CSCI 2021 Midterm Survey Results

• Problem 3 from project 1 was brutal and creating everything from scratch was a much more daunting task than filling in stock functions. I wish more time was dedicated to explaining how to approach problem 3 in the instructional video compared to problem 1 and 2.
• I feel like the solo projects really force me to dive deep into the material which is great i feel like i learned a ton of C and gained a decent amount of confidence in myself….. but for a solo project it is a bit long in my opinion as I am putting over 15 hours into this one assignment to get the highest score possible.
• I have felt confident responding to and understanding questions during lecture and taking in the material. Applying the material has been more of a challenge.
• I have been having a lot of issues with the project, I am still enjoying it.
• Sometimes C really sucks but once the test cases pass I feel so much joy that everything seems good again.

Putting together even small applications is not particularly easy. But the hard work you put into building them means you've learned how to build things for yourself. That is something to be proud of.

• I think only fixing code for the first few labs didn't give me the hands-on experience I needed to be prepared for the project, and I think had the labs been a bit longer or had more function coding I would be better prepared to take the project.

We try to keep labs small and succinct to focus on 1-2 specific techniques. The cost of this is that one doesn't get the same level of practice as on the project. I'll consider having slightly longer labs to help ramp up to the project.

• I know it's not related to the class but not being able to ssh using VSCode from home has made the project 10x more tedious and stressful. It would be nice to get an extension but I don't think that would fix the issue

We've tried to provide documentation in our Unix Environment Guide on a variety of ways that students can access UMN resources or work on projects on their personal machines. This is because some systems inevitably become unavailable and it is good to have backups. I'm sorry to hear that this has been a frustration. Consider trying some alternatives such as a FASTX web connection or installing a local environment on your computer that doesn't need a network connection.

• I hate discord… It is a absurdly confusing platform on it's own, let alone trying to use its A/V functions. I have never once properly used their audio functions when I was trying to, it has exclusively occurred when I pressed the wrong button because I do not understand it sam-i-am. All of this to say, please please pretty please with a cherry on top make office hours on zoom.

I'm sorry to hear that you've struggled to get Discord to cooperate. While I agree it is not the straight-forward UI that I'd like to see, it has proven reliable and flexible for us in the past and according to the above poll, the number of problems has been small compared to the number of successes. If you continue to struggle, email me (Prof Kauffman) and we can set up a time to try to resolve the problem.

• This morning, several people were on Discord waiting for a TA who had recently switched their office hours to be in person. The TA had put something in Piazza about this change, but it was not reflected on the course website.
• In office hours a lot of times, some of the TA'S just don't show up. So some of us students just sit there and wait for an hour and the TA never comes.

I am aware of one miscommunication in which a TA moved office hours in-person and posted an announcement about it but did not adjust any other listings to indicate as much. This created understandable confusion and frustration which I talked to this TA about. It should not happen again.

If students find that a TA is not present at their office hours, please email Prof Kauffman so that I can investigate what has happened.

• I think it's hard getting help in office hours because the times make it hard for me to join. Since I'm either working or in class.

You are encouraged to email to set up an appointment with any staff member if you are struggling to get into office hours. We'll do our best to meet you at an alternate time so you can get some help.

• Also also, could you have any TAs hold weekend office hours?

TAs select their office hours and have the option to hold weekend times. None of them chose this out of the gate but I will pitch the idea to them.

• I wish that the office hours on Discord used a queue bot instead of the #oh-help-queue channel.
• Last year, 1933 had an office hours (OH) system on Discord similar to the one this class uses now with one main difference: in addition to regularly scheduled OH, 1933 also utilized a "ticket" system (I believe they used the Ticket Tool bot) where people can ask questions that TAs can answer on their own time. While similar to Piazza, conversations often felt more fluid here, and follow-up questions were easier to ask.

We discussed using some fancy Discord tools but ultimately decided that the current system of office hours, while slightly messy, is getting the job done. Asynchronous discussion is delegated to Piazza which has much better visibility than Discord in the event a conversation would benefit everyone. We'll consider changes to this if the office hour queue gets unmanageable but the poll results above indicate that the office hour situation is at least tolerable.

• I wish the office hours were more private, for example going to a private room right away instead of having to explain your issue first like that the person does not shy away or feel embarrassed to ask more questions, etc…
• I think if a lot of students had a problem with the same function for example, it would be better if the TA went through that function explaining it and giving the needed info for those students all at once, since this might help a number of students all at once. Then if the students couldn't solve the problem, they could discuss it privately with the TA

Our current policy for in most office hours interactions is to discuss as much as possible a student's problem in the main office hour room. TAs have all been instructed to talk to students verbally in the main room first, look at any test results or compilation results that students have in the clear, and explain what they believe the problem may be. After that phase, TAs may move the conversation into a private room if a student's code needs to be examined.

This can feel awkward as a student must explain a problem while peers are listening. However, it would be the same in an in-person meeting with other students who are waiting for help. It's also bound to happen in job interviews and actual work settings: discussing technical problems verbally is an essential skill in computing and now's the time to start developing that skill.

