Evaluation Comments
Course:Data Structures II
            (CSC-403-801)

Quarter:Winter 14/15
Time: W 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.   Strengths: likable, easy to talk to, energetic. Weaknesses: Too much overlap with Princeton's Algorithms course
2.   Explains the material clearly. One of the best instructors I've ever had.
3.   The structures are important to know, but this series of courses covers material too slowly. Each week's objectives and expectations should be stated more clearly, and perhaps two week's lessons could be grouped into one.
4.   
5.   Major Strengths: Classroom instruction and code visualizationWeaknesses: Grading time and homework instruction clarity
6.   N/A
7.   Strength - He is thorough and covers all the topics in detailsWeakness - It would be great if Prof. Riely can discuss Assignment issues outside the class time.

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?


1.   Learning various data structures, how to solve problems recursively
2.   Out-of-class communication with instructor and other students, particularly Google Groups.
3.   
4.   
5.   Methods of approaching algorithms and problem solving.
6.   N/A
7.   

What do you suggest to improve this course?


1.   I don't have any suggestions.
2.   More homework or at least practice examples
3.   Writing more code by hand instead of complementing pre-written classes/structures.
4.   The homework assignments and lectures seemed a bit disconnected. We had a good introduction to concepts, but the homework had us implement more advanced versions of these concepts with little instruction or guidance on how to bridge the gap.
5.   By far the best CDM instructor I have had. The instructor was very personable and a natural teacher. With that being said, there was one incident where the potential grade for a homework was 0/10 points. After the assignment was graded it was actually going to be out of twenty points. Like I said this was a single isolated incident that was probably caused by oversight. Also the midterm probably needed to be one or two questions shorter with the time that was allotted. The grading has been extremely fair and I hope to be able to take additional classes with Professor Riely in the future.
6.   N/A
7.   Include more difficult problems.

Comment on the grading procedures and exams


1.   Exams were graded in quickly and were graded appropriately.
2.   Challenging but just right
3.   
4.   It would be great to have access to tests that would accurately help us gauge how correct our solution was (i.e. how the instructor tested it). Often I would have a correct solution in terms of my tests but find out later that the grading software was running the program in unexpected ways and that my code was incorrect.
5.   Already answered.
6.   N/A
7.   

Other comments?


1.   
2.   No
3.   clearer weekly objectives, and expectations, and perhaps a change in the homework format to include more hand-written code.
4.   
5.   I hope you teach something besides data structures because I would enjoy having you as a professor again.
6.   N/A
7.