Evaluation Comments
Course:Object-Oriented Software Development
            (SE-450-910)

Quarter:Spring 05/06
Time: ::: - :::
Location: Distance Learning
James Riely PhD

Associate Professor
jriely@cs.depaul.edu
Instructor homepage

Select a Page:  
Summary     1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8       9       
10     11     12     13     14     15     16     

What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?


2.   Very knowledgable. Clearly knows the material to a very high degree.Does not follow class notes, and is sometimes hard to follow.He asks if everyone is with him, can see that a lot of students are not quite following, but then keep going anyway without interacting with students to see where he can clarify.
3.   Very good at explaining material. Very conceptual, and clear.
4.   The instructor is knowledgeable and energetic, however, he has the burden of presenting a lot of material in a very short amount of time. He should try to refine his notes and reading lists a little to cut down on what I would assume is "scope creep" in his course.
5.   The professor is quite knowledgeable about his field. In fact, his attitudes and interests are leading me to change my specialization. He is very good at explaining the “hype” of the industry and is not afraid to share his opinions on the good and the bad. Weakness wise, I have very little to say. Perhaps overly wordy at times and doesn’t stick to plan?
6.   VERY STRONG TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, BUT DIDN'T WORK HARD ENOUGH TO CONVEY THAT KNOWLEDGE TO STUDENTS
8.   Instructor is very knowledgable in the area. I like his teaching style, the notes, the email to the groups are extremely helpful. I would recommend instructor monitor the writing on the white board from time to time to make it easier to read for DL student.
9.   good presentation of complex material
10.   He is able to present concepts in a manner students can grasp. Not only that, he does not blindly proceed through additional material without checking students' understanding of current material.
11.   Subject knowledge, ability to listen and answer questions. Staying up to date on student questions. Grading in a timely fashion.
12.   He's very good, and knows his stuff. However he's a hard instructor. With him I have to watch lectures more than once to fully understand the material.
14.   All around very good.
16.   Very knowledgeable.. presented material well. Sometimes didn't really prepare the class well for us to understand what we needed to understand at the macro level. Example, it took a while before we really got that we were learning about all these patterns and that the patterns were the primary focus. I and other students thought they were mostly secondary until someone asked and he clarified.

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?


2.   Seeing that there are better ways to organize software. (Patterns)Doing the homework using existing code was very helpful.
3.   Everything. It was like a course about the structure of Java, which I didn't realizeuntil course started. A great way to Learn Java, which Data structures somehow didn't do.
4.   Learning the design patterns is extremely beneficial for designing software. In addition, the project gives students the opportunity to practice what they have learned.
5.   Since I am a systems software engineer (compiler engineer), learning design patterns has been a good exercise. More importantly, I’ve now got the understanding of different patterns that I’ve used (much to the chagrin of many at work who claim “OO knowledge” and are surprised when I point out their mistakes in OO practices). Improving my Java knowledge is also an added benefit, especially since I’m learning it without all of the Java-elitism that exists.
6.   OO DESIGN IS CRITICAL TO MY SUCCESS BUT I HAVEN'T HAD TOO MUCH EXPOSURE TO IT - THIS CLASS COVERED IT IN DETAIL
7.   I learned some new things about the Java language. Other than that, everything taught in this course was thouroughly covered in undergrad (did not go to DePaul), except this course is taught in Java instead of C++.
8.   Good programming practices and design patterns.
9.   Lecture presentation
11.   Reading instructor provided code to figure out how to complete my part of the homework. Actually studying design patterns and trying to implement them.
14.   All - this is fundamental stuff

What do you suggest to improve this course?


2.   Simplify the class notes, and follow them. There is a lot of extraneous material presented that clouds the main points we are trying to learn.(I did enjoy the supplemental reading available through the course website. If I had the time, I would definitely read through the vast array of knowledge the instructor has placed at our fingertips.)
3.   Nothing. Just fine.
4.   a refined reading list, I find myself sorting through webpages, GOF, Head First, etc. I think we can all agree this is too much material to absorb in 8 weeks. Perhaps pick the sections or each that are necessary and trim the fat to a "if you want to know more" list. This would save me the time (lazy programmer) of trying to determine what is more applicable to the class. The instructor could do this "once and only once" instead of each student doing it.
5.   The best way to improve this course is to require everyone to work on the same final project and to setup a general forum for the students to interact with each other in solving problems. Actively pushing the students to solve their problems amongst themselves first would be a better learning experience.
6.   SLOW DOWN AND FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION
7.   Remove it? (See previous comment.)
9.   Use the head first books
11.   Clearer writing on the whiteboards. As a distance student, it was difficult or impossible to read some of the board writing. Though, through readings and conversation, it wasn't too hard to figure out what was going on.
14.   Give the prof fewer students or a/another TA.
15.   I believe the course may have accomplished much more had we not ended up a week behind.

Comment on the grading procedures and exams


2.   Grading seems fair, but the midterm was too difficult given the material that was presented in class. (I think this is the case, because we are assumed to be experienced programmers coming into this class, which I am not.)
3.   OK. Open book and notes is always a goodpolicy, because it is hard to remember material in a 10 week semester.
4.   Seem fair to date. I really appreciate having the test mailed back to me (distance) with marks. Prehaps some comments? I know that is asking a lot for 100 papers.
5.   Although I knew the material quite well, I find the handwritten nature of the exams to be a hindrance. After 20 years typing on a computer, my brain cannot think correctly with paper and pencil! I spend more time erasing what I’ve written and always run out of time. Perhaps having timed online testing would help.This hindrance with paper and pencil, in addition to my ADHD, is getting me thinking that I need to setup special testing with the disability testing center.
6.   FAIR AND IMPARTIAL TO THE MOST PART - TOO MANY ASSIGNMENTS - NEED 2 WEEKS TO PERFORM MANY OF THE ASSIGNMENTS, BUT WAS ONLY GIVEN 1
9.   seemed fine
11.   No complaints.
14.   Fair

Other comments?


1.   I don't like paying for a course to hear some instructors’ political views. This instructor made only my two minor comments, but in general I would like all instructors at DePaul to leave there political bias at home and stick to teaching the subject they are paid to do.
2.   This is one course evaluation that would be more valuable to fill out after the course is over. At this point, I am not sure of the value I am getting out of this course.
4.   All in all, a good class and positive experience
6.   INSTRUCTOR IS VERY LIKEABLE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, IF A BIT SNOBBISH
11.   Repeat student questions in class. As a distance learning student, I could not hear in class student questions. Through your answers, it was possible to get a good idea of the question, but repetitiion of the question would have been useful (though likely annoying to the in class students)
12.   very hard class, the most difficult so far.
13.   I feel that the schedule of the course was affected on the first day of the quarter and we never really recover at least for the first few weeks. The last few weeks of the quarter had a better pace but I wish we had spent more time looking at patterns in a little more detail. Overall, it was a good, interesting class. Although, it could have been better.
14.   Thank you.