Evaluations CS100 Introduction to Computers Fall 1998

• Could present a little bit more interesting.
• We go fast so some students with no knowledge of subject matter are totally lost.
• He doesn't see like he is enjoying what he is teaching.
• Computers is very hard and boring to lesson to, but Roach does a very good job as far as keeping my attention.
• Very effective teaching style.
• Quite knowledgable about all subject matter. Willing to answer questions.
• Good introductory course.
• Seems like some of the information is way above our heads.
• For a 100 level class, it seems like were learning to program computers.
• There is a tremendous difference between using software and creating it. It is similar to the difference between using a microwave oven and building one or driving a car and building a car. I can assure you that you do not program computers in CSCI 100. You are simply using them.
• If you would like to learn how to program a computer, I suggest taking CSCI 150, a gentler introduction to programming.
• Needs to apply his facts, he just only explains so that he understands not us
• I don't get a log out of def. Written on the chalkboard
• Sometimes lectures are unclear and sometimes he doesn't stick to the subject.
• This course has too much requirement for a 100 level class. The teacher is fine--the class it not. I should be able to get an a in a 100 level class just for showing up. What is anyone going to gain from t his class who is not a computer science major -- nothing. The lab would be good just for people who are not in computers major. I could care less about binary and hexidecimal -- what is that going to do for me in elementary ed.
• The designation "100" does not imply "free of content", "no time requried", or "no effort necessary". It simply means that the prerequisites include only standard college preparatory high school knowledge and ability.
• This is college, not playschool. We do not teach courses that only require attendance. If you want content-free courses and automatic A's, go somewhere else and do it now. College is not for everyone. There are many examples of bright, industrious, intelligent, and highly successful people who have not completed college. I feel sorry for you that you did not come here for an education, and I feel even more sorry for every one of your future students.
• If you are so sure that you know what you need to know, why don't you take pains to learn exactly that and get on with your life? If your answer is "I need the degree", you are wrong. When you know enough, you will be able to do without the degree. (Some of the richest, most successful folks in the country dropped out of college: two examples are Bill Gates and Michael Dell.)

If you still believe you need a degree, then you put stock into the claim that a degree ensures a level of competency obtained by meeting requirements asserted from another authority -- that is, you don't know everything you need to know. In one sense, you are absolutely correct: you don't need to know about X (where X is any of the things students have told me they don't need to know). There are some five billion people on earth today who know nothing about it and still manage to get along day to day. You don't need calculus to drive a truck, harvest fruit, or serve fries at McDonalds.

Is there any course at this institution where it is not possible to learn something significant? Are you already either so learned or ignorant that no knowledge could be useful to you? Is education so structured and painful for you that you can't tolerate a new view of something? I do feel sorry for your future students, since you will surely kill their natural curiosity.

There are many things an informed citizen should know. What really happened in East Timor? What really caused Y2K and how could it be avoided? When the package says "average lifetime 1000 hours", what does that mean (that is, how long can you expect this product to last ... given 100 of them, how many will be running after 1000 hours? If the product is a lightbulb and you say 50, then you are wrong.)? What does it mean for a government agency to spend $100 million on "electronic infrastructure"? Where does the money go, and what do you get out of it? Did the Aztec calendar really prove to be more accurate than the one we use now? If there is life on Mars, what does it look like? If there is life outside our solar system, how will we know? What will it look like? If a farmer plants cotton on a piece of land for 20 years, what is the effect on the soil? Suppose the global warming threat is really a farce. How can you tell? Suppose it's not a farce. What can be done about it? A commentator on the radio says that the United States is the first "experimental republic." How is that different from a democracy? Is that statement true? What could we have learned from other governmental systems that could improve the quality of life for citizens in the US and in the world? If the population rate does continue to grow at an annual 2.3%, what effects can we expect to see by the year 2020? A solicitor calls you on the phone and tells you there's a great internet company with an IPO at $2/share hitting the market in the morning. Should you invest?

The list is endless. I can't tell you what you need to know. I can only encourage you to learn what you can and think.

