Survey Report

CS Standard LEC Survey
FA15 (2015)

Purdue University
West Lafayette

Course:	CS25000 LE1 - Computer Architecture	Department:	CS
		Responses / Expected:	50 / 196 (25.51%)

1a - Demographics		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses						Course
		F	S	JR	SR	G	O	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q1	YOUR CLASS	1	34	9	6	0	0	50	2.2	2	.72

Responses: [F] Fresh=1 [S] Soph=2 [JR] Jr=3 [SR] Sr=4 [G] Grad=5 [O] Other=6

1a - Demographics

CS25000 - LE1

Responses

Course

A

B

C

D

F

P

F

N

Grp
Med

Mode

Std
Dev

Q2

EXPECTED GRADE

22

23

3

0

0

1

1

50

6.4

6

1.13

Responses: [A] A=7 [B] B=6 [C] C=5 [D] D=4 [F] F=3 [P] Pass=2 [F] Fail=1

1a - Demographics		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses			Course
		RFY	RBS	E	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q3	COURSE REQUIRED	50	0	0	50	1.0	1	0

Responses: [RFY] Required for your major/minor=1 [RBS] Required by school/University=2 [E] Elective=3

1a - Demographics		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses											Course
		AG	ED	E	HHS	LA	M	P	SCI	T	VM	U	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q4	YOUR SCHOOL	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	47	0	0	0	50	4.5	4	1.01

Responses: [AG] AG=11 [ED] ED=10 [E] ENGR=9 [HHS] HHS=8 [LA] LA=7 [M] MGMT=6 [P] PHARM=5 [SCI] SCI=4 [T] TECH=3 [VM] VET MED=2 [U] UNDECLARED=1

2a - University questions about your course		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses					Course
		E	G	F	P	VP	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q5	Overall, I would rate this course as:	8	23	14	1	4	50	3.8	4	1.04

Responses: [E] Excellent=5 [G] Good=4 [F] Fair=3 [P] Poor=2 [VP] Very Poor=1

2b - University questions about your instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		E	G	F	P	VP	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q6	Overall, I would rate this instructor as:	29	20	1	0	0	50	4.6	5	.54

Responses: [E] Excellent=5 [G] Good=4 [F] Fair=3 [P] Poor=2 [VP] Very Poor=1

CS standard questions about course		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses					Course
		<1	1-3	3-5	5	>10	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q7	On average, how many hours per week did you spend on this course?	2	2	18	22	6	50	3.6	4	.90

Responses: [<1] <1=1 [1-3] 1-3=2 [3-5] 3-5=3 [5] 5-10=4 [>10] >10=5

CS standard questions about course		CS25000 - LE1
		Responses					Course
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q8	The course was a worthwhile learning experience.	19	19	7	3	2	50	4.2	4,5	1.06
Q9	The course improved my skills and understanding.	15	28	4	1	2	50	4.1	4	.90
Q10	The course increased my interest in computer science substantially.	15	18	9	4	4	50	3.9	4	1.20
Q11	The course work requirements were too much.	8	10	8	20	3	49	2.7	2	1.23
Q12	The course concepts were too difficult.	8	14	7	19	1	49	3.1	2	1.17
Q13	The book/handouts suited the course well.	10	11	7	15	7	50	2.9	2	1.37
Q14	The book/handouts were readable.	9	22	9	7	3	50	3.8	4	1.12
Q15	The book/handouts gave good applications.	7	17	15	6	5	50	3.4	4	1.15
Q16	The book/handouts problems were too difficult.	5	5	21	16	3	50	2.8	3	1.02
Q17	The computing facilities suited the course well.	16	27	4	2	0	49	4.2	4	.74
Q18	The computing facilities were reasonably available.	17	30	3	0	0	50	4.2	4	.57

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

3c - PICES instructor based questions		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q19	My instructor takes my views and comments seriously.	18	23	4	0	0	45	4.3	4	.63

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q20	My instructor seemed concerned that students learn.	29	19	0	0	0	48	4.7	5	.49

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q21	My instructor showed a clear understanding of the subject.	30	18	0	0	0	48	4.7	5	.48

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q22	My instructor was well-prepared and organized in class.	26	20	2	0	0	48	4.6	5	.58

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q23	My instructor helped me understand the material.	29	16	3	0	0	48	4.7	5	.61

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q24	My instructor gave exams that accurately assessed what I have learned in this course.	23	18	7	0	0	48	4.4	5	.72

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q25	My instructor graded fairly.	19	20	6	3	0	48	4.3	4	.87

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q26	My instructor was reasonably available to help students outside of class.	20	18	8	2	0	48	4.3	5	.85

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q27	My instructor encouraged in-class participation.	25	17	5	0	0	47	4.6	5	.68

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q28	My instructor shows respect for me and other students in this class.	27	17	3	1	0	48	4.6	5	.71

