|
Course:Computer Systems I (CSC-373-810) Quarter:Winter 09/10 Time: ::: - ::: Location: Distance Learning |
James Riely PhD Associate Professor jriely@cs.depaul.edu Instructor homepage
|
What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?
1. strength: patienceweakness: periodically references material not required as prerequisite to explain concepts
2. I felt as if the instructor had taught the course so often that he was on auto pilot most of the time. It was difficult to get the sense that he was excited about the material. That being said, he was amazingly responsive to e-mail queries.
3. Dr. Riely is very helpful and easily accessible. I appreciated his flexibility in due dates as well as his help with homework assignments and clarification questions.Sometimes Dr. Riely will go off on tangents in class that, while relevant, are difficult to follow if you do not have the code in question in front of you. I would like to see Dr. Riely be more structured in this regard.
What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?
1. labs
2. The lab assignments were among the best assignments I have ever had to do outside of class. They are fun and force you to engage with the material.
3. The labs were the most beneficial because they were very challenging and I finished each of them with a solid understanding of the course material.
What do you suggest to improve this course?
1. 1: improve slides2: require CSC212 as minimum prerequisite
2. I would add a lab assignment at the end of the course to encompass the material learned in the final 2 chapters. It does seem that after the buflab assignments the other material gets the short end of the stick.
3. I do feel the labs were extremely beneficial, but the labs were WAY too long and involved. I would spend hours and hours a week on the labs, to the detriment of the class lectures and readings. It got to the point that the labs took the place of other course work for the class. Luckily I was only taking one course; if I were taking two, there's no way I would've been able to complete the labs. Again, the labs are great practice, and I enjoyed the challenge, but I feel that they could be shorter for class purposes.
Comment on the grading procedures and exams
1. fair
2. The grading was a little slow for my taste. Even though the grading server automatically grades the lab submissions, it would have been nice to see a formal note from the prof that you received X on a particular assignment.
3. I felt the exams were appropriate and Dr. Riely graded very fairly.
Other comments?
2. I am happy with this class and would recommend it to others.
3. I enjoyed the class, and I thought Dr. Riely was very helpful and understanding, and wanted to make sure that we knew what we were doing. Again, I'd like to see shorter labs, and perhaps class discussions that were more succinct, but overall, I thought both the class and instructor were good