Evaluation Comments
Course:Computer Systems I
            (CSC-373-701)

Quarter:Autumn 09/10
Time: Tu 17:45 - 21:00
Location: Loop Campus
James Riely PhD

Associate Professor
jriely@cs.depaul.edu
Instructor homepage

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Summary     1       2       3       4       5       6       7       

What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?


1.   having had to do the bomblab live and being deducted points every time it exploded it was horrible. it made it much more stressful, less fun, and less of a learning experience, especially given that i learn through my mistakes.
2.   He stimulated interest almost all the time with his high energy & comedic aura ... but I did not understand very much of the material. It's almost like he would introduce something, and it would be foreign to me.
3.   Instructor has a great sense of humor and generates excitement about the material.Even though the material was very difficult he broke it down well and took the time to answer questions and explain the details.I would definitely like to take a course with him again.
4.   Instructor is very active on the course mailing list, treats students fairly, and is very knowledgeable about the subject matter being presented.
5.   strengths - he knows a lot about the subject material, he presents it in an interesting/fun wayweaknesses - he moves on too quickly sometimes without allowing students to ask questions
7.   strengths: ability to teach a hard subject to the classweaknesses: moving too fast, a lot of assumption with what students may or may not know

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?


5.   gaining a practical understanding of how computer systems work
6.   I learned some awesome stuff bout computer systems!!!!!
7.   labs

What do you suggest to improve this course?


1.   allow the students to run the bomblab on their home pc, or at least remove the explosion penalty.
2.   I'm an IA & SE major. There needs to be a soft "Intro to Assembly" course, OR something geared specifically for Security & Networking majors. I felt that this was more so for Computer Science majors.
3.   Fewer homework assignments.
5.   a TA or tutor for the class - there are a lot of subjects students are expected to "figure out" very quickly (C programming language, Linux, remote access, etc.)
7.   slowing down the pace of the course

Comment on the grading procedures and exams


2.   He was fair on the grading.
3.   Exams and assignments were never busy work. They did a great job of testing actual understanding of the material.
5.   tough exams, but graded leniently
7.   fair

Other comments?


2.   Great professor, but it seems like half the class 'got it' & the other half were lost.
7.   out of my 4 years at depaul, I would say this has been the toughest class I have taken yet.