• I would love it if the staff was more helpful and if there were more office hours for students who are struggling. It would be nice to get treated with respect and to be treated equally.

It sounds like you had a very bad time of it in office hours. I encourage you to email me (Prof Kauffman) to set up an appointment to talk about it. I'd like to know more about what happened so we can set things right.

• I'm doing better than last semester because human interaction drives my motivation.
• As someone who commutes, I much prefer the online labs in past semester.
• I like that Prof Kauffman has friendly options for those who prefer online options.
• I don't really want to go to class since covid-19 and delta. I hope we have the option to choose go to classroom or stay at home do online class for this course later. There are too many people in the class.
• This maybe me personally, but I personally prefer courses online rather than in person. I feel like with breakout room, people are more susceptible to trade info and collaborate, where in person it is brief.
• I really like how most of my classes are recorded and posted on canvas. The flexibility this gives is amazing and allows me to consume course content when it works best for me.
• I have a class 15 min before lecture on west bank. Sometimes I decide it just isn't worth it and take the train home to watch the lecture later. Seems to work well enough.
• Being able to go to in-person lectures has been a huge help in making me understand the course material. On zoom, I would lose focus and wouldn't catch much of what the professor is talking about.
• It's quite difficult to understand what the professor is saying at times because of wearing a mask.
• In person is 1000% better than online in my experience, exam wise and class wise.

By far the widest divergence of experience comes from whether being (mostly) back in person is better or worse than the online experience. There is not one answer to this but thanks to all for weighing in.

• In regards to labs, if you haven't formed your initial group or partner early on the semester, you'd most likely be working alone. At least with online you're guaranteed a partner.
• I think my main struggle is mostly just interacting with other people and being able to talk to them. Most people talk to others around me and I'm too nervous to join in on their conversations during the times we get to talk in lectures.
• At the very first lab meeting I though I made a friend, and about 20 minutes into us working they got up and deadass walked away mid conversation. And tbh that kinda destroyed me so I didn't try again during lab.

That really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that a number of you are struggling to make connections in class. I did when I took this class too, only found my crew towards the end of the semester. I hope that moving ahead you're able to make some connections at in-person meetings, whether lab, lecture, or other parts of campus. Finding a few like-minded souls with which to share the struggle makes the college experience a lot more tolerable. Stay Determined.

• For next semester, I'm not sure how much say staff have in the matter, but please get a larger lecture room! Even if there wasn't covid, bumping elbows with my neighbor is such a pain. It's just SO CROWDED.

We have near zero control over which rooms our classes are scheduled in. I would also prefer a larger room for the class. And that there was no COVID. And free afternoon coffee+donuts. Se la vie…

• Maybe this will change as we stray further from C into more unfamiliar territory, but right now this class just feels like the same stuff as previous classes with different syntax.

As a programming language, C isn't terribly different from others: Java and Python both have direct heritage from C. However, C is only the lens that we'll talk about aspects of computer architecture, so don't get too hung up on the language, which should feel too foreign, only the parts of the machine that are exposed via using C such as memory addresses, stack/heap, etc.

• I'm finding that I'm spending more time than necessary for simple problems that should be fixable quick.
• Most of the time I feel like the code won't work and I don't really know where to start in some of the problems. Eventually, I will be able to get something down but it takes a while.

Everyone hits a point where they struggle. If you struggle long enough, you will become proficient and your speed will increase. That is why it is not beneficial to judge yourself now based on how long it takes you to solve problems. Once you've solved 100 problems 100 times over, there are many fewer new problems that you won't recognize. This is why experience programmers seem fast and smart: they've actually just done all this stuff many times before. You'll be able to feel that in time so long as you Stay Determined.

• Since I've transferred from a two-year college(outside of Minnesota), the difficulty of the course is way higher. And since I have only a little bit of C++ experience, it is hard to understand the materials when it comes to C code. Therefore, I feel like I am learning a new language even though I need to work on a project and exam. This means I feel like I am behind most of my classmates.
• The class is going well so far. I transferred from Normandale and was afraid I was going to be way behind everyone else, but I actually feel okay.

Everyone comes into any course with differing previous experiences. It takes even more to jump into a new college environment where the expectations are different from your past school. Don't thoughts like "I'm behind everyone else" undermine your confidence: you belong here if you want to be here. Your past experience may be different, but you can still make forward progress and come away with useful knowledge and skills if you Stay Determined.

• The material doesn't cover every lab and homework and we've gotta figure those out ourselves.

Yup. While I try to cover a lot in lecture, I do expect you to learn some things on your own and have structured the course accordingly. Turns out, the real world has the same expectation.

• Can whoever is reading this pls let prof kauffman know I think he has a really good voice. not in a weird way but i've had a lot of profs with really grating voices and i just really appreciate the ones that are genuinely pleasant to listen to. peace out.

For reference, using the expression "not in a weird way" makes things weird. Always.

• stuff going bad: sleep schedule

Ditto.

• I dread all my exams coming soon. My feet are sore too and I wish I had a big pile of money.

I cannot help you with any of that. I suggest therapy, physical and psychological.