• I feel like these lectures could be more useful in application of everyday use. I want to know how to make them work.
• Several students made comments about the difference between labs and lectures. I should have made this more explicit at the beginning of the course. The laboratory and the lecture in fact cover different materials. In response to the comments I have made an effort to explain this more clearly.
• What we cover in lab is how to use the current version of a few particular pieces of software. These are the tools you are most likely to need in the near future (for example, in college): word processing, spreadsheet, data base, internet web browsers. We selected these because employers have asked for them and experience has indicated that these are the most used tools.
• In five years, knowledge of these particular tools will be worthless. We know this. (Look at WordStar, Executive Secretary, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, 20-20). The software we taught five years ago is not even available now.
• What we cover in lecture is background information that will help you understand the changes in computer technology that will happen in the future. This will enable you to continue to learn new technology as it appears. In the labs: immediately useful, but dated. In lecture: more useful in the long run, but not apparently immediately useful.
• I really don't care about how many mega bits it takes to run a program
• Please see my response to the comment two previous to this one.
• it is good to learn about this stuff
• The lecture&lab do not go together! When taking this class I assumed I would be taught instead of assumed that everybody has had some computer experience when I went to school (they didn't have computers)
• Several students made comments about the difference between labs and lectures. I should have made this more explicit at the beginning of the course. The laboratory and the lecture in fact cover different materials. In response to the comments I have made an effort to explain this more clearly.
• What we cover in lab is how to use the current version of a few particular pieces of software. These are the tools you are most likely to need in the near future (for example, in college): word processing, spreadsheet, data base, internet web browsers. We selected these because employers have asked for them and experience has indicated that these are the most used tools.
• In five years, knowledge of these particular tools will be worthless. We know this. (Look at WordStar, Executive Secretary, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, 20-20). The software we taught five years ago is not even available now.
• What we cover in lecture is background information that will help you understand the changes in computer technology that will happen in the future. This will enable you to continue to learn new technology as it appears. In the labs: immediately useful, but dated. In lecture: more useful in the long run, but not apparently immediately useful.
• We could use a little more Guidence, instead of letting do it on our own.
• Several students have voiced this sentiment, particularly in the Fall 98 semester. I agree with them, and I have made changes to the conduct of the labs. When I arrived here in the fall of 1998, the CSCI100 laboratory component was new. We experimented with several ideas. One of my experiments was to give students a minimal amount of lecture at the start of the lab and let them work through the tutorial-style lab manual on their own. Whenever the student had a problem, the instructor would be available to assist.
• My intent was to allow those students with more experience could quickly cover the material; those with less experience and needing more assistance would be able to spend more time and get more help. This seemed to work well for the self-motivated and more computer-literate students, but not so well for the less motivated, shy, or less computer-literate students.
• In the Spring 99 semester, I started demonstrating the software at the start of each lab. I tried to keep the demonstrations brief to allow students more hands-on time. This seemed to help some of the students and didn't hinder the faster students.
• I will continue to experiment with ideas and reasonable suggestions offered by students.
• Good instructor.
• Doesn't help us unless we ask for it.
• I am not clairvoyant. I don't know how to identify and help students who don't ask for help, particularly in the lab.
• Doesn't teach, but gives us staff and lets us go. Then we ask questions if we have any.
• Please see the previous response explaining the structure of the laboratories.
• Sometimes instructions are hard to follow and understand.
• I would like to see a lab that was more flexiable--For example, why not have us create
• This would be a good course for people not in computer science major. Just make the lab into a class -- like bus. Computer App. /li>
  • This is not Computer Buisness Applications. I do not believe that a literacy course should only teach specific applications.
• He doesn't helpin the way that will help me learn. He hands you the assignment and lets you lose. I have found that when I ask questions, he is very rude!
• Please see the previous response explaining the structure of the laboratories.
• he didn't teach in lab
• I learned a lot
• To have your instructor give you lab sheet & say her is your in class assignment, no explanation or anything. What am I paying for, I can follow directions out of a book on my own. I don't need to pay someone to do that. I have never used a computer & it is assumed that when you take this course you have some computer experience. I think you need to be more sensative to the fact that not everyone who is in this college is just out of school When I was in high school we did not have computers only typewriters when I took this class I thought I would be introduces not just thrown in to sink. I assumed that if I had to take a lab with this course that it would go with the lecture. It doesn't!! In another class I'm taking with the lab go together and reinforce one another! this is a joke, a waste of my time and money. The sad part is this class will bring down my GPA. Yes, I need a tutor but if I was being taught at all I wouldn't need one. To be given a sheed without any teaching is just wrong!!
• Please see the previous response explaining the structure of the laboratories.
• My advice is not to take courses with content in order to boost your GPA. If you only take courses that are easy, you are missing out on the grandest experience of life: a challenge and an opportunity to grow. I (and Teddy Roosevelt) feel sorry for you.
• It's a more hands on class than show and do
• Will be there ready to help you help your self with your problem
• I enjoy the hands on work in class.
• With something this complex, it would be easier if you wouldn't skip around so much and try to stay w/ info out of the book.
• Please see the comment below.
• Many times we were tested on book material instead of lecture material.
• I choose text books that most closely match my goals for the course: the text that is at the right level for the majority of students and that covers the topics I believe are most important. In some cases, I find the text covers material adequately and I refer the students to the text. I attempt to indicate that this material is important, but I devote lecture time to other topics.
• In many cases, I disagree with the author about the "right" order in which to present things, in part because our situation is different from the author's situation. For example, in CSCI100, I discuss application programs first because the students here will be exposed to applications in the lab the first week of class. Then I discuss the internet and email, again because the students will be using email for the labs. An operating system is really just software that bridges the gap between hardware and applications. So I discuss hardware next, then operating systems. None of the text books I have seen approach the subjects in this order, in spite of how obvious it seems.