SWEN 225Software Design

This course develops a strong understanding of object-oriented design. Students will study modelling and programming techniques that support the analysis, design and development of large and maintainable programs. Students will work together in groups on an engineering problem and use a variety of best practices (e.g. Design Patterns) and notations (e.g. UML). Students will use specialized tools to apply these techniques in practical work.

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Trimester One of three teaching periods that make up the academic year—usually March to June, July to October, and November to February.
CRN A unique number given to a single version of a course. It differentiates between courses with the same course code that are taught in different trimesters or streams, or in different modes (for example, in person or online).

Course details

Dates
7 Jul 2025 to 9 Nov 2025
Starts
Trimester 2
Fees
NZ$1,197.60 for
International fees
NZ$5,477.70
Lecture start times
  • Monday 11.00am
  • Wednesday 11.00am
  • Friday 11.00am
Campus
Kelburn
Estimated workload
Approximately 150 hours or 8.8 hours per week for 17 weeks
Points
15

Entry restrictions

Prerequisites
Corequisites
None
Restrictions
SWEN 222

Taught by

School of Engineering and Computer ScienceFaculty of Engineering

Key dates

Find important dates—including mid-trimester teaching breaks—on the University's key dates calendar.

You'll be told about assessment dates once the course has begun.

Key dates

About this course

We’ve designed this course for in-person study, and to get the most of out it we strongly recommend you attend lectures on campus. Most assessment items, as well as tutorials/seminars/labs/workshops will only be available in person. Any exceptions for in-person attendance for assessment will be looked at on a case-by-case basis in exceptional circumstances, e.g., through disability services or by approval by the course coordinator.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course will be able to:

  1. Competently analyse a software engineering problem and design and implement a solution, using appropriate tools.

  2. Apply correctly a range of techniques and notations for designing extensible and reusable software.

  3. Apply correctly techniques for ensuring and assessing the quality of software.

  4. Work co-operatively in a team to solve a software engineering problem.

How this course is taught

The course will be taught using two or three lectures per week and some two-hour labs. The lectures and lab exercises will prepare students for the assignment and the group project.

Assessment

  • Final Test Type: IndividualMark: 25%
  • Four Labs + Team Project Integration day Type: IndividualMark: 5%
  • WAT Type: IndividualMark: 5%
  • Term Test 1 Type: IndividualMark: 15%
  • Assignment Type: IndividualMark: 5%
  • Term Test 2 Type: IndividualMark: 15%
  • Group Project Type: Group AssessmentMark: 30%

Assessment dates and extensions

Once you've signed up to this course, you can use to see due dates for assessments and information about extensions.

Mandatory requirements

Find out what you must do to pass this course.

In addition to achieving an overall pass mark of at least 50% students must:

  1. Make a reasonable attempt on the group project (achieve a at least a D grade), to demonstrate achievement of all the CLOs of the course.
  2. Either achieve at least 40% on the total of the final test and the term tests, or achieve at least 55% on the final test.

If you believe that exceptional circumstances may prevent you from meeting the mandatory course requirements, contact the course coordinator for advice as soon as possible.

Group work

The group project is performed in groups.

The 30% mark is composed by a component of group work with individual marks and a component of group assessment.
The exact division of those marks is decided and moderated by the course lecturers.

Lecture times and rooms

What you’ll need to get

You do not need to get any texts or equipment for this course.

Who to contact

Marco Servetto portrait

Dr Marco Servetto

Course Coordinator

Craig Anslow portrait

Dr Craig Anslow

Lecturer

Past versions of this course

You may be able to access older versions of this course through our course archive.

View course archive

Student feedback

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Selected offering

SWEN 225

7 Jul–9 Nov 2025

Trimester 2 · CRN 30043

2025 course optionsOptions (1)