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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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
Taught by
School of Engineering and Computer Science—Faculty of Engineering
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:
Competently analyse a software engineering problem and design and implement a solution, using appropriate tools.
Apply correctly a range of techniques and notations for designing extensible and reusable software.
Apply correctly techniques for ensuring and assessing the quality of software.
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:
- 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.
- 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


Selected offering
SWEN 225
7 Jul–9 Nov 2025
Trimester 2 · CRN 30043