Evaluation Comments
Course:Object-Oriented Software Development
            (SE-450-710)

Quarter:Autumn 07/08
Time: ::: - :::
Location: Distance Learning
James Riely PhD

Associate Professor
jriely@cs.depaul.edu
Instructor homepage

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What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?


1.   strengths: passionate about his work.weaknesses: somewhat disorganized thinker
2.   He explains concepts very well
4.   Very accessible and helpful.
5.   Dr. Riely seems to be excited about the course material which helps the students be interested in it as well.
6.   The instructor was just exceptionally well-prepared. He always had notes up ahead of time (in multiple formats) and appropriate readings. He is a good presenter, easy to understand, and has valuable opinions about the material.
7.   The instructor communicated the course material in a very effective manner. As a distance student, it's very difficult ordeal to watch the video lectures, sometimes long and arduous. He made the lectures very enjoyable. He didn't hand feed us information which made parts of the course challenging and enjoyable.
8.   Good teacher w/ lots of OO experience, recommended other interesting courses frequently.
10.   Strengths - explained the material well
11.   He knows his stuff, explains it well, and is organized. Requirements are pretty clear.
12.   The instructor is very well organized and prepared. The lecture notes are excellent. The instructor is also very knowledgeable about the subject, which is great for our own insight into these problems.The biggest weakness of the instructor is he looks funny. Just kidding.

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?


1.   learning about design patterns. This course has solidified a lot of what I knew before.
2.   The content of this course is exactly what I have done professionally for the last 8 yeas, so it has been mainly review. Therefore, not terribly beneficial... but beneficial in obtaining my masters degree!
5.   The in-depth pattern discussions.
6.   Patterns and their practical application. The test-based programming methodology was good too. (Although I think I have a higher opinion of debuggers than the professor does.)
7.   the project so far has been challenging but I'm only benefiting from it. the material has helped me quite a bit in my full time job.
8.   Forcing you to use patterns and real OO methods, not procedural code hidden in an OO decorator.
10.   Design Patterns
11.   All
12.   Solid, in depth examination of the popular design patterns.

What do you suggest to improve this course?


1.   There should be no 3-hour long exams in any classes that involve things like writing programs by hand. It is a poor way of running a univerity. Programming, by nature involves testing and thought-- not pen and paper.
5.   I think the final project was interesting but lacked organization.
6.   The one negative experience I had was when I posted my answers to the practice midterm on the mailing list. I tried to do it early because I work full time & am teaching a class part time this semester and scheduling is tight. When I posted the answers the professor said they were correct, but then a day or two before the exam, other students discovered they were wrong. Normally it is very difficult to psyche me out on an exam, but my confidence was really shaken.
7.   one class a week, three hours in that day is not ideal. it's hard to concentrate for the full three hours (I feel it impacts the instructor too). two 1.5 hour classes a week would help. I'd like to have more several more lectures to really delve into the material.
8.   The project consumed a lot of time ~ 40 hrs at week 3. I work for myself and have family committments. It is fun, however.
11.   None
12.   Warn about the length of the final project. It is long..........
13.   the final project was very hard. I would recommend to allow students to work on this project during the entire quarter.

Comment on the grading procedures and exams


1.   Fair.
3.   I'd like to see assignments returned more quickly. I made a stupid mistake in HW1, which was repeated in HW2 because we didn't get HW1 graded and returned to us until after HW2 was due.
5.   the grading was fair.
6.   Seemed fair.
7.   so far, the grading has been fair. As a distance student, it's hard for me to get valuable feedback on assignments and exams due to the distance thing. I'd like to have more detailed and comprehensive comments posted on COL or sent to me in an email describing my work.
8.   It was nice to get a copy of the graded DL midterm back. This is the first course of six where this has happened.
11.   Good
12.   Good.

Other comments?


4.   Cheating was a major problem in this course. There were a group of 5-6 students who were passing their midterms back and forth and talking in the middle of the test. This was really distracting as I sat right behind them.
7.   the instructor has been great and I will look to take him in future courses. you should get him to teach more course:) hopefully his feelings are mutual and will give me an A in the course (I'm sure I deserve it).
8.   It would be a great improvement to be able to view the course at a higher/lower speed, WITH SOUND and synchronized whiteboard/computer monitor.It is possible w/ WMP 11, but the whiteboard/monitor is missing. This is a great time saver, especially for slow speaking instructors (not a problem with this instructor)
9.   Awesome!
12.   This has been a great course and I've learned a ton. Well worth the time and effort for me! Why don't they teach classes like this to undergrads? All I learned about was Polymorphism.