Evaluations CS4310 Software Engineering Spring 2001

• I think Dr. Roach's personality is what helped to make this class and the environment interesting and informative. It has always been a help me to succeed in my classes when I feel comfortable enough around the professor (not afraid to approach him or afraid of asking "dumb" questions.) He has always been available to offer assistance during and after class. He incorporated group work into some of our class time, knowing that this would help us learn the material better. His exams were fair, covering material that he discussed in class. I really enjoyed his class.
• Class organization could have been better. We never really used the book, and I wonder what use has a long reading list if we never talk. I believe that the professor is trying to achieve too much with his class. Unfortunately, instead of learning the correct way to do things we are trying very hard to guess what should be done and how it should be done. The professor required too much work (papers) and never really discussed in detail how such paper should be prepared. I believe this course could have been much better if the professor had shown us examples of current documents. Having our graded papers back promptly would also be very useful.
• Several students have indicated that some assignments are unclear. I did provide a template and discussed the outline of each document when it was assigned. A complete, well-written example SRS (from a previous semester) was available. I understand that it is difficult to know what should be in the other documents assigned this semester. The content of these documents depends on the project, and it is not always clear what they should contain until we start investigating the requirements. I understand that some students needed more guidance on the assignments, and I will try to address this in the future.
• Having said that, I think that one of the advantages of this course is the opportunity to let students try different approaches, to experiment, and to design solutions without rigid structure imposed by the instructor. This is, after all, a senior-level course. Students in this course are preparing to enter the workforce, and the ability to solve problems by creating structure that fits the problem is the most important skill an employee can have. I encourage you to learn this.
• I attempted to return graded papers promptly. The TA and I work very hard to try to give meaningful feedback on drafts and graded work. This is very time consuming. We each look at every graded item, we try to grade consistently and fairly, and this also takes a great deal of time. I agree that ideally, the turn-around time would be short, and the feedback of high quality. I agree the turn-around time should be improved, but I am not sure it is possible in every case.
• One thing that I really disliked about the instructor was the way he treated students when walking into his office. He did not behave in a courteously manner at all. Another issue was that some of his office hours were at the same time as class hours. What is that? I think this class requires the instructor to have more office hours. The instructor did a good job doing revisions on the documents. He was available and willing to help for this task. Another thing that I really disliked was that he posted student errors in class and made fun of those errors in front of all the class (feasibility report). I do not think is it an appropriate attitude for a professor to make fun of his students. If students have errors it is also the instructor's faults.
• I am sorry that you feel I was discourteous to you in my office. I make every effort to stop whatever I am doing and assist students who come to my office during office hours or by appointment. Judging from the comments from other students, most found me approachable. I do not want to dismiss this comment; but I am unsure what I do that makes you feel that I am not being courteous. This and your previous comment seem at odds with the next student comment, "available and willing to help."

My posted hours were 4:30-6:00 MW, 2:30-4:00 TR, 9:00-11:00 R, and by appointment. Class was 3:00- 4:20 MW. (The office hourse were misprinted in the syllabus as 3:30-6:00PM on MW. If you found me unavailable from 3:30-4:20 MW, it was because I was teaching the class you should have been attending.) Many students made appointments to meet with me at times other than these, including mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends. I believe I am quite accommodating to students who make even a minimal amount of effort to see me.

I had two objectives in posting student errors during class. First, it was intended to make you think critically about your own work. We had reviewed errors from published sources, and the class did reasonably well in evaluating those errors. However, the members of the class in general had a difficult time recognizing similar errors in their own work. This is a common difficulty, not just with students. (I admit now, as I did then, that I have a hard time finding my own errors, yet it is essential that I proofread my work. It is essential that you learn to proofread yours.)

My second intent in that review was to let you know that other people were making similar mistakes. When I review writing, any writing, my intent is to improve the quality of the thoughts and the expression of those thoughts. Sometimes there are many comments on papers, and in the past, some students have found this discouraging. This discouragement arises because there are many comments, and students feel that so many comments indicate a lack of progress or ability. Few students realize that I make just as many comments on early versions of my own work and the work of my colleagues. (Ask them. The TA has many versions of the SRS that I wrote, that I corrected, that are every bit as marked as yours.) I had hoped that by showing some of the mistakes your colleagues were making, you would realize that good writing is difficult, that critical review of your writing is necessary, that you are not alone in your need to have other people review your work, and that you need to be honest and critical in your review of your own work and the work of your teammates.

o        In class, I took examples of errors from the student homework and had the class review them. In an effort to avoid embarrassing anyone, the work was presented anonymously, and examples were extracted from work turned in from every team, including examples from my own work. Short of a team admitting that a particular example came from its report, it would be very difficult for other students to associate that example with any team or individual. I tried to keep the review lighthearted and focus attention on the examples, not the students. I am sorry that you took offense at this. My intent was to draw your attention to problems the class as a whole was having with technical writing.

