Dave Tompkins :: Teaching :: 2015 Fall :: CS 100

Dave Tompkins :: Teaching :: 2015 Fall :: CS 100 - 081

Course Description:

CS 100: Introduction to Computing through Applications

Using personal computers as effective problem solving tools for the present and the future. Effective use of spreadsheets to process, manipulate, and visualize numeric and textual information. Introduction to the Internet, World Wide Web, HTML, and XML. Algorithms underlying the functional components of web search engines and their influence on data access. Using wikis to publish, reshape, and organize data collaboratively.

Dave's Comments:

While this was the third time I was the "instructor" for CS 100, this was the first term where new content was introduced. The course was a mixture of the old material and new material. Just like the former version of the course, the new material was only readings.

There were a few technical problems generating the new content, so we changed the schedule a bit (which did not go over well).

As stated before, these evaluations are really more of an evaluation of the course, and not me.

Teaching Evaluations:

Number of Respondents: 143 / 361 (40%)

Responses:

Course materials were presented in an organised manner.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
42	64	25	9	3
29%	45%	17%	6%	2%

Expectations for learning were clearly communicated.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
30	69	32	9	3
21%	48%	22%	6%	2%

The assignments, activities, and content helped me achieve the stated learning objectives.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
25	73	32	11	2
17%	51%	22%	8%	1%

The assignments contributed to my learning.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
42	73	21	6	1
29%	51%	15%	4%	1%

Feedback on course assignments contributed to my learning.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
10	37	44	33	19
7%	26%	31%	23%	13%

Technology was used effectively for learning in the course.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
33	71	30	8	1
23%	50%	21%	6%	1%

The general climate in the course was good for learning.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
17	71	36	17	1
12%	50%	25%	12%	1%

The instructor related to students in a way that promoted mutual respect.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
24	54	56	8	1
17%	38%	39%	6%	1%

The instructor's explanations were clear and understandable.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
14	62	43	20	4
10%	43%	30%	14%	3%

The instructor was helpful to students seeking assistance.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
23	50	60	9
16%	35%	42%	6%

Overall, I learned a great deal from this course.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
28	78	25	7	5
20%	55%	17%	5%	3%

Overall, I learned a great deal from the instructor.
Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
12	41	66	18	6
8%	29%	46%	13%	4%

This course is:
required	elective
22	121
15%	85%

On average, I spent x hours per week working on this course.
Significantly less than 10 hours	Less than 10 hours	Around 10 hours	More than 10 hours	Significantly more than 10 hours
23	74	37	5	4
16%	52%	26%	3%	3%

Comments:

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

What grade do you expect in this course? (percentage 1%...100%)

100
100%
60
60
60%
65
65
70
70
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%-80%
75
75
75%
75%
75%
75%
75%
75% - 80%
75-80
75-80%
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80% or higher
80%+
80%-100%
80%-90%
80-90%
82%
84%
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85 - 87%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%
85%+
85%+
85+ or 90+ depending on the difficult of the final exam
86
87
88%
90
90
90
90
90
90
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90%
90's
90-98
95%
99%
Above 60%
Above 90%
between 85-95%
Considering my grades so far, I expect a Mid-high 80% - 90%
Do not know. Around 80-95%
I expect my grade to be around 80%.
I would hope that the exam is fair and made in a way where we can maximize the method in showing what we've learned from the course.
im hoping for a 75
~ 90%
~80%
~88%

In your opinion the strengths of this course are:

