Dave Tompkins :: Teaching :: 2006 Winter :: CPSC 320

Dave Tompkins :: Teaching :: 2006 Winter :: CPSC 320 - 201,202

Course Description:

CPSC 320: Intermediate Algorithm Design and Analysis

Systematic study of basic concepts and techniques in the design and analysis of algorithms, illustrated from various problem areas. Topics include: models of computation; choice of data structures; graph-theoretic, algebraic, and text processing algorithms.

Dave's Comments:

Working with Patrice is always a pleasure. This semester went very smoothly, except for the few tutorials I had to miss because of travel plans. During this time I was nominated by the department for a University-wide TA award but unfortunately I did not win. I'd like to respond to the one comment below that says I should "...try tutorial problems as soon as they come out..." -- they actually mean *assignment* problems, and I confess that there were a couple of times where new assignments had been posted and students came to me for help before I had the chance to go through the problems.

Teaching Evaluations:

Number of Respondents: 26 / ???

The teaching assistant was:

Well Prepared.
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
			7	19
			27%	73%

Helpful.
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
			5	21
			19%	81%

Considerate of students.
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
			5	20
			20%	80%

Easily Understood.
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
			6	19
			24%	76%

An effective instructor.
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
			4	22
			15%	85%

Comments:

Note: This is a complete list of comments I received, listed alphabetically to avoid bias

My suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the teaching assistant are:

An A+++ TA, he made everything so much clear.
Dave did a good job, but he should try tutorial problems as soon as they come out so he knows the answer for sure.
Dave has been a great TA. Unlike [name removed], he has always been prepared for the material of the class. He made the class interactive and interesting.
Dave made some of the tutorials more interesting. Too bad he went away in a few weeks.
Dave should have won the TA award! Best TA in CPSC.
Excellent TA.
Good job! A little more detailed solutions on the board might be nice.
Great TA! Whatever I don't understand in class I understand in his tutorial. He gives out great hints and tells us what to look out for in the midterms and exams. He presented the material in simple - easy to understand way. He seems like he can read our minds when we're confused. Very attentive to our needs.
Great TA. A++
- Great TA
- Should have won the TA award
- Great sense of humour and teaching abilities
I wish I had gone to more of Dave's tutorials, they were excellent.
One of the best TA's I've ever had.
Thanks Dave, you helped me get so many marks.
The best TA I've had - Actually interested in teaching.
Very good TA, instructor level of teaching!

All of the data for this page is available in the github repository: https://github.com/dtompkins/teacheval