by General Electric, USA. It believes that any process can be improved by reducing defects for opportunities. This module illustrates DMAIC—a structured methodology for reducing defects in any process.
RL4.3	Quality Culture in Japan		RL4.3  Quality Culture in Japan More than Process-centricity, Culture plays a vital role in institutionalization of quality in any organization. Post world-war, the success of Japanese industry was attributed to its strong emphasis on Quality embedded in its culture. This module walkthrough experiences of working with Japanese customers in development of quality software products. Also highlighted are cross-cultural differences among Indian, Japanese and Americans in their approach to Quality.
RL4.4	SQM – A Summary		RL4.4  Software Quality Management – A Summary This modules summarizes the concepts of Quality, Quality Assurance and Quality Management covered in this course along with the challenges faced by the Project Manager in balancing the triad of Cost, Schedule and Quality.
CS 4.0			Interact with students to present their view of Quality as practised in their workplace—asking them to list typical SQA activities, metrics, forms and records; explain how Quality is ensured in Agile development.

Part B: Course Handout (Course Delivery)

Academic Term	Second Semester 2017-2018
Course Title	Software Quality Management
Course No	SS ZG661/QM ZG661/MBA ZG662
Lead Instructor	C S RANGANATH
Instructor(s)	K G Krishna

#	Instructor: Course Objectives
CO1	Introduce Software Quality Management as integral part of Software Project Management employing Software Engineering Methodologies
CO2	Enhancing the knowledge and skills of engineers in adopting various Quality Assurance techniques in the development of large software systems or products.
CO3	Expose students to the challenges of managing Quality vs Cost/Schedule without compromising on customer satisfaction

#	Student: Learning Outcomes
LO1	Students to be able to transition from their current role as coders/programmers to developers of professional software systems leveraging Organization’s Quality Management Systems.
LO2	On-the-job demonstration of skills pertaining to usage of techniques/tools for planning and driving Quality Assurance in their projects
LO3	Ability to plan and identify right tools and activities within the constraints of the project

Teaching Methodology (Flipped Learning Model)

The pedagogy for this course is centred around flipped learning model in which the traditional class-room instruction is replaced with recorded lectures to be watched at home as per the student’s convenience and the erstwhile home-working or tutorials become the focus of classroom contact sessions. In this model, in addition to walking-through the topic-centric exercises and filling the gaps in student’s comprehension, the contact sessions are also enriched with discussion on organization-specific practices and case-problems experienced by typical practising project managers in Indian IT industry.

A catalogue of such case-problems (situational leadership lessons) with continuous update based on inputs from collaborating organizations is maintained by the lead instructor (a representative list given below). In addition, the instructor my provide problem-sets as take-home exercises for student’s practice. 

As part of evaluation, two-week long take-home assignments on specific topics for study, analysis or research are assigned to individual students, at the end of which they prepare a report or make a presentation to the class. 

Course Delivery

§  It is highly recommended that the Instructor tailor the sequence and spacing of Contact Sessions as per the priorities of the organization and student profiles. The below is just one recommended plan.

§  With prior review, approval and version control by Program Committee of BITS, the Instructor can add, delete or modify content to suit individual organization’s focus areas—however, the updated handout, related course materials/presentation slides or videos (RLs) prepared, if any are to be catalogued in the digital content repository.

§  There are 8 Contact Sessions (of 2 hours each)--4 before mid-semester and 4 post-mid-semester over a period of 16 weeks with alternate weeks for home-watching of Recorded Lectures.

§  The students are expected to watch the prescribed Recorded Lectures (RLs) before attending the above Contact Sessions.

§  The 4th & 8th Contact Sessions are planned for review of topics pre-mid-semester and pre-comprehensive examinations.

Reference Books 

R1	Software Quality Engineering – Jeff Tian, Wiley India, 2015
R2	Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach – Roger S. Pressman, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010
R3	Software Testing – A Craftsman’s Approach  – Paul C. Jorgensen, 4th Edition, CRC Press, 2014

Note:

There is no single recommended text book for this course. The suggested reference books are only indicative of the topics which get covered in them.  The course is mostly delivered from a practitioner’s perspective and hence no chapter-wise references could be provided.  If students find the books hard to understand, they can substitute any good ref/text book/material they could find in their library or book-store or from web sources. Please note as this subject is (soft) and evolutionary, the terminology/standards adopted may vary from organization to organization. Students are strongly advised to refer to their organization’s internal QMS documentation for comprehensive understanding of the subject

It’s strongly recommended that students actively participate in online lectures and discussion-forums for demystifying the jargon to highlight the core concepts in Software Quality Management.

