Spring 2001 CSCI 340 evaluation comments

This is CSB|SJU's evaluation form. I've written down the entire array of comments for the course, so they of course run the gamut. Giving you only a selection of comments would make it look better, but they wouldn't be representative. This gives a sounder idea of general student satisfaction.

CSCI 340 is our Programming Languages course. At the time, it was a required course to graduate, and the class was composed primarily of seniors who needed the course for their major.

  1. My DESIRE TO ENROLL in this course was...
    8 Very strong
    5 Strong
    4 Moderate
    0 Weak
    0 Very weak
  2. The LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES for this course were...
    6 Very clear
    8 Clear
    3 Somewhat clear
    0 Unclear
    0 Not provided
  3. OVERALL, in this course I LEARNED...
    7 An exceptional amount
    9 A good amount
    1 An average amount
    0 Little
    0 Very little
  4. OVERALL, I rate this COURSE to be...
    5 Excellent
    6 Very good
    5 Good
    0 Fair
    1 Poor

    WHY did you rate this course in this way?

    Excellent:
    Although workload was heavy at times, I enjoyed the class immensely.

    We actually learn more about different programming languages.

    I learned how and why some programming languages differ. And as a result became a better programmer in my main language C++.

    Because I learned a lot about many programming languages and it kept all that lousy self esteem in check.

    Very good:
    Difficult and challenging

    It's a tough class but you do learn a lot of things.

    Challenging but doable

    I understood it as everything was organized.

    A necessary course for all CSCI majors

    It would be helpful for the CS dept to ``standardize'' some classes - big discrepancy between different profs teaching the same course. Some of the languages are not applicable outside of the class - didn't seem to give us any applicable languages to potential jobs.

    Good:
    It's subject matter does not interest me in the least, although it was necessary.

    Looked at many programming languages. Good projects.

    I was introduced to many different programming languages.

    I learned a lot, but could have learned more had we had an isntructor who was better at explaining things.

    Very hard

    Poor:
    I would like to learn more about new languages rather than those that are 30 years old. If we are going to spend so much time in the lab I would like to learn something applicable.

  5. OVERALL, I rate the INSTRUCTOR of this course to be...
    5 Excellent
    5 Very good
    4 Good
    3 Fair
    0 Poor

    WHY did you rate the instructor in this way?

    Excellent:
    Prof Burch was/is one of the most intelligent professors I have ever had. He is curious and available to give help to his students.

    Explains things well

    After the initail week, Carl relaxed and was able to teach effectively.

    He knew the material well, covered the material thoroughly, and expected a lot from the student.

    Very Good:
    Knew material well. Difficult, challenging class.

    Again, he's tough but he's always willing to help and he puts in lots of time and effort to his students.

    Very helpful, always available for student questions.

    He had a lot of passion for what he taught.

    He was organized, helpful, but lots of projects which took a lot of time.

    Good:
    He makes the course a challenge which proves valuable in the end. Is willing to help.

    He is very intelligent and knowledgeable in this field but needs towork on his people skills and presentation skills - should slow down a bit while presenting - even though the class is silent when he asks ``do you understand?'' it does not mean we do - quite the contrary, really. Also, the way he taught was not how he expressed in the syllabus - we were not given the reading beforehand and never had problems to work on, to bring to class as stated. And, it doesn't hurt to present material creatively and different - to keep things interesting.

    Did not like having tests same day homework was due. Nice to have prof around for help.

    I really liked the fact that he had notes, tests, assignments on Web page. A little unclear what was going to be on tests.

    Fair:
    He is not good at explaining things and makes assumptions that aren't usually true about our knowledge base.

    He still. I don't think he is a great instructor, but with time I think he'll improve.

    Most of the time we were given programming projects with very little, if any direction. I understand that this may be a very common thing in the ``real world,'' but at least wewould get some training on a language and syntax before undertaking a major project.