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q29	My instructor is open to student's questions.	25	20	3	0	0	48	4.5	5	.61

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

CS standard questions about instructor		Xu, Dongyan
		Responses					Individual
		SA	A	U	D	SD	N	Grp Med	Mode	Std Dev
Q30	My instructor encourages an atmosphere where ideas can be exchanged freely and easily.	26	20	2	0	0	48	4.6	5	.58

Responses: [SA] Strongly Agree=5 [A] Agree=4 [U] Undecided=3 [D] Disagree=2 [SD] Strongly Disagree=1

Q31 - We welcome your written comments below. What is something/are some things that the instructor does well, e.g., something you hope that the instructor will continue to do in the class in the future?
Faculty:	Xu, Dongyan
Response Rate:	32.00% (16 of 50)

-	Professor Xu was excellent and very helpful. His lectures were extremely useful, and always helped clear up concepts that were confusing. He was well organized and made a good use of the time. He didn't focus on useless details and instead went over the relevant material in a clear and understandable way.
-	This instructor really has a gift for teaching. He was well prepared for lectures and provided great exercises. It seems like there was good communication between the two instructors. This instructor made material relatable and understandable with real-world examples.
-	I liked how the examples were more hands-on with this professor. Great use of markers rather than just boring slides.
-	He's good I hope he keeps using paper to demonstrate his example.
-	I like the use of personal slides, it shows more effort was given toward the class than a powerpoint. I liked the amount and frequency you gave example problems to the class. Prof's with a sense of humor always make even the most boring lectures bearable, keep it up.
-	good teeacher
-	Thank you for giving Prof. Bellur tips on how to teach us a little better. I could tell that Prof. Bellur copied some of your teaching strategies. You may have honestly saved a lot of poor grades with that advice.
-	He explained very well in student level. He knew what the students' views exactly.
-	He is a great and engaging lecturer that presents the material well. He also really encourages student questions and never makes you feel stupid for something you say. His example problems were VERY helpful. In fact the examples that he led in class were probably the single most helpful tool in understanding the material that I had this semester.
-	Prof. Xu is very good at teaching and does a good job helping us learn the material. It could be much better if he teaches more lectures.
-	Much better than Bellur.
-	He explained things clearly and gave good examples. He was responsive to feedback and helpful during office hours.
-	Good explanations and the in-class examples were very helpful
-	Both lab instructors were very approachable during the labs. I felt comfortable to ask questions.
-	I did not understand why professor Bellur was always speaking during lectures because, Professor Xu is several orders of magnitude better at speaking than Bellur. Please have Xu speak more often because, I did not feel like I learned anything when Bellur spoke.
-	1. Explains in a clearer way than the professor

Q32 - Make a suggestion(s) for improving the course (a criticism alone is not helpful; tell your instructor how you would fix any problem).
Faculty:	Xu, Dongyan
Response Rate:	32.00% (16 of 50)

-	The biggest problem with Professor Xu was that he never got to lecture very much. I'm not sure what the situation was exactly, but his lectures were few and far between. That's really a shame, because Professor Xu's lectures were easily the most useful and interesting out of the whole year.
-	I have trouble understanding the value of understanding this material for my degree. I feel like the valuable parts of the course didn't start until discussing the way a processor fetches and executes instructions. I don't think it's necessary to understand exactly what gates are or how they're used to implement a processor. It seemed to waste half of the semester when we could have been learning much more valuable material. I wonder why the CS department has this course as a required part of the CS curriculum but fails to provide a modern web design course. The time spent on this course feels like an unfortunate waste. I would suggest removing this course from the core required courses in CS
-	See above.
-	I would've liked to see better questions on the the quizzes. We were not properly prepared for many of the questions that were asked.
-	I would like the ppt slides to be posted before class so I can follow along in class and go backwards if needed.
-	I think that he could perhaps speed up sometimes (just a little bit).
-	The book was pretty useless, I truly felt I wasted my money and I can't even sell it more some cash back.
-	perfect techer
-	Please lecture more.
-	A little speed up would be better but it is already great
-	I just wish he had taught MORE lectures. I'd love to take another class of his.
-	Only Xu should teach this course.
-	There was a lot of material and even though we were told that labs would not correspond to lecture I would have appreciated more overlap such as being taught ARM in lecture so that it would correspond to the labs instead of just being taught MIPS in lecture.
-	Class was disorganized and a lot of the times class lectures went too fast and what was tested in labs wasn't exactly taught in class at the same time.
-	Both lab instructors were very approachable during the labs. I felt comfortable to ask questions.
-	1. Not sure if this is a good idea, but since we're all CS majors, would teaching the class in reverse (virtual memory/caching/assembly, then towards circuit stuff) be a more comfortable way for CS majors to learn Computer Architecture?