Online Student Ratings Report
Period:Fall 2011
Instructor: McCarthy, Jay A (075667467)
Course:C S 330-001: Concepts of Programng Lang

Page 1

Responses/Enrolled:
College:
Department:

12 / 22 = 55%
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Computer Science

Instructor Below Overall Instructor Above Overall

CourseAmount learned
Materials & activities
effective
Well organized

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

0.87

7.2 7.2 / 7.2 6.9 / 6.8 6.9 / 6.4 6.9 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

0

3

3

6

0 55%

1.15

6.3 6.6 / 6.6 6.4 / 6.5 6.4 / 6.2 6.4 / 6.6

0

0

0

0

3

5

1

3

0 55%

0.85

7.0 6.8 / 6.8 6.5 / 6.4 6.5 / 6.5 6.5 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

4

0 55%

Evaluations goodmeasures of learning

1.56

4.7 4.4 / 4.4 4.6 / 6.2 4.6 / 5.9 4.6 / 6.3

0

1

2

3

1

4

1

0

0 55%

Grading procedures
fair

1.38

4.6 4.8 / 4.8 4.9 / 6.5 4.9 / 6.3 4.9 / 6.6

0

1

2

2

3

4

0

0

0 55%

Intellectual skills
developed

1.08

6.9 7.1 / 7.1 6.6 / 6.8 6.6 / 6.4 6.6 / 6.5

0

0

0

0

1

4

2

5

0 55%

Testimonystrengthened

0.85

6.0 6.1 / 6.1 5.4 / 5.8 5.4 / 5.7 5.4 / 6.4

0

0

0

0

3

7

1

1

0 55%

Hours spent in class

Valuable time in class

0.14

3.0 3.0 / 3.0 2.9 / 2.9 2.9 / 3.3 2.9 / 2.8

55%

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% NR Resp(0) (10) (20) (30) (40) (50) (60) (70) (80) (90) (100)Rate

16.97 81.7 82.5/82.575.3/71.475.3/74.975.3/81.2 0

Hours spent out of
class

4.40

Valuable time out ofclass

14.03 78.3 78.5/78.566.6/79.366.6/79.166.6/80.8 0

0

0

0

0

1

1

3

0

4

3

9.6 9.1 / 9.1 9.7 / 7.5 9.7 / 5.2 9.7 / 3.7

0 55%
55%

0

0

0

0

0

2

4

2

2

2

0 55%

Instructor

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

Interest in student
learning

1.14

6.8 6.8 / 6.8 6.8 / 7.2 6.8 / 6.8 6.8 / 7.1

0

0

0

0

2

3

3

4

0 55%

Opportunities to get
help

1.06

6.8 7.1 / 7.1 7.3 / 7.0 7.3 / 6.7 7.3 / 6.9

0

0

0

0

1

5

2

4

0 55%

Active student
involvement

0.83

6.8 6.8 / 6.8 6.6 / 6.9 6.6 / 6.5 6.6 / 6.9

0

0

0

0

0

5

4

3

0 55%

1.13

7.0 7.0 / 7.0 7.1 / 6.5 7.1 / 6.2 7.1 / 6.5

0

0

0

0

1

4

1

6

0 55%

Prompt feedback
Useful feedback

1.68

5.5 5.4 / 5.4 5.4 / 6.3 5.4 / 6.1 5.4 / 6.4

0

0

0

5

2

2

0

3

0 55%

Responded to
students respectfully

1.98

5.4 5.5 / 5.5 5.5 / 7.0 5.5 / 6.8 5.5 / 7.0

0

1

2

0

3

2

2

2

0 55%

Explained concepts
effectively

1.53

6.2 6.4 / 6.4 6.1 / 6.5 6.1 / 6.3 6.1 / 6.7

0

0

1

0

3

3

2

3

0 55%

Integrates gospel into
subject

1.24

6.4 6.3 / 6.3 5.6 / 6.4 5.6 / 6.2 5.6 / 6.7

0

0

0

1

1

5

2

3

0 55%

0.89

6.7 6.6 / 6.6 5.9 / 6.6 5.9 / 6.3 5.9 / 6.8

0

0

0

0

0

7

2

3

0 55%

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

EP
(1)