A great introduction to computer science. This has provided be with skills that I can put on my resume for co-op. As a science student, I am never really exposed to specific computer training, but it is always expected that co-op students are able to use so many types of programs, and be very computer literate. This has prepared me very
application of the material good stuff to learn Content/Assignments
-at your own pace -course relates to real life important skills developed
available online
Basic knowledge about computers.
can be done at anytime, easy to accomodate with anyone's schedules The assignments were VERY helpful in applying the content learned. interesting and useful course content (eg. excel units)
clear
Concise presentation of material
Course load isn't too heavey.
Developing skills in Excel and HTML
-Easy to follow instructions
Easy to understand and useful for those who are interested in technology and computers. you can spend your own time when ever
Easy.
Effective slides and lessons for each topic
Everything was well organized as an online course. I enjoyed using Excel as it helped me with real life. Concise and good beginning to computer science overall.
generally interesting and useful subject matter; clear writing.
- good intro to computers
great content easy to understand modules
Great content.
Great course for beginners in computer
great examples, made it fun and interesting to learn. Clarity and Variety
Great explanations of processes (especially in the first few modules). Having the 7 late days penalty free is very helpful and reduces some stress.
Great introduction to web development and excel. very organized
Great organization.
guidence rather then emailing the instructor privately
Having all material in one place that can be accessed anywhere at anytime.
I can learn at my own pace and all the information is very well structured. chapters that werent heavy worded
Information is quick and straight to the point extremely helpful material
it did a good job of setting out the basics of how computers worked and some basics of programming
It teaches Students about the importance of Computing and gives them a basic understanding of using a computer in a way to help you with your daily problems.
It's all online so people can go at their own pace. The Learning Aspect
Learned a lot about coding websites using HTML and CSS
- making course simplified - analogies well used weekly assignments helped to grasp the modules.
material is generally easy to grasp, modules were clear and informative
Modules
Modules are helpful and applicable. flexible time management
-Modules were clear and organized into clear sections -Routine of 1 module each week was good because it was easy to predict and I could accomodate my schedule accordingly
no textbook limited
Notes were clear Quizes reinforced note content
Online
- Organization of class material
Presentation of the modules.
Providing knowledge with regards to a breath of concepts in computer science. It provides the fundamentals of what a computer is, an intro to logic, and methodologies in creating good and well layed out webpages. The TAs were also very helpful, and I should the TAs for this course want to TA again, I would highly recommend that they be selected again. Chat Hours were very helpful.
relatively well organized, grading was not subjective, assignment instructions were clear, course content was to the point and expectations/demands were not too high overall
Some interesting content.
Straightforward
Strength would be the examples provided in notes prior to attempting the final assignment. The assignments were tricky which is good to help us during the finals examination.
Teaching about the basics of computer operations
That the TAs are very helpful and give timely replies.
The ability to apply the modules in our everyday lives.
The assignments and the instructions for the assignment. They were very helpful.
The assignments. To understand and be able to complete the assignments you have ot understand that week's content and apply it. The assignments are a useful tool to learn the content.
The course goes over a wide variety of material. It teaches things that are very relevant and applicable in the present time.
The course material is interesting. It's content.
The course starts off strong in both its modules and assignments. Modules.
The course very clearly taught all the content and had practise questions to help learning content
The different ways of learning via online; i.e. Assignments, quizzes, practice questions, modules, examples.
The discussion board where everyone can see what other people are also having trouble on and use that to their
The excel modules
the html module
The html was described well interesting topics
The information is organized clearly.
The latter of the course is where it got the most engaging. The begging first 4 modules just felt like reading a bunch of nonsense and answering related questions. The remaining modules had both quizzes and actual assignments where we got to experiment and learn a whole lot more.
The lessons about Excel
The material can be learned at the individuals pace. The technology involved.
the material that is being taught, it is relevant and useful in our lives. Allows us to learn the basic of Computer Science.
The material was for the most part easy to understand.
the module information was presented clearly
The modules being re-written are very clear for non-computer users. Excellent use of examples, practice questions, etc. Very readable.
The organization of modules.
The practical assignments that we had to do. Applied what we know in specific situations. Flexible course schedule, allowed late days
the practice problems and how they relate to the course material. The content and organization was good
The presentation of obviously diffcult can complex topics which are broken down and simplified to allow people with no exposure in this field an opportuntity to understand and learn.
the real life examples helped understaned terms better. The ability to choose when to attempt an assignment It's online.
the strengths of this course is the layout of the course. only haveing one assignment a week with the same deadline every time was really help full
The structure of the content and the instructions for completing the assignments. Excel and HTML modules
The videos at the end of some modules to clarify things. And the responses in the discussion board. As well as the unlimited time for quizzes.
The videos that were provided at the end of some chapters that described how to use specific coading formulas were very helpful.
the well given information
This course is very helpful and gives alot of knoeledge. Overall one strength are the organization of the modules. Strongly coherent to real work operations
this course is very useful and help me understand the concenptions about computer,network and many softwares. The information was interesting and relevant
Unlimited time to complete assignments. Everything was available through learn. Organized modules
unlimited time to do assignments
Useful for any job position that needs ti use Excel (Most of them) An easy course and not time consming good, useful material content modules were clear and concise
Using excel and understanding the basics of how a computer works and how websites are coded. Teaches people who have absolute no knowledge of the course the basics of many concepts. Good assignments to match the required reading
very parctical in real world
Very straightforward
Very useful
weekly assignments
well for my co-op job that I will start in January as a bioinformatics researcher, as I will know more about the computers that my work will rely on.
-well organized -very structured
well organized. discussions are available, I got help with assignments and inquiries via email very promptly being able to use other sources and applications from devices, accessible to everyone.

