Student Guides and Templates¶

CIDM 6330/6395 — Software Engineering Governance¶

This directory contains student-oriented guides, templates, and assessments for learning software engineering governance practices. All materials use a template-first approach — you create governance artifacts manually from templates using a text editor and git. No special tooling required.

New here? Start with the video tutorial series, then work through the First Project tutorial.

Presentations¶

Resource	What You'll Learn
Video Tutorial Series	Six-part video series covering the full governance cycle with a worked example

Individual parts cover: why governance matters, PRDs, ADRs, task decomposition, implementation, and the full cycle in review. Slide decks included.

Guides¶

Guide	What You'll Learn	Video
PRD Guide	What a Product Requirements Document is, why you write one, and how to write one well	Part 2
ADR Guide	What an Architecture Decision Record is, why design decisions should be recorded, and how to write one	Part 3
Task Guide	How to decompose features into small, testable tasks with clear acceptance criteria	Part 4

Recommended reading order: PRD Guide → ADR Guide → Task Guide

Tutorials¶

Tutorial	What You'll Do
First Project	Build a reading list tracker from templates through the full governance cycle (setup → attest) with worked examples
RHEA Bootstrap	Bootstrap a real greenfield library project with gzkit — the litmus test for student readiness

Start here: The First Project tutorial walks through every step with expected output. Do this before your own project.

Reference¶

Document	Contents
Glossary	25+ governance terms defined with examples

Templates¶

Ready-to-use templates in this directory:

Template	Use When
PRD Template	Starting a new project — define what you're building and why
ADR Template	Making a design decision — record the choice, alternatives, and tradeoffs
REQ Template	Breaking an ADR into requirements — one REQ per requirements checklist item
Task Template	Leaf work items under a REQ — one concrete thing to build, fix, or change

Distribution¶

Document	Contents
Releasing Guide	How to tag a release, build binaries, and publish to PyPI

Assessments¶

Document	Contents
GZKit Readiness Assessment	Evaluation of gzkit's suitability for student greenfield projects
Go-Live Gap Analysis	What gzkit needs before students can use it independently
Framework Comparison	How gzkit compares to OpenSpec, GitHub Spec Kit, and BMAD Method

The Workflow¶

Text Only

1. Write a PRD ──→ Define WHAT to build and WHY
2. Write ADRs  ──→ Record HOW you'll approach each major feature
3. Create Tasks ──→ Break each ADR into small, testable deliverables
4. Implement    ──→ Build one task at a time, verify each one
5. Review       ──→ Demonstrate that acceptance criteria are met

Relationship to GZKit¶

These guides simplify gzkit's professional governance workflow for classroom use. The mapping:

Student Concept	GZKit Professional Equivalent
PRD	PRD (same concept, lighter template)
ADR	ADR with Requirements Checklist
REQ	OBPI Brief (One Brief Per Item)
Task	Leaf work item within an OBPI
"All tests pass"	Gate 2 (TDD)
Instructor review	Gate 5 (Human Attestation)

Students who want to explore the full professional workflow can install gzkit (uv tool install gzkit) and use gz init to bootstrap governance in their project. See the Readiness Assessment for current status and recommendations.