Assignment Topics/Case-problems (Situational Leadership Lessons)     

A set of ~20 case-problems/topics for study to reflect on the practices and experiences of typical Software Quality/Project Managers in IT organizations (holistic view of both Project and Quality Management)

#	Problem / Topic	EXPLORE/STUDY/DISCUSS ( let students arrive at answers to these questions—however, not limited to these…)
1	PROJECT ESTIMATION	Is Software Project Estimation an art or science? What are the various methods employed by your Organization for estimating effort/price to be quoted to customer?
2	AGILE METHODOLOGY	When is Agile Methodology an appropriate choice for projects? Give TWO examples of your Organization’s projects adopting Agile methods by explaining the process adopted.
3	METRICS	Describe the Metrics adopted in your organization in ALL the phases of SDLC. Which are the few metrics your Project Manager is most interested in? and why?
4	RISK MANAGEMENT	Why is Risk highest at the start of the project? How Project Managers minimize impact of Risk?
5	CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS	When do we receive max. number of customer complaints and why? What are the methods employed to resolve the issues to the satisfaction of the customer?
6	DEVOPS/LOW-CODE	How DevOps is different from Agile and how does it benefit organizations?
7	RESOURCE MANAGEMENT	When is resource loading maximum and why? Describe the required skill-profiles of team members in a project across the phases of SDLC
8	PROGRAM MANAGEMENT	What is the key role of Program Manager in ensuring Quality and Customer-satisfaction? Give examples of role played your own Program Manager in resolving major quality issues.
9	SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE	Does Software Maintenance constitute a Project? Explain. How the productivity and performance of software maintenance engineers is tracked by customer?
10	PROJECT MONITORING	Distinguish Monitoring and Control. What are the various ‘control’ techniques adopted by PMs to bring troubled project back on track?
11	PROGRAMMER PRODUCTIVITY	How Project Manager can contribute to programmer productivity? What would you do if you were new to a tool/language and expected to be in the team writing the code within the next 2 weeks?
12	SOFTWARE TESTING	How is Unit-testing is different from System Testing? Distinguish Unit Testing, Integrating Testing, System Testing and Acceptance Testing with examples. How you measure productivity of Testers?
13	PROJECT STATUS REPORTING	As Project Manager, how frequently you send Project reports to your customer and what is the criteria for determining the frequency and format? Give an example of typical Project Report Format adopted in your Orgzn...
14	BUSINESS MODELS	Which Business Model mandates good project estimation skills? Why? What are the various Business Models adopted in your Orgzn and which model you think would be least risky for the organization?
15	CHANGE MANAGEMENT	Describe the Change Request (CR) Management process in your Organization? How do you manage changes when the Requirements are clear only at the end of the project and customer has lock-in on the budget and deadline for delivery?
16	WARRANTY MAINTENANCE	What kind of projects typically insists on warranty period? How long is the period and what is the process adopted for warranty maintenance in your Organization?
17	ANALYSIS & DESIGN	Distinguish Architecture, High-level Design and Low-Level Design with examples. In which phase of SDLC, the role of software architect is more important?
18	REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE	How do you capture requirements when the customer too is not clear of total functionality of the product? How do you manage to get requirements onsite when the customer is non-English speaking and can barely communicate to you over email or with little English?
19	CODING & UNIT-TESTING	How do you determine the number of test-cases to be written for a software module? When do you stop testing and start delivering?
20	CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT	What is the process for continuous improvement of processes in your Orgzn.? As an ISO 9000/CMMI compliant organization, give an example of a process improvement (related to Project Mgmt) that got implemented recently.
21	CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES IN QUALITY MGMT	What are the challenges you face as PM while dealing with customers from non-English speaking nations (Japan, Korea…)? How do you capture requirements? How do you communicate/negotiate Quality, Scope and Schedule with customers?

Instruction Delivery (Recorded Lectures)

o   Minimum of one Contact Session (topics listed under CSx.y) is to be planned for each core module (M1…M4). Though 8 such Contact Sessions (CS1 à CS8) are planned as part of the current course delivery, the Instructor may extend or reduce the number of such Contact Sessions as per the learning pace of students or schedule constraints.

No	Title of the Module (M) / Recorded Lecture (RL)	Ref.#	Video	~mins.
M1	Introduction of Key Concepts of Quality, Quality Assurance and Quality Management
	CS1:Introduction to Quality Concepts, Course Overview
	RL1.1  Software Quality Management – An Overview	R1/C-1,2	ü	45
	RL1.2 Demystifying Quality Concepts	R1/C-1,2	ü	60
	CS2: Quality Processes, Agile Methodology
	RL1.3 Software Quality Processes (Agile Methods)	R2/C-2	ü	55
M2	Software Quality Assurance: The Process & Activities		ü
	RL2.1  SQA Activities	R1/C-3,4	ü	70
	RL2.2  Software Testing	R1/C-6,7	ü	40
	RL2.3 Testing Techniques	R1/C-6,7	ü	30
	CS3:Quality Planning, SQA Activities
	RL 2.4 Reviews & Inspections	R1/C-14	ü	50
	RL 2.5 Fault Tolerance	R1/C-16	ü	40
	CS4: Role of Reviews in Agile Methodology
	MID-SEM Exaination (Syllabus: M1, M2)
M3	Quality Planning, Metrics and QMS	ORG
	RL3.1 Quality Planning in Projects	R2/C-24	ü	35
	RL3.2 Quality Metrics and Baselining	R2/C-25	ü	40
	CS5: Quality Planning, Metrics Definition
	RL3.3 Product Metrics & Defect Propagation	R2/C-23	ü	50
	RL 3.4 Quality Management Systems	R2/C-30	ü	70
	CS6: Typical Organization’s QMS
M4	QC Tools, Six-Sigma Methodology and Quality Culture	Net
	RL4.1  7 QC Tools	IPM	ü	30
	RL4.2  Six-Sigma Thinking	IPM	ü	70
	CS7: Traditional QC Tools, Six-Sigma approach to Defects
	RL4.3  Cross-Cultural Issues in Quality Management	IPM	ü	60
	RL4.4  Software Quality Management – A Summary	IPM	ü	25
	CS8: Review of SQM Topics and Key Lessons
	COMPRE Examination (Syllabus: M1,M2,M3,M4)

