Evaluation Comments
Course:Object-Oriented Software Development
            (SE-450-202)

Quarter:Winter 02/03
Time: W 17:45 - 21:00
Location: Loop Campus
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.   I really like the Prof's way of adding humor to his lectures.
2.   Very helpful for improving my object oriented development skills. Instructor was obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about his profession.Instructor spend too much time attending to the lowest common denominator in the class. For example, an entire class(worth about $200) was devoted to going over an exam. Most people in the class, however, received an 'A' for the exam and did not need this. This should have been done offline. I wanted more OO knowlege for my buck.
3.   Strengths:Very Organized.Very Knowledgeable.Communicates Complex and Abstract Material in an easy to understand manner.Writes extensive and easy to understand class notes for on-line use.Weaknesses:Sometimes (most likely un-intentionally) expresses non-verbal communication that makes people feel uncomfortable.
4.   He has an extremely effective method of teaching, alert and engaging.
5.   The instuctor seems very involved in planning the course and keeping material current, however as a result the topics may often be presented in an poorly organised manner.
6.   Strength: Good presentation style. Weakness: Never sticks to planned lecture
7.   Could really benefit from tighter organization of the class. Organization seemed seriously lacking. Should stop saying "does that make sense every five minutes"Strength: has more personality than most CS professors
8.   good presenter/ enthusiastic / well-organize
10.   Has broad knowledge of subject. Teaching methods are rather disjointed.
12.   Weakness - Staying on topic.Strength - Enjoyment of teaching

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?


1.   The final project
2.   Learning GoF design patterns helped me directly and immediately in my job function.
3.   The explanations of pattern use and refactoring for Object Oriented Programming
4.   Design patterns
5.   The intensive programming has quickly made me an effective java programmer
6.   Design patterns
7.   Useful material
8.   OO/ UML / project
9.   using patterns in the project
10.   study of Design Patterns
11.   Patterns.
12.   Design Patterns

What do you suggest to improve this course?


1.   I would like more actual code examples on patterns.
2.   See comment above.
3.   have a better textbook; i.e.: easier to parse through and more clearly explains the material.
5.   Better organization, clearly definining how the student will be evalutated. Actual midterm was far different than the description that the instuctor disseminated. Also the cource rewards people who work in IT far too much, this is an academic instition which should emphasis theoritical knowledge. I think too much empahsis is placed on programming skills!
6.   Cover more design patterns
7.   Organize the class better. Organize each lecture beforehand and stick to it
8.   1)whether in class or outside of class, more examples of converting UML to code patterns and vice-versa. 2)a more realistic sample midterm3)slow the pace for the first few weeks would help students set up their computers and review their java
10.   The course content presents Object Oriented techniques adequately.
11.   Unfortunately this is a lot of material to absorb in a ten week class. I don't think most people will get as much out of it as if the class was a semester long instead of quarter. There is a steep learning curve for this material.
12.   Nothi9ng

Comment on the grading procedures and exams


2.   I wanted more timely feedback regarding grading questions on assignments.
3.   Course On-Line was having some problems with the homework early on in the quarter.
6.   Took off a point for a syntax error on an exam that a compiler would have caught. I deserved that point.
7.   Gradng was haphazard (follow from poor organization). Exam seemed very arcane and did not seem to test the concepts very well. When we we're going over the midterm the professor said this last question was really like extra credit. I didn't expect most people to get it, even though this problem was not in fact extra credit. It did count against your exam grade. At the least the professor could have noted the problems difficulty on the exam so that students wouldn't waste time doing a problem he didn't expect most of them to get.
8.   exams are so code intensive that I get lost as to what/where to find the answer, maybe that was the intent??
10.   Excellent.
11.   The grading was fair. I would have liked some more feedback on the project in stages. It is hard to determine as feel for large projects if you never have done one before.
12.   I don't think a HW assignment out of 20 is fair.

Other comments?


3.   The main textbook stunk, but the on-line notes were so helpful that the textbook was un-necessary. The optional textbook by Shalloway and Trott was helpful.
6.   Needs to stay with the planned lecture.I was frustrated that the textbooks changed between when I asked Dr. Riely about which books would be used last Fall and the course begin date. Even the week before the course started, the textbook update was not on the website, so I bought the wrong book.Consequently, I did not use the Jia book, and still doing very well (high grades on midterm, homeworks). Seems there is a preference in general at DePaul to get students to purchase books written by DePaul professors even if the book is not essential to the class, which I believe the Jia book must not be since I didn't need to use it.
7.   Professor could benefit from greater organization.
8.   overall good teacher, very knowledgeable, personable