In your opinion the weaknesses of this course are:

50% of weight on the final exam is too much
a bit disorganized in the reading of modules.. I got confused sometimes with the wording sometimes. Wasn't too straightforward sometimes.
A few technical glitches (more than likely not the fault of the course though)
A lot of reading
Advances too quickly
Almost every assignment had some kind of error which made multiple answers correct. Grading of assignments also did not include any feedback, so when arbitrary marks were removed I did not know what I need to improve on.
Ambiguity
Bad wording on multiple choice sometimes
better explanations of feedback from the TA's
chapters that bombarded us with paragraphs
comfortable with the material in the module but was unable to apply it to the assignment.
content is not organized well and this makes it hard to learn. assignments are not explained well and there are errors everywhere.
-could have more HTML/CSS -too much emphasis on Excel
course website is horrific. Can not study ahead because modules are released weekly instead of at the beginning. website is difficult to navigate. additionally, more than one module was not incorporated into the course overall. It feels like the course flies by the seat of it's pants which is annoying. Can not view results of quizzes or assignments.
Did not get any feedback for assignments and I was not sure where I lost marks. Sometimes it is hard to find answers to questions in the discussion board.
Feedback on assignments or quizzes would be helpful rather than just getting a mark. The course is a little tough for people with no computer background
First few modules were not very informational. Not as many applications problems related to CS as I would've liked.
formatting of modules were not consistent and a times not clear, and jumpy
-Found that the course started off strong but ended weak. the modules became a bit less detailed and I Found myself having to access other websites and sources to learn how to complete certain tasks. In addition, the exam is four days away and the format is yet to be released, knowing this information would be helpful In preparing.
Fr the excel modules there needs to be more information on the embedded IF functions. Also for the HTML there should be more examples of padding/margins.
gives poor feedbacks on quizzes. If students could not get right answers for what they got worng, how they can learn from their mistakes????
Hard to visualize certain explanations, more video demonstrations would be useful. Depth
Hard.
have been given. Courses are set to meet objectives of overall program - it is not set to meet student's excuses. Content within the modules, instructions are somewhat ambiguous
- have more videos to explain hard concepts -some stuff weren't clear enough
I do not understand how so many mistakes can be posted regarding the assignments and the quizzes. It's unacceptable that a university course could have this many errors when I am paying my hard earned money to be enrolled in this course. I am not impressed
I dont think the modules are organized well, and most of the questions on the MC type quiz never come from it.. Also some modules are not clear and very ambiguise, but when it comes to the quizzes, they ask for too muchd detail and it doesnt make sense.
I found the html modue hard and felt more information is needed to understand the content
I really didnt see any weaknesses
I should change in the future.
I suggest that this course should be a real class, not an online one. Many students struggle learning information through the lengthy readings, and doing hands on activities such as the HTML, CSS, Excel, etc made them seek other people for help, usually ending up cheating.
if you aren't good at using your time then it will be hard
Individual feeback was lacking
instructions are unclear at times.
irrelavent to people interested in programming and wanting to take CS minor
It is disorganized. Assignments aren't available on the day they should be, often an entire day late. Marking was slow and often with errors. The last few modules were either skipped or put together in one lesson. The overall learning jumped from basics to complicated in a matter of weeks.
It is hard to meet with a human instructor
