| Faculty: | SCHOOL OF COMPUTING | Academic Year: | 2007/2008 |
| Department: | COMPUTER SCIENCE | Semester: | 2 |
| Module: | COMPUTER ORGANISATION - CS2100 |
| Note: | Feedback on module in general |
| Qn | Items Evaluated | Module Avg Score | Nos Responded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overall opinion of the module. | 4.114 | 158 |
| 2 | Grade likely to get for the module. | 4.132 | 152 |
| 3 | Difficulty level of the module. | 3.753 | 158 |
QN\SCORE | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Qn 1: Overall opinion of the module. | Excellent | Good | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | Poor |
Qn 2: Grade likely to get for the module. | A | B | C | D | F |
Qn 3: Difficulty level of the module. | Very Difficult | Difficult | Average | Easy | Very Easy |
| Nos. of Respondents(% of Respondents) |
| | | ||||||
ITEM\SCORE | | | Excellent | Good | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | Poor |
| | | ||||||
Module | | | 43 (27.22%) | 93 (58.86%) | 19 (12.03%) | 3 (1.90%) | 0 (.00%) |
Module at Same Level (Dept) | | | 82 (12.77%) | 285 (44.39%) | 206 (32.09%) | 47 (7.32%) | 22 (3.43%) |
Module at Same Level (Fac) | | | 112 (13.78%) | 389 (47.85%) | 239 (29.40%) | 50 (6.15%) | 23 (2.83%) |
| Nos. of Respondents(% of Respondents) |
| | | ||||||
ITEM\SCORE | | | A | B | C | D | F |
| | | ||||||
Module | | | 57 (37.50%) | 66 (43.42%) | 22 (14.47%) | 6 (3.95%) | 1 (.66%) |
Module at Same Level (Dept) | | | 184 (29.25%) | 305 (48.49%) | 115 (18.28%) | 21 (3.34%) | 4 (.64%) |
Module at Same Level (Fac) | | | 221 (27.69%) | 405 (50.75%) | 143 (17.92%) | 25 (3.13%) | 4 (.50%) |
| Nos. of Respondents(% of Respondents) |
| | | ||||||
ITEM\SCORE | | | Very Difficult | Difficult | Average | Easy | Very Easy |
| | | ||||||
Module | | | 14 (8.86%) | 94 (59.49%) | 47 (29.75%) | 3 (1.90%) | 0 (.00%) |
Module at Same Level (Dept) | | | 101 (15.71%) | 324 (50.39%) | 205 (31.88%) | 9 (1.40%) | 4 (.62%) |
Module at Same Level (Fac) | | | 115 (14.13%) | 382 (46.93%) | 297 (36.49%) | 16 (1.97%) | 4 (.49%) |
| Q1. | Please comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the module, and suggest possible improvements. |
| 1. | The pace is just nice for absorption. |
| 2. | Interesting. I love playing with the circuit board and wires :):):) |
| 3. | A very interesting module. |
| 4. | Given the difficulty of the module, I think the lecturer has done a fairly good job in making it easier for us, and spreading it out over the semester. |
| 5. | Good structure. Recommend change to 2 hour tutorial for such deep topic. And add a 15minutes quiz that will enhance the learning-feedback process |
| 6. | Generally well conducted. For sequential logic topic though, it is a tad insidious it was part of the syllybus and included in the exams without 1) any tutorials 2) any labs 3) any assignments whatsoever 4) any kind of sample questions (e.g. past year papers or mock paper) in the sense that.. students who don't really understand the topic during lecture would have none of the usual channels to clarify their doubts, and there is also no way to tell what kind of questions would be asked, etc.. Self assessments were VERY good and helpful at the start of the module.. but these questions only existed for the starting few chapters.. Subsequently, there were no more because the lecturer didn't have any in his question bank.. While not really a bad thing of the module per se, having self assessments for subsequent chapters too would just make thing module from "good" to "extremely good" :) It's like going the extra mile.. Oh, the availability of webcast for