Computer Organization II,  Autumn 2010, Questionare Answers and Summary feedback.

You may answer in English or in Finnish. No need to put your name anywhere. Questionare is anonymous.

1. Do you understand Finnish?   (circle correct choices)         9 yes, 10 no (i.e., 9 Finns and 10 English speakers)
   What percentage of the lectures did you attend?                 1   0%,  1  20%, 1  40%, 4  60%,   9   80%,   2   100%
   
   
2. If you participated to at least 60% of the lectures, what is your opinion on small discussion items during the lecture?
   • Were they useful? Was there enough time for discussion?
     11 very useful, 2 fairly useful. 4 enough time, 2 sometimes not enough time.
     
     
   • What type of discussion questions would be better?
     Smaller topics, easier topics, voting was good, more general topics,
     simple applicative questions on material just learned (e.g., micro-op question).
     
     
   • How would you make them better?
     students could propose questions (from 3 students), students should be reminded to study text book before lecture, more hints or choices.
     
     
   • Other comments on discussion items during lectures?
     Teacher should discuss the answer finally.
     Discussion was nice. Some of the topics did not create much discussion, especially if terms were unknown.
     
     Summary feedback: Discussion items are good. Smaller topics and more voting items will be used next time.
     
     
3. If you participated to at least 60% of the lectures, what is your opinion on lecturing in English? 16 answers
   (circle correct choices)
   • I found it necessary to lectures in English, because I do not understand Finnish.     8 yes, 6 no
   • I found it difficult to follow lectures in English.                                                       0  yes,  10 no
   • I found it difficult to have discussions in English.                                    2  yes, 8 no (Finns: 2 yes, 4 no)
   • It did not matter to me at all that lectures were in English .                                     7   yes, 4 no
     (Badly phrased double negative type question, sorry. Can not deduce much from answers)
   
   
   • Other comments on lecturing in English:
     Terms mostly in English, so lectures in English are helpful.
     Important because many foreign students.
     Given the terminology, I think the course is best lectured in English.
     
     Summary feedback: Lecturing in English is essential for non-Finnish students, and will not hamper (much) Finnish speakers. Finnish speakers should have opportunity to have the group discussions during lectures in Finnish.
     
     
4. If you did not participate (participation max 20%) to lectures, what was your main reason for it? 3 answers
   (circle correct choices)
   • I would rather just study by myself.                                              2 yes, 0 no
   • I work and I can not attend lectures.                                            0 yes, 1 no (1 yes w/ 60% participation)
   • Lectures were bad - I would attend if they were better                 0 yes, 1 no
   • I found it difficult to follow lectures in English.                               0 yes, 1 no
   • I found it difficult to have discussions in English.                            0 yes, 1 no
   
   
   • Other comments on not participating to lectures:
   
   Can not attend lectures for work reason. This should be considered on other courses as well - everybody can not attend even if they wanted to. Lecture notes are therefore crucial.
   
   Summary feedback: Reasons for not attending lectures seem rational. No need to change anything.
   
   
   
5. How did you like the practice session group discussions?                                                                      19 answers
   (circle correct choices)

• I would rather discuss just one problem in group and then present them
  in English to everybody in class.                                                                      5  yes, 11 no
  
• I liked the way it was done.                                                                            14 yes,  2 no
• I would have wanted more common group discussions on each problem.         5 yes, 10 no


• Other comments on practice session group discussions:
  In general good, but it would be useful to go through some unclear parts together. Often nobody had exactly the correct answer.
  The practice system worked well. There was group discussions both on questions and given answers.
  If you have not done all the homeworks, you really do not get that much out of the practice sessions.
  
  Summary feedback: Practice sessions group discussions seem to work as planned.
  

6. Any other comments:

Interesting course - not counting the details for certain hardware systems.
Great course. Too many things to remember though.
A little bit too much information to learn for the exam.
Give more interesting real examples of computer components.
I liked the call very much. Discussion is very effective and it is good in removing any confusions.

Thank you.