VP
(2)

P
(3)

SP
(4)

SG
(5)

G
(6)

VG
(7)

EG
(8)

NR RespRate

0.87

6.8 6.8 / 6.8 6.4 / 6.5 6.4 / 6.2 6.4 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

0

6

3

3

0 55%

1.29

6.8 6.9 / 6.9 6.3 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.6 6.3 / 6.9

0

0

0

1

1

2

4

4

0 55%

BYU Aims

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

Contributed to BYU
Aims

1.00

6.9 6.8 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.6 6.3 / 6.9

0

0

1

Comments

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

Spiritually inspiring

Overall
Overall Course
Overall Instructor

Comments

0

0

0

6

5

0 55%

41%

Online Student Ratings Report
Period:Fall 2011
Instructor: McCarthy, Jay A (075667467)
Course:C S 330-002: Concepts of Programng Lang

Page 1

Responses/Enrolled:
College:
Department:

8 / 14 = 57%
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Computer Science

Instructor Below Overall Instructor Above Overall

CourseAmount learned
Materials & activities
effective
Well organized

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

0.71

7.2 7.2 / 7.2 6.9 / 6.8 6.9 / 6.4 6.9 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

0

1

4

3

0 57%

0.99

6.9 6.6 / 6.6 6.4 / 6.5 6.4 / 6.2 6.4 / 6.6

0

0

0

0

1

1

4

2

0 57%

0.92

6.6 6.8 / 6.8 6.5 / 6.4 6.5 / 6.5 6.5 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

1

2

4

1

0 57%

Evaluations goodmeasures of learning

1.41

4.0 4.4 / 4.4 4.6 / 6.2 4.6 / 5.9 4.6 / 6.3

1

0

1

2

4

0

0

0

0 57%

Grading procedures
fair

1.31

5.0 4.8 / 4.8 4.9 / 6.5 4.9 / 6.3 4.9 / 6.6

0

1

0

0

4

3

0

0

0 57%

Intellectual skills
developed

0.74

7.4 7.1 / 7.1 6.6 / 6.8 6.6 / 6.4 6.6 / 6.5

0

0

0

0

0

1

3

4

0 57%

Testimonystrengthened

1.04

6.2 6.1 / 6.1 5.4 / 5.8 5.4 / 5.7 5.4 / 6.4

0

0

0

0

2

3

2

1

0 57%

Hours spent in class

Valuable time in class

0.00

3.0 3.0 / 3.0 2.9 / 2.9 2.9 / 3.3 2.9 / 2.8

57%

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% NR Resp(0) (10) (20) (30) (40) (50) (60) (70) (80) (90) (100)Rate18.47 83.8 82.5/82.575.3/71.475.3/74.975.3/81.2 0

Hours spent out of
class

2.50

Valuable time out ofclass

14.58 78.8 78.5/78.566.6/79.366.6/79.166.6/80.8 0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

5

1

8.4 9.1 / 9.1 9.7 / 7.5 9.7 / 5.2 9.7 / 3.7

0 57%
57%

0

0

0

0

0

2

1

2

2

1

0 57%

Instructor

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

Interest in student
learning

0.99

6.9 6.8 / 6.8 6.8 / 7.2 6.8 / 6.8 6.8 / 7.1

0

0

0

0

0

4

1

3

0 57%

Opportunities to get
help

0.53

7.5 7.1 / 7.1 7.3 / 7.0 7.3 / 6.7 7.3 / 6.9

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

0 57%

Active student
involvement

0.74

6.6 6.8 / 6.8 6.6 / 6.9 6.6 / 6.5 6.6 / 6.9

0

0

0

0

0

4

3

1

0 57%

0.76

7.0 7.0 / 7.0 7.1 / 6.5 7.1 / 6.2 7.1 / 6.5

0

0

0

0

0

2

4

2

0 57%

Prompt feedback
Useful feedback

1.58

5.2 5.4 / 5.4 5.4 / 6.3 5.4 / 6.1 5.4 / 6.4

0

0

1

2

1

3

0

1

0 57%

Responded to
students respectfully

1.19

5.6 5.5 / 5.5 5.5 / 7.0 5.5 / 6.8 5.5 / 7.0

0

0

1

0

1

5

1

0

0 57%

Explained concepts
effectively

1.04

6.8 6.4 / 6.4 6.1 / 6.5 6.1 / 6.3 6.1 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

