| This is a good course. The material is interesting and the
class is taught in a comfortable atmosphere and pace. This website is a
great tool for class info and material. One area of opportunity I see
however is the menus. I often find myself lost as each page has a new menu.
It would be relatively easy to implement some java based drop down or
expanding navigational menus so you can drill down to exactly what you want
on any page. Also, although there is links to the text that we purchased
they do not work. This would be the link
http://calc.utep.edu/pkirs/3355/Textbook/tableof.htm that can be found by
click on any topic in the class schedule. Other than that thanks for the
class! SM |
| Well it's my opinion that this course is VERY well designed
and presented. The slides are an excellent supplement and I really wish more
instructors implemented this technique. Obviously we had an enormous amount
of material to cover in 4 short weeks, I think you've done an excellent job
at cutting the whole thing down to make the end attainable. You cover the
material slowly and completely and NEVER seem to get flustered when a
student requires you to cover the same stuff for the ump-teenth time. Your
website is nothing short of comprehensive, but this is supposed to be an
improvement suggestion...I guess if i HAD to think of something that could
be improved, I might say it was the coverage of C++ syntax usage. Coming
into this course I had no C experience at all, and this made doing the
programs difficult because I had so many blank spots as to what lines of
code were necessary, though I felt i had a good grasp on the concepts. But
again, we had very little time to cover this in depth. Also, a little tip, I
don't know if you know this but in my other two summer courses, also 2h10min
long, we get a short approx. 10 min break in the middle. This helps alot to
relieve, if nothing else, my ass. Sitting and listening for 2 straight hours
gets a bit monotonous, and a short break does invigorate a bit. And thats
about it, I really am enjoying this course and I feel like I'm learning
alot. I think it will do alot to prepare me for my move into the CIS
department. Oh, one last thing, I don't know if you should recommend the
purchase of the .NET software. I buy the damn thing and I can't even make it
work to do the simplest of our programs just because I have no idea how to
use it, though I do like the fact that I got a $500 program for 30 bucks.
Maybe you'll be implementing this software in the future though, I don't
know. Anyway, keep up the great work! It's been nice learning from you. |
| This class was interesting considering the fact that was
giving in such a short period of time. This was my greatest challenge. The
time factor was my biggest pet peeve. Another thing I bugged me was the
review questions. There were mistakes that I refused to be believe were
mistakes. I convinced myself that the work was right and I was wrong. Also
there was one section which you had to keep clicking on the back arrow to
get to the answers. Other than that I have to admit that I do like the fact
that there are review questions at the end of each chapter. This was helpful
despite the errors and the problems. I also like the fact that our grades
were not based solely on the tests but on a variety of assignments. |
| I think that the course could improve a little if we had
some more time for class at the computer labs, so that we could go over the
material and actually apply it, with the guidence of the teacher. But in
overall the class has been pretty good. |
| I really liked the class and the way you taught it, I guess
the only thing that can be improved will be to
correct the errors on the slides and on the review questions. |
THE GOOD: The really good thing
about this course are the quizzes and programs. The quizzes cover the
material we cover in class and nothing extra. Also the fact that we don’t
have to write code takes off a lot of pressure. The programs are also very
good because they build on top each other. We start with the basic and even
that is broken into parts which makes it easier. The lectures are also good
but I think during the summer, its more difficult to remember things because
so much information is given to us in one sitting.
THE BAD: The only bad thing I can really see about
this course is the website. Although very informative, its just way to much
information. I need a search engine to find things. I’ve been using the
website for three weeks and I still get confused.
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Reorganizing the
website would help tremendously. One of the biggest things that would help
is to combine links. We have an assignments link that just gives quick
descriptions. Then we have to go to the home page and click on other links
where our assignments are kept. Then after that we have to go to submissions
page to turn in the work.
The best thing to do is in the assignments link keep everything together.