It was kind of disorganized (didnt get though all the assignements that were origianlly on the scheduke) and there were significant errors in the quizes/assighments in the wording as well as the answer key
It's feedback.
It's very trial and error, hard to get needed feedback. But I guess that's how it is for an online course. Difficulty in understanding the modules sometimes. It is easier for things to be shown than read.
Just the readings dont help me learn a lot
Lack of example materials to supplement the modules. the content can be dry
Lack of examples in certain assignments.
Lack of explanation; students are expected to know little things and the words used are unneccesarily complicated. Again the first 4 modules being very disengaging.
Lack of feed back on question that were wrong on the quizzes. I have no idea what I do not precisely understand. Giving us the ability to access the answers at some point, like after the final aviability date, can be highly contributive towards our learning.
Lack of organization by leaders. They made too many mistakes on assignments, which cost people HOURS of trying to fix, only to find out there was no correct answer!
lack of understanding of context on most modules. Seem to be a lot of spelling errors. Disorganized content
lectures are repeated from 2009. Please try coming up with something newer. Wish more of html/css was covered.
- module 9 is redundant, excessive and obnoxiously long
Modules covering excel and html became very confusing to understand. Found they needed way more pictures with labels, or videos to clarify material.
More pictures or visuals would have helped
More resources, perhaps a textbook may be useful.
N/A
n/a
N/A
needed more assistance. N/A
no in class and little in person interaction made it hard to focus on material and complete assignments
No weaknesses in my opinion
Not a lot of feedback on assignments. If I lose a mark on Dropbox assignemnts I don't know where I lost it or what
Not allowing students to review their work or see the correct answers to the quizzes we have submitted.
not as much clarity in instructions sometimes as we may have wanted/needed some outdated course content (like the html unit, way too simplified)
Not enough excel materials. not taught well
not enough explanation for more difficult topics, old software (ex. you used an old excel, and I have 2016, so most things looked totally different)
Nothing really specific. However, it would be nice if there was a more frequent drop in session on campus should we have any more questions on the assignment. Perhaps replace one day's Chat Hours with in-person communication. That being said, Chat Hours were very helpful.
Online Course! Sometimes people forget about it, reminders could help but once a week or two week meetings to talk about modules between group members would help!
-Online courses are sometimes hard to communicate with the instructors as there are not always chat hours too many assignments that aren't worth very much
organized but failed to stick to the schedule set out earlier in the course. There was a week where the course material and assignment was pushed back - which is not fair. I do realize this is a 1st year course but this does not set a good example for students because in upper years the professors are not going to be like "oh you guys have other midterms, let me not do any course work or assignments this week." (I am in 4B term) Students should be well aware of the calendar and plan out their studying times accordingly. The other thing I did not appreciate was that the delay was based on just few students - it should have been a vote. In any case, the option should not
Replies can be unresponsive when it is significant in an online course and all learning is done by the student with the online contents.
Search engines module
self learning sometimes is hard =p
- Slow marking
Some course contents and multiple choice were unclear
Some modules didn't explain some concepts well enough to do the assignments without additional resources. The content was extremely unorganized. Additionally, all the times an assignment or quiz would say "go to this website and look up x" was ridiculous. Don't quiz us on information you aren't teaching us.