1

2

3

2

0 57%

Integrates gospel into
subject

0.89

6.2 6.3 / 6.3 5.6 / 6.4 5.6 / 6.2 5.6 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

2

2

4

0

0 57%

0.53

6.5 6.6 / 6.6 5.9 / 6.6 5.9 / 6.3 5.9 / 6.8

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

0

0 57%

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

EP
(1)

VP
(2)

P
(3)

SP
(4)

SG
(5)

G
(6)

VG
(7)

EG
(8)

NR RespRate

0.53

7.0 6.8 / 6.8 6.4 / 6.5 6.4 / 6.2 6.4 / 6.7

0

0

0

0

0

1

6

1

0 57%

0.83

7.1 6.9 / 6.9 6.3 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.6 6.3 / 6.9

0

0

0

0

0

2

3

3

0 57%

BYU Aims

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

VSD SD(1) (2)

D SwD SwA A(3) (4) (5) (6)SA VSA NR Resp
(7) (8)Rate

Contributed to BYU
Aims

0.53

6.5 6.8 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.8 6.3 / 6.6 6.3 / 6.9

0

0

4

Comments

Std
Dev

Sect Crse Mean Dept Mean Coll Mean Univ Mean
Mean Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/ Instructor/
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall

Spiritually inspiring

Overall
Overall Course
Overall Instructor

Comments

0

0

0

4

0

0 57%

43%

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C S 330-001 Fall 2011 - Comments
Responses: 9 Total
In the end, it was a pretty good class although it was quite rough at times. The
assignments take so much time and it's so easy to lose credit on them for minor
mistakes so I kind of feel like the grading procedures were a little unfair. The grade
didn't seem to reﬂect what you actually learned, if you solved the problem, or thetime you spent, but more of if you managed to include the hundreds of little things
Jay might be looking for.
We've never done this stuﬀ before so I don't think it's necessarily fair to expect us tothink up every possible variation of tests a problem could have. If we were given thetest cases (even if it was a post-assignment or something) then I feel like that would
do better at helping us learn to test and learn to see why we need to solve theproblem a certain way by making our implementation pass all the test cases.
But hey, I made it out alive.
I'll admit, during the ﬁrst few weeks of the class, I hated every minute of it. Racket
was frustrating to learn, and seemed impossible to wrap my mind around. But then,things slowly started making sense, and know I've ﬁnally gotten to the point where
I'll admit it can be useful for some things. And I was able to use the stuﬀ we learned
about garbage collectors in a job interview, where I knew more than my interviewer
about diﬀerent techniques. The main complaint I had was already mentioned earlier
in the semester, in that some email responses were extremely terse, but that has
already been mostly addressed, and its seemed to me like its been better ever sincethat came up. So thanks for helping us out.
Of all the CS classes I've taken so far (including several 400-level courses), this one
has been the most frustrating and upsetting. Although the concepts are inherently
diﬃcult, I don't feel as though the material alone is to blame. Jay is a good lecturer,
and appears to want to help, but there's something about his teaching of the coursethat just doesn't work. The grading of assignments felt very unclear anddiscouraging for most of the semester, and no matter how much time or eﬀort was
put into an assignment it seemed to be nearly impossible to get a good grade. This is
the ﬁrst class I've taken where I've felt this way, and I believe that's due to thecourse/instructor and is not merely my perception.
Make sure you give feedback about what points we missed so we can improve on
future assignments. Getting back a 3/12 doesn't really help us, but saying that weleft out such-and-such test cases does.
While deadlines are important there are few in this world that are as hard as thegrading part. The responses and what the criteria is for grading the projects is
eﬀectively hidden until it is graded. The style of class with recording and the class

