Course and T1 evaluation results, including student comments. (replies to some comments have been posted to the newsgroup). _______________________________________________________________________________ About 165 responses out of about 211 students. Prior to CS100, about how much programming experience did you have? 111 1.1-prior-prog: 0) none 16 1.1-prior-prog: 1) 30 weeks 17 1.1-prior-prog: 1) 5 weeks 15 1.1-prior-prog: 2) 15 weeks 8 1.1-prior-prog: 2) 50 weeks or more [this matches the data from the registration form, where about 70 out of 211 students said they had prior experience.] Prior to CS100, how comfortable were you using computers, e.g. for word-processing, e-mail, and web browsing? 20 1.2-comp-comfort: 1) very uncomfortable 15 1.2-comp-comfort: 2) somewhat uncomfortable 14 1.2-comp-comfort: 3) a little uncomfortable 61 1.2-comp-comfort: 4) comfortable 57 1.2-comp-comfort: 5) very comfortable About how often do you check the newsgroup? 2 1.3-news-freq: 0) didn't know about it 2 1.3-news-freq: 2) tried, but unable to access it 1 1.3-news-freq: 3) don't use it 36 1.3-news-freq: 4) once a week 39 1.3-news-freq: 5) once every 3 days 48 1.3-news-freq: 6) every other day 26 1.3-news-freq: 7) once a day 13 1.3-news-freq: 8) multiple times a day [i recommend checking at least every other day.] How helpful do you find the Course Newsgroup? 2 1.4-news-rate: 0) I don't read the newsgroup 14 1.4-news-rate: 1) very bad 26 1.4-news-rate: 2) bad 89 1.4-news-rate: 3) ok 24 1.4-news-rate: 4) good 12 1.4-news-rate: 5) very good How easy is it for you to find new posts or replies to posts on the newsgroup? 1 1.5-news-find: 0) I don't read the newsgroup 8 1.5-news-find: 1) very bad 14 1.5-news-find: 2) bad 65 1.5-news-find: 3) ok 48 1.5-news-find: 4) good 31 1.5-news-find: 5) very good Which newsreader do you use or did you try? 5 1.6-newsreader: I haven't tried any 3 1.6-newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 38 1.6-newsreader: Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express 44 1.6-newsreader: Netscape 1 1.6-newsreader: NewsWatcher 7 1.6-newsreader: NewsXpress 1 1.6-newsreader: One that is not listed above 68 1.6-newsreader: WinVN How helpful are the online feedback/evaluation forms and their posted results? 1 1.7-feed-rate: 3 1.7-feed-rate: -) didn't know about them 25 1.7-feed-rate: 0) never looked at them 6 1.7-feed-rate: 1) very bad 6 1.7-feed-rate: 2) bad 85 1.7-feed-rate: 3) ok 38 1.7-feed-rate: 4) good 3 1.7-feed-rate: 5) very good How helpful is to to have so much of this course being online (homework write-ups, solutions, lecture sketches, evaluation forms, newsgroup, online submission)? 9 1.8-online-rate: 1) very bad 21 1.8-online-rate: 2) bad 54 1.8-online-rate: 3) ok 43 1.8-online-rate: 4) good 40 1.8-online-rate: 5) very good How organized and clear and helpful is lecture? 12 2.1-lec-rate: 1) very bad 47 2.1-lec-rate: 2) bad 70 2.1-lec-rate: 3) ok 35 2.1-lec-rate: 4) good 4 2.1-lec-rate: 5) very good How does lecture affect your interest in the subject? 25 2.2-lec-stim: 1) totally turns me off 46 2.2-lec-stim: 2) turns me off some 68 2.2-lec-stim: 3) neutral 28 2.2-lec-stim: 4) stimulates some interest 1 2.2-lec-stim: 5) stimulates great interest How is the pace of lecture? 1 2.3-lec-pace: 1) way too slow 20 2.3-lec-pace: 2) too slow 88 2.3-lec-pace: 3) ok 50 2.3-lec-pace: 4) too fast 9 2.3-lec-pace: 5) way too fast [ahem. this does not match the results of the lecture feedback forms, which suggest i'm now at about the right pace.] How helpful do you find the questions asked in lecture? 9 2.4-lec-quest: 1) very bad 41 2.4-lec-quest: 2) bad 89 2.4-lec-quest: 3) ok 26 2.4-lec-quest: 4) good 3 2.4-lec-quest: 5) very good [if you find questions are too advanced, *please* consider asking your own questions in lecture or on the newsgroup or in your lecture feedback.] Of the Matlab code examples provided in Lecture Sketches, how many do you run? 2 2.5-run-ex: -) didn't know about them 30 2.5-run-ex: 0) never tried to run them 13 2.5-run-ex: 1) tried, but was unable to run them 42 2.5-run-ex: 2) almost none 45 2.5-run-ex: 3) about 1/4 25 2.5-run-ex: 4) about 1/2 4 2.5-run-ex: 5) about 3/4 7 2.5-run-ex: 6) almost all [sigh.] How helpful do you find the posted Lecture Sketches? 3 2.6-sketch: 0) didn't know about them 5 2.6-sketch: 1) very bad 13 2.6-sketch: 2) bad 56 2.6-sketch: 3) ok 48 2.6-sketch: 4) good 43 2.6-sketch: 5) very good How convenient is the time for the course instructor's office hours? 64 2.7-tky-time: 0) don't know when they are 12 2.7-tky-time: 1) very bad 19 2.7-tky-time: 2) bad 49 2.7-tky-time: 3) ok 21 2.7-tky-time: 4) good 3 2.7-tky-time: 5) very good How organized and clear and helpful is section? 2 3.2-sec-rate: 0) I don't attend 3 3.2-sec-rate: 1) very bad 10 3.2-sec-rate: 2) bad 45 3.2-sec-rate: 3) ok 54 3.2-sec-rate: 4) good 53 3.2-sec-rate: 5) very good How is the pace of section? 3 3.3-sec-pace: 1) way too slow 17 3.3-sec-pace: 2) too slow 139 3.3-sec-pace: 3) ok 8 3.3-sec-pace: 4) too fast How helpful are the section instructors and TAs in office hours and appointments? 4 3.4-tas-rate: -) don't know how to find them 88 3.4-tas-rate: 0) never tried them 2 3.4-tas-rate: 1) very bad 6 3.4-tas-rate: 2) bad 30 3.4-tas-rate: 3) ok 25 3.4-tas-rate: 4) good 12 3.4-tas-rate: 5) very good How convenient are the times for the TAs' open office hours? 1 3.5-open-time: 40 3.5-open-time: 0) don't know when they are 4 3.5-open-time: 1) very bad 28 3.5-open-time: 2) bad 53 3.5-open-time: 3) ok 32 3.5-open-time: 4) good 9 3.5-open-time: 5) very good How convenient are the times for the TAs' appointment slots? 1 3.6-appt-time: 47 3.6-appt-time: 0) don't know when they are 5 3.6-appt-time: 1) very bad 19 3.6-appt-time: 2) bad 65 3.6-appt-time: 3) ok 23 3.6-appt-time: 4) good 7 3.6-appt-time: 5) very good Generally, how helpful are the consultants in Carpenter Lab? 5 3.7-consultants: -) didn't know about them 75 3.7-consultants: 0) never tried them 14 3.7-consultants: 1) very bad 23 3.7-consultants: 2) bad 29 3.7-consultants: 3) ok 18 3.7-consultants: 4) good 3 3.7-consultants: 5) very good How useful are the Exercises and Quizzes and their solutions? 8 4.1-ex: 1) very bad 16 4.1-ex: 2) bad 70 4.1-ex: 3) ok 64 4.1-ex: 4) good 7 4.1-ex: 5) very good How useful are the Projects, their solutions, and the grading guides? 7 4.2-proj: 1) very bad 26 4.2-proj: 2) bad 66 4.2-proj: 3) ok 51 4.2-proj: 4) good 15 4.2-proj: 5) very good How helpful to learning is it to work with a partner on Projects, e.g. does it hurt because you didn't learn the areas your partner solved? 47 4.3-pair: 0) I work alone 1 4.3-pair: 1) very bad 12 4.3-pair: 2) bad 34 4.3-pair: 3) ok 39 4.3-pair: 4) good 32 4.3-pair: 5) very good How helpful did you find the T1 review material (topic list, review questions and their solutions)? 3 4.4-R1: -) didn't know about it 11 4.4-R1: 0) didn't look at it 7 4.4-R1: 1) very bad 17 4.4-R1: 2) bad 51 4.4-R1: 3) ok 55 4.4-R1: 4) good 21 4.4-R1: 5) very good How helpful did you find the review session for T1? 1 4.5-R1-session: -) didn't know about it 49 4.5-R1-session: 0) didn't attend 35 4.5-R1-session: 1) very bad 32 4.5-R1-session: 2) bad 34 4.5-R1-session: 3) ok 9 4.5-R1-session: 4) good 5 4.5-R1-session: 5) very good [looks like i'll run the upcoming review session; i'll try to do a good job.] How good was T1 as a test of your knowledge? 2 4.6-T1-difficulty: 1) way too easy 11 4.6-T1-difficulty: 2) too easy 108 4.6-T1-difficulty: 3) adequate 31 4.6-T1-difficulty: 4) too difficult 9 4.6-T1-difficulty: 5) way too difficult 4 4.6-T1-difficulty: 6) impossible How helpful do you find the solutions to T1? 3 4.7-T1-sol: -) didn't know about them 42 4.7-T1-sol: 0) didn't look at them 5 4.7-T1-sol: 1) very bad 6 4.7-T1-sol: 2) bad 70 4.7-T1-sol: 3) ok 36 4.7-T1-sol: 4) good 3 4.7-T1-sol: 5) very good [argh! look at them!] How stressed are you in general this semester? 2 5.1-gen-stress: 0) none 6 5.1-gen-stress: 1) a little 26 5.1-gen-stress: 2) some 50 5.1-gen-stress: 3) a lot 64 5.1-gen-stress: 4) extremely 17 5.1-gen-stress: 5) unbearably How stressed are you due to CS100? 2 5.2-100-stress: 0) none 11 5.2-100-stress: 1) a little 26 5.2-100-stress: 2) some 52 5.2-100-stress: 3) a lot 50 5.2-100-stress: 4) extremely 24 5.2-100-stress: 5) unbearably Overall, how do you feel the course is going? 19 5.6-Course-Overall: 1) very bad 43 5.6-Course-Overall: 2) bad 71 5.6-Course-Overall: 3) ok 28 5.6-Course-Overall: 4) good 4 5.6-Course-Overall: 5) very good _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: I'm learning to use MATLAB, which has come in handy and I'm sure will be useful in the future. Worst things about the course: Lecture is too theoretical for my taste Suggestions for Improvement: Spend less time handwriting code and tracing and more time actually typing code into MATLAB and running it. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: Opportunity to work with a partner. Many resources for help. Various review sessions are very helpful. Worst things about the course: With no programming experience, it is very difficult for me to do the projects and understand them. The amount of work seems like a lot. The difficulty of the projects, to me, is part of what makes them take a long time. Lecture seemed to be over my head for the first few weeks. Suggestions for Improvement: The projects, I feel, are beyond my ability for the amount of programming experience I have. They also seem to go beyond what is learned in the course. It would be very useful if sections were in a computer lab. Also, the recent addition of the computer in lecture is extremely helpful and it allows me to understand the material much better. The review sessions were very helpful. It helps clear up little things. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1. The challenges I am presented with, especially with projects. I love the projects. 2. The general fun of having power over a computer. 3. Getting to make pretty output for a program. Worst things about the course: 1. Exercises 2. Only touching the surface of some things. I have read the whole textbook and there is so much more that would be interesting to learn. 3. Too many bonus points given out. Suggestions for Improvement: I have very few complaints. I like programming and although I have had some experience, MATLAB is fairly new to me. It challenges me and the problem solving procedures required to complete the projects are very nearly orgasmic. I feel I am a little ahead of many other people, though, that's why I think the course is going too slowly. I think we should've gone through the whole book by now and be writing programs with MATLAB's GUI but I know that that isn't feasible. One thing I did notice was that MATLAB syntax was never taught. It was expected to be picked up. I picked it up quick but I could see how that could create difficulties. I am very, VERY pleased with the help that I receive when I post things to the newsgroup. The whole course staff is very willing to help, that is for sure, and I hope that that never changes. I think the exercises are somewhat useless and instead, there should be more projects. :-) Yay! _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: Newsgroup is a plus, b/c it enables clarification of poorly worded project questions. Lecture pace (up until this week) seemed pretty good. ? Worst things about the course: Lecture could be better organized Lecture sketches are hard to read, and include important material not in lecture). Section seems to be devoted more to questions from the "slower" students and don't provide new insight into the projects/exercises (I stopped going) Suggestions for Improvement: The lecture sketches seem to be very confusing, even to someone who has had 3 years of programming experience. The newsgroup is a good idea, however the coure seems to be fairly reliant on it, which isn't fair to those who don't have access to the internet in the rooms. Review session was extremely unaffective, and what I felt was the most important question asked (What will the layout of the test be?), was not even answered. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: learn to program, use matlab good section instructor Worst things about the course: projects too long grading is too picky TA's have bad office hours and sometimes don't show up Suggestions for Improvement: Make the projects shorter. Have us make one whole program that uses all the concepts you want us to understand instead of having all these little parts. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: Newsgroups clarify the many mistakes made in projects/lectures. I'd be stuck forever in projects (as well as everyone else) if it werent for this. Easy access to info on the web. Worst things about the course: Everything's on the web. This allows for a plethora of information that we must all be responsible for. No other class at cornell is like this, relying on everyone to have a computer. Lectures are no help to me. Also, my section goes way too slow, but for everyone. The TA beats a dead horse 10 times per class. (this WOULD be the only place for me to learn anything in class) Suggestions for Improvement: Lectures should be planned sufficiently so that lecture notes (with corrections that WE ARE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR (!!!!)) are not necessary. I feel this is ridiculous. The class should be more focused on new things from matlab as we need them for projects. I feel like students are up to learning everything on their own. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Learning how to use Matlab for my other EE classes in the future. Worst things about the course: The projects are way too long and involved. The lectures can be confusing. Suggestions for Improvement: Abridge the projects. Find a better way to present the lecture. Maybe do examples during lecture on Matlab instead of always writing out the notes. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: n/a Worst things about the course: - VERY VERY long projects - sections do not prepare for projects - lectures sometimes go too fast and are geared towards people with programming experience (esp. for bonus points) Suggestions for Improvement: - shorter/less projects - more helpful hints and lectures to help for projects _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) Programming itself is fascinating. 2) The projectes are varied and have actual content (ie slove problems) rather than abstract number crunching. 3) The skills conveyed in the course are very useful (esp. math & physics) Worst things about the course: 1) The course tacitly assumes too much previous programming knowledge. People who programmed before (ie most engineers) have a huge edge over people like me who had no contact with the subject before. 2) The projects are too long... 3) MWF lectures would have been better. Suggestions for Improvement: CS100 should be split into two groups/courses depending on previous programming experience and maybe engineer/non-engineers. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: online info is good, submitting online saves paper, section's pretty good. Worst things about the course: pace and workload Suggestions for Improvement: go slower with it, some of us don't have any programming experience at all there's too much work (projects, exercises, feedback, etc...) and we have other classes and prelims and such too hand back more stuff in section instead of carpenter (there's usually a mad rush and it can get crowded fast) examples are good, the practice prelims, lecture notes (maybe those should be posted before lecture so students don't have to copy them and can focus more on the material) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1. um...i guess programming might be a good thing for me to know when this is all over...i am not entirely convinced, however 2. i guess the prelim was relatively reasonable...i just really really really hope they don't get any harder 3. i can't think of anything else Worst things about the course: 1. the length of the projects 2. the difficulty of the projects 3. everything else about the projects... also, lectures and sections do not prepare us to do the projects, and when hints are given in lecture about the projects they are always given like 2 days before the project is due so it isn't very helpful if you've struggled with the project all weekend beforehand Suggestions for Improvement: Ok, so the projects are horrible. First of all, they need to be shorter and not so difficult because as they are now, they create a lot of stress and take enormous amounts of time that cut into the time people need to spend on other classes. Also, more help could be given in lecture and section on how to do the projects; in addition, this help should be given a lot earlier- not everyone waits until the last minute. Finally, after the projects are done I think we could spend some more time in class going over the answers and how we should have approached them. Lecture has gotten better this week (2/22 and 2/27) because the Professor is clearly trying to slow down and explain things better. I hope this continues. Some of the ta's really like to tell people to go figure it out themselves when they have a question. While I know it is important to experiment with matlab in order to learn the stuff, this is really annoying. By the time I get to where I have a computer, I don't even remember my question anymore because I have so much other stuff to do. It would be nicer to just get straight-forward answers. Bonuses (other than the wonderful bonuses that you can get by filling out lecture feedback forms- don't stop having these!) tend to be geared towards people with lots of previous programming experience- they are really hard to figure out just by looking stuff up in the help files of matlab (which are really confusing by the way; i never know what they are talking about...they seem to be geared towards people who know programming), or in the book. And really the people who can do these difficult bonuses don't really need them. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: Mike Singer is very energized in his sections Lots of info online Worst things about the course: Lectures extremely boring, I find it very difficult to learn in this situation, meaning explaining how to run programs when it is written on a piece of paper. This is the CS department, however the lectures do not use any computer technology. In Chem 211 last semester, they used all sorts of computer diagrams, etc to help me better understand things that I would have no idea how to otherwise. I am extremely stressed over this course, I cannot stand it, and I know that I am not the only one that feels this way, each day after lecture I hear people complaining about it. Working over 20 hours on a Project, and I only did two questions, is way too LONG, it is insane. Suggestions for Improvement: This course is very difficult except for those who have had some previous programming experience, and these people are the ones that do the projects. Most people (me included) cannot figure out everything on the projects, so we find some people that know, and they end up giving us the answer, we don't exactly know to much. I took Pascal last year, and the difficulty of the projects has already exceeded what I did in the entire last year, this is probably the major reason why people are upset and confused with the course. It took a big leap, and once people get lost (most of the class) it is almost impossible to get back into the flow of things. I feel that lectures would be a lot more informative if you ran programs on the screen, just like we do at home or at the labs. This would be extremely helpful, because writing programs on paper does not educate me in any way. What I can remember most about all your lectures so far was last Thursday when you showed us how to use the newsgroup, etc. Even though I already knew how to do that, I learned from it. This would also increase the attention span of the class, as watching a computer is clearer and more exciting than some sloppy hand written paper. I hope any of this is informative to you. Good luck. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: Only 2 lectures and 1 section a week. Exercises not graded for accuracy. Generally an online course (lecture sketches and online submission especially). Worst things about the course: Lecture too early in the morning. Project 3 too long. Not enough Matlab specific stuff covered in lecture (such would make much agony over projects disappear). Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: I think the my section can be helpful. The website always works and does not take long to access, and in addition if I need help on projects my partner and I work together. Worst things about the course: The projects and work in general is a tremendous load to handle, the lectures are sort of boring and early, and I had no idea what to expect on Prelim I. The projects take up atleast ten to fifteen hours of my week's time leaving me little time to work on other subjects. Suggestions for Improvement: Projects should be directed more towards what is going to be on the prelims, and the projects should also be less stressful and less time consuming. During lecture it would be helpful if a computer was used. In addition Review problems for prelim II should reflect more what is actualy going to be on the exam this time. The website is helpful in that it is constantly updated. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I feel like I am learning Programming can be helpful in the future Only twice a week, plus section Worst things about the course: TOO MANY EXERCISES! Projects take too long Lecture is often boring when the basics of programmin are covered over and over and over again. Suggestions for Improvement: I wish the lecture and section focuses on HOW to use basic functions, and not visual representation of what they mean. That just confuses me more. For example. x = 3. x gets 3. i get it. now where in a computer is there a little box? Thats a simple example but that happens a lot with stuff. Like the functions thing is simple. But your example with an paper airplane was so complicated that i started to rethink what i thought i knew. just tell us how to create functions and we will understand how they work via trial and error (but not too much!) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: The fact that I only have to take it for one semester is a good thing. There are lots of people out there that know programming that can help when you get stuck sometimes. Worst things about the course: I don't seem to learn anything in the lecture. We are never at computers in section, lecture, or any other time. That would be helpful to have someone there while you are doing a program that can help on the spot. The consultants are not helpful sometimes. Suggestions for Improvement: There seems to be too much programming background that is needed for everything. My partner and I spend hours just playing around with things that can be done in seconds but we are completely new to programming so we don't know. This is supposed to be an introduction but it doesn't seem that way. I don't have much time for any other classes because I am always in the lab doing computer science. The newsgroup also seems a bit unconvienient. I can't always check it and then I miss things or I'm afraid that if I don't check it every day or multiple times a day then I will miss something. I also cannot post to it. The review session for the prelim was pointless. For one, the guy was 30 minutes late. Then he was rude, and wasn't really going over anything. I found it pointless and a waste of time. The consultants have gotten better in the lab, but so many of them don't know Matlab, or they are unfamiliar with the project so you have spend 5 minutes explaining the question before they can even remotely help you. There just seems to be too much wasted time in this course. It seems like a lot of that could be avoided. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1-Helps me with my major which uses a lot of MATLAB 2-Lots of practice problems 3-Lecture Sketches Worst things about the course: 1-Length and difficulty of projects 2-Amount of work 3-NOT ENOUGH EXAMPLES DONE IN LECTURE..TOO MUCH THEORY NOT ENOUGH APPLICATION Suggestions for Improvement: I love the sample prelim questions and I thought they did a great job of preparing me (or so I thought until I received my grade). I don't know why so many points were taken off because I have yet to get back my prelim. I thought they were going to be returned in section but I have not gotten anything back in section yet. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1. Working with a partner on the project. We do all the sections together and sometimes if I don't understand something she is able to explain it well. 2. The fact that you can go to any TA's office hours because no matter what time it is there is always someone having office hours. 3. Some of the problems on the project are challenging, but solvable if you think about it so I feel a sense of accomplishment if I get one on my own. Worst things about the course: 1. Most of the problems on the project are way too hard and I wind up asking my friends who are cs majors for help and dont learn it myself. 2. The projects take too long, I dont have a spare 20 hours every 2 weeks to devote just to the project in addition to the exercises, reading, lecture, and section. I do have other classes. 3. 9:05 is so early, I go to all the lecture, but spend most of them in a daze and do not absorb much knowledge. Suggestions for Improvement: No matter what I try I cannot get the newsgroup to work on my computor, even my cs major friends cant do it. I check it at my partners, but I'm afraid that I will miss something and it will be on the exam. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. I enjoy learning about a whole new topic that I have never been introduced to. 2. I like the fact that the newsgroup is always there in case I have questions. 3. The multitude of office hour times make it convinient for me to get help. Worst things about the course: 1. There are several people in the class with programming experience. This makes it harder for those, like myself, who have none. 2. The lecture material is sometimes covered too fast or does not go over everything in the lecture sketches. 3. The projects (like project 3) are sometimes too difficult for a beginning programmer and take up excessive amounts of time. Suggestions for Improvement: I find the lecture sketches very beneficial. However, the course could be improved by discussing everything in the lecture sketches (those things marked with a !). Also, it would be helpful if the consultants in Carpenter lab were more familiar with MATLAB and not just java. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1. Online content 2. Lecture 3. Projects Worst things about the course: 1. Slow Pace I'm happy with everything else Suggestions for Improvement: Try to use the online interface as much as possible, its very convenient. In terms of weaknesses, I personally don't have a problem with my TA, but others find it hard to understand the TA, etc. But overall, I think enough measures are in place to help those who need help (office hours, carpenter lab, newsgroup, etc.) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 5) very good Best things about the course: Projects are good, they teach me the most overall, and challenge me. I like the newsgroup because it is an easy and efficient way to get questions answered. I like the bonus points idea, it motivates me want to complete everything that is assigned. Worst things about the course: The lecture needs some improvement. I have had previous programming experience, but I still find some things unclear. It is not that the pace is too fast; I just think that certain topics can be taught in a less confusing way. (e.g. loop invariants, birthday problem, fprintf and strings). On the other hand, good job on functions, logical operators, and loops! The first week experience with the course was really bad! I wasted hours on the first part of P1, trying to find where all the info on the website was located, filling out online forms, figuring out the newsgroup, etc. Now that I have gotten used to the site, everything is much better. The Matlab book is not very impressive. Thankfully I did not buy it (I borrowed it from a friend). It's ok for reference, but I do not find it a learning tool. Suggestions for Improvement: I think that the lecture can be improved. I understand mostly everything because I have had a year of C++, but I would definitely not enjoy it if I was new to programming (as many of the students are.) I think that there are topics, (such as vectors, vector concatenation, and loops) that confuse many people. More examples should be given in class, and more time should be spent giving the logical reasons behind loops, why is $while$ loop used here, as opposed to $for$ loop, for example. Rather than just quickly giving the information, I think that many people would benefit if they could understand the reason for the use of loops. (Another point: Maybe a lecture on computer hardware would really help in understanding how memory is allocated, why the computer can only store a number to a certain magnitude, and what it means to store in a variable, etc. It would give people a better idea of the connection between software and hardware). If there is a better book for Matlab out there, it would definitely help a lot. I think the first day in CS should be a training session, like the demo which was given to us later. It would save people a lot of time wasted in trying to figure out what is going on. I love the projects, but I find that they can be a little confusing (thank God for the newsgroup). The last one took 9 pages just to print the assignments. I loved part 4 of P3 because I didn't spend a lot of time reading it, I immediately understood the assignment, and I started working on the functions. On the other hand, some parts of part 3 on P3 were confusing, and it took a while to read the orbit problem and understand what is going on. Maybe the projects could be more clear and concise in the way the problem is presented. Before the end of this semester I would like to see a larger project, (by this I mean a project where all parts are connected to each other, maybe something like a game.) This would make it more fun, because we could break it down as we like, rather than have to tackle five different parts in one project. (though I understand that it would be hard to do this with Matlab since there is no object oriented programming). _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1) Learning more programming languages makes the class fun. 2) Section is often quite helpful. 3) Review sessions are useful in understanding material. Worst things about the course: 1) In general, the projects take too much time. 2) The newsgroup can be slightly confusing, and I don't understand exactly why it is "necessary" 3) Material on projects is often not covered in lecture. Suggestions for Improvement: I think the best improvement would be to discuss at least too a small extent all topics that will be covered in the projects. It is often difficult to understand a programming topic without a concrete example, other than the ones in the book. The solutions to projects and examples are often quite confusing too, and it becomes more difficult to understand the material if you can't comprehend what you did wrong. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I am learning how to program a computer. I am learning how to think in a manner that systematically solves problems. Worst things about the course: People with more previous experience have a great advantage on projects, i.e. they can finish them with less trouble since they know what to do already. The projects are often long and difficult and often coincide with prelims and always with homework due dates for other classes. Suggestions for Improvement: I wish the office hours we more convenient. Most if not all of them are during my other classes so I cannot attend them. The newsgroup is ok but making it mandatory puts additional stress on my day--I have to make sure I check it every so often so I don't fall behind. If there could be a separate place for the more important announcements and the newsgroup for questions, etc, it would ease the task of sorting through the many posts. Matlab is a great starting language for me. It contains enough built-in functions to be easily usable. Also, the syntax is not as obscure as other languages (I've seen people use Java and it is rather confusing). _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: Figuring things out that are actually useful is fun. The class only meets twice a week. Working with partners is encouraging. Largely computer based means I am motivated to explore the class and the work. Worst things about the course: Projects cover material that is adressed in class two weeks later. Lectures repeat themselves ad nausium. Section is much to big and filled with idiots who are not commited to the work or the subject. Suggestions for Improvement: I'd like to see more than one version of this course that fulfills the requirement. People with programming experience should not be allowed in CS 100. There should be a CS 98 for the peoplewho just want to fulfil the requirement and not put in any time or effort. [...] Lectures should be progressive and full of info. I feel like I could miss two or three in a row and still know what is going on. Elementary information like how to set MATLAB's path and how to read the nesgroup should be addressed in the first lecture, not the 12th. Exams are very good, however, and provide accurate measure of understanding and ability. Exercises seem like busy work. Projects seem like impossible tasks. Why not present the material and then assign the project over it after that? I understand the concept of independent learning, but I waste my time trying 20 variations of the same code before finally turning in the latest of my incorrect answers. No one looks at the solutions to Exams/Tests, so the aftermath of an evaluation doesn't help anybody learn. The workload would be manageable if work was based on already covered concepts, and lectures would be much more intersting and informative if they didn't cover the information that I spent 15 hours deciphering for myself. I figure the course cost me about $4,000 and the book cost me $50. Judging by their respective usefulnesses, I would guess they were the other way around. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1. The projects are difficult enough to provide a sense of accomplishment upon successful completion. 2. The pace of the lectures is generally good. 3. The coursework really isn't "a pain" like most of my classes. I find myself challenged rather than repulsed by the coursework. Worst things about the course: 1. There are way to many guidelines concerning just about everything in this course (eg. the font we use, whether or not word wrap is on, etc.) 2. The projects, while challenging, are very time consuming, which I didn't expect from an introductory level class. 3. The while online submission thing is just not very trustworthy in my eyes. I felt much more comfortable at the beginning of the semester when I physically handed my projects in, rather than leaving their fate to the hands of technology and all the possible glitches. Suggestions for Improvement: To improve the course in general, I think that a afternoon lecture would be much more effective. For me, this is my first class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as it is for a lot of people. It's much more difficult to concentrate on code and how it runs having just rolled out of bed. There is a certain level of concentration needed for this class that would come much more naturally at a later time in the day. I also think that there should be some kind of confirmation email regarding submitted work. I would feel much more comfortable knowing that my projects and grades have indeed been recieved. I think that the projects should be slightly cut down and more exercises should be included. In an introductory level class, this just seems to make more sense. Also, I think that the department should be more lenient in terms of "etiquette." While I have no trouble understanding exactly what is expected and what types/sizes of files should be submitted online, I think that many have been having trouble with such issues. I do see a point to such restrictions but sometimes such restrictions as simply a hassle. Lastly, I think that the review sessions should be much more organized than previously demonstrated. Honestly, I don't think I took much out of the review session for T1, and I think that this was largely due to the TA's strict reliance on questions. Most people, like me, don't have specific questions but simply go to a review session to obtain a quick overview of everything covered so far, as opposed to spending a half hour doing box tracings and having no time alloted for the more complicated topics. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: partners section Worst things about the course: lecture online submission project difficulty, not parallel with lecture Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: -it is very easy to raise a concern about a project (on the newsgroup), and there is a quick response -there is a lot of help available if you need it -the course moves at a reasonable pace for someone without programming experience Worst things about the course: -it seems as if we are expected to use commands in excercises and projects that are not explained or are unfamiliar to us, until the solutions are given -the lectures do not follow the book, and sometimes it is hard to see where the the material is coming from -not all of the online stuff, like readings and excercises, are always mentioned in lecture -the only lecture is offered at 905am Suggestions for Improvement: -it would be nice if there was a supplementary reading packet that followed the course material -the projects seem to be a little bit too long; i would really like it if they could be just as useful, but a little bit shorter _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Learning to program in a different language Having a class that I already know much about Worst things about the course: The fact that I know almost everything being taught The dullness of the lectures The length of time the projects take even with an understanding of material The esoteric functions of Matlab Suggestions for Improvement: There should be a more clear cut distinction between those students with some programming experience, and those with absolutely none. I myself have had a full year of high school programming in Pascal and C++, and I feel very comfortable with everything we've done so far. All I have to learn in this class are the specifics about Matlab itself, rather than about computer science. For example, not initializing every variable, using 1 as the first element in an array, etc. I am not learning any computer science, and this seems to be a poor use of my time, and unfair to the students whose grades are curved with the exam scores of people like myself who've had experience. Ideally, I would recommend having multiple courses to accomodate individuals like me, who want to learn Matlab, yet at a faster pace. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. Putting course information online 2. My section 3. Working with partner on project Worst things about the course: 1. Lecture often hard to follow 2. Extremely time consuming projects 3. Project questions being changed frequently forcing me to wait until the last minute to do most of the work on the project Suggestions for Improvement: Section and the website/newsgroup are great the way they are. Lecture could be more organized, maybe by stressing the ideas that are the most important, instead of throwing many new terms at us and explaining them too quickly. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1) I like the fact that there is plenty of help available from many different sources. For instance, the TA's and the AEW are really great. 2) I like the fact that you can work on projects with someone. It really helps to talk through the problems with someone, because the projects can be a bit overwhelming. 3) I really like the way that everything is posted online so you can check things and submit things much easier. Worst things about the course: 1) It is a very intimidating subject and I find that sometimes I feel at a disadvantage because I don't have any prior programming experience at all. 2) The projects can be a bit long, almost unreasonable. I believe they should be challenging, but I feel at times that CS 100 is taking over my whole life. 3)More in class examples would be helpful. Suggestions for Improvement: I believe that a slightly slower pace might be helpful, especially for certain subjects. It would be easier if we weren't expected to pick up so much of this on our own. In general the class is actually going much better than I expected. I was incredibly nervous about this class, but I actually find much of the material very interesting and I usually enjoy lecture. However, some of the assignments are a bit overwhelming. Overall, I am very pleased with how things are going so far, and I want to make sure that everyone on the staff knows that all the time and effort is appreciated. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1 the problem solving aspect . . . engineering at its best 2 finally getting a program to work . . . that is satisfaction 3 my TA . . . yea Mike Singer Worst things about the course: 1 the number of students who have previous programming experience and ruin my curve 2 the unreasonable time commitment 3 the misprints and unclear instructions that frequently occur in lecture sketches, projects, exercises, and the newsgroup Suggestions for Improvement: GET THE STUDENTS OUT OF MATLAB THAT HAVE PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE AND GO AT A SLOWER PACE. TAKE ON LESS AT A TIME AND MAYBE WE WILL LEARN IT BETTER. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) The feeling you get when you finally get a project section done correctly after trying to get it for numerous hours. 2)The lecture example are useful in knowing how code works. 3)Exercises. They dont take as long as projects and still gives you vital information on certain programming concepts. Worst things about the course: 1) The projects are extremely too long for an introductory course in programming. They take numerous hours spanning several days and you often have to delay alot of work in other classes. 2) People with alot of programming experience are in this course. I know some people who got 100 in the exam and hardly did any studying and finish the project in not that long of time. Since they have 1 or even 2 years of experience they finish faster and get things faster. 3) The textbook isnt very helpful. The examples are often small examples and not used often in rather big programs. 4) Bonus Points! It shows extra interest in the course. Suggestions for Improvement: I think the projects should be shorter. You dont have to cut down on the work rather you can have projects due everyweek but like only 1 or 2 at most 3 programs in each project. Having 5 programs due usually means alot of late night hours because we do have other classes which give us hours of homework as well. I believe a new textbook should be assigned. I couldn't much relate to the text to help me with the projects. Lecture examples are good. Helps you on projects and you understand how the code works. The exercise part of the course is good and so is the bonus system. The only hard part of the course is that people with alot of programming experience are not having such a hard time with the course. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Good TA's (e.g. Daisy Fan) Good preparation for projects (e.g. Project 2) Reasonable exams Worst things about the course: Poor preparation for projects (e.g. Project 3) Projects requiring more grunt work than knowledge of the subject are annoying extremely time consuming. It can be hard to do projects while trying to prepare for prelims. The newsgoup. Suggestions for Improvement: The projects just seem too long. It would be better if they were shorter and trickier. That way, when you finish, you feel like you did a good job in figuring it out, but you didn't necessarily spend 10 hours on it either. You learn more without devoting as much time this way. The sample prelim questions were very good. Daisy Fan is a very good TA, the best TA I've had here at Cornell so far. Expecting us to monitor the newsgroup all the time is frustrating. It would be much easier to have everything on the website and tell us about what is due. I missed the last exercize because I thought it was all bonus after looking at the form for a minute. It's entirely my fault, but there is an inherent flaw in having course information scattered throughout the internet. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Good TAs AEWs Plenty of help available Worst things about the course: It's time consuming; I feel the amount of time i need to put into this course is time I don't have Until recently I felt the course was learn-on-your-own and I wasn't sure what I could and could not get help on I think the course depends on our monitoring the website and newsgroup too frequently; information that we are responsible for should be announced in lecture or section Suggestions for Improvement: I liked the catch up review session and i think that you should hold them more often I think that it would be beneficial to us if there were multiple review sessions, its easier to have specific questions answered that way _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: section working with partners lecture sketches online Worst things about the course: the lectures projects are too hard class requires previous programming experience Suggestions for Improvement: first i have to say that i have tried to retrieve my prelim and project 2 on multiple occasions and there is never a consultant on duty. or if they are on duty they are sitting down working at the stations and are not identified as consultants. second i think the lectures are too large. it is difficult to hear the professor speak, especially with numerous students carrying on their own conversations. i also believe the lectures are too fast paced and geared more towards those students with programming experience rather than those without. third the questions that are asked in lecture would be helpful except that those people asking have programming knowledge and ask at a level that i don't comprehend, which then makes me feel intimidated to ask my trivial questions. fourth i think it would beneficial to have some part of the class in the computer lab. i realize this is difficult to make happen with a lack of facilities, but i think it would be extremely beneficial to have scheduled lab time. and finally i believe the projects are extremely difficult and unrelated to topics discussed in lecture. often times when i do understand the material covered in lecture i feel that it is not covered in projects or is covered at a level way over my head. so either lectures need to be geared more towards solving the projects or the projects need to be geared more towards the examples covered in lecture. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: The bonus points, the dropping of the 10% of your lowest grades, and the lectures. Worst things about the course: the projects are by far the worst, most stressful, and hardest part of the course. I do not think they help to teach the material, they just make everything more confusing and stressful Suggestions for Improvement: the weaknesses are the project assignments. I think to make the course more constructive and stimulating the projects should be made easier, and shorter. I think if the projects were simpler we would only learn more because we wouldn't be worried about just trying to put some answer down for the project. The strengths are definitely the excersices given because they cover the stuff we go over in lecture and you actually learn alot from them. The lecture in general and the lecture notes are also very good. Maybe the lectures do go a bit quick though _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. Additional office hours the week a project is due 2. Section mostly helps specifically to tasks at hand 3. The prelim questions seemed directly correlated to problems worked in the practice prelim or during lecture Worst things about the course: 1. Despite what is said, the course seems to require previous programming experience 2. Lecture material many times doesn't seem to follow any particular order 3. Projects for the most part seem to be very difficult for the information we learn vs. our programming experience 4. It seems that there is an unfair advantage for those who have programmed before, and that could definitely throw off the course mean. Suggestions for Improvement: The course could be improved by following some sort of guideline/outline to Matlab. As of now, it seems we jump around a lot and just cover a variety of several subjects. I also think something must be done about people who have programmed before vs. people who haven't, what to do, I'm not sure. Projects should be more directed at testing knowledge obtained through lecture and section, rather than projects dealing minutely with what was learned, and be expected to build off that greatly. I also think more TA hours should be available, as of now, it seems most are held right in the middle of the day. I have 20 credits this semester which means chances are I will have a class on any given day right in the middle of the day. The only times I've been able to see a TA other than section is when my section instructor Mike Singer held additional office hours from 5-6 weeks that projects are due. Possibly 7-8 or 8-9 TA hours (at night). Other than that, I just think the course could use more organization towards the goal of programming, since for many, including myself, this is a whole new topic. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: leniency on exercises decent amount of time to complete projects lots of information available online Worst things about the course: Confusing lectures Very long and poorly worded and constructed project problems(and sometimes exercises) Incomplete coverage of topics...not teaching all the tools needed to coomplete assignments Suggestions for Improvement: If it were easier to read and understand project problems, that'd be great. Lectures sometimes are decent but are often confusing and scattered. The course seems somewhat scattered, and that makes fitting all the pieces together hard. Also, with project problems and prelim problems, not everything has been fully covered. I attended all the lectures up to prelim 1 and took dillegent notes and got very little info on strings and am still somewhat confused about them after reading the texts. I plan on seeing a TA or someone about it, but if you test us on it in lectures and projects, you really should fully cover it in lecture and section. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: -learning how to program -lectures -online submission Worst things about the course: -projects being posted relatively late so that my partner and I don't enough time to finish... -project load compared to time given to complete it Suggestions for Improvement: -post projects sooner!!! It's hard to find times to meet with a partner for long periods of time and when you post projects within a week of the due date , usually a whole weekend and some of the next week are devoted to the project leaving no time for other classes. It would be nice if we could work on it over a longer amount of time. Most of my stress about this course is caused by the lack of time for completion of projects. My partner and I have completed them but at a cost to other classes. Usually when projects on the scale of cs projects are given in other classes the length of time to finish them is longer. -projects need to be explained more -good online submission site -newsgroup is neat _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Project really test knowledge of subject Working with a partner is very helpful The newsgroup is a help Worst things about the course: My TA is unsuccessful in helping me solve problems Lecture is hard to understand There are student who are too advanced for the course Suggestions for Improvement: Lecture should move slower...it seems that sometimes previous programming experience is assumed, where many of the students don't have any. Also, lectures should be clarifed more and easier to understand with more examples. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: its easier than 100j matlab is kinda easier than java most people who take 100m are programing beginners Worst things about the course: the book doesnt help preojects are too long Suggestions for Improvement: lecture notes should be hand out before classes start. it saves time and easier to understand the materials, coz u don't have rush to write it down. the sound projection system needs to be louder. Strengths, Professor is trying his best to make the students comfortable, i can tell that he has put lots of efforts in this class. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: learning how computer programs actually run; learning to think methodically; the newsgroup; AEW Worst things about the course: having to use functions and different methods of programming before we are taught the information; feeling exasperated when the program doesn't run after hours of work and the program gives very little information about what is actually wrong Suggestions for Improvement: the newsgroup is a good part of the course because it provides immediate feedback for questions asked by the students; the AEW is a good suppliment to the course because the information can be explained more personally and at a slower pace than in lecture or section; I probably learn the most in the AEW class _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 0) none Stress from CS100M: 0) none Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: matlab is cool and easy everything (inclduding submission) is online Worst things about the course: too many bonus bonus points distributed for stupid things and not enough for real matlab stuff/good programming/early submission pace of the lecture is too slow Suggestions for Improvement: no comment _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: *learning about programming in general *the AEW *The section time Worst things about the course: *the lecture *the lecture time *The projects are a bit too challenging and all of the material on the projects is not covered before the its commencement Suggestions for Improvement: Overall, I think that CS100's biggest problem lies in that some of the students, such as myself, have never done programming at all while other students fly right through the material. I'm not saying that certain students shouldn't take the course, it's just that the course should slow it's pace to accomodate the students with little-to-no programming experience. The projects are somewhat helpful, but I feel that some of the information takes too much time to research on one's own, and more of the project material should be covered in class. With regards to the exercises, I think a review survey/quiz over the lectures is most helpful in that it not only makes the student review the material, but it also requires him to observe the information carefully to submit the correct answers, as well as check his notes for the answers. The section for CS100 is the most helpful and insightful part of the course, in my opinion. With the TA's advice to complement the lecture, oftentimes unclear and difficult areas of computer programming become easier to understand. The first prelim, while difficult in many areas, fairly covered the information studied in the lectures. As the bank of our knowledge increases though, hopefully the questions will remain reasonable for students who have regularly attended lecture and who have a basic understanding for computer science. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1)course material is completely new 2)have an interest in learning how to program 3)material is interesting Worst things about the course: 1)it is NOT being taught for beginners 2)pace is way too fast 3)Those who don't have any prior programming experience-are at a complete disadvantage. Seeing as this course is for beginners, people who don't have any prior experience shouldn't be hurt grade wise by those who already have a clear understanding. Suggestions for Improvement: This course should be taught at the level to suite beginners. For those who already have programming experience...perhaphs can be bumped up to a higher level or receive credit already for a class that they will breeze through anyway. This is the main weakness of the course. Because beginners have to struggle the whole time trying to catch up to those who have already grasped the material being covered. Therfore, prelim1 was not fair...seeing as there was a destinct separation between those who know cs and those who don't. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Lectures Many examples how everything can be found online Worst things about the course: project length project questions - topic doesn't go well with lecture..or timing doesn't go well with it TA/consultant help Suggestions for Improvement: I liked exercises. I think they are very helpful to prepare oneself, especially in tracing and etc. However, I found projects little less helpful to prepare oneself. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: It's interesting stuff, I really enjoy the feeling I get when I run a code and it all works out perfectly. I like the fact that what we are learning is useful in some way, that it solves problems. I'm glad that the projects are problem oriented. Worst things about the course: It is a very big time commitment for someone (like me) who is not an engineering student but who is taking it for my own personal edification and interest. While I want to be interested and excited about the class, I find the amount of work and the impassive attitude of my TA prevent that. I find my TA to be very cold and afraid of somehow giving me an advantage over other students when I go to him for help, therefore, he is not particularly helpful and instead simply frusterates me and makes me feel like I don't know what I'm doing. He doesn't seem to understand the fact that many people in this class have absolutely no programming background and that the logic used in CS programming is not intuitive to many. Suggestions for Improvement: * I have had issues with the consultants giving me bad/wrong coding advice. I think that they should be given solutions, or at least guidlines, on the projects so that they won't lead people in the wrong direction when they are asked for help. They are always very nice and try their best, but sometimes what they tell me ends up being more confusing than helpful. * This class seems more like a 'machine' than an educational course. I know that it is difficult running a class so large, but I hate having the feeling that I am just a number, and that my success or failure is not relevant to anyone involved in the course. I am glad that there is so much information up on the web page, and that the newsgroup is so active. However, I feel that I have explored avenues of help when I have felt that I was in trouble and those avenues did not pay off. I don't know where else to turn except to friends with programming experience, but it is not their responsibility to tutor me. * Perhaps there should be an introductory CS class geared towards non-engineering students. I think that CS is a very useful tool to know, but I also know that many people are turned off by it because of the huge time commitment and the overly competative nature of the introductory course. * Try to make MATLAB available at other computer labs besides the ones on the engineering quad. I am hardly ever on that part of campus, so it is very inconvenient for me to go over there just to work on my CS assignments. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) That at the end of the course, I will look back and be amazed by how much I have learned in such a short time. 2) Matlab can be used in the future (graphs...). 3) Learning a new language. Worst things about the course: 1) Very fast paced. 2) Grades are very unfair: there are obviously some kids who have taken programing before, and to need a 98% on the first prelim to be counted as an 'A' is ridiculous. 3) Lots of work outside of class. Suggestions for Improvement: 1) The section instructors might be able to go over things from class rather then looking for specific questions from the students. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: Availiability of help--there are many TA's and Professors to go to. Worst things about the course: 1--Lectures--we are never taught about Matlab functions, so when it comes time to do the projects, I have no idea what to do. 2--Projects--are way too long and hard and count for so little of the overall grade. Why put all that effort in and get so little in return? 3--This course relies way too heavily on online stuff. Suggestions for Improvement: Maybe gear the course more towards people who have no experience at all--like me. Assume we know nothing about Matlab, but can figure it out, and don't repeat things we did last week in lecture, today--that gets really boring and useless. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: The section TA is good at explaning the material. The first prelim was comparatively easy to other courses I am taking. It was consistent with the fact that this is an intro course. The projects are well spaced apart to allow for time to recover between them. Worst things about the course: The section does not keep pace with the lecture. The amount of people who are in the course with previous programming experience. They skew the curve and get an unfair advantage. Suggestions for Improvement: I do not like how the projects are assigned before we are presented with all of the material. I would much rather be taught the material and have time to absorb and understand it before attempting the projects with trial and error. For somone with no previous programming I find the lecture to be somewhat confusing. The explanations could be better. Doing the project with a partner gets it done faster but the material is learned not as well, because of each person doing differnt parts. However, when working alone the material is understood but the project is generally too long for one person to complete in less than say 10 hours. I do not know how this could be remedied however. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. The lectures 2. TA help 3. Bonus points Worst things about the course: 1. Lengthy projects 2. Small correlation between lecture and textbook 3. - Suggestions for Improvement: I am pleased with the course overall, but the projects are a little too much to handle at times. Granted, I am still recovering from P3. :) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: TA's are helpful when they answer emails. Worst things about the course: The project isn't up yet, leaving us a week to do P4. Things are assigned for projects without having been taught in Consultants in Carpenter don;t really "know Matlab", or so they say when I ask for help. Suggestions for Improvement: the course could be improved by going more in depth with material that will be on the projects and prelims and not assigning them until we have learned material (or been introduced to it). _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The best things are the amount of time given to work n the projects. It allows for people to plan ahead and get parts done early in case they have a lot going on closer to the due date. Secondly, there are a lot of different people (staff, TA's, AEW facilitators, consultants, etc) to go to and talk to for help, advice, etc. Thirdly, I think that projects and tests are fair. Everything on them we have seen in lecture (with a few exceptions, which are in the readings but may not be fully covered in class), and many examples were given similar to problems we have to do. Worst things about the course: The three worst things are that on some projects have information or questions regarding material that isn't provided or discussed until the lecture before it is due. Secondly, I don't like how there is no confirmation that you work was submitted correctly. I get worried that something didn't work right, I never find out, and then I lose credit for that (is there a some sort of confirmation that I am unaware of?). Thirdly, I think lectures and course speed should be geared to the average students in the class. The first few weeks or so it was geared more to those with experience, and then after complaints it slowed down, but now seems to be too slow, as if focused on the "struggling" students. Suggestions for Improvement: I was wondering how we will get feedback on our projects and if we will have hard copies handed back to us so we can see where we made mistakes, etc. I think that the speed of lecture should be geared more towards the average group of students (there is plenty of office hours and the newsgroup for people who struggle a little or don't understand something). The review seesion should be more Q&A format instead of writing all the questions on the board and then doing a lecture based on his own outline and then answering questions as that topic comes up in his lecture. He spent the first 30 minutes lecturing on some of the easiest concepts we had learned so far. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) I like the projects, but...(see worst things) 2) I like learning to programme in general. 3) I like the fact that we sort of work up from the very basics instead of simply being shown the high-level stuff. Worst things about the course: 1) The projects take way too long. I know they're supposed to help but right now it's really very stressful even though I start soon after they're posted. Also it doesn't seem to me like we're given very much time to do them - nine days at most. More time would certainly be appreciated! I've heard that the projects in CS 100M last semester were less difficult and less time-consuming than the ones now, and people last semester were already stressed! So please, reduce the workload a little! 2) The length of exercises are OK, but I hate the fact that sometimes they're assigned Tuesday and due Thursday, especially if we have prelims and other things due in between. 3) The whole set-up of the course is really confusing, what with all the bonus points and this and that. I feel it could be made more flexible and less complicated. Suggestions for Improvement: Regrading is a pain. I could've got one bonus point on my project which had been left out but I couldn't be bothered. There should be a way for things like this - where the points were simply added up wrong or whatever - to redress this, instead of having to submit it for a whole regrading. Re the newsgroup: I don't like the way some people write random posts that contain snide comments about stuff. The rest of us have to scroll through them! I wouldn't like to suggest censorship or anything, but people should be made aware that posting irrelevant stuff to the newsgroup is not very considerate. In the same vein, I think that the newsgroup should be organized a bit better. Perhaps there could be main threads like Project1Part1, Project1Part2 that posts for those sections could go straight into, although I'm not sure if it'll make it difficult for people to find new posts. As it is, though, when I'm trying to find all the posts related to one part of the project, it's difficult because people put so many different titles on their posts. As for the lecture notes, they're very helpful, but I find it irritating that there would be stuff there that isn't in lecture! Perhaps these things could be explained in lecture or perhaps put in a different section? I also find it weird that we often go through topics straight after we've had an exercise or project due that dealt with that very topic! The other way around might be nice. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) Getting a tough code to work 2) Amount of work is bearable 3) The class is very hands on with the computer (i.e. you don't learn without fooling around in MATLAB on occasion) Worst things about the course: 1) Lectures are not too interesting 2) Projects take way too much time because one has to teach himself/herself the material Suggestions for Improvement: CS 100M has been very good at teaching the new material and allowing for practice through exercises and projects. The weaknesses come in during some of these projects, though. Projects should be a place to apply what one has learned in lecture for the past few weeks (not to include material from a lecture two days before the project is due). Also, the problems in CS 100M on exercises and projects are a major weakness. The wording in the problem itself and the explainations on the newsgroup are either confusing, misleading, or intentionally vague. This is balanced by the strength CS 100M gains from its TA's. From what I have seen, it takes a TA's clarification of a problem for most any student to actually understand what the question wants. Overall, the course is definitely teaching me MATLAB, but not with much agony caused by the projects and weird questions. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Programming is a totally new thing to me, so I'm glad I'm learning something. I thought some lectures and sections were very helpful, especially when the prof. did live-demo with matlab in class. I also like the fact that I can retrieve most of the necessary info, homework etc from the website. Worst things about the course: Because programming is a totally new thing to me, I'm frustrated when 1) The lecture goes too fast, we cover too much material too quickly 2) Too much work. It's high-stress. Very high-stress in a high-stress semester. 3) Consultants at the lab seem to know/recall little about matlab stuff--when they were present in the first place. Suggestions for Improvement: Strengths: live-demo with matlab in lecture--it really makes things clearer somehow. Please continue. Weakness: Consultants at the lab seem to know very little, at least not particularly helpful to what I had to do. One of them also didn't seem very happy to help. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: section, exercises, online submission Worst things about the course: the amount of time the projects take, the newsgroup, the feeling that i am learning everything on my own, esp for the projects Suggestions for Improvement: the projects and exercises should directly reflect lecture. there is way too big of a time committment for the class. my other classes have suffered because i am spending all of my time on cs. i feel like i can not let my partner down but if i didn't work with a partner i would not learn as much. just two people on their own does not work. i read the projects and feel like i need a translation from the consultant to even know what the point of the part is. i feel like most of my time is spent staring at the computer screen feeling stupid. i think that simpler more direct exercises and projects, fewer or shorter would be more productive. i would be able to spend more time on a part and actually understand it instead of turning somehting in that might not even work at all. the newsgroup is relied upon too much. it takes way too much time to sort through what is relavent and what isn't. i don't like feeling that i might miss something, not know something is due, or something is incorrect, somehting is added or dropped from an assignment. people post irrelevant things and trying to figure out what someones question is and then figureing out the answer takes too much time. i have yet to use a newsgroup posting to help me on a project or exercise, and i have kept up with it. i can not spend that much time reading 15-20 postings a day and keep up with everything else, it is not possible. exersizes have surprised me. my partner and i make sure that the other one knows something is due the next day. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The three best things I am taking advantage of are the projects, the newsgroup, and the lectures. Worst things about the course: the lectures seem kind of random, disorganized Suggestions for Improvement: CS100: One student's long-winded thoughts I haven't had any formal programming training, and the langauge I taught myself was TI-Basic (as on graphing calculator). Learning Matlab, while it is significantly different is basically the same process. Much of the learning comes from trial and error at the computer, and for learning Matlab the course is good (esp. projects, also section, lecture). For learning programming in general, the course doesn't seem that helpful. Obviously, the more time I devoted on Matlab (and maybe doing some of the readings), the better I would learn it, but I am taking 19 credits... I don't feel I have time to take full advantage of the course resources available to me, which is kind of a shame, and the easier ones to use (text, online help) are the ones that I could get if I were learning Matlab on my own. I get the impression that you feel some students in the course have too much experience and am comtemplating whether I am one of them. Never having taken a formal programming course, or learned a widely respected language, I thought that a course would give me new, magical, important skills, although I never speculated what they would be. Taking the course, I feel that most of that was imagined, although I am certain this course is correcting bad habits, and encouraging me to consider program efficiency (which I paid little attention to before). I don't feel like it teaches any special way of thinking about programs or writing programs. I think it attempts to teach logical thinking, and while I felt I had plenty of that before, I question how well it is coming across to non-programmers (not that I have any idea how to teach people logic). I suppose one thing that might be helpful is to help us get a feel for the difference between good code and bad code by reading other people's code. This is also helpful for suggesting combinations of functions that wouldn't ordinarily occur to me. Then again, this represents more work that I could skip, or more likely, am skipping. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The section helps me out alot. I like working with partners and that we can change partners for new projects. I like the online submission. I like all the bonus points available. Worst things about the course: The projects take up a lot of time. We have to learn a lot of stuff on our own. We don't find out about assignments in class; we have to constantly check the website and newsgroups to find out about excercizes and projects and readings we need to do. Suggestions for Improvement: There should be nothing we need to learn on our own; everything should be taught in the lecture. Projects shouldn't be as long or time-consuming. Either announcements should be made in class about upcoming excercizes or a sheet should be handed out the 1st day of class with the due dates of everything and when the readings should be done. There should be separate sections of the newsgroups for questions about assignments from students and for general announcements from teachers, so we don't have to search through all of questions when we're looking for announcements. And the newsgroups get to be so long. Keep the policy that we can have partners and change partners for different projects. Keep the online submission. Keep all of the available bonus points. Maybe we should cover the book in order, so the readings don't jump around; I think it's easier to understand reading it in order. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Its sort of interesting to learn this completely unknown material. Supposedly it helps in higher level math, which is my main motivation for taking the class. Meeting more kids in engineering that i didn't know before. Worst things about the course: The cryptic, esoteric terms used to describe, at times, very simple things. The tremendous workload. By far this class consumes the majority of my time, and has caused me to weaken in other classes due to lack of concentration on my other courses. Although I'm doing very well in the course right now, I'm dismayed to see friends of mine that are just as smart as I am, if not more so, doing poorly. Obviously their lack of success isn't due to their own incompetence, so I tend to think it has to do more with the presentation of the material. Suggestions for Improvement: I can't say what the strongest part of the course is....I feel as though the majority of my learning has come from my own endeavors with the book. Beyond that I would say that lecture is the most helpful thing to me. I feel that my section is relatively worthless. I find my TA to be condescending an rude at times. He never has work to be returned on time and is often late. I'm sure he isn't a bad person, I think its more a function of the fact that he knows this material so well that our level of work is almost trivial to him and he seems annoyed that he has to deal with our "basic" questions. Also, I don't particularly feel uncomfortable with the fact that a great deal of this course happens online, but I can imagine that many people who aren't as comfortable with computers and such would find it imposing. At times though, I feel like the website and newsgroup tend to be a substitute for actual teaching. Too many times I've heard questions answered with "oh, well check the website or the newsgroup." And I'm not talking about administrative questions like when and where our prelim is, I mean like conceptual or material related questions. In all, I'm not very happy with this course as a whole. I'm doing well so far but it has been way too hard. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The lectures seem to be going fairly well, professor yan is always willing and patient with answering lots of questions and going over examples. My TA is very helpful and friendly and I think does a good job reiterating stuff that was said in lecture. Worst things about the course: It takes so much time to search information outside of class on the the newsgroups, websites, etc. You have to check several different places so many times that it can be time consuming. And if you don't have time to check the newsgroup EVERY day, then you end up with SO many unread messages. It's kind of confusing too, I can never remember all the places I have checked or the places I still need to look at. The projects are VERY time consuming and at times too difficult, I think. I wish more code would be done on the computer in lecture or section. It is also extremely time consuming to have to generate all the code from lecture into your own computer, especially if you don't have the program on your dorm computer. It is a long walk to the engineering quad at night and on weekends when I do my projects. This class stresses me out more than any other. Suggestions for Improvement: I wish this course actually used a computer more in section or lecture to write out the code after it is explained in lecture. There should also be some way to separate people who have done programming from people who had never had any programming before. These people have a major advantage, and sometimes us people who have never done this before feel very lost and left behind. It's like putting people in a 400 level spanish class with people in a 100 level spanish class. You can't expect the lower level people to understand the material as quickly or at the same level. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: A lot of exposure to programming. The amount of information on the website. Worst things about the course: It is a lot of work. Lecture is too big. Some students have a big advantage becasue they have previous programming experience. Suggestions for Improvement: Section should be held in a computer lab sometimes, to get hands on experience with the TA and Matlab/Java. Lecute should run code on the computer sometimes. Professor should show alternate ways of solving problems more often. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 5) very good Best things about the course: Section leader is very clear and helpful. The projects are challenging, but not impossible. The pace of the lectures and the length of projects seem to have been adjusted well within the last week or so. Worst things about the course: Not having assignments posted early enough. (Note: this is a catch 22 since I complain when the assignment is changed close to the due date, too.) When a question is asked in lecture, Prof. Yan tends to just answer the same way. (Multiple explainations might help people who think differently.) Suggestions for Improvement: The sample prelim questions were very helpful and there was a good number of them. Please do this for each prelim and the final. It can be difficult to find the new material in the lecture sketched, especially if you don't have a lot of time to look for it. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: electronics Worst things about the course: projects, projects, and more projects Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: i think that it is teaching us a differnt way to think about approaching problems, how to problem solve, and how to come up with different solutions to the same problem. Worst things about the course: i would have to say the attitude of my TA. i think that he assumes that we know and understand a lot more than we do. i also find it frustrating that we find out the information that would have saved hours of work on a project, a day after it is due. also, some of the things that were shown in lecture..last thursday, the 22nd, would have been more helpful the first day of class and not a month into the course. Suggestions for Improvement: i think that the instructors really know what they are doing, and i think it shows in the help that they can provide us when we need it. i also think that the level of concern regarding this course by the instructors is awesome. i don't think that i have ever taken a course, anywhere, where the professor/teacher has been so concerned with the student's response. i think that this aspect is something that you shouldn't change. i also think that the exercises are helpful and also the lecture notes online. the notes make the material covered in class much easier to understand because i can compare what i saw in lecture to something that you wanted us to see...and i think that that is very helpful. the lecture notes also provide a place to get more information...including some of hte stuff i missed in class. i think that the lecture could be more engaging...i mean it is hard to pay attention when the lights are out and the professor is standing up in the front, illuminated by the overhead light. i think that you are a good teacher, just come out from behind the projector sometimes. i think that the biggest mistake made at the beginning of the course was that we were able to learn how to program quickly. if the beginning material was covered a little slower things might have gone easier...but i think that this course can be managed...it will just take more effort than i am used to _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: There is a lot of available help and the webpage is very useful. Worst things about the course: Professor Yan assumes that we know the material. This is an introductory course that is supposed to be for students who have little or no programming experience. The lectures go too fast and the prelim questions had twists in them that we didn't learn effectively enough to be tested on. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I like the material in general. For me being able to work with a partner on projects is very good because we are able to learn from each other. The course staff does seem to be attempting to adjust the course according to commments. Solutions to everything are available if I need them. Worst things about the course: I pretty much feel that what I learn in the course, I need to teach to myself, or specifically track down some form of help.....In other words, I don't really get much out of lecture. There is no real structure to the course, so it is sometimes very diffucult to get a feeling for where I stand as far as having a grasp on the material. I never know exactly how much material I am expected to know, which is what is most frustrating. Suggestions for Improvement: You should continue to post all of the solutions. Even if I don't use all of the online postings, it is very nice to have them easily available if I need them. Section is very helpful. It would be better if you somehow added more structure to the course. Posting's of simple outlines that give an overview of what we are supposed to know at the end of each week could be helpful. I know that the lecture outlines sort of do this, but it is sometimes difficult to sort through so much information. Even refering to the text more often would be useful. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1- being able to learn some programming (especially since I have never had any experience with it) 2- frequent updates through newsgroup can be accessed; there always seems to be direct connection with fellow classmates and the instructors 3- lecture notes posted on the website provide better review and understanding Worst things about the course: 1- although much of the general concepts are covered in lecture, much of the tasks involved in the project seem to involve a lot of self-studying 2- programming itself gather impatience and frustration 3- CS sections are not always worth going to Suggestions for Improvement: The newsgroup and the webpage should be kept; that way, there is always direct access to the course itself. Online submission is also a good idea-- we can then submit right on the spot at our computer, rather than encountering any possible printer troubles or using a lot of paper and ink. Along the lines on the course itself: the pace of the lectures themselves are not too bad; however, after some time the lectures seem monotonous. Also, clarification of the questions would be helpful. While most of the exercises seem to follow the lectures, the tasks involved in each project take anywhere from minutes to hours, and it almost seems as though we lack the knowledge to perform these tasks. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: -- My TA does a wonderful job of presenting and going over material. I always come out of section feeling that I have gotten something out of it. Worst things about the course: -- The lectures are never very clear or understandable. Whereas in section, things make sense, I find it difficult in lecture to even follow what the instructor is talking about. -- While the projects are necessary in order to learn programming, they are much too long and take up far too much time. -- The exercises teach me very little; several of them have been rather poorly worded. Suggestions for Improvement: -- Cut out the exercises. They don't teach much and take up unnecessary time. Instead, break up the projects into several (albeit lengthy) problem sets, with two to three sections each week, due regularly. -- I firmly believe that the course would be much better if section were held twice a week instead of once. Lecture does nothing for me at all. -- The TA's and offered office hours (although I have never attended) are wonderful. Please keep this flexibility. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. People are usually very helpful. 2. Learn alot of useful material. Worst things about the course: 1. Very time consuming, especially when taking 3 other courses which are also very time consuming. 2. Sometimes I feel like i understand things in lecture, but when it comes to actually programming I have alot of trouble getting started. I wish the course was more hands on, like maybe having section in a computer lab where we can actually try writing programs and testing them to see if they work. I am enrolled in the AEW, but I still wish there was more TA or Instructor run lab time. 3. Aside from the instructor it's difficult to find people who are really comfortable with Matlab. TAs,AEW undergrads,and consultants do not even seem to KNOW matlab. Suggestions for Improvement: 1. More time in a lab- maybe hold section in a computer lab. 2. Projects should be somewhat shorter. Even though the code may wind up being short, for someone who has never programmed before, even a seemingly simple code can take a long time. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1.) I am getting to know some matlab so I can use it in math. 2.) This is the only CS requirement I have. 3.) I will be done in 8 weeks. Worst things about the course: 1.) The lecture is very slow-- I only go once a week and still get the material-- but the material presented in class is so boring, yet when it comes to the projects, the material is exponentially difficult. There is no middle ground. 2.) It seems like I spend so much time working on cs, but the concepts aren't explained well in class, so I still feel like I am out on a limb trying to understand it. 3.) There is still 8 weeks left. Suggestions for Improvement: My section (Tibor Janosi, Wed., 1:25- 2:25) is still WAY too big. No questions are ever answered, and I feel like I am in another big lecture hall. In addition to that, the room is so tiny that there are not enough seats for everyone to sit in. So after my 12:20 class, I rush to get to my CS section just so that I won't have to stand... does this seem right to you??? My schedule so so filled up that the 1:25 section on Wednesday is the only time slot I have for a section... so why did you mak eall these new sections at random times that no one could use? It seems pointless to me. Having 50 people in a section simply doesn't work. One thing about the text book-- it is written well, and it definately helps during projects. But even though I check the website and newsgroup often, I ALWAYS forget to see what reading we should do. How difficult would it be to announce in lecture the reading that we should cover to supplement the class? It seems like that would be the easiest way to fix the problem. One last thing-- the consultants in Carpenter Lab. They do not know anything about Matlab. I asked them some simple questions about P2 and P3, but they didn't have any idea. One lady I questioned said "You might be able to do it this way... but I don't know Matlab, so I wouldn't be able to show you how to do it." Why are these people there to help us when they know nothing about matlab? _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The course seems to consider when students are getting too stressed. The lectures are helpful in understanding the material. Excerises are helpful and not stressful. Worst things about the course: We seem to be taught material necessary to the projects after the projects have been turned in. Relevent material should be presented before we are expected to do it in the course. Having the projects due on a monday would also be helpful and reduce stress levels =) Suggestions for Improvement: I don't have anything additional to say really. The course is going better then I expected, so that's good I guess =) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The projects are quite interesting. Worst things about the course: Lectures are slow and unorganized. Suggestions for Improvement: I would really appreciate it if functions that those without programming experience might not know were introduced well before they are needed, and if the answers to the projects were not spelled out the section before they are due. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I'm learning to how to program a computer for the first time. I see how to logically run codes. I learn to think about how to solve problems Worst things about the course: It goes fast for someone who does not have computer programming experience. The projects are stressful and difficult because I don't know how to do most of the problems and spend forever trying to figure them out. Suggestions for Improvement: I think you should curve the grades of those who have not taken the course before so they are not at an academic disadvantage. You should put more codes in the lecture skethes so we can run them, and you should show us how to post a message in newsgroup, and how to delete obsolete messages if it's possible. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: everything we need to know about the course is in the webpage, that's convenient. i like online submission....no need to print out our codes and results.... Worst things about the course: The course presumes previous programming experience....very often, I can follow what's going on only because I have learnt those stuff in the past. The work load is too much....we have too many exercises and projects to turn in. Lectures and sections do not prepare us well for the projects. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Hard to do bad i.e. can lose 15 points on projects and still get perfect Online submission form, don't have to worry about sleeping through lecture on a day when a project is due Bonus points up the wazoo Worst things about the course: Wording on projects and exercises - very hard to understand and confusing EVERYTHING is online - nothing is mentioned in class(HOMEWORK)...for example, on exercise 6, it was never mentioned in lecture, and the mention of the core questions on the assignment page was very well disguised at the top of the page. I know people who didn't do the exercise thinking it was only a bonus, I myself noticed it at the last minute. Suggestions for Improvement: The newsgroup is very annoying and pointless. It is a pain trying to find which messages are actually important, and sometimes there are close to 50 messages, 40 of which are useless. This could be fixed by just eliminating the newsgroup and putting the same information on the website, since all the info ends up there eventually anyway. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: I do enjoy the logic behind programming, and learning all the different ways to solve a problem. MatLab seems like a usefull tool for engineering so it is important to gain an understanding of it. Worst things about the course: The idea that we should just play with MatLab to find out how functions work. This is time consuming and makes projects take a lot longer. Don't like my TA at all. Suggestions for Improvement: Programming is a difficult topic to make exciting or teach, i really don't see any other way to go about it, just try to remeber most of us have never programmed before and get lost on the little things. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Lately, the professor seems to have slowed down a bit and reviews more which encourages me try harder because I feel like I stand a fighting chance. Worst things about the course: People who know programming are at an advantage. Too much independent learning. Material for projects is fully covered only after the projects are due. Suggestions for Improvement: I'd like to see more code being run in lecture by the professor so that we could see how it's done. Also, when the professor writes down a code and traces it, it'd be nice if he could take it slow so that the majority of students could understand it in lecture without having to spend hours to try to get it at home (with no results). _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: TAs that are willing to help (Mike Singer). Working with partners. Review sessions. Worst things about the course: Doing projects on concepts we have not been taught. Basically, that the people who have had programming are flying through the course and those that have not are absolutely struggling. Suggestions for Improvement: Lecture notes are helpful and should be posted after every lecture. The sample prelim questions were also a major help when studying. I don't know if there's anything that can be done about it but i have my gym class during all the Sunday review sessions. The consultants have not been able to assist my partner and me very much. They claim that they know Java well but don't have much experience with Matlab. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: (1) Course emphasizes MATLAB, which is VERY helpful in solving math/science problems. (2) Electronically well-organized: meaning that everything is very accessible thru the website, including lecture notes. (3) The topics of the projects are interesting and somewhat fun to do. Worst things about the course: (1) Extremely time-consuming: Projects especially. (2) Consultants are almost never at their desks: thus a lot of inefficient time spent waiting in Carpenter. (3) Regrades take more than a week(even possibly an eternity...). Suggestions for Improvement: Suggestions/Improvements: (1) Make sure consultants are present... perhaps at least some notification whereas the consultant is in or not on the desk. (2) Speed up on regrades and the like. (3) Perhaps the website can still be more organized - too much stuff crammed together. (4) Nevertheless, keep the efficiency up! (e.g. electronic posts, quality of project questions, etc.) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The TA are very helpful during Section and in Office Hours. The professor started to teach a little slower and started to teach syntax in the last couple of lectures. Online Submission and Lecture sketches. Worst things about the course: The professor does not teach syntax or layout during programming. He should tell us what the command does or means, show syntax and then give a simple example of how it works. The exercises should be an extension of lecture and be similar and a little more difficult than the examples given in class. To much is based on teh computer and the book is very unhelpful. Also certain things needed to run the programs and to do the projects are not taught in lecture. Suggestions for Improvement: Teach or inform the students of the material needed to do projects and exercises. Teach more syntax and use clearer word/vocabulary in lecture. Explain things to people because a majority of the class does not have programming experience. Shorten the projects. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: --Lectures are easy to take notes from. --Daisy Fan is an AWESOME TA. She has a way of relating these complex ideas into things anybody, even I, can understand. --I AM learning quite a bit. My problem is with the method of doing so, eg the projects. Worst things about the course: --The PROJECTS!!! I start early, I try to break down the code into simpler parts....and I usually do. But, once I have my code, there's always these (DARN) syntax errors that take atleast a day to work my way through, and usually some other coursework suffers. Shouldn't I get some credit for high-level stuff? --Sometimes, in lecture, the examples the prof uses to relate these things to us are somwhat hard to relate to. It's only because I have a little of prior experience with programming that I'm able to keep up. --I just can't emphasize enough the need for either more help or more time to GET help for the projects. Maybe some examples that don't give the code away, but definalty get the CONCEPTS that we should be using across. Suggestions for Improvement: --Keep the method that we are using to display notes. --Keep most of the way to GET information (notes, e's, p's) ONLINE. It's very easy to access. Otherwise classtime would have to go away passing out papers. --Get rid of Online Submission. There are quite a few bugs in my experience, and I've sent the wrong file by accident once or twice because I forgot where the dot was. My fault, but paper submission is more simple. --PLEASE....more time for the projects. Or maybe make them smaller, making specific parts DUE on a date....allowing us to concentrate on it and get it done, instead of lots of parts all due on 1 day. More relavant examples in lecture/section would also be helpful. --Give those hints that you gave on P3, with the concepts that we should be using and learning on each part....it's a good signpost on what we should be doing. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The material overall is useful, practical and interesting. Writing code that works is rewarding. Worst things about the course: It's extremely time-consuming, and at times extremely frustrating. Suggestions for Improvement: Project 3 was unusually long, though I think people have already brought that up. The current pace of lecture and section is appropriate. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The subject matter is interesting. It's cool when my programs actually work. CS people are HOT! Worst things about the course: It takes a lot of concentration on my part to follow the code and see what I have to do to make my programs work. All of the assignments, even simple exercises, take a lot of time for me to finish. Prelim problems are that much harder to solve when they are done on paper rather than on a computer. Suggestions for Improvement: I don't think that the projects should be so long or take so much time. Though it is important to spend time programming, it becomes very frustrating when you've already spent several hours on the project and it still isn't finished. I don't think that we should have prelims. Rather than prelims, we should have periodic projects that are a bit more complicated than homework assignments. Programming is hard enough to understand on its own. With prelims, the student tends to memorize solutions from class, rather than try to understand what is going on. Projects facilitate understanding better than prelims do. Prelims merely cause stress. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: none Worst things about the course: -only one time for lecture. -lecturer does not seem concerned about troubles of most students -TA is hard to understand -All this online stuff is annoying -i dont like computer science Suggestions for Improvement: -have TA's who speak english more clearly -explain concepts more thouroughly -assign reading before it is due -consider having smaller lecture and a new lecturer -get facilitators who are more familiar with matlab( most only know java well) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1. Online submission -- much better than printing. 2. Lecture notes on the web. Worst things about the course: 1. Unrealistically long, time-consuming projects. 2. The fact that we use Matlab for unnatural applications, rather than the purposes the program was intended for (which have *nothing* to do with capitalizing strings). Suggestions for Improvement: Most importantly, keep the online submission component of the course! I do not own a printer and paying outrageous sums of money to CIT is very inconvenient. Otherwise, try giving us some realistic, useful problems to solve with programming. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: we are allowed to work with partners, it is good to learn with someone else Worst things about the course: it is assumed that you have previous knowledge of CS, most of the student have previous experience, and the material is present way too quickly and it is difficult to follow in lecture Suggestions for Improvement: go over material more slowly in lecture and explain what the problems you go over are attempting to accomplish. The material should be presented in more basic way so that no matter what everyone's background is all will be able to follow it. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: I really think I am learning something useful--I started thinking about a code I could write to help me do my math homework quicker just the other day. Also it is chalenging be not too difficult. The online submission is a great thing as well. Worst things about the course: There is a lot of work--it takes up more time than my other classes combined. also the fact that there is a prelim on Dragon Day really stinks, could you guys do something about that by any chance? I really wanted to join in the watergun fight against the evil forces of the archetects, but not if i need my sleep for a test! Suggestions for Improvement: There is way too much work per project--we should have less parts fo reach one. Also I think we need lab time as part of the course--I am in an AEW now and I do not think I would be doing nearly as well without it. I learn about new comands and things to use in lectre, but i learn much more on my own, especially through my mistakes trying to run experimental code. I think there should be mandatory lab time, maybe not every week but often _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: the ability to sit at the computer and play with matlab the use of examples in lecture the help given by the TA's in section the ability to work with a partner on projects Worst things about the course: lecture is very confusing and way too fast paced projects take an extremely long and ungodly amount of time and effort to complete, where all parts of the project are extremely difficult and you either get them or are stuck on each part things arent explained well enough in lecture Suggestions for Improvement: projects should be easier and not as difficult, just involving simpler pieces of matlab code that make us go and plug into matlab the code, i.e. give us a string of code with missing pieces (like multiple choice for the pieces) and let us play in matlab to get them and understand why we can use the code we have to use to get it done... _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1)It is a completely new subject for me, i'm learning something completely new 2)It's extremely challenging since I don't know the first thing about programming 3) Demonstrations are done well Worst things about the course: 1) I feel sometimes the instructor thinks we know more then we do, forgetting some of us have never programmed 2) Many things were assumed, like finding the newsgroup and knowing how to run code in matlab 3) Too much is done through the internet. It makes it more difficult when your course is practically all run online. 4) A lot of work. Between projects, excercises, newsgroup, lecture sketches, reading the book, it is hard to keep up with what we are learning and make use of it. Suggestions for Improvement: Separate the course into those who have had some experience and those who haven't. Stay off the internet. It is too confusing and a lot of things are very vague, such as the instructions in many problems. I don't like how grading is based so much on format. The idea is to get a code to run. I also don't like how even know we go to lecture we have to check the lecture notes to keep up, it makes no sense. I also feel that section should be done in a computer lab. I believe a class that is all about computing should involve some interactment with a computer. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: - The ability to get notes, concepts, and examples off the website - AEW helps quite a bit - The newsgroup Worst things about the course: - LECTURE TIMES (9 am is not a very good choice) - PROJECTS are extremely difficult, long, and tedious - very fast paced Suggestions for Improvement: - due dates overlap too much, it's difficult to handle having an exercise, project, and other material due the same day. - the TA is very good and knowledgable, (Mike Singer) his office hours are extremely helpful _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: I can work with a partner. The solutions are posted. My section is small. Worst things about the course: It's difficult material for me to understand. Too much information is thrown at me on the newsgroup. Projects seem very complicated and difficult for me. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 0) none Stress from CS100M: 0) none Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: i'm able to learn the material section being able to work with partners Worst things about the course: lecture time allowed for exercises and projects lack of organization Suggestions for Improvement: Lecture could use more and different types of examples which are relevant to up coming projects and tests. Projects should be consistent with what is taught in lecture. More time should be allowed for projects that are longer. exercises should be posted with adequate time to look at them. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Most of project 3 was pretty good. Yeah, it was really hard, but once you got an idea of what you were actually supposed to do, it wasn't unfair to ask how to do. I learn better by trying something harder than what we're working on (sometimes). Worst things about the course: I spend a lot of time learning on my own how to use certain data types, functions, programming concepts, etc.. to do the projects, and then I come to class and you assume we've never heard of any of it Suggestions for Improvement: There's certain types of project programs that work well, and some that don't. When you want us to write a program that does something understandable (most common occurance of a number) but is hard to do with restrictions, I think we learn a lot. When you ask us to vectorize a lot of code into two lines, however, I think it's useless. Not to say learning to condense code and being efficient is unimportant(it's actually important to CS majors), but if you dont know the magic way of doing it, you're in trouble. What ends up happening (i'm not saying i've ever done this, but I'm sure it goes on), is that dozens of kids who don't know at all what they're doing find some smart kid to just write the two lines for them. Sure, they're only hurting themselves on tests, but frankly they don't care, and it's hard to blame them. It's very hard to set up a logical way of thinking and a plan of action for something that's all supposed to happen at once. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The fact that lecture sketches are placed online, and they are really good, so I can refer to them if I have questions. There is an emphasis on thinking and deconstructing problems into smaller portions. Useful programming algorithms introduced. Exercises useful in ensuring constant revision. Worst things about the course: Projects are way too time consuming. I can never tell how much time a program will take me. This course is taking up most of my time. No clear syllabus to the course. I do not see logical links between the lectures. Bonus points awarded for the most bizarre things. Suggestions for Improvement: I feel that the pace of the lectures is now a little slow, but I realise that Professor Yan is trying to adjust as the pace of the lectures was too fast at the beginning. However, I think that the damage has been done, and going slow now will not help. It did seem as if programming experience was needed at the beginning of the course, and the reason why people are confused is because, there were terms thrown around early on that made no sense to someone without any prior experience. An example is the phrase "Indent substructures." What is a substructure? Bear in mind that this was mentioned in the first five minutes of the first lecture. People without prior experience are uncomfortable with unfamiliar nomenclature, especially when there are no definitions given. I hope this will be reviewed when the Java portion begins. Also, perhaps one way to improve would be to have a planned schedule for the entire course up, so that we can see the logical links between lectures. In the lectures, perhaps use the ideas of "concept" and "context" to introduce the materials. Sometimes, the lecturer gets so caught up in using analogies that we lose sight of actual material taught. Mention that today's "concept" is perhaps, while loops, and we will learn them in the "context" of the "leftmostmode" question. The lectures also seem to offer too little, too late. This was true for project 3, and I hope this will be addressed. Again, a detailed lecture schedule for the whole course will help. I really don't understand some of the rationale behind the awarding of bonus points. While I applaud the concept of bonus points, I feel that it has gone a little overboard. One example is perhaps the time when someone posted a message on the newsgroup, regarding the the submission dateline, and he said that it was stated as 2am, when he had read elsewhere that it was supposed to be 8am. This matter had already been taken up in lecture and was decided that it was supposed to be pushed back to 8am, yet he was awarded a bonus point for bringing the matter up, when it clearly shows that he hasn't been paying attention in lecture, or probably didn't show up at all. Why? The review session for the first prelim was not helpful. It would have been useful for us to at least know the format of the paper, but we were not told that. It would be helpful if the review has some objective and material to covere rather than just answerinfg questions. We could have gone to office hours for that! This wastes time, as not everyone has the same concerns. Also, a detailed syllabus would be helpful as always. I don't feel that I have really learnt much from attending the lectures. Most of the stuff I have learnt are from messing around with the projects. While this is useful, as in the case of project 2, it went overboard with 3. Instead of learning, I was more concerned with getting my code up, and in the end, I wound up simply patching up holes in my code, instead of learning more efficient and productive programming methods. Needless to say, I don't think I actually learnt anything in that kind of situation. This course inherently has problems as it is a required course for all engineers and the amount of experience and ability of the students is extremely diverse. Thus, it is close to impossible to do it such that everyone will benefit. However, I personally think it's a bad sign when someone had to post a message asking for help in the second week of the course, especially when so much time has been spent on the course. I think it is unfair to ask us to dedicate so much time to this course alone. It is not unusual for me to take up to 5 hours just to get a section of code up. The consultants in Carpenter are, in general, unfamiliar with Matlab. I understand that they are whizzes in Java, but that doesn't help.... While this course is a requirement, I do want ot get something out of it. Having it take up so much time, and being so unrewarding really puts me off. I think the instructors should REALLY assume ABSOLUTELY no programming experience in order to teach this course. I think it is only fair to those who are taking programming for the first time. While this may bore those with prior experience, keep in mind that they could have taken a test to excuse themselves from taking this course. Sometimes, it gets really discouraging when it comes so easily to them and you have been struggling for hours. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: 1. figuring out how to complete the projects/exercises is fun when i allow enough time to really think about them. 2. the newsgroup: seeing other students' questions and the answers to those questions 3. section: Tibor is really helpful in giving detailed explanations 4. online submission... very convenient Worst things about the course: 1. THE BOOK. almost never helpful if i'm stuck on a project/exercise, and many typos 2. last minute changes to projects/exercises over the internet... 3. large lecture size Suggestions for Improvement: cutting the lecture up into more than one instead of one huge class would be helpful -- asking questions is intimidating, the professor seems distant, and big lectures are easier to skip. please, for the good of future cs students, pick a different textbook. the one we have now if awful. hopefully pick one with more examples, more explanations, and examples of possible pitfalls. figure out some way to regulate section size better -- the first several classes were completely overcrowded with kids in the hall and sitting on the floor behind the chairs (completely unable to see the blackboard). the crowdedness has calmed down now, but it's still quite full. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: Learn two new languages Interesting applications Good teachers Worst things about the course: Online services can be frustrating Poor wording/unclear objective on some projects Mid-project changes are really annyoing Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: Using Matlab and Java Lots of Bonus points awarded Awesome lectures and lecture sketches Worst things about the course: Matlab costs 100 bucks No computer labs with matlab on north campus Suggestions for Improvement: The course itself is going great and nothing really has to be changed much especially now that we have online submission. This really helps alot and should definitely be kept. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: im learning matlab, Worst things about the course: the projects are too long i hate all the online stuff i hate how we are encouraged to start projects early and then the prof changes the questions so i have just wasted a lot of time i hate how we are suppose to have 2 weeks to do a project but the prof did not post the last project until last thursday Suggestions for Improvement: the grading system is good, a lot of the online stuff should be done away with _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: it's only a semester long only meets twice a week challenging as far as problem solving sometimes Worst things about the course: the lectures are dry i'd like to see more real world applications the projects aren't efficient learning tools I don't like the emphasis put on learning Matlab specific functions rather then understanding general concepts the quizzes in lecture Suggestions for Improvement: On the prelim question one I asked a TA if the empty array Y was a typo and if the middle term should be negative. He proceeded to look at me like I had nine heads which further confused me. I felt he should have recognized that I knew what was going on but was confused as to what answer I wanted and thus given me some direction rather than making me feel like an idiot. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: There are many sources of help available to me. Every single bit of information is conveniently found either on the website or on the newsgroup. The course is very "streamlined" by the continual response/feedback system, tailoring itself to the abilities and wishes of the students. Worst things about the course: The programming itself: often times, I cannot start a project because I have no idea how to organize/structure my code. The reading in the Matlab textbook is not emphasized. Some of the messages posted in the newsgroup seem very unnecessary, such as one person's confusion about when some forms would be posted. However there are many many more useful messages from other students. Suggestions for Improvement: Often I don't see the point in some of the materials that are introduced in lecture. I still dont see how boxscope tracing is important for this course; if the point of the boxscope exercise was to show how Matlab handles "formal" variables in functions and "actual" variables in the command window, then that should be mentioned during lecture. Also monitoring the newsgroup and the website is good, but I very much appreciate the fact that TKY announces when the projects/exercises/etc. have been assigned and are due. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: Mike Singer as my TA There are a lot of people I know who are taking this class with me who have had programming experience that can explain how to program to me. Worst things about the course: I do not understand the basics of programming or writing code. I know what certain words do like $sort$ ect. but I do not know how to write code well enough to ever make anything work. The pace of the class is too fast. Not enought is explained, and nothing is detailed enough on, why you do, what you are doing. I am way too busy to sit down and just run code. Most of the time it does not work and I do not know why. Consequently, I get nothing accomplished because nothing ever works and I can never fix it because I am not sure of what I am doing in the first place. I feel some what comfortable reading code, but when I sit down in front of a blank screen I have no clue what to do or how to get started. Suggestions for Improvement: Slow the pace down for the people who do not have programming experience. So what if the people who have programming experience are bored. You did not need any programming experience to take this class. I feel that it is being taught to people with experience. It is not being taught to the normal kid who only knows how to point and click when using a computer. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: interesting fun intellectual Worst things about the course: too heavy workload important materials needed for projects not covered in class Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: i cant think of anything besides my TA. Daisy Fan is wonderful, clear and so helpful. Worst things about the course: The website is utterly unorganized and leaves the user caught in loops that end up in the same places. the newsgroup is unorganized and the lecture sketches almost unintelligible. lecture is unorganized, not very coherent, and is basically useless. i go because i dont feel comfortable in the class, but it is uninformative adn RANDOM. there is no progression to lectures, they are random pieces of information. Unlike my chem and math lectures, the cs lectures so not stand alone, or even as a supplement-- they are just useless. Suggestions for Improvement: please reorganize the website. improve lectures so that they are coherent and maybe follow the textbook. please start the course FROM SCRATCH. the way it is now, the people who have experience are basically helping the people with none, who would be lost without them. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I'm a junior govt/economics major. In high school, i did a lot of math and science. I haven't in college. Taking this class has really reminded me how great math can be. I enjoy spending time with my good friend who is also taking the class with me. Plus, there is no better feeling in the world then to run a program and seeing that it works. Worst things about the course: 1. I hate debugging. It's too time consuming! 2. Did i mention that the projects took too much time? 3. the problems are very mathematical in nature and having not taken a math class in 5 years, its sometime hard for me to remember how to do stuff. 4. 905 is pretty early... Suggestions for Improvement: try explaining stuff in lecture. don't just show us how to do it and then ask if we get it. More administrative stuff should be explained in lecture. I live off campus and going online isn't that easy for me. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Projects are helpful in forcing me to understand the material. Section is very useful most of the time. Having partners for the projects is great b/c you can think out a problem together and either teach or be taught by your partner. Worst things about the course: Having to check so many different things online all the time. Lecture is dull, mechanical. Seems like a computer program -- almost inhuman. Same with some assignments. Guess I just don't like the rigidity. Suggestions for Improvement: Get rid of some of the manditory online stuff. It can be a real pain. Even if assignments are online, say something about them in class. So easy to miss an exercise or something if you don't happen to check the exercise page along with all the other pages and newsgroup posts. It's really annoying and time consuming to check all of the different newsgroups and web pages, especially of you have to use a public lab. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Working with a partner on the projects, or else i wouldn't be able to finish them. Section is very helpful. It teaches me how to do problems instead of just listening to a lecture. Having the lecture notes online is so helpful. It's good if you miss a lecture, since it is so early in the morning. Worst things about the course: The projects are too long and difficult. When i have a CS project due, I never have time to do any work for other classes. Proir knowledge is assumed in lecture. I don't always understand what he is doing. The book is not very helpful at all. I never read it because it is never assigned. Suggestions for Improvement: You could assign the specific chapters or pages in the book that we should read to go along with the lectures. Explain better how to access the news group. No one ever told me and my computer can not access it, so i have to use a friend's computer. Don't grade so hard on the projects. No one can possibly do the entire thing and get it all correct. Hold more review sessions, and have a sturctured session, instead of just questions and answers. Maybe do some sample problems that would be similar to the prelim questions. Don't take lecture notes off the web, they are helpful. Offer office hours at more convienent times, like at night. Most engineering students have classes all day and cannot make the office hours. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: I find the material interesting and I am interested in learning to program. My TA, Daisy makes the material interesting and explains it in a very organized fashion which helps me greatly. I feel like I learn most of the material during section, because she takes it from a standpoint where we don't have any prior knowledge. I think working with a partner helps a lot in the course, because i find that between 2 people things go a lot quicker and you can correct each other's mistakes. Worst things about the course: I find the lecture very confusing because i don't feel the material is ever completely explained in layman's terms, so i can follow slightly, but i don't know what i am learning. I find the layout of the lecture notes confusing as well, becuase professor yan always brings back old sheets and then puts up new ones and i have trouble following wear he is going when he keeps changing the sheets and i find his notes hard to read because they arne't very well organized. I think that the projects are too long and hard. During a week that a project is due I do not do any other homework other than the project because i am so overwhelmed. THis causes me to fall behind in other classes and become more stressed. Suggestions for Improvement: I find the TA and sections are great. I feel that I learn most of the material in section because I feel like the lecture skips around and I don't ever understand exactly what the professor is explaining. I wish the lecture would be more clear in general, by explaing what the terms mean in layman's terms and actually what we are programming the computer to do. I feel like the class assumes previous programming knowledge as well which I find very frusterating. I just wish the entire lecture would go a little bit slower and explain everything a little bit more thoroughly. Also I feel like professor yan sometimes brushes off people's questions and still does not explain everything completely thoroughly. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 5) very good Best things about the course: Gives me a strong base in programing Learn how the cs department works Learn Java Worst things about the course: Lecture is kind of repetative Sometimes the projects are a bit lengthy Suggestions for Improvement: Perhaps speed the pace of lecture up a little bit. Sometimes the wording of the project questions is a bit confusing and it takes me a while to figure out what is actually being asked. Perhaps some examples for the questions would clear things up a little. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I am learning a lot about computer programming, which I will probably use later in life I like the fact that the website is so well put together Worst things about the course: sometimes i feel that you assume we know somethings that i have know previous knowledge of i feel that sometimes you slowly go over easy stuff and speed through stuff i find more difficult Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1. AEW!!!! Fun programs, great facilitators 2. Interest of the professor in feedback (and that feedback is responded to) 3. Some of the projects are fun to work on. Worst things about the course: 1. Lectures can be very boring (see improvement suggestion 1) 2. Too many project parts 3. Reading newsgroup postings, lecture sketches, syllabus, announcements, etc. etc. Suggestions for Improvement: I have a hard time sitting through lecture everyday. I really don't think computer science is exciting without a computer. If the lecture is done instead of with pen and paper, typing onto a matlab m file and then running the test programs right in class it is much more exciting (and I think easier to understand by far). _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: (1) projects and (2) excersizes are helpful in learning the material. Prelim (3) was also a good judge of knowledge Worst things about the course: 1. Sections were too big. i attended the first three sections, then gave up on them due to sheer size and lack of utility. 2. I dont learn a thing in lecture. i also gave up attending lecture a few weeks ago 3. mandatory partnership for p3 only hurt my understanding of functions and the current CS topics. My partner was a very bright person who basically did the work in no time at all. I would have preferred to do it on my own. Since assignments are basically the only thing i learn from, i needed to do that assignment alone. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: its an entirely new experience, new material. Its a new way of thinking about problem solving. Worst things about the course: Quite possibly the worst lecturer on this campus Doesn't lend itself well to people with questions. Although there is time for it, the people who are there to help do a very poor job of actually clarifying things It amazes me at how poor the wording is to each and every assignment we've gotten. Too much stress because the grade revolves so much around the exams and barely at all on projects. I already feel as though I'm doomed for this class because I did very poorly on the first prelim. Not because I don't understand the material but because I I don't know if I can recuperate from the first exam. This course is not deserving of 4 crdit hours with its current set up. I think there should be 2 section meetings or maybe evena lab. The pint is there needs to be a longer period of time when real examples can be shown to us. Its very difficult to apply what is told to us when it ha such little meaning (because we haven't ;earned enough about it yet) Suggestions for Improvement: First and Foremost I think there should be a a new lecturer, thomas Yan doens't do a good job of teaching in lecture. He goes over rules and syntax but in order to be effective it would help to see programs run. he's too unorganized. What would be most effective would be to have a computer in lecture and actually run programs for the class to see. Programming is like learning a new language. All intro language classes meet 5 times a week. I think in order for me personally to fully understand and be comfortable with Matlab, I would need something similar in format to Language courses. All of the online resources are a good help _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: Online submission TA is very good (Tibor Janosi) Lecture is hard to follow, but lecture notes somewhat help Worst things about the course: Lecture is not helpful when it comes to application Course doesn't help those with no programming experience Projects are too time consuming for those who don't have experience Suggestions for Improvement: Textbook is unhelpful....find another resource for students that is more effective _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1 - partner 2 - prelims Worst things about the course: 1 - newsgroups 2 - the website is very confusing Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: - Prof. Yan's openness to accepting feedback - encouragement of asking quesitons - examples (Lecture sketches) Worst things about the course: - TA's appointment schedules are often during times when I am in class - Monitoring newsgroup - early morning lectures Suggestions for Improvement: Since Prelim one I have noticed a large improvement in the course layout, speed (slower), and structure of lectures (providing more exapmles). Since many people have never programmed before, new concepts can be vary difficult to grasp so examples are key. The more the better (including examples on the lecture sketches.) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: Worst things about the course: 1) i find the utter lack of organization in the course as a whole severley detrimental to my interest in learning MATLAB and to my ability to perform well. 2) i find it absolutely deplorable that knowledge required to complete projects correctly is not covered in lecture, nor in section until either the day before a project is due or after a project is due. 3) this course requires previous programming experience to do well. Suggestions for Improvement: more complex examples should be included in lecture. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: daisy fan! project solutions when we don't have class Worst things about the course: pace of instructor PROJECTS frequency of exercises Suggestions for Improvement: exercises come too often you guys are getting better about projects, though and we appreciate your response to our feedback _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: The webpage for the course is very useful and helps me learn a lot. The projects help me learn a lot since they usually deal with all the topics and are very long Worst things about the course: I think the newsgroup is too confusing. The messages should be screened before being posted so i dont have to waste time goin through messages that are unhelpful. Sections could be smaller Suggestions for Improvement: It might be useful to actually use matlab in lecture to show the students how it is working rather than just writing on a peice of paper. Otherwise i think the course is run very well _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: The projects test you and your abilities to understand and execute MATLAB The Sections are very helpful and deal directly with problems we are encountering. I am learning the basic programming concepts. Worst things about the course: The lectures are scattered and occasionally confusing The lectures do not always pertain directly with what we are forced to do in the projects. The constant work load forces me to spend a majority of my time solving problems, which takes away from my other classes. The unclear descriptions on the projects and exercises lead to unnecessary confusion and frustration. Suggestions for Improvement: The wording on many of the projects and exercises could be better clarified. The largest weak point are the lectures, leading to unnecessary confusion and forcing myself to go over the material and teach myself. Independently of the lectures in order to me to be able to do the projects. This could be worked on my better organizing the lectures and their connection to the projects. One possibility is to post additional, non-required, problems that will either help the student with the projects,(as to basic tools and concepts used) or simply give the possiblity to spend more time practicing programming. (you could even give bonus points for doing them) _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: get to work with somebody section helps a lot Worst things about the course: projects are too hard people who have a lot of programming skill seem to be in the class takes up too much of my time Suggestions for Improvement: i feel like i understand the material until i go to actually write my programs. that's when problems occur. the lecture material is taught in a confusing way, i ahve friends explain it to me and it makes more sense, sometimes. but i would prefer it if i didnt' have to keep asking my friends for help. i dotn' feel like i'm learning anything about programming and that i'm blinding following instructions. regarding the book, i try to look things up in it, but i can rarely find what i'm looking for, and its very frustrating. i think the tests are graded with too much pickyness, i'm used to being able to test my programs with matlab as i'm working along, i think the tests should be graded allowing for some error. i think lecture needs to be more clear and concise. i always feel somewhat lost. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: nothing - it's awful - extremely disorganized!! the only things i've learned came from reading the book and i don't even feel as though the reading assignments follow what we do in lecture. i have attended all lectures and all but 2 sections and i still have no clue what i'm doing. Worst things about the course: -i can't even understand my TA. the least the course should do is make sure the TAs speak english. he might know what he's talking about but it really doesn't help if the students can't understand what he's actually saying. -the lectures are very unclear and extremely disorganized. in order to effectively learn the material, it should be gone over first in lecture, then in section, and then reinforced through the assigned readings, exercises, and projects. all aspects of the course should be dealing with the same material at any particular time. Suggestions for Improvement: -make sure the TA's speak english and go over what was "taught" in lecture -although many students do have previous programming experience, many still do not and this IS AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE!! we are not supposed to need any previous experience. -i feel that if i attend all lectures and section, i should at least have some grasp on the material without seeking outside help. TA's and office hours should simply supplement the material learned in lecture and section, not be depended upon to teach the material. -the first project and prelim were rather simple but then it seemed to get very difficult and complex unbelievably fast _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 5) very good Best things about the course: The newsgroup, the pace of the class, and the ability to submit work online Worst things about the course: The time of the lecture (early morning), sometimes the amount of work, and the review session Suggestions for Improvement: I really like the online submission, it tends to make it easier for some reason. I like the challenges of the projects, I don't find them too difficult and not too easy, they seem to be at a good level for me. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1 Section is helpful. 