Contact Session Schedule

Students are expected to come prepared for the contact sessions by prior reading of the topics or watching the specified Recorded Lectures (RLs) made available on eLearn site.

CS #	Topics for Contact Session (Review/Discussion)	RLs to be watched (pre-contact session)
CS1	Course Introduction, Quality Terminology	-
CS2	Quality Processses, Agile Methodology	RL1.1 à RL1.3
CS3	Quality Planning, SQA Activities	RL2.1 à RL2.3
CS4	Reviews and Inspections	RL2.4,RL2.5
CS5	Quality Planning, Metrics Definition	RL3.1,RL3.2
CS6	Typical Organization’s QMS	RL3.3,RL3.4
CS7	QC Tools and Six-Sigma approach to Defects	RL4.1,RL4.2
CS8	Review of SQM and Key Lessons	RL4.3,RL4.4
	<<Backup Session>>

Syllabus for Mid-Semester Test (Closed Book): Topics in Module  Nos.  1 to 4

Syllabus for Comprehensive Exam (Open Book): All topics given in Plan of study.

Assignments / Experiential Learning Components

§  Each student is given an individual assignment on any of the topics discussed in the class; assignment topics are based on practical problems experienced or part of work-items or tools used by collaborating organizations

§  Assignments are take-home and deadline-driven (typically of 2 weeks duration) announced post Mid-semester examination

§  Students to spend at least 16 hours of work in study, research, discussion and preparation of the report and presentation.

§  As part of deliverables, the student is expected to prepare a report and/or make a short-presentation in the class

§  All assignments are to be submitted online or in-class within the specified deadlines

Evaluation Scheme:  

Legend: EC = Evaluation Component; AN = After Noon Session; FN = Fore Noon Session

No	Name	Type	Duration	Weight	Day, Date, Session, Time
EC-1	Quiz-I/ Assignment-I	Online (continuous)	Continuous assessment (online quiz at the end of every session)	5%	Throughout the duration of the contact sessions. (Two Quiz questions at the end of each session)
	Quiz-II	Online		5%	March 1 to 10, 2018
	Experiential Learning	Online		15%	March 20 to 30, 2018
EC-2	Mid-Semester Test	Closed Book	2 hours	30%	03/03/2018 (FN) 10 AM – 12 Noon
EC-3	Comprehensive Exam	Open Book	3 hours	45%	21/04/2018 (FN) 9 AM – 12 Noon

Important links and information:

Online portal: https://elearn.bits-pilani.ac.in  (and check-in to your respective course page)

Students are expected to visit the above elearn portal on a regular basis and stay up to date with the latest announcements and deadlines.

Recorded Lecture Videos: All the recorded videos (RLs) for this course are made available via elearn courseware site (Courseware - Software Quality Management)

Contact sessions: Students should attend the online lectures as per the schedule provided on the elearn portal.

Evaluation Guidelines:

1.      EC-1 consists of three Quizzes. Students will attempt them through the course pages on the elearn portal. Announcements will be made on the portal, in a timely manner.

2.      For Closed Book tests: No books or reference material of any kind will be permitted.

3.      For Open Book exams: Use of books and any printed / and hand-written reference material (filed or bound) is permitted. However, loose sheets of paper will not be allowed. Use of calculators is permitted in all exams. Laptops/Mobiles of any kind are not allowed. Exchange of any material is not allowed.

4.      If a student is unable to appear for the Regular Test/Exam due to genuine exigencies, the student should follow the procedure to apply for the Make-Up Test/Exam which will be made available on the elearn portal. The Make-Up Test/Exam will be conducted only at selected exam centres on the dates to be announced later.

It shall be the responsibility of the individual student to be regular in maintaining the self study schedule as given in the course handout, attend the online lectures, and take all the prescribed evaluation components such as Assignment/Quiz, Mid-Semester Test and Comprehensive Exam according to the evaluation scheme provided in the handout.

K G Krishna

 Instructor-in-Charge