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program was very very helpful.
Jay actively made sure that he was being helpful to his students and was the only
professor I have this semester that took mid-course evaluations serious enough to
respond to concerns voiced there in a class-wide email, generally showing genuine
concern.
A unique thing that Jay incorporates into his teaching is grading unit tests (their
existence and correctness) rather than grading the correctness of the actual code.
This allows him to eﬃciently grade many people's assignments at once and allows
him to provide feedback on an individual basis, which is very nice; however, theoft-given feedback stating that I didn't write enough tests could be improved upon.
In the future, if I knew *which* tests I failed to write, or even which tests I should be
writing, that would be helpful.
Though unit tests were a core part of the curriculum thus far in my studies, I havenever actually been formally educated on how to write proper unit tests, in thesense that I not been graded on them (instead of the code they test) over theduration of an entire course. I feel in my grade for this course has suﬀered, not for
my understanding of the material, but my lack of understanding of how proper unit
tests are to be written. For example, on an assignment whose concepts I believe I
had mastered, and for which I believed that I had systematically written adequate
and comprehensive unit tests (as believed my partner), I lost half of theassignment's credit because the tests were not suﬃciently comprehensive. This was
not upsetting; I accept that the tests were not adequate. However, I had believedthat my tests were comprehensive. Therefore, I didn't know what to ﬁx in my test
writing methods for future assignments. The feedback of "not enough tests" didn't
help me improve my test writing, a skill which is explicitly invaluable to a good
grade in this class. As a student, I would have found an entire class based solely on
test-writing excellent preparation for a class which inherently requires that skill to
get a good grade.
That being said, this was an excellent course which has broadened my horizons andhelped me understand, not only programming languages, but also programming in
general. Jay is an excellent and engaging teacher, and honestly, I wish everyone
lectured so clearly and and stuck to the lecture text so closely, so that I could readthe book if I really had to miss his more excellent presentation on the subject.
Jay, who let's use call him by his ﬁrst name, made this class great! I've learned somuch and a lot of useful things that will apply to my profession later in life. Jay let'sof call him, email or google chat with him for help. His oﬃce hours are crazy -- he's
always there. I have never had a professor that's as easy to get help from. He is very
helpful. He doesn't give the answers to you, but makes you learn. This guy isliterally a genius. There's some things he's sees in our code that I would have neverseen. He's an amazing lecturer too. My question is why is he teaching instead ofmaking millions in industry. Because he's capable of doing things that only a few
others could do. I've never see so much talent in a professor. I hate so aspects of this

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grading, but it's made me work so hard, and thus I've learned so much more. Greatguy. I woudn't take the class from anyone else, even though I hate his grading.
This class was really confusing at the beginning of the semester, but Jay really is
helpful in getting students up to speed when they don't understand speciﬁc
concepts. Many days I came out of class not understanding what had been discussed
that day, but Jay was very helpful and the projects did help you understand. I
enjoyed learning Racket (though it was painful at some points in the semester) but I
felt like Jay's testing and grading structure emphasized the importance of thinking
through projects and making good valid test cases for everything you write. It's
structured really diﬀerently from most CS classes. In most others we were'encouraged' to write good tests along the way, but in this class we needed to write
them because it was a part of our grade. I wasn't a fan of the grading policy to startout, but now I think it makes sense. Really appreciated Jay's help even outside of his
normal hours on campus, and also his mid-course evaluations and his response to
student's concerns.
I personally am an advocate of allowing a late work policy of at least 50% credit onlate assignments. This encourages the student to at least learn the material that is
to be learned from a given assignment. However, I do appreciate that he provided
the opportunity to make up for missed assignments on the ﬁnal exam.