Some of the elements learned, were hard to understand by reading it online as it was an online course. The course lecture notes are sometimes confusing.
Some of the modules are not clear on what they are saying. There is a lack of depth in each segmint.
some assignments require research outside of the given modules
some concenptions are complicated for students to understand, so I think that videos will help us understand easly.
some features that were expected to be used in the assignments were not directly explained in the notes somtimes the modules were way too long
some units were dry. Hard assigments
Sometimes course content is not relevant, simple, but takes a long time to figure out.
Sometimes the material provided was not suffieint enough to complete the assignments. The explanations in the modules were at times vague and incomprehensible.
sometimes very long chapters!
the confusing words that are just jargon and not needed for explanations. The material is too difficult to be taught online.
The course content DID NOT match the course descriptions when I enrolled. I have very little technological knowledge and I was expecting this course to be entry level - it was definitely not. The content was not entry level and this has been an exceptionally difficult term which was unexpected. It is not okay to announce on the first day (when classes actually begin) that the outline has changed. I enrolled in this course based on the descriptions and outlines that were available during enrollment; this was MUCH more difficult than it should have been.
The course recently got revamped and this is the first year that new course is being thought so there is still lot of work to be done in terms of organization for the course to have less confusion.
The course was being designed as we took it, so students could not work or plan ahead. The chat forum was horrible--there should be a way to show examples and programs to the person conducting the chat and not all the students without having to go into email. The tests were too abritrary--its nice to be able to get rid of one mark, but also not fair that one concept on one test was worth more than 60% of the marks.
The Excel section of this course was quite difficult to understand, had to watch many youtube videos as well as reading other stuff found online. Still find it difficult.
The expectation in the spreedsheet assignments was above what the content of the module contained. I felt
The feedback. I wish there was feedback on all assignments because as a student, how are we able to figure out the mistakes in the formula without any kind of feedback.
The information provided in the modules is not very clear and contradicts the information on quizzes. Clearly explaining content
the lack of feedback regarding certain assignments, like the HTML or CSS ones
The overall online aspect
the quizes that have questions that DO NOT relate to what is in the module
The timing of the assignments.
There are numerous errors in the assignments as well as lack of clarity in the questions. Some of the questions are totally not understandable and require students to ask the TAs for assistance.
There is almost no feedback. Students are unable to improve based off of what they did previously and continue to make similiar mistakes.
There's too many mistakes in the content and quizzes which makes it inconvenient to do. Also, the work load of the assignments range too much so some weeks the work load is light while other weeks it's a lot of content to complete.
Too heavy of a focus on spreadsheets
Too long.
Too many errors in quizzes.
too much content
too much was expected for an intro class very time consuming assignments (especially near the end, HTML, CSS, etc.)
unable to download lecture material as ppt file
Very confussing when a mistake is made, and is corrected through the discussion posts. Too many discussion posts makes it harder to keep up with everything everyone is saying - sometimes made me feel behind or like I
Very little vocalization of what is expected of the students. It is only two weeks before the exam and I still have no idea what the format would be.
Very tedious and hard to understand at times. Many concepts need futher clarification through search engines. I can't think of anything, the course was pretty good.
was missing out because I could not read all posts.
Wording

