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Module details
CO843 Extended IT Consultancy Project (60 credits)
Syllabus
Students taking this module will undertake three or (typically) more assignments for the Kent IT Clinic (KITC). Each assignment will be of one of four types:
- Work on one of KITC's contracts with an external client. Every student will participate in at least one assignment of this type, normally more. Every student will normally, and to the extent that client-funded work allows, take the lead in at least one project of this type through a substantial portion of its lifecycle. For each assignment, the student may work on the assignment individually or as part of a group, as directed by KITC.
- A contribution to the infrastructure of KITC itself. These assignments work in a similar way to external assignments, but with KITC as the client.
- Formulating a costed proposal for the future development of KITC, and presenting reasoned argument in support of the proposal to KITC management. Every student will have at least one assignment of this type.
- Formulation and development within KITC of a product or service to be offered for future sale.
Students will be expected to participate in a 'buddying' (mutual mentoring) relationship with another KITC student. In certain cases, a student may also be asked to undertake supervisory duties; training will be provided for this.
Each assignment will be carried out under the ultimate supervision of KITC management and in accordance with client requirements, with deliverables defined by negotiation with the client. Alongside the client deliverables, each student will also be required to produce a report on each assignment undertaken; these reports are described below under Assessment Methods. KITC management will also produce a brief evaluation report on the student's contribution following each assignment: these evaluation reports will be made available to the student concerned and his/her academic supervisor.
The assignments to be undertaken by a student will be chosen by KITC. This choice will be driven primarily by commercial considerations, taking into account the individual student's aptitudes and experience. However, so far as possible, students of this module will be given assignments which are challenging technically and/or as regards project management. Students will be expected to complete every assignment -- no matter how undemanding it may be technically -- with a high degree of professionalism and craftsmanship.
So far as commercial considerations allow, each student will be given a portfolio of assignments that exposes the student to a wide variety of stages in the software lifecycle. Also, KITC will aim to provide each student with a mix of short-timescale and longer-timescale assignments to allow students to smooth their workload over time.
Note
This web page provides advance information about a module due to run in the coming academic year. We believe the details are accurate at the time of writing but they may be subject to change.