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C S 330-002 Fall 2011 - Comments
Responses: 6 Total
This class was more diﬃcult than I expected and for that reason, I really didn't enjoy
it, but I feel that I learned a lot.
Jay teaches a diﬃcult class. It is hard to argue with his grading policies, but they arestill strict and harsh. Your grade may not actually reﬂect the huge amount of stuﬀ
you learned in his class. He is the perfect professor for the job though
I think that your idea of having students grade themselves based on the rubric will
help them understand how you evaluate the assignments, especially if you start thatat the beginning of the semester. Also, while I understand that the 'out' date was on
the schedule, it wouldn't hurt to have a quick reminder in class on that day to startworking on the project. I enjoyed the class, I learned a lot.
I like learning from jay but his homework submission and grading policies wereabsurd. I felt that the homework submission and grading policies of this class were
there implemented for convenience of the professor at the expense of the studenst.
I enjoyed every day in this class and learned a ton. My grade for this class stressedme out all semester. I am in favor of the idea presented in class that Jay teach oneclass on testing, and one class on programming languages.
Jay takes a unique approach to managing his class, which at ﬁrst was hard to get
use to, but looking back I realize that it helped me develop more as a student andCS major than other classes. He is strict in his regulations which is good, just shell
shocking at ﬁrst. He really cares about his students, enough to avoid coddling them.
He knows what we are capable of and expects it of us. At the end of this course I cansafely say that Jay is one of the professors of the CS dept that I have the mostrespect for.

12/31/2011 08:41 AM

Instructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Jay McCarthy
C S 330 Sec-001
10/21
48%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

6.4/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
2
2
4
2
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
20%
20%
40%
20%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

6.6/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
4
1
2
3
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
40%
10%
20%
30%
0%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

6.9/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
3
5
0
2
0

Response
Rate(%)
30%
50%
0%
20%
0%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

6.9/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
4
3
2
0
1
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
40%
30%
20%
0%
10%
0%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
I enjoy class time, and I REALLY like how the lectures are recorded so that I can go back andreview to clarify and/or to catch details that I missed in-class.
Jay is very approachable
excellent explanation of new and foreign concepts. lecture is very effective and recorded in case I
miss class.
I feel that the homework are reasonably sized and help contribute to learning the material. I enjoy
our tangential discussions in class.
I like the teaching style and the flow of class discussion, it allows for a very open environment.
Jay shows in class examples of new concepts and posts code and video from lectures.
Going over relevant examples and seeing how they work.
Solutions to the projects. This helps as I have thought and worked on those problems and thenseeing the "correct" implementation it helps clear out any misconceptions.
Discussions in lecture are very informative. I feel like I learn a lot during that time.
Seeing Jay code simple functions in front of us and walk us through an effective softwaredevelopment process has contributed most to my learning and changed the way I write programs.
I have learned the importance of making sure I understand the contract of the function I am writing.
I've always known testing was important in software development, but he has taught me how
generating some simple test cases will naturally guide your programming; if you know what thefunction's output is supposed to be, it is a lot easier to code.

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
The 5pm deadline has been somewhat difficult, but that's because of my schedule. All assignments
so far have taken far more time than I would have expected, so usually even after staying up late tofinish the night before it's due I can't quite finish and then I don't have any time before 5pm to workon the assignment the next day. Once again, probably just a scheduling/organization issue on myend.
I don't know
it's pretty good.
I feel a large part of the lecture goes rather slowly. I would be all for picking up the pace.
I think the projects could use a little more explanation - some of what they are asking is difficult tointerpret (we can't read the professor's mind)
Jay has a tendency to expects students to comprehend new concepts immediately without giving
enough examples. This normally isn't the case, but occasionally he'll build-up to the next idea whilestudents are still confused about the previous one. A good rule of thumbs for a difficult concept is toshow it in three different contexts.
Sometimes I feel like explanations of concepts go a little quick and aren't completely thorough.
less curt grading scale
For me the hardest part about the course is how the projects are graded. Your score depends on
your ability to test the function you create. Because I don't have a lot of experience in test I often
don't know what things to test for. I would love a little more guidances on what things we should test
for because it is a large part of our grade.
Honestly, right now I think the class is very well organized. It is challenging, but I think he has
provided sufficient ways to get help via the Google Group and also visiting with him in his office.

