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Department of Information Technology

Mid course evaluation

A mid-course evaluation using Postit stickers was done on Monday, Sep 26. The students were asked to (anonymously) write suggestions for improvements and things that are good. 44 students wrote stickers.

A summary of the responses follows, together with my comments.

Positive remarks

  • Continuous examination is good
    • "makes it easier to remember the material"
    • "you learn more and remember more than on regular exams"
    • "you learn by discussing the assignment"
  • Good course content and structure, interesting course, good book
  • Good pedagogics in course/teaching
    • Clear, well prepared lectures, good communication
    • "lecturer gives everyone a chance to understand"
    • project work at end of course
  • Good tempo and structure of lectures
    • "you take things in a slow pace"
    • "you don't rush through the subject, but take time to explain"
  • Using the board instead of using slides is good
    • Structured board notes, clear handwriting
  • Pre-made groups good
  • Keep telling students to read the book
  • Interesting assignments (so far)

My comments

Thanks! Smiling smiley I'm particularly happy about the comment on "structured board notes", since this has been a recurring complaint earlier.

Negative remarks

  • Too much time spent on administrative issues (missing books, examination rules/scoring, groups etc)
    • "but very good that the info is presented"
  • Low tempo on course, too slow
  • Strict deadlines
    • short time for assignments,
    • hard to make groups work when members take different courses
  • Lots of repetition for students who already took cryptology and computer systems/networking
  • Would have been more fun in Swedish
  • "I have more complaints but won't present them"
  • Noise of late-coming students

My comments

I agree that too much time has been spent on administrative issues; hopefully this phase is over now. The problems with scheduling group collaboration are important, and would have been smaller if assignments and deadlines were presented earlier. I will think about the group setup (for next year), but I think it is important to practice working with people you don't already know well.

Compare the positive and negative comments about tempo! (There were more negative than positive.) The tempo will increase in the later part of the course.

Regarding content/repetition: I would be happy to get more specific info on what feels like repetition (apart from the obvious cryptography overview), but also note that neither cryptology or computer networking are mandatory prerequisites for this course!

Suggested improvements

  • More "useful" info e.g. examples of bugs and security holes in today's programs/OS
  • Let students form groups instead of imposing groups
  • Spend a lecture making the groups work
  • Faster lectures, more details, more technical
  • More systematic lectures
  • Smaller group lessons would be good and encourage participation in discussion
  • More pointers/links to further information/online resources about the lecture topics
  • More practical examples
  • Clearer questions in assignments
  • More writing on the blackboard
  • "you speak so slow and clear it's hard to concentrate on what you say"
  • Announce assignments earlier, so we can plan the work better
  • Give simpler examples instead of complicated: we're new to the subject and the educational system

My comments

It is true we should have spent more time making sure the groups work - I was hoping you could handle this.

The student backgrounds are very different, and matching everyone's needs (speed, content) is tricky. I would like to add more "practical" examples and exercises, however this would require you to study more of the theory off-lecture.

There are quite a few links on the web pages already, including the links from the book - and please add more!

Updated  2005-10-02 14:27:50 by Björn Victor.