Student Resources
Reference material for planning, delivery, and submission
Everything students need to launch well, document the project clearly, record the final presentation, and follow hosting and university requirements.
Start Here
Primary links students should use first
These are direct links to a video page and an instruction page. Use them first before moving on to the supporting documents below.
Documents and Pages
Additional content and supporting resources
Each item below links directly to a document, slide deck, or page. Additional context is included under each link where helpful.
-
Example Software Requirements Specification (SRS) PDF Document
Reference example for drafting the software requirements specification.
-
Example Design Specification PDF Document
Sample design documentation structure for architecture and implementation planning.
-
Example Acceptance Test Plan PDF Document
Use this example to shape testing scope, acceptance criteria, and signoff expectations.
-
Grading Rubric PDF Document
Review the rubric to understand how deliverables and presentations will be evaluated.
-
Requirements Review PowerPoint PowerPoint
Sample slide deck for milestone reviews and requirements presentations.
Recorded Presentation
Pre-Recorded Video Presentation
Students should create a pre-recorded video presentation no longer than twenty minutes (but close to twenty). It can be created in any manner the team and faculty advisor feel appropriate. The video will be public facing and is to be loaded to the Drexel servers and anyone with a link to the video will be able to view it.
So, if you have sensitive corporate information, please clear it with the stakeholder to ensure it's ok to disclose it. The instructions for recording with Kaltura can be found here. Once the video is created your project leader can add the Kaltura link to the project creation page so that it will appear on your project's page.
Instructions for uploading: Drexel IT - Kaltura Help
Formation
Project and Team Formation
Teams should be deliberate about composition, project fit, stakeholder engagement, and how work is shared across disciplines.
Standard CCI teams
Standard teams can be made up of 5 to 6 CCI students from the same section of Senior Project. Teams should be diverse, and it is strongly encouraged that groups are formed with students bringing different strengths, perspectives, and experience to the project.
Students are expected to either select a pre-approved project or come up with their own idea. If students propose their own concept, the project must be approved by their instructor and the team must find an external stakeholder. Senior Project is meant to teach good software engineering principles, and part of that process is learning how to work with a stakeholder.
Collaborating with Digital Media or other CCI majors
Multidisciplinary projects are strongly encouraged. There are no rules related to team composition for groups made up entirely of CCI students, and any mix of majors is acceptable.
Collaborating with Digital Media groups has led to very interesting projects. Given the structure of Digital Media projects, the CCI group will in most cases operate as a disjoint but collaborative team alongside the Digital Media team. Both teams must have a minimum of 5 members. The Digital Media group will be graded by Digital Media faculty, and the CCI group will be graded by CCI faculty. CCI faculty will look to Digital Media faculty for guidance on appropriate scope where needed.
Collaborating with other colleges
Multidisciplinary projects with other colleges within the university are also encouraged and are approved on a case-by-case basis.
One option is for the CCI student to join another college's Senior Project or Design sequence and follow that college's schedule. In that case, the student's grade is determined primarily by the other college's professor and procedures. The student still registers for the CCI senior project courses and is expected to meet periodically with the CCI instructor to discuss their contribution and submit work products to the CCI instructor for review. Ideally, more than one CCI student would join the team.
The second option is to create a collaborative, but disjoint, team alongside the team outside of CCI. That team would work closely with the partner group while still following the guidelines of a traditional CCI team.
Hosting
Infrastructure and AWS guidance
- Drexel-hosted options are available through Tux Services and CCI Compute Resources.
- AWS is the preferred environment for most projects, subject to faculty approval when exceptions or data restrictions apply.
- Teams requesting AWS should submit a monthly budget based on the AWS calculator by the end of week 4. Access is typically targeted by the end of week 6.
- AWS Pricing Calculator
Best Practices
Guardrails for cloud resources
- Use a single Region, US East (N. Virginia), for any resources.
- There are some things limited by Service Control Policies to ensure AWS Credits are not wasted, please let me know if you run into issues due to errors related to Service Control Policy.
- Project leads must pay attention to budget alerts (daily, monthly and annual). Better safe than sorry.
- Shut off resources you are not currently using.
- Start with the smallest resources needed and you can step up as your project grows.
-
For RDS, ensure the following when creating a DB:
Choose Standard Create.
Do not choose Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server, any other flavor is fine (MySQL, MariaDB, Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL).
Choose Dev/Test (do not choose production).
Do not choose Standard classes, choose Burstable classes and choose a Medium or smaller instance type.
Do not create a DB larger than 200GB.
Use a single Region, US East (N. Virginia).
- Never store your SSH(private keys) in your repository. They should never leave your computer.
- Never store sensitive information such as database and server connection information in your repository. Consider using environment variables to store credentials.
Support
Writing and research help
-
Writing Intensive Courses
These three courses are writing intensive which means that you are engaging in the process of writing and revising. The writing center is available to support you here.
Writing Center Page -
Research Advice
Individualized advising on research and APA citing practice for your papers is available from the CCI Librarian at iftar@drexel.edu.
Policies
University Policies
- Policy Link Academic Honesty and Integrity
Plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
-
Support Policy Accomodation of Special Needs
Students with disabilities requesting accommodations and services at Drexel University need to present a current accommodation verification letter (AVL) to faculty before accommodations can be made. AVL's are issued by the Office of Disability Services (ODS). For additional information, contact ODS at 3201 Arch St., Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215.895.1401 (V), or 215.895.2299 (TTY). Here Students requiring any accommodation are strongly encouraged to discuss this situation with the instructor during the first week of the term.
- Policy Link Course Drop Policy
- Form Link Incomplete Grade Form
Incomplete grades are contingent upon instructor approval and will only be considered in extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control. The instructor is under no obligation to offer an incomplete grade. At least 80% of the graded coursework must have already been completed in order for an incomplete grade to be considered. An incomplete contract with due date for delivery of the completed work should be completed by the student and the instructor.
- Policy Link Additional Drexel University policies
Developer Tools
Reputable AI development resources students can access
These resources come from well-established vendors or open-source platforms and currently offer either a free tier or free student access. Use them carefully and still own the quality of the final deliverable.