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
I have used the google group, reading other student's questions is good and being able to post a
few things myself has been helpful. The only problem with the google group is lack or organization.
For example, if I want to see what people are saying about Homework #1 I have to jump around andjust hope I'm getting everything. Obviously most of the questions at the top are relevant to thecurrent assignment, and I'm not sure what kind of organization could be put in place within thesystem, so just something to think about.
Possibly gradebook...

I really like the google group
The class website is very good for figuring out what is going on
lecture and assignment pages are all I've used so far. The resources provided, however, areappreciated in case of emergency and I have to leave the state (which has happened in the past).
I have found the code notes useful while doing the homework and the Google group threads havealso been useful from time to time. I feel like the support is good where it's at. Too much more and it
may have s negative impact on actual self discovery, which I believe is essential to long term
learning.
I've used office hours, e-mail, code notes, previous semester's discussions from a different
professor, and the "supplemental" reading
Code Notes, Lecture Recordings, Class-wide Google Group
Google groups, screencasts, and the notes from class posted online.
code notes.
Professors office hours, codes notes online.
I have used both the Google Group and Visiting with Jay in his office during his office hours.
I have also downloaded the code notes for each class and the recorded lectures; that is extremely
helpful. I have watched at least parts everyone of them to re-listen to Jay explain difficult concepts.
I don't really know what else you could provide.

Instructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Jay McCarthy
C S 330 Sec-002
6/15
40%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

6.2/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
1
5
0
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
17%
83%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

6.2/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
1
5
0
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
17%
83%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

6.3/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
0
2
4
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
33%
67%
0%
0%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

5.5/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
1
3
1
0
1
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
17%
50%
17%
0%
17%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
Solving a problem in multiple ways.
Being required to actually use a LISP dialect for an extended period of time rather than just fiddlingwith it for a while and returning to Real Life.
In-class walk-throughs of the development process.
Learning quickly. Lots of communication between myself and Jay.
I feel like we haven't really gotten into the meat of the course yet, but Jay's lectures are very
intriguing and interesting. From the lectures, I have started to think about certain things in a different
light. Jay is very helpful and responsive to emails.
Having the code from the lectures available on the internet
I think the thing that contributes the most is the actual doing of it all (i.e. doing the assignments).
With that said, the fact that I am able to mostly complete the assignments is probably the thing thatis going the most well.
the in calss examples are realy good

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
Good question. It could move faster, so that I cover more material in less time, but then I'd havemore of my free time taken up by homework, which not a desirable thing.
I think having a TA to cover times that Jay is unavailable might help.
I can't think of anything that would make the class better.

More guidance provided for the assignments
What really needs to improve is my ability to understand. It's like I'm almost understanding the wholetime but not quite there.
the homework submition process, so far your grading system has felt realy hoop jumpy

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
Code notes, and racket documentation, and a little bit of the Google Group. The racket language
documentation can be a bit confusing sometimes; it'd be nice if it had more usage examples or atleast prose descriptions of every function, but then the code notes from each class have been fillingthat role pretty well so far.
Google chat notes and office hours.
I have used code notes, professor emailing, and the lecture recordings.
I feel they have been sufficient.
Code notes, mailing list
I have used the code notes and the screen casts. They are super useful!! I think those are enough.
onlineInstructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Jay McCarthy
C S 330 Sec-001
5/22
23%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

5.8/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
1
2
2
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
20%
40%
40%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

4.8/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
0
0
4
1
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
0%
0%
80%
20%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

6.4/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
1
1
2
1
0

Response
Rate(%)
20%
20%
40%
20%
0%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

6.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
2
2
0
1
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
40%
40%
0%
20%
0%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
lectures
Going over the homework in class after everyone has struggled through it.
I'm understanding what we're learning. I learn in class but sometimes it goes over my head, so I
learn a bit I miss in class from the labs and talking of google groups.
What is going well in the class?
Jay is someone I can look up to and aspire to emulate in many ways, this has been a motivation forme.
What contributes most to my learning?
Lectures, reading material, Google, and other classmates.
Seeing how things work through programming up on the screen.