2 The AEW is helpful 3 I am trying to learn something I have never done before. Worst things about the course: 1 The workload 2 I do not know the material very well. 3 It seems that many people know the information better due to previous programming classes in high school. I never had any of class in programming before. Suggestions for Improvement: I think we should do more examples of writing entire programs in class instead of doing small parts at a time. We do a lot of little examples, but I feel if we did more examples that are like the projects, it will be more useful for exercises, projects, and prelims. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: My TA Mike Singer Section Worst things about the course: The lecture No use of computers to help learning Projects Suggestions for Improvement: Use computers during section and lecture. Shorten the projects. Explain material better. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: Learning about programming itself, running code that I wrote understanding how computers are thinking Worst things about the course: workload, lectures are confusing occasionally, topics assume prior experience Suggestions for Improvement: pace for beginners, more than pace for majors _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Teaches me how to use Matlab, which might prove to be useful later in my engineering career. Worst things about the course: Time to complete everything, too many things that we are expected to look at (book, lecture sketch, projects, exercises, newsgroup, website, solutions, solutions and solutions, Lectures are boring, yet informative, lecture instructor should lecture more enthusiastically and not hide behind his desk motionless just talking into his microphone. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I like the online submission, the newsgroup, and the lecture notes. I find these things very helpful in dealing with this course. Worst things about the course: I feel that this course is run backwards. We are assigned projects that cover material that we aren't taught until after the projects are due. A lot of the time in lecture or section when questions are asked, the answer is brushed aside and the students are told to go run it at home and find out or consult the book. I think that this is unfortunate. I think that at least part of this course, for example section, should be run with time in the lab so that the students can get hands on experience as they learn. I realize that an aew is offered, however not everybody has time for such a thing. I also think that the course should be less demanding. The work load for this course is very time consuming, especially for those who have never programmed before. I also have a problem with the fact that the graders are told to grade our projects and exams differently than we are told to do them in lecture. Suggestions for Improvement: I am not thrilled with the way this course is run. It is very unorganized at times. The consultants are never in Carpenter and we never get our assignments or tests back in section. This makes it difficult to prepare for exams and review. I think that there needs to be more communication amongst the ta's and the professor so that the student needs are better met. See above for section improvement. I would like to see assignments posted more quickly, especially the reading. I would also like to see more understanding toward those who have never programed before because though this course "requires no programming experience" at times we are expected to know things that we have no idea even exist. The building which prelims are taken in should be unlocked at least a half hour before the exam. Lectures are getting better now that we are able to see code run in class -- I find that very helpful. The website is good but it could be designed better so that things are easier to find. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: the three best things about this course is the willingness of the professor to listen to our problems and try to do something about them. i think that it has made the course much more...user friendly...because people's concerns are actually being heard. the second best thing is learning how to think a different way about something. i mean, computer programming is a different mindset, or programmers think differently than i do. it is a good way to think sometimes, or at least develop the skills to think about problems differently. the feeling of finally getting something i have written to run in matlab Worst things about the course: i think, the first worst thing about this course is the way that the lecutres are taught. i mean, this could be exciting to teach, i just find it frustrating when the room is all dark, i am squinting to read the board...i think that things could be much more interesting if things were done on the chalkboard with some lighting...i mean i understand and follow your lectures, but soemtimes they are a little boring. the next thing, is my ta, tibor. sometimes i don't like the way that he wants us to learn. we have questions that could easily be answered in section, but he tells us to go and try it for ourselves. i agree that this approach is helpful however, sometimes all i need for comprehension is the answer to my simple question. i also think that he assumes that we know a lot more than we do...but i don't know if that is true...it just appears to be that way sometimes. the third worst thing about this course is learning something in lecture the day after a project was due, that would have saved a few hours worth of my time. i just think it is frustrating that there are these little things out there that would make everything so much easier, yet we are never told...or it is assumed that we know what is going on Suggestions for Improvement: i think that the student's concerns should still be heard. that is what has made this course much better, in comparison to the beginning of the semester. if we know our concers are being heard, it makes everythign more tolerable. i also think that more examples, actually running matlab, and showing what happens should be done in class. what was covered on the thursday the project three was due, would have been helpful the first week of the course and not a month into it. i _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1.) Satisfaction of completing a program Worst things about the course: 1.) Time it takes to debug, and make the program work. Suggestions for Improvement: I don't know how to improve a course. Maybe one should grade projects heavier, since that is where the real problem solving takes place. If the program doens' work, you tinker with it until it does. One, can not doe this on a test. You are not using a computer rpgram on a test. The course is named computer programming, shouldn't one be using a coputer program? Review sessions on weekends, may sound like a good idea. That go voer the weeks topics. In section it might be initmidating when certain people ask very specific questions for projects. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: 1. I know that I will need CS in the future, and according to many people Matlab will be helpful in electrical engineering, so I hope I will be able to use this in the future. 2. My section instuctor, Mike Singer, is very helpful whenever I need help or don't understand something. 3. ??? Worst things about the course: 1. The projects are VERY HARD and seem to require outside knowledge, so we have to research stuff to be able to do the projects. 2. It is sometimes very hard to follow what Professor Yan is saying in lecture. 3. Although it is repeated over and over that you do not need previous programming experience, it is very difficult to follow some of what Professor Yan is saying without past knowledge. Suggestions for Improvement: I like that the lecture notes are posted online. There are times when I am unsure what Professor Yan is talking about, and the lecture notes sometimes help to clarify. However, it is sometimes hard to follow how what is said in lecture applies to real programming, such as the paper airplane example. More real-life examples would be helpful. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: -programming is fun! (and CS100 taught me that) -knowing how to use Matlab helps a lot in the other subjects (such as TAM202, MAE225, etc.) -I think the way grading works is unique and cool (like bonus point for evaluation form) Worst things about the course: -I don't think all the exercises are necessary, because you really LEARN through projects, and doing exercises is pretty boring and stressful, especially if you are taking more than 23 credits in this semester... -consultants are useless! They rarely in the lab, even though it's the scheduled hours, and some of them know nothing(even the code for the locker!) -TA's office hourse should be separated in two days at least. office hourse such as 10-12, 2-4 on Tue. is really inconvenient. also, how come there are no online helpers (hopefully 24hrs), even though so many things are online in this course. Suggestions for Improvement: well, I mentioned a lot in above questions. but, basically the concept of the course is really good. professor is doing decent job. (except for stressing the students too much) but extra help such as consultants and AEW are pretty inconvenient. also, the 40 questions in the first projet sucks! you shouldn't do that again for next year. students find those info. by themselves if it's necessary. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: none! Worst things about the course: don't understand the material at all.. Suggestions for Improvement: i wish to meet in the section more often... _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: 1. An attempt to learn computer science which may be helpful one day. 2. We can work with partners. Worst things about the course: 1.I have discovered that this is not an introductry class at all. All the basic things that I should have been taught somewhere along the way were slightly overlooked and i never grasped them. I now have probelems trying to write code because I simply do not know how. I do not know the techniques and the syntax. I am familiar with what ceratin functions do,i.e. sort and fliplr and max/min but I do not know how to use them, nor when to use them. 2.It is also extremely fustrating that the course has no textbook nor does it seem to follow a sequence of development. I feel that the professor is jumping back and forth on topics. It would definitely help if the profesor clearly expressed his lectures in the following format: (A) What the onjective of todays lecture is? (B) What is (Fill in the blank)? (C) Why do we use (fill in the blank)? (D) How do we use it? 3.I am extremely lost and behind a few lectures. Could we slow done or reteach a couple of things. Suggestions for Improvement: DO more demos using the computer? Don't assume that the students know the things you casually leave out necause that simple step that you omit may be the step the step that clarifies the confusion. Take it slow. I understand that this is only a 14 week course but for god sakes can we please slow down. I am new at this and I could only absorb so much at one time! Be clear with explanations. Explain what the function, ehat it does, why wh would use it, where we would use it, and how to use it , and include examples. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: 1)learning about computers, because I knew NOTHING about them before 2)the satisfaction of finally getting a program to run correctly 3)the aew class Worst things about the course: 1)lecture 2)time spent: in class, doing assignments, reading material, trying to figure out what is going on 3)quantity of assignments Suggestions for Improvement: 1) lecture should be much more clear and organized. I have gone through entire lectures without knowing what the topic was we were learning about. Suggestions: a)at the beginning of lecture, tell us -what we are going to learn in class that day -what it is called -a quick overview on what it is used for -why it is useful b)show us more examples!!! c)use less confusing analogies 2)We should be taught material we are going to use in projects BEFORE we have to do the project. 3)It should be more clear how we are graded on assigments 4)Teach us without assuming we have any prior knowledge, because many of us have absolutely NONE. 5)Shorter assignments. I spent approcimately TWENTY HOURS doing project 3, and about the same doing project 2 6)The newsgroup is very useful, and I really appreciate having it available to us. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: it gets me the credit to pass engineering it opens me up to programming my section advisor is helpful Worst things about the course: the instructor is unclear and unhelpful i am not learning much about programming, more like how to do just enough to get a program in i don't feel motivated or interested since it is all boring Suggestions for Improvement: I think it is noble that the engineering school requires us to take programming. However in reality, the course is not teaching us programming. It merely stresses us with tons of work without giving us true understanding of the course. Matlab is not as widely used as Cornell would like to think. Java is a bad language to learn on. We need to start on something simple, a language we can learn on. In this manner we are just learning how to do certain things that we'll never use again. Most of us are making ourselves do this in order to get the credit. We should be learning how great programming can be, but instead we're mostly looking forward to never doing it again. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: the professor~~ (serious~)...i think the prof. teaches really well~ (even though his project is hard...^^") the bonus~ (extra thing that helps the grade ^^) and...i guess the solution to the project and exercise (i think i learn better from seeing the solutions...) Worst things about the course: the time (9 in the morning?? too early~~) section time (i think we dun have enough section time...i hope that we can change the section to twice a week...) the project (tooooooooooooooo hard...well, for the 2nd and the 3rd projects...i mean, of course when i look back at those projects now, they are not as hard as i thought b4, but they were really hard for me when i tried to do them...i think it's b/c this time was the first time i learn cs...) Suggestions for Improvement: well, first of all, i just wanna say that at first, i felt this course ran a bit fast (but the pace is okay...bearable...) i feel a bit stressed out at the beginning b/c i have no experience in cs at all, and i felt that everyone in the course seemed to know cs so well or something like that. also, the assigned reading...i thought it was too much, even tho i know it is because the course needs to keep up its pace...but, i feel that it'd be better and i'd learn better if we didn't need to learn so much in such a short time. moreoever, the very first section (teaching us how to use codewarrior and matlab...) was really really cool. it helped a lot i think, at least for me...i got a general idea of how to use matlab after the section. the lectures are cool, the prof actually gave more and more examples...and that really helps a lot...^^ about the section, i dunno if the TA was supposed to do this, but sometimes i think TA was avoiding to answer the question regrading to the project that is not yet due...i mean, of course he was not supposed to give out the answers, but he was just trying to explain the question to me...i had problems on how to write the script, not understand the question...then, i dunno if this is possible, if every TA could have a laptop, then he can actually run the program during the section, i think that'll help us understand better ^^ (i personally love seeing the program running instead of just the "code" of the program...) regarding the sample prelim questions and answers, they were really cool...i appreciated a lot that they were posted ^^ the consaltants in the pc lab r cool...and they r friendly too ^^ well, again, i really wanna talk about the projects. the 2nd project and the 3rd project...no kidding, they were soooooooooooooooo hard...>< i mean, if i just simply read the textbook and the notes, i didn't think i'd be able to finish them. they required a lot of thinkings...they are a lot harder than the examples given in the textbook or in the lecture. and i think there are not ! enough _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: The online submission allows you more time to work and it is a lot easier to submit something from your room rather than have to worry about not making it up the hill. The notes online help because I have a lot of trouble understanding lecture. Worst things about the course: I really do not like the way lecture is run, it is disorganized, I have trouble reading the overhead and often it is not that helpful to figuring out projects and exercises. The workload is often heavy and it seems that there is always something more to be done for this class and I never really get a chance to truly understand the material. I also wish section was a little less crowded and structured so I would not feel so intimiated about asking questions in class. Suggestions for Improvement: I would have more sections avaliable, and possibly more than once a week, more review sessions and definitely get people in carpenter who know what they are doing because my experiences have been rather bad with them. Lecture notes could be a little more detailed. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: the professor, the bonus and the solution to the project, exercise and prelim. Worst things about the course: the time of the lecture, not enough sections (i think we should have sections twice a week instead of once a week...) and the 2nd and 3rd projects. Suggestions for Improvement: okay, i think the very first section (teaching us how to use codewarrior and matlab) is really cool, it helps a lot. the sameple prelim questions and solutions are cool, i actually understand matlab more when i did the questions and looked at the answers. the consultants in the pc lab r cool and r friendly. but i hope that the TA can actually teach us how to write the script (at least give us some helpful hints...) instead of explaining the questions to us. the prof. gives many examples in the lectures, and i think this is really really nice. i love seeing examples. and, about the 2nd and 3rd projects. i think they were just way beyond my knowledge gaining from reading the textbook or the note from the lecture. all those examples in the textbook and in the lectures are easy, but the questions of the projects were like..."HARDDDDDDDDDDDD..." and i feel that we were required to know more $functions$ than the %functions% taught in the lectures or written in the textbook. it's hard to learn the functions ourselves just by using the "help" command in matlab. if we can just simply learn the functions this way, then why do we need lectures and sections? _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: -learn to program for mathematical purpose -learn a program language to expand knowledge -credits for it... Worst things about the course: -take to much time on proyects!! -Sometimes goes quick, hard to catch up -gets really complicated and hard... Suggestions for Improvement: Section are really good, maybe more section times would be more situable for learning in CS 100 M. Sample prelim questions helps too pretty much to konw how much i know... Those are the most helpfull lecture note are good but I think they cna be better, teaching assistant could help more directly, cuz sometimes they are not clear The newsgroup is a little messy! _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I get to experience a different programming language That's about it Worst things about the course: The lectures do not adequately prepare for the projects. I find myself at a constant lost when completing projects. Half the time, the solution are not something I've felt that I was taught. Self discovery and learning is one thing, but when I have to constantly search for help on a project because I wasn't taught how use a function is unacceptable. Suggestions for Improvement: It isn't good that everytime I start a new project, it seems that I haven't learned the material to allow me to complete the task. Then I look through the piece and I see something like this: HINT: USE SORT. Now, I think to myself, "Hey, I've never seen that function before. How come if it's so important, I wasn't taught to use it? Instead, I have to go digging through help files to find my answer?" I find that the biggest problem with this class. I am constantly lost despite my attendence to lectures. You may think, why don't you go ask the consultants for help or your TA. Well, that's a solution for people who don't understand the material. I understand the material. I just find it irritating that I'm not taught the material directly before given an assignment. You know what else I'd really like. EXAMPLES THAT RELATE TO THE PROBLEM. For example, if you wanted me to create function X, then at least give me sample data and sample output. Sometimes, I have no idea what my answer is suppose to be. So if function x is suppose to add x and y provided that I supply those variables then give me the example: If you plug in 1 and 2, you're answer should be three. This is an example of a not good example: Provided x and y and the execution of the function, you should be able to compute and answer based on the function. I'm simplifying my examples very much. Specifically, I found the celestial question very annoying. I had no idea what the output was suppose to look like. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I feel good when I finally understand a program. My TA is very helpful and understanding. We are allowed to work with partners. The newsgroup is responded to in a VERY timely fashion. Worst things about the course: There is so much to keep up with online. The lecturer seems a little confused and unable to communicate the topic sometimes. The projects are extremely long and tedious. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: That i get to learn something new and that is it Worst things about the course: The workload is unbearably heavy, u can't expect a person to start a project the week of the prelim in the same class, and that to be sufficient time, leaving little time for any class the week a project is due. The lectures don't teach me. Consultants aren't available in the evening, well ta's hours, seeing as consultatnts know nothing about matlab, and that is wehn most peopel program Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: My TA, Daisy Fan is by far the best thing going for this course. She is clear, concise, and very knowledgable. She seems most in touch with the needs and desires of the students of 100M. I couldn't imagine where I would be without her. She is an asset. Worst things about the course: This course is by far the most poorly planned, thoughtout, and inconsistent course that I've taken at Cornell. Lectures leave me about as confused as a serial rapist in a sex-change clinic. You teach concepts without syntax and syntax without concepts with no effort to link the two. You misunderstand the desires of the 100M students, in that, it is a class of engineers, not potential CS majors, therefore, WE DO NOT CARE!! It is disenhearting to see the lack of compassion from the lecturer in this regard. Thomas Yan makes no effort to make the material interesting to an audience that has very little experience, nor does he spend the time to explain EXACTLY WHAT THE HELL WE ARE DOING! Since day one, there has been no effort to teach "computer science." Realistically, we have had a very shoddy programming course, given that we haven't learned much programming either. The staff treats the students as though we are dogs, by saying that if we behave and pay attention, we will get little doggie treats, aka bonus points. Gentlemen, your course has consistently reenforced every reservation I have about obtaining a degree in computer science; and I hope for your sake that this course is not indicative of the rest of the offerings of the CS department here. Suggestions for Improvement: First, make the course of consistent difficulty. The exercises currently are trivial, busy-work, and the projects require conceptual leaps that Evil Knevil couldn't bound. Second, try to actually teach material; don't just put some up on the projector in lecture, and everything else in a really crappy looking ascii text file for us to download. WE are paying YOU so that YOU will teach US. I believe you all forget that. I have no objection to doing work for a class if it will help me learn the material, but so far as I have experienced your pathetic excuse for homework, I can say that I've taken nothing out of the work I've done. Also, since you are supposed to be teaching us, I find it completely absurd that you consistently refuse to answer simple questions, but instead reply "That was posted to the newsgroup" or something to the like. Remember boys, we are engineers, so the simplest effective answer is what we desire. If I ask a question, I deserve an answer, and not some patronizing response as to what I should be doing. Answer my question, then tell me where else it is, be it website or newsgroup. I could go on like this, but I'm certain that you've heard all this before. Just remember guys, even though we are required to take this class, it doesn't mean that you all are inviolable. If you alienate your student body, it is your sanctity at stake. Remember that the focus here is on the students, and we can only stomach so much. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: -AEW -Section -Online posting of all info, notes, projects Worst things about the course: -Lecture time (9 am) -Prejects are too long, difficult, and tedious Suggestions for Improvement: -Mike Singer is great, AEW is very helpful -Web site and newsgroup are excellent _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: -Lecture sketches are helpful and makes it easy to catch up on a missed class. Although i don't like how there is new material on them. -Projects can be useful but somethings on them are so dumb. What were those logical arrays stuff. Logical arrays are unique for MATLAB and thus learning them is not very practical. Plus you never really taught logical arrays. Sure you told us ABOUT them but not how to use them. We were supposed to just find out about them on our own. The thing is that doesn't work, so I ended up learning nothing about them and just gave up. I had no idea even where to start. -I find section to be useful eventhough my TA, Tibor, can be very annoying at times. He gives over a lot of programming syntax rather than just theory as in lecture. He has never handed us back our projects though. He cancels class without telling us till it's time for class and then he reschedules the class on SUNDAY. Plus he posts this information to the newsgroup. Sorry I don't check the newsgroup like me e-mail. Send me an e-mail next time if you want to contact me. Sunday is not a good time for a makeup. I have things going on on Sunday. This is not a day I devote to my classes. I learn a good deal in my section but it doesn't help that you do such annoying things like this. Worst things about the course: -I am sorry but your analogies are bad. They only hurt my understanding of what is going on and I have had to just sort through your analogies in a more logical way. Say what is going on. Don't confuse us with some crazy made up scenario. I guess theory on programming is good but the actaully programming is hard too and I think it would be more useful going over syntax. Loop invariants seem to be a key part of programming according to the way you taught it eventhough they have no bearing on the program but are just there to help someone understand the program. I guess I would like to see more programming instead of theory. -I do not like the newsgroup. My TA Tibor has yelled at us during section and a review session for not checking the newsgroup. Sorry buddy I do things and do not check the newsgroup every day. I have other things to worry about. Plus there is so much crap already on the newsgroup that sorting through what is relevant and what is crap is hard. The newsgroup is not the best way to communicate. The class is too big and the newsgroup is just a nuisance to read. -I don't even know why I do the projects anymore. They take up so much time and they don't seem to help me much at all. Sure they are good programming practice but most of the problems are math problems and NOT problems testing programming skills. If my math wasn't as strong as it is I would not a have a chance at the projects. Figuring out the math behind a problem takes more time that actually figuring out how to program. I don't think that this should be the case but rather should have more problems testing how well we know how MATLAB works. Suggestions for Improvement: I did not see this part until I filled out the part above. Please read the part above. I said what I did and did not like and then expanded on that. thanks. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 1) a little Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1.the subject is interesting. 2.i think the professor is really patient. 3 Worst things about the course: 1. i feel that i am not learning many things after prelim 1, pace is too slow after prelim1. 2. giving out bonus points to students asking questions in the class lead to some really trivial questions. 3. not enough challenges problems. Suggestions for Improvement: the newsgroup is really unorganized. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Worst things about the course: We learn things in lecture after we already had a project due that required that we know them. Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 5) unbearably Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I find the exercises to be helpful (but not the quizzes, although we only had one so far- i was extremely nervous and unprepared). The exercises usually dealt with something we learned recently in class and was therefore familiar to me. Until recently, the Professor began to use the Matlab demos to show how programs work. I find that very useful as well. I also find the web site useful, in that i can reread lecture notes, run lecture codes, etc. and express my thoughts on the course. It's nice to know that my opinion matters. However, the web site gives me eye strain :-( Worst things about the course: Like i said above, the web site is depended upon alot. It would be good if some information can be announced in class, like locations of prelims, changes in projects/exercises, etc. SOme people do not own computers so they are at a disadvantage and others have eye problems. Each time i try to read the web site, i always have to remove my contact lens and still, my eyes would hurt. Another thing about the course is the difficulty of projects. They take up too much time that i get discouraged. I am already stressed from my other classes, and the lack of a social life just makes it feel tens times worse. I was even thinking about switching to a CS major at the beginning of the year but now, i am reconsidering. I feel that a project should be challenging, but not to the point that the work becomes a nuisance. A very difficult assignment just has the students reprogramming until it works, completely defeating the learning process. It would be good if we received more guidance on projects because i often do not know how to start, or have difficulty understanding the assignment because it is not clearly stated. In addition, posting on the newsgroup is very intimidating. Everyone reads the message and who it is from! Especially since a lot of the questions are from people who have previous CS knowledge, my questions will appear very elementary in comparison to theirs. Antoher thing i dislike about the course is lack of help... The AEW class does not help me at all. The facilitators are nice and try to help but they usually go over simple material. The TA office hours are usually during times when most engineering students have classes... and the matlab book does not help at all!!! i dont even know why we had to buy it! I would follow the reading assignments but the examples would be very simple in comparison to our projects and it does not do a good job at explaining at all. I would go through the index to find what i needed but the book would not be as helpful as it should be. Suggestions for Improvement: I have suggestions in 5.3 and 5.4 answers. I would also like to add that the course seems to be geared to helping those who are way advanced in computer programming. They are the ones getting good prelim grades, spending little time on projects and exercises, and getting a whole lot of bonus points because they have the previous CS knowledge to ask indepth questions. THey are probably more comfortable asking questions and approaching the professor as well. i'm not saying they should get a lower grade... It's just that it would be nice if the course tried to help students who are struggling with the course but are trying really hard to understand what is going on. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Learning to think in a differeny way, since i've never had programming before. The problems can be fun to do. Working with my partner. Worst things about the course: Too time consuming at tmes. Always have exercises due, although most of them are helpful. Much information is given on the newsgroup, which I cannot check very often. Suggestions for Improvement: Lectures would be more helpful if we can talk more about the project problems. Sometime we feel that what's being asked on the projects are barely covered in lecture. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: helpful exercises some interesting programs helpful section Worst things about the course: BIG projects that are very confusing to understand what the questoin is asking uninteresting programs long sessions of tracing Suggestions for Improvement: Make the questions in the projects easier to understand. I spend much of the time on the projects trying to dechiper what my task at hand is _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Section helps ALOT Exercises are helpful some fun projects Worst things about the course: BIG projects Often Can't understand the tasks the projects are asking for. functions that are mentioned once, but are cruical to a project Suggestions for Improvement: Have more small exercises and less big projects Word the questions in the projects so they are more understandable. Half of my project time is spent trying to comprehend the questions. More sections during the week? _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: The section instructor helps tremendously in understanding the class through examples worked out in class. The projects succeed in providing both a challenge and in developing basic programming skills. The course proceeds at very manageable pace. The newsgroup provides a fantastic means by which to understand what is being asked for in a project and to clarify potential problems. Worst things about the course: The lectures are often difficult to follow because the code is not executed on a computer, only written on a sheet of paper. The time of the lecture makes it difficult to focus on the very precise technical nature of the subject. The review sessions provide nothing more than a topic listing, not a comprehensive review of the areas of confusion in the course. Suggestions for Improvement: The course would be improved dramatically if the code in MATLAB and Java were to be run on a computer in class. This would accomplish two things: first, it would be easier to follow than the folded pieces of paper and cross-outs that are projects on the front of the room. Second, it would help students make connections between code and the program it produces. As for the strengths of the course, the projects are a great way of learning the material being taught in the course. They could, however, be improved if the turn-around time, the time between submission and grading, were shorter. This might lead to the possibility of revising programs after conferencing with a TA, which would no doubt provide an invaluable opportunity to learn how to refine and error-check code. Also, in lecture, expanded explanations could be given for new ideas and concepts introduced. This would help to clear up much of the confusion in the course. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: The chairs are extremely comfortable Tibor J. is a very good TA The snowmen were cute Worst things about the course: The lecture material is too easy compared to the projects TOO MUCH PSEUDO CODE too early Suggestions for Improvement: Newsgroups are pointless, just post the information on the web like every other course here. Lectures should be more geared towards the projects and the information be given far enough in advance that we dont have to wait until the tuesday before it is due to finish up the last three parts. Less work for the projects _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I think computer programming is interesting, especially since I have never done it before, and this course is a good way to get an adequate foundation. The TA's and professor definitely know the material and definitely know what they're doing, which is great when you have a question. Worst things about the course: Lecture is not very helpful. 1)I understand the concepts in lecture, but I feel we don't explore them enough in depth to be able to apply them to the difficult assignments we are given on the projects. The past few lectures, when we've been talking about invariants and while loops and processing data, we used either the example of finding the maximum of an input sequence with a stopping value or its sum. These are trivial examples and of minimal help when going to do these complex or tedious tasks on project assignments. I think a lot of us are gonna be totally unprepared for prelim 2 as a result of this. 2)Also, it seems like the tasks on projects test one's understanding of a concept that we cover in lecture after its due date, putting us at a huge disadvantage when actually doing the projects. I particularly feel we didn't spend nearly enough time on vectorization, especially in lecture, showing how they can be advantageous in the place of loops or explicitly showing how one would go about vectorizing some piece of code in which loops were used. 3)Furthermore, the projects are simply way too long. I never can aticipate how much time it will take me because doing a task requires a lot of thinking, reading from the book, and trial and error while trying to perfect code, and you never know how much time all this will add up to, especially when there are 5 tasks to do. It is too much material being tested all at once and is all too often overwhelming. Suggestions for Improvement: My biggest suggestion is to do more difficult, longer examples in lecture that are very closely related to material we will be tested on via projects. I think the main goal of these projects shouldn't be to get us to learn and struggle with foreign concepts on our own, but rather to test us on the knowledge we should be acquiring in lecture. The only way to learn programming is through doing more and more examples, and repetition of the maximum of a sequence is not condusive to a better understanding or the attainment of more programming skills. My second biggest suggestion is to break up the tasks on projects and assign them one or two at a time. If we had maybe two tasks per week, it would be equivalent to the load we are given now, but it would allow us more time to complete them and less stress involved (less sleepless nights). Doing two parts really well and in depth is much more helpful than five parts done poorly due to a strict time constraint. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: I dont really think anything is good about the course. I think it is really hard. I have been trying to geta tutor and it is impossible to find one. Office hours and appointments are ok, but they really are not useful cause the TA does not know your strengths and weaknesses. Worst things about the course: I think the review questions for the prelim were useless. There is a lot of material in the projects that we do not cover in lecture, and sometime we cover it the tuesday before the project is due (i.e. 2 days before it is due. And lecture is not helpful casue I cant understand anything going on. And this was supposed to be a programming class for people who have never programmed, and I feel peopel who have seen Matlab have an unfair advantage. Suggestions for Improvement: I think the biggest problem withthe class is that we are trying to learn this on paper and not infront of a computer. I know it is not feasable to have lecture with computers, but I think section should be in front of a computer. The consultants in Carpentar lab are useless, everytime I got there they always tell me they could help if I was doing Java but they don't know any Matlab. And if they don't know it and I don't know it, I am doomed. I understand the material is probably really hard to teach, but I know there has to be something that can be done to relate it better to the students. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: i enjoy the problem solving involved - Worst things about the course: I hate that there is so much online - this really really incovient - especially with the newsgroup, I spend more time sifting through volumes of info - much of which is not helpful at all. This is very time consuming and several time have missed important information. I find this class frustrating because as students here we are all very busy and I feel that cs class goes out of its way to be inconvient - ie. always checking the newsgroup, and especially assignments - projects were way too long, were usually not adequately prepared for them, and several time the actually assignment was changed after I had already started working on them! finally - the carpenter Suggestions for Improvement: the newgroup is awful. It is extremely timing wasting and inefficient. This is a cs class - but putting everything online - is just an inconvience for the students. Handing out assingments like every other class would be more helpful. Also - there does not seem to be an logical set up to the way information is presented - we seem to just randomly learn different topics and are not prepared well for the projects. Too much time is wasted in this class trying to sort out what we need to do and when - this is very annoying. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 1) a little Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 1) very bad Best things about the course: none Worst things about the course: not learning enough/any code in lecture Suggestions for Improvement: teach more code and less theory in lecture _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I think that the exercises are good because they test us on stuff that we did in lecture. We actually have example to follow with those. Worst things about the course: The teaching and the projects are really bad. The material on the projects totally do not relate to stuff that we did in class. Only after the project is due is it taught to us. The time that we have to spend online is too much for me considering that I don't have internet connection in my room. I spend a lot of time in the computer lab, which affects the time I spend on my other classes. The book does not help us understand the material. Suggestions for Improvement: I simply think that the teacing style has to be changed. Sometimes, I think that the class is targeted to help people who have prior programming experience. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 4) extremely Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: There is a lot of help available, most general questions like submission rules and whatnot are answered quickly through newsgroup and email, and you can work with a partner. Worst things about the course: We have way too much to get done in too little time, the pace of the course is too fast for the complexity of the material for people who have never been taught programming before, and the consultants don't know any matlab, only java. Suggestions for Improvement: The pace is way too fast for those people who are not programming wizzes. This is a required course for me to be an engineer, but I am going to be taking biology courses (ABEN) and it really worries me that this one course that I spend endless hours on could determine whether or not I can affiliate with an engineering discipline that really isn't even similar to it. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 4) good Best things about the course: working with a partner my ta is EXTREMELY helpful!!! she is GREAT learning to problem solve things on our own Worst things about the course: Lecture material is often irrelevant Homework/exercises etc are often poorly explained I often find that lecture is not useful in doing the projects Suggestions for Improvement: try to focus in lecture on things relevant to upcoming projects so that "we" don't feel so lost on the projects! _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 5) unbearably Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: 1) working w/ partners, 2) online submission, AND 3) news group postings Worst things about the course: 1) organization of lecture, 2) clarity of TA, and 3) confusing lecture notes Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 4) extremely Course Overall: 2) bad Best things about the course: Worst things about the course: The lecture code most often does not work. The projects are too long and too difficult and the instructors are not very helpful. Suggestions for Improvement: Easier projects, slower curriculum, more help professors. _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 2) some Stress from CS100M: 2) some Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: Worst things about the course: Suggestions for Improvement: _______________________________________________________________________________ General Stress Level: 3) a lot Stress from CS100M: 3) a lot Course Overall: 3) ok Best things about the course: I will learn enough matlab for use in mechanical engineering classes. The lecture sketches are very helpful. The newsgroup is useful. The website is very useful and easy to navigate. Worst things about the course: Projects take a great deal of time. lecture has on occasion been hard to follow. It is much easier for people with programming experience. Suggestions for Improvement: Only comment: make the projects less time-consuming.