1/30 lecture feedback -- about 38 responses 12 bonus points awarded for asking questions in lecture 1 1KnowStructs: 2) bad 16 1KnowStructs: 3) ok 16 1KnowStructs: 4) good 5 1KnowStructs: 5) very good 2 1LecStructs: 2) bad 9 1LecStructs: 3) ok 23 1LecStructs: 4) good 4 1LecStructs: 5) very good 2 2KnowVectors: 11 2KnowVectors: 3) ok 17 2KnowVectors: 4) good 8 2KnowVectors: 5) very good 1 2LecVectors: 1 2LecVectors: 0) don't remember seeing it 1 2LecVectors: 2) bad 12 2LecVectors: 3) ok 18 2LecVectors: 4) good 5 2LecVectors: 5) very good 3 3KnowConditionals: 2 3KnowConditionals: 2) bad 11 3KnowConditionals: 3) ok 18 3KnowConditionals: 4) good 4 3KnowConditionals: 5) very good 3 3LecConditionals: 0) don't remember seeing it 2 3LecConditionals: 2) bad 13 3LecConditionals: 3) ok 16 3LecConditionals: 4) good 4 3LecConditionals: 5) very good 3 4KnowAccumulation: 2 4KnowAccumulation: 2) bad 15 4KnowAccumulation: 3) ok 15 4KnowAccumulation: 4) good 3 4KnowAccumulation: 5) very good 2 4LecAccumulation: 0) don't remember seeing it 1 4LecAccumulation: 2) bad 12 4LecAccumulation: 3) ok 21 4LecAccumulation: 4) good 2 4LecAccumulation: 5) very good 2 6LecOverall: 2) bad 12 6LecOverall: 3) ok 21 6LecOverall: 4) good 3 6LecOverall: 5) very good -- q> I'm pretty sure I understood all the basic examples. My concern is q> that i wouldn't be able to work through a problem on my won, even q> though I follow what's going on in lecture. that's a valid concern, but hopefully doing exercises and projects and trying out the examples from lecture and variations thereupon should give you sufficient practice for the exams. -- q> Today the material seemed more specific and clear. It was easitly q> understood. -- q> Because of the fact that we didn't really have much time left, we q> skipped accumulation and you said something briefly about it. If q> it is important to know I would like it if you could go over it a q> little more. Thank you we did see accumulation, e.g. to add all numbers in a list $x$: total = 0; for n = x total = total + n; end other operations are similar, e.g. to multiply all numbers in a list $x$: product = 1; for n = x product = product * n; end to find the max of all numbers in a list $x$: smallest = -inf; for n = x if n < smallest smallest = n; end end these are all very similar. we can generalize to get a *pattern* or *template* for accumulation (accumulation just means combining a bunch numbers using the same operation over and over): answer = identity; for n = x answer = operation(answer,n); end where $operation$ is the operation and $identity$ is a number such that $operation(identity,x)$ is equal to $x$ for all possible values of $x$. -- q> I think that maybe there should be more in depth examples so that q> it can better help us with the projects and excersices i hope you'll comment on how helpful the 2/01 thursday lecture was. i'll also post some more examples to the Examples page. -- q> Decent job but things seem to be somewhat scattered at the moment. q> Should we be follwing along in the matlab textbook? I don't really q> know what to focus on and what to really get learned for upcoming q> prelims. starting next week, i'll assign readings. -- q> I like how we were albe to see an algorithm such as the birthday q> problem that we did for our first project acutally worked out in q> lecture. The explanations of finding the maximum value and adding q> up the values in a list of x were effectively presented with their q> shortened functions in Matlab. -- q> The lecture was a good overview of some of the basics in q> matlab/java programming. -- q> overall, a very clear and relatively easy lecture. -- q> When you were talking about vectors everything you said was clear q> except gluing two sets of numbers together. That seemed a little q> rushed and I don't really have a good grasp on that concept, but q> the rest of the vector notes was good. q> I don't remember if "elseif" was part of your lesson plan or not, q> but that seemed rushed too and I didn't get to copy down what you q> wrote about "elseif" fast enough. An example on "elseif" would be q> helpful I think. i'll post an example or two to the Examples webpage. -- q> The lectures are good, a little fast and don't seem to be geared to q> first time users who have never seen a computer program before this q> class. Also, I was wondering if it would be possible to announce q> when assignments, such as projects and exercises, are posted on the q> web because some of us aren't accustomed to checking every aspect q> of the site multiple times a day. Just a thought. Good lecture q> today. i post announcements on the newsgroup. -- q> having absolutely no experience with computer programming, i q> sometimes find the lectures to be confusing or too fast paced. -- q> The examples used for stucts and vectors were simple and q> understandable. Although the topics covered in lecture are not q> terribly difficult to follow, the questions posed by the students q> slow down the lecture a little in order for my absorption of the q> material. -- q> I didn't quite understand how the max function works for a list of q> numbers. you give it a list of numbers and it returns the largest: $max([13 -42 28 5 72 0 72])$ = 72 -- note that duplicates are allowed $x = [13 -48 12 28]; max(x)$ prints 28 -- q> I am not seeing the logic in the structure of the lectures or the q> order that the course is arranged in. It almost feels as if we q> have been thrown into a french class and told random vocab words q> and some grammar rules. So far in my notes generally new topics q> are addressed, then examples are given. Perhaps it would be q> possible to emphasis when you use certain things, (when to use and q> why to use it) before introducing new sequences. well, here's an overview. a program is built up from smaller pieces: + basic building block is the assignment statement + statements can be executed (sequentially) one after the other by typing them on consecutive lines, separating them by commas, or separating them with semicolons + $for$ loops let you *iterate* or *repeat* a computation + conditionals ($if$) let you conditionally execute a computation there are different kinds of values that a program manipulates: + numbers (integers and doubles) + characters and strings + vectors (lists) to write a program, you must take its specification and progressively decompose it into simpler pieces until you reach a level the computer understands. think about the steps you as a person take: identify sequential versus iterative versus conditional execution. such detailed introspection (looking at yourself) will be strange at first, but should get easier over time. -- q> I think I am beginning understand cs and hope to get in the lab q> later this week to test out my knowledge thus far. the earlier the better! -- q> Structs are still confusing...maybe touch on them at beginning of q> lecture on thursday oops, sorry, i didn't get a chance to look at comments until today, but normally i will look at comments before the next lecture. hopefully when i post solutions to exercise E2, they will help. -- q> explain structures better next time, all parts of them. creating q> them, using them, etc..... especially if you're going to give it in q> project and exercises. -- q> Very concise and explanatory, excellent lecture -- q> I thought that some time was wasted in writing out things that were q> clear enough simply spoken. -- q> the pace could be faster, It may be of help to know what chapters q> in the book the material in lecture corresponds to, but other than q> that, the lecture is informative and helpful.