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
Racket is the most difficult part of the class. Concepts aren't too bad but trying to implement them inracket makes the class much more difficult than originally anticipated.
Going over the hard concepts more than once. It feels very rushed. When we go over the
homework we rarely get to the hard parts that people struggled with.
In class I have a hard time understanding because I am slow to comprehend and understand racket
syntax and semantics. Everything you explain without specific code examples I understand, but Ihave a hard time understand when it comes to specific code examples. I hope you know what I
mean.
I also feel I could have done way better in the beginning when i came to grades on homework
because I didn't understand tests are what makes your grade, and I didn't realize how specific they
had to be. It's kinda annoying because I could perfectly understand the material but my grade won't
reflect such.
Sometimes lectures feel rushed making it difficult to understand what is being taught. The lectures
could better prepare students for the assignments.
The pace could be slower. In class things happen quickly and it takes time to soak it in or see how
it's actually working. I feel like there isn't really much time to understand what's going on so I usuallyfind myself re-watching lectures and pausing it every so often to go through the code andunderstand it myself.

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
Gradebook system
Everything provided.
Google groups, I've talked to you and blake a few times, that helps most. Racket documentation anda little bit of the text book.
Google Groups, email, lecture recordings, lecture notes, reading material.
Google groups and the screen casts are mostly what I've been using. Often times the responses on
the group aren't particularly useful because of the way Jay responds. They sometimes seem
condescending or sarcastic which results in it not being very helpful.

Instructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Jay McCarthy
C S 330 Sec-002
2/14
14%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

6.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

5.5/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
0%
50%
50%
0%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

5.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
0
0
1
0
1

Response
Rate(%)
0%
0%
50%
0%
50%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

4.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
0%
0%
50%
0%
50%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
The course material is very interesting. I think Racket, especially, is a fascinating language thathelps us re-think what it means to program. I appreciate when we program something together inclass.
I don't know if you did it on purpose, but I really liked the fact that we had homework due theThursday before conference and the "out" date for the next homework was the Tuesday after
conference, so I didn't feel like I needed to work on things for this class during that time.

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
Being in your class is emotionally taxing. Certain superlatives such as "trivially obvious", "completely
worthless," and so forth leave us frustrated and angry, especially when our personal experienceleads us to have a different point of view than you do. We know you are more educated than us, but
you needn't lord it over us. Goading us into taking reasonable, educated guesses that you thencrush like insects does not fill students with faith in their ability to learn and be successful. We, as
students, do not feel respected.
Strict grading on assignments discourages me from wanting to put effort into them. (Quickly
diminishing marginal returns on added effort)

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
Grading expectations could be made much clearer. I've had multiple times when I asked the TAwhether an answer was complete enough to receive credit, and he said "I don't know. I don't want totell you it's a good answer only to have Jay shoot it down. You'd have to ask him." If not even yourTA can understand what an answer needs to be like to receive credit, how could we? This iscompounded by the near-binary approach you have to grading. The difference between a 100% anda 50% (an F) could very well come down to a single phrase, and your condemnation of "overly
obfuscatory" answers makes us paranoid that if we add that phrase, we might swing too far in theother direction.
The availability of code notes is very helpful and amazingly appreciated.
Professor office hours. - helpful

Instructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Marne Isakson
C S 330 Sec-001
3/14
21%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

7.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
67%
0%
0%
33%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

6.3/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
0%
67%
0%
33%
0%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

6.7/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
1
1
0
1
0

Response
Rate(%)
33%
33%
0%
33%
0%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

7.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
67%
0%
0%
33%
0%
0%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
Jay's attitude. The environment of the class is great because it makes things interesting. I would
rather be in class than watch the lectures because I don't want to miss anything.
Having a recording of class used to be one of the best helps, but now that's gone. If possible, some
sort of recording would be nice, although, using the whiteboard is nice, too.
The class lectures are really good - they explain the material well, and answer questions pretty well.
The homework has been very hard at times, and because of that has been sometimes frustrating.
However, once I've be enable to figure it out, it has made good sense and not been too bad.

