Evaluations CS4311 Fall 2001

• Thank you, I did learn after all.
• Warn people of the amount of work required on the very first day of class. Make the students understand the amount of commitment that course requires.
• I make every effort to let students know what the course will cover and what the project is like on the first day of class. But the project each semester is a new project with a new client. This results in an element of the unknown.
• Works- Notes and blank spaces in notes. Improve- Examples in class. More labs regarding system. Not Work- TIME!!! More time to develop system. Thanks!
• This comment refers to my practice of delivering lectures using PowerPoint. I discovered two things when I started using PowerPoint. (1) I covered material much too quickly for students to comprehend or take notes. (2) My students tuned out by the middle of the third slide.
• To give my students a chance at taking notes, I started printing the slides and handing them out. This allowed students to write notes on the hard copies without having to write all of the material in the slide. What I observed then was that students tuned out in the middle of the first slide. No one wrote anything on the hard copies.
• This semester I handed out hard copies of the slides, but the hard copies only contained parts of the notes. While the students did not have to write everything, to get a complete set of notes, they did have to write some things. What I observed this semester is that (a) students write on the hard copies in order to complete the notes; (b) students write other notes on their hard copies while I am discussing the points on the slide; (3) the lecture slows down some; (4) my students pay attention throughout the lecture.
• I think he is a good professor, he always have time to help when asked for. I think that we don't have enough time to do all that he wants us to do, but that can be solved with a little more of organization, although he is very organized with the material. He shure know what he is talking about and seems to have a lot of experience in the field.
• It is very greatful being in your class. Some frustrations happened.
• I love this man.
• I think the class was great, the amount of work was to much but that is the way that it should be. Probably for next semesters the client for the system could be more available to students questions and it will be good if the customer could meet more with the students.
• I'd like to thank the professor for being helpful and supportive. Indeed, for going out of his way for being that way.
• I learned a lot from this class when we actually put the concepts to work. I understood them more opposed to the class lecture. I didn't like that lectures were given in powerpoint. There is a tendency to expect the class to understand the concept from a word that may be misleading. More class work also helps me to understand.
• I use PowerPoint in an effort to reduce the class preparation time for lectures. I would rather use the chalk board (in spite of comments from students saying their notes look like a car accident at the end of class). My use of PowerPoint is a compromise between wanting my students to organize the notes on their own and being able to reuse material from semester to semester.
• Dr. Roach did an excellent job this semester. He had the material organized and he donated personal time each week to each team with regular meetings. There was a lot of material covered, but Dr. Roach explained well. Also, he adjusted his schedule and teaching according to how the semester went and students were learning. He was available often for questions and he never ceased encouraging us to do our best and not stress out.
• This is a very stressful class with a lot of assignments and material. I had been stress during the whole semester and I do not want to be again in this position. I believe Dr. Roach is a very good instructor and person and without him as an instructor, it would had been worse.
• Keeping track of our time spent on the project (PSP) was a good thing but it was the highest pain in the ***. I have ever had in a class. It was so easy to get caught up in getting work done on the project that you would forget to do PSP or forget to turn your timesheet in. We could have had a little more insight as what to put in the test plan. Overall this was a great course but I've never done so much damn work in my life.
• Keeping time sheets is a common task in the workplace. Frequently, in-house software shops charge time to projects, and the time sheets are necessary. At NASA, our time sheets were subject to daily audits. We want this information in order to compare level of effort to a-priori cost indicators. If we can use standard cost estimation models (such as COCOMO), we may be able to better scope projects for 4310/4311.
• I thought this class was very good. It was taught very well and provided a lot examples.
• This has been a very difficult and time consuming class I know that the material that we cover asks a lot from us as students but sometimes it's hard to keep up. I really liked the class though, it is a very interesting field and important for us to understand. But I still believe that it wouldn't have been so difficult if we had known Java before Software I.
• The nature of the course is hectic, difficult and very time consuming. It is very interesting though. I don't think this class should be worth only 3 credit hours. It should be a 5 credit hour class. I learned many things, but I really, really would have appreciated more time so I could have performed better. I know that asking for more time is very unrealistic, but there should be at least a constraint when taking this course. For example, not letting students take Computer architecture and software engineering at the same time. Thanks for everything Dr. Roach.
• I have never been pushed to my very limits like I was in this class. My grades was the productivity I have shown may not reflect my effort and understanding of the course material. I have learned so much, but its difficult to keep up with every single bit of information. I only wish my grade in this course would reflect the time and effort I dedicated to this class. I am, however, very fortunate to have taken this class with Dr. Roach. It is good to know that there are professors out there who care about their students.