The instructor would like to know what specific things you believe might be done to improve the teaching of this course:

1) stick to the schedule you set out in the beginning - do not be soft on students. 2) more videos would really help learn some of the excel and html material - (I already knew excel as I have completed 4 co-op terms but it is relatively difficult to grasp for a first year student or someone who is not familiar with excel) 3) lecture materials need to be easily download-able and consistent - i.e. if you use pdf for a module all other modules should also be pdf. I found it hard to keep track of modules while studying for final
1.use more videos to explain 2.combine the theory with practice,which may rise students' interest. Include more videos like the ones in module 9
A lot of the assignments for HTML, CSS and Excel required me to obtain information from outside of class resources. Don't expect us to know how to do an assignment on material that wasn't included in the module (not "taught")
A textbook, or guide to help us answer assignment questions. Have more tutorial sessions on harder assignments.
Add course notes that are purely relvant to what we are learning.
advance at their own pace. There were so many errors in the tests that marks were not accurate representations of knowledge. Many questions were marked wrong because the error on the test was thought to be the error in the question.
Allow students to view their submissions in order to see where they went wrong. (after the due date)
Better wordings in the assignment questions and better communication with the students (ex. the format of the final exam, better scheduling of returning assignments, clear and definite feedbacks for each assignment) better explination for diffrent questions
Check over the quiz questions before posting, have a specific date where you release the next week's modules (sometimes they were released early Monday, sometimes late Monday, sometimes Tuesday, etc) so that I can plan this into my scheedule.
- Clearer explanation of certain assignments such as HTML No improvements necessary
Consistent formatting of modules (themes used were very different and made some content look extremely different from some other content)
Ensure proper spelling in modules and quizzes.
ensure that the questions in the quizes are clear and the correct answer is selected in the answer key try to stick to the schedule, have assignemnts and modules ready to release on time
Faster and more replies to questions regarding the material. Make the path to meeting instructor more clear.
Fix the website to make it more user friendly. It's incredibly ironic that a CS 101 course has a horribly designed
For contents such as those pertaining to Excell for example, provide outside sources that students can refer to for further examples on the more complex contents.
Give feedback on assignments. Let students know where they lost marks.
Group Projects would be great!
have more detailed notes/lecture slide i guess
I believe that perhaps more practice questions in the page coding would be benificial. Some instructional videos would be nice.
i guess holding a physically presence lecture would be really helpful. More diagrams for multiple choice
I think the current teaching of the course is fair andd works
I thought this online course was well taught.
I would have liked to know the format of the final exam at the beginning of the course, because it would have allowed me to prepare notes in a specific way that would help me to succeed on the exam. There are different ways of preparing notes for multiple choice vs. short answer vs. practical questions, so it would have been more helpful.
If the instructor could upload online lecture videos that would help clrify some of the more difficult chapters (such as HTML or excel) that would be helpful for the future.
-improve clarity of modules dealing with spreadsheets and coding
Improve the way the assignments relate to the module. Some of the knowledge expected was something I should see in an upper level course not this one.
In class sesions or tutorial type class
In the MC, put in a comment box for assumptions made.
Include more excel materials, such as pivot tables. have in class sessions. once or twice a week.
increase the weight of assignments or decrease the number of assignments each week
Instructional videos on how to go forth with the assignments
It would be better to clarify instructions through a course annoucement or e-mail instead of through the discussion board. Some things are missed because it is not easy to navigate the discussion board for each assignment.
It would be nice if there was a more frequent drop in session on campus should we have any more questions on
less content and weekly tutorials
Limit dicussion posts, send out emails for important corrections to course content, as well as be more clear with certain topics
make concepts easier to understand and use examples that actually help to make the concept more clear. Reply to discussion questions quicker and explain tough contents via videos more often.
Make it more clear what it needs to be done
Make the exam less precentage
make the layout of the modules neater
- Make the modules clearer --> should be able to find answers to Multiple choice questions (some are not there in module)
Make the modules less wordy and more application based like w3schools.
Make the practice questions a bonus mark. Encourage students to do it rather than ignore.
Maybe like 2 attempts for the assignment portions, because half the time by the time I received information I