• I know this class would be challenging, it has turned out that way. Due to the construct of the course I have been challenged intellectually and emotionally. Which in the course subject is needed to fully explore the material. I have liked that real world examples, they are given as it provides more meaning. I would like more explanation and clarity on the material and assignments. They have would reduce headaches and a lot of wasted time. There is definitely room for improvement but that may come with time.
• See my response to the second comment on this page.
• At first, I did not like Dr. Roach's teaching style or his methods in dealing with students. As the semester progressed, I learned that Dr. Roach is a caring individual who is willing to help his students as much as possible. I realize that is teaching style is a reflection of what he expected his students to achieve. He is a very effective and he goes above and beyond the call of duty to help students. I am part of a group that he sets aside time for every week to meet. Our grades and understanding of the projects has increased due to his extra help. We are very appreciative of Dr. Roach for making that concession for us. I look forward for working with him in the fall for software II. The class is difficult and time consuming but necessary for fully cover all the important points.
• He was very good at letting us know if we were doing something correctly or not. This helped out a lot. Every once in a while things would get changed on us but I think this was because of the type of course it is. I have learned a lot but I am tired, this course had so much content. I worked hard I thought it would never end. But I loved it.
• I have learned more than I could expect. The only suggestion would be to give examples of documents that should be turned in during the semester, i.e., SRS, interview report, etc. I am very glad I took this course with Dr. Roach; he challenged us everyday in a positive way.
• See my response to the second comment on this page.
• I really learned, like him better that Dr. Gates.
• I have learned more material in this class and in this semester than in all my other 4 years of college combined. Dr. Roach has made me work harder and I have become a better person for that. I could not have picked a better time to take S.E.I. and no other instructor would have motivate me like Dr. Roach has.
• The class is hard. But the professor had done a good job teaching it.
• I really liked the class and the project and I learned a lot. For this reason I will like to have a better explanation of what exactly are some documents that we have to turn in needs to contain and what exactly we should include on them.
• The course was very educational. The course has given me great insight on what I may expect working in the real world. The instructor was very helpful and appeared to generally care about the students and material covered. Keep up the good job.
• This class is very time-consuming and challenging. Also, I am very nervous for the presentation, and I want the semester to end. However, I believe that this is the only way to learn about software. What we are doing in class seems reasonable. I like the way Dr. Roach presents the class, and I like that he understands when we are having a problem with our projects. However, I would like to have more time for more information about our client, and don't make us read those papers at the library.
• I can tell you how to give presentations, but the only way I know to conquer nervousness is to give presentations. It is much better that you be nervous and jittery for me than at your job interview or presentations for your employer.
• The papers posted in the library are meant to (a) augment the material available in the textbook and (b) provide practice reading technical papers. The textbook does not adequately cover the topics addressed in class. Dr. Gates and I have reviewed over two dozen texts, and none of them is adequate. Reading technical papers is an acquired skill, and few undergraduates get the opportunity to practice.
• At the start of the semester, I thought that Dr. Roach was going to be an instructor that just wanted to fail students by comments he makes on reports. But while the semester went on I learned that he is a fair, excellent and well-organized instructor. He teaches the class great and has our attention through the entire period. I really liked the way he teaches and helps us at his office. He is always here late and on weekends.
• First of all, thank you for all your feedback. You did not only teach us how to start building software, but encouraged us to become better students. Sincerely, I think your teaching technique is great. I have no complaints. I have learned a great deal in this course. Lastly, before taking this course, I was not quite sure what kind of masters program to take. Now I know that I want to be a software engineer. Thank you a bunch.
• Liked the course a lot. The professor was always available and willing to help. Good organization and presentation of material.
• The class was well organized. Dr. Roach was well prepared for every class period and showed a good control on the subject. What I would like to see for the second part of the class if that instead of every group programming the same way, why not divide the project into modules so we would be able to see our project working, instead of ending up with half the project programmed by the class. Thanks.
• This comment on dividing the project must be related to experiences students had in Dr. Gate's 4311, either this semester or semesters in the past. I anticipate every team in Fall 2001 CS4311 completing the project we have.
• The reasons for not dividing projects in previous semesters are (1) until a partial design is made, it is not clear how to divide a project; (2) there is no single best way to divide a project, and each team's design might indicate a different division; (3) deriving the division and structure of the solution is a key element of the class, and we consider it more important than the implementation; and (4) the time available to manage the teams does not allow teams to work on different problems. Managing five or six teams on one project is very difficult for one instructor and one TA. (In theory, we devote one quarter of our time to this class. Neither Dr. Gates nor I are able to restrict our time to this course to 10 to 15 hours a week.) Managing five or six teams on five or six different (parts of) projects would be impossible. Remember, we have never built this software before, either.