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
This could just be because of how packed everyone's schedule is, but needing to figure so much out
from scratch in a new language is frustrating when you don't have much time to do anything andthere so much stress on getting things perfect.
Slower pace, maybe more examples to explain concepts
Some of the answers to emailed questions seem overly terse and abrupt, and don't explain things
nearly as well as is done in person.

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
I haven't used the group very much, but I like it. I've been to office hours once. I think you offer agood variety of helps.
Google groups, screen casts when available.
The class email list has been a very useful tool, both I n asking questions, and seeing other peoples
progress on things. Talking one-on-one in office hours has also helped gets lots of things clearedup.

Do you have to wait long for help either from me or TAs?
No
Not usually.
No. The email list is answered pretty quickly.

Instructor Name:
Course Name:
Response Rate:

Jay McCarthy
C S 330 Sec-002
4/14
29%

I am learning a great deal in this course.
Average Rating

7.3/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
1
3
0
0
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
25%
75%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Course materials and learning activities are effective in helping me learn.
Average Rating

6.5/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
25%
25%
25%
25%
0%
0%
0%
0%

This course is helping me develop intellectual skills (such as critical thinking,analytical reasoning, integration of knowledge).
Average Rating

6.8/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:

Response
Count
1
2
0
1
0

Response
Rate(%)
25%
50%
0%
25%
0%

Disagree:
Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

0
0
0

0%
0%
0%

The instructor shows genuine interest in students and their learning.
Average Rating

6.0/8.0

Very Strongly Agree:
Strongly Agree:
Agree:
Somewhat Agree:
Somewhat Disagree:
Disagree:Strongly Disagree:
Very Strongly Disagree:

Response
Count
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
0

Response
Rate(%)
25%
25%
25%
0%
0%
25%
0%
0%

What is going well in class? What contributes most to your learning?
Being able to see the code we are working on and how it works helps me the most. A lot of theideas and concepts are totally new to me, so being able to see some of them in action helps me toknow how to use them myself
Asking questions (trust, but verify!). Also, trying to answer your questions.
The code reviews we've done were very enlightening.
I am definitely learning a lot about the fundamental building blocks of programing languages. The
thing that contributes the most to my learning is when you take what we were/are talking about andtell us about what has happened in the field of CS regarding that particular issue. That coupled with
the intensity of solving the labs helps to wrap together and clarify the topics which were being
discussed.
I think I learn the most during the lectures. I find them very enjoyable and look forward to them eachday we have class.

What could be improved? How could this course be more effective in helping you
learn?
I know its just your style, but seriously, all the assignments and information on your site reads like alegal document. It would be nice to have that dumbed down a bit sometimes, especially since thematerial can be tricky enough to understand on its own
More code reviews / reviews of assignments would be nice.
I feel like I need to better review what we discuss, which is more of a personal thing that needs tochange and not a way the class needs to improve. I don't feel that I can adequately answer thisstatement without first resolving my own studying/reviewing shortcomings.
More mercy regarding grades would help me be more enthusiastic about learning from thehomework. Perhaps I should just focus on learning and not on my grade, but I do not have theopportunity to argue that point when it comes time to renew my BYU scholarship or get a job
interview, both of which care about my GPA.

What course resources (i.e. code notes, TAs, professor office hours, professor phone
calls, etc) have you used? What else should I provide?
Your office hours are the most useful. I hate to feel like I use them as a crutch, but for me I chugalong fine during the assignments and then I just get stuck. Its nice to have help
The google group and the code notes. Office hours that match up better with my own class schedulewould be nice, but that's not really something you can be expected to accommodate everybody on.
I've used the google group, code notes, and talking with students. Sorry, but I'm not sure what
resources could be provided in addition to all the ones available. Although - one small issue - I
wasn't able to open up the garbage collection notes/article because that universities page seemed
to be down. Have there been any other people with this problem?
Professor office hours and the mailing list have been helpful. I don't know when the TA is available
or where to find him. (I think I know what he looks like)Do you have to wait long for help either from me or TAs?
No usually
Nope.
Nope.
Sometimes I wait long. This is only if I want to talk to you face to face and the card by your officesays "Not Around :("