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Course:Computer Systems I (CSC-373-610) Quarter:Spring 09/10 Time: ::: - ::: Location: Distance Learning |
James Riely PhD Associate Professor jriely@cs.depaul.edu Instructor homepage
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What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?
1. seemed to engage more with the students who had previous knowledge in subject area.Needed to be better prepared before class, know the programs he would be having student use to complete assignments.
2. Really good about clearing the whiteboard for the online students.Good at explaining things so they make sense and pausing for questions.Everything was very well organized with a class web site and mailing list.Talked a little past the ending of the recording a few times.
3. He's got a vast knowledge which is a definite plus. Sometimes I felt that he had so much information that he wanted to share, and he's so passionate about it that he talks himself into a circle.
What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?
1. with only one previous computer class, I did not benefit from this class.
2. Learning to use the debugger (I believe) will be very helpful in the future.Also learning assembly language and getter a better grasp on binary and hex should be helpful in the future.
3. I liked the buffer overflow attacks, it was pretty interesting. I don't feel like I learned a whole lot about the actually language of C though. I wouldn't be comfortable trying to write a program like I could at the end of CSC 211.
What do you suggest to improve this course?
1. Make 2 or more computer languages a requirement to take this class. Learning C, Linus, compilers, binary logic and VI or Nano is too much for one 12 week class.
2. The text book is good if you use it correctly. It's much more understandable if you go through the practice problems versus trying to read it like a standard text book. Might be helpful if the instructor would clue the students in to that at the beginning of the course.
3. It was a little slow to begin with as far as picking up the material. I wouldn't say extend the bitwise stuff out another week, because it's already a good chunk of time. But that stuff was tough to grasp with just having taken CSC 211 previously. It didn't seem necessary to even have that knowledge.
Comment on the grading procedures and exams
1. Grading procedures and exams were norm.
2. No comment - everything was as expected.
3. It was straight-forward. There's deadlines, and people not meeting the deadlines shouldn't be rewarded with the same grades as others with time management skills.
Other comments?
1. Offer a couple of programming languages as pre-req for the masters program.
3. I imagine there's disgruntled people with this class, but I can be almost certain it's the ones that want to be carried through material. I don't feel I had to spend an especially vast amount of time beyond what would be required of me in other classes. I feel that there's a lot of information to know and people need to suck it up and learn it. Dr Riely stated up front it was going to be hard. I guess people thought that was a joke.