Maybe there is something else the student can do rather then just read and do the assighnment for their better
Modules more relevant to the assignment , sometimes content was not pertinent or available in order to complete the assignment
more clear instructions for assignments, include rubric maybe?
more clear notes some stuff didn;t make sense, came from nowhere and the assignment questions didnt even correlate with notes given
More examples.
more indepth on css
More specific instructions on the HTML and CSS
more tutorial videos, the material can get dry and become hard to understand
more videos
n/a
N/A
n/a
N/A
N/A
needed for the assignment, the deadline had passed.
nothing other than the wording maybe on certain things update examples, videos
Nothing specific, very good job at being available through email or even in person. More assignments to gain practice
Nothing.
Offer more feedback on assignments.
post answers earlier. Takes a few weeks before it gets posted. Not enough information about final exam. Definatelly a minus.
provide feedback on assignments
-provide feedback on the assignments sooner than months after they were completed
Provide feedback on the assignments to know where marks were taken off. There are no video tutorials. That would really have helped
-provide longer chat hours
reformat the excel and html modules. The first module for each one was fine but after that it became very confusing to understand the following modules.
Return grades quicker. The wait time to get assignments back was awful. How am I supposed to improve on say, the Excel assignments, unless I get my feedback before the next one was due? I made a silly mistake in the second Excel assignment and made the same mistake in the third. If I had known about it before the third was due I could have avoided it, but I didn't get those grades back for weeks.
see above
Some chapters at the end of the term dont provide enough explanations and it required me to google a lot of stuff n/a
Some excel content is not worth learning, as the functions are rarely used in the outside world. Teach more relevant excel info! I (thank god) have a good background in Excel. However, some of my friends do not, and they struggled as a result (and at the end of the day, are learning functions that aren't really used in many typical jobs).
Some material is not clear in teaching notes. Make the assignments more spread apart detailed feedbacks.
Some of the analogies used in the modules to explain very simple concepts actually made it harder to understand. In particular, the computer hardware module used several analogies that just made the module longer without adding a lot of value.
Some things should be taught better, particularly for HTML where it was difficult to complete the assignments. N.A
some quick comments on excel assignments would be appriciaited to know what to improve on. More videos with demonstrations would be useful.
-spend a bit more time on HTML/CSS -include a bit of an introduction to programming
Take things slow with slow increases in what we're learning
Teach more microsoft excel functions. Include feedback with marking
the assignment. Perhaps replace one day's Chat Hours with in-person communication. That being said, Chat Hours were very helpful.
The course was being designed as we took it, so students could not work or plan ahead. The chat forum was horrible--there should be a way to show examples and programs to the person conducting the chat and not all the students without having to go into email. The tests were too abritrary--its nice to be able to get rid of one mark, but also not fair that one concept on one test was worth more than 60% of the marks.
The entire course content could have been available so students are not left waiting for modules and could
The information for some of the chapters is a bit all over the place.
The later lectures on spreadsheets do not have that much information on them, more examples would have been helpful since this made the assignments a lot harder to complete.
The modules could be put on earlier so students can have access and a head start on other modules instead of waiting to recieve it after an assignment deadline. I would also recommend video tutorials/podcasts and examples posted in this course to show students what is needed to meet the assignment and course criteria.
The Practice questions are definately helpful since it gives a stundent exposure to the material in quesiton format. Which can help when one has to do the assignements, rather than a student having exposure to the topic in questions for the first time in a summative assessment.
The teaching of the course is fine as it is. general feedback
To be honest, the teaching of this course was well done
To make it a real class. HTML and CSS were NOT taught properly especially.
Try using more diagrams to show how something is done instead of just stating how to do it. better clarification, more interactive assignments
tutorials.
understanding of that certain topic. N/A
Video tutorials. Esspecially during the html/css portion of the course. Had I not known about the topic prevously, the instructions would not have been clear enough on their own.
website/module system and so many glitches.
well the course was online so I guess I should base "teaching" on the modules. Overall I thought the modules explained things clearly and creatively.
- wish all the modules were released all at once so it will be easier to self pace No improvements necessary
With regards to the modules, being a bit more specific about the content would be extremely helpful. Make in class tutorials

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