When we click on references we can have a quick description, the topics you
want us to update, then at the very bottom have the submissions. That alone
will cut down links from 16 to 11. Then just make one page for review
questions and at the top left put a link for the student questions. The
additional coverage link can be moved into the additional material link. So
now we’ve gone from 16 to 9 links and everything will be in its place.
I think it’s a very informative website, just needs some cleaning up so it
will be easier to navigate. |
| i really like the class. the only problem I have with it is
the massive website. I feel it could be condensed so that students can
easily navigate through it without having to study it first. |
| The course is very interesting though there is a lot of
material to be covered in a 4week semester. The instructor used a thorough
method in explaining problems to student especially with PowerPoint
presentations and writing numerous problems on the chalkboard for
understanding. It is unfortunate that students do not have enough time to
utilize the computer lab with the instructor to explain the concept of
programming to Overall, I will recommend that student take this class in a
regular semester if they are planning on being a good programmer. |
| This was a pretty intense course. As a summer course, it
was demanding and a little overwhelming. If I were to do anything to improve
this course, the only thing that I would change would be to offer this
course as an 8-week summer course, and not a 4-week summer course. The
website, however, should be looked into by a third (non-participating)
party, due to the fact that it is a little difficult to navigate through.
Other than that, I enjoyed my time and I definately learned from this
course. |
| I think that this is a great class for someone who does not
have any programming experience. Yet, I believe that more focus is need in
some important programming conventions such as commenting programs and how
to format programs in general. Those types of habits will make life easier
for many people in the future. If possible, more lab time, yet I fully
understand that we were working under time constraints. Another suggestion
would be a 10 min break since it would help invigorate the class and would
allow the students some leg stretching time that in the end would add up to
a better attention span |
| My only recommendation for this course would be for the
professor to adamantly oppose to students repeatedly getting up and leaving
the classroom. It becomes a distraction very quickly. Understandably, the
length of a summer session class may be too long for some students to sit
still. So, perhaps a short break could be offered between the first and
second hour. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed CIS 3355! |
| First of all I dont think that Prof. Kirs need to improve
his way of teaching, since the begining of the semester I realy like it,
because he explains everything very clearly and he also is always willing to
explain again and help the students. I think that a good improvement in this
course would be, to spend more time in the lab assignments, because only one
time is no enough, at least two times a week meeting with the professor at
lab will be perfect. Thank you!! |
| I think that you should give more examples of the problems
that are going to be in on the quizzes. Explain in more detail how to do the
linked list and dynamic memory. Other than that I think that the course is
very well presented. |
| This was an excellent course and I feel it has provided me
a strong foundation to grow from. However, the only improvement that I feel
would have helped smooth the edges on my learning curve would have been to
have accurate answers on the review questions offered through your website.
I spent many extra hours trying to figure out whether my calculations were
correct or not because of the incorrect answers provided with the review
questions. Outside of that the class was a wonderful experience. Thank you. |
| The course do not need any improvement, maybe the students
can go more often to the lab, because in the lab could get more experience
doing programs. |
| Thanks for the great course. If there is one thing that I
can say can improve in the next summer session that this course is held is
that maybe we have another lab session. |
| I really enjoy this class, although at times it can be
stressful. What I liked about this course is that the class schedule for the
time being and all the assignments are available to us online. With those
things posted on the web, it really helped me to focus on my assignments in
good timing. Not to mention the availability of the lecture slides also on
the web. What I don't like about this class is that we have to rush and
sometimes the material is too confusing. Since it was a lot of information,
it just seemed very overwhelming. One problem that I did experience is that
I would email Mr. Kirs, and I would never get a response back. Other than
that, everything was fine. |
| I am not sure if I will ever take such an intense course in
such a small period of time to cover so much...What I liked was that, we got
it done quick, and I did learn alot. I feel like my brain has been
overloaded. Thank You!! I also like the projects, how we built it up little
by little. |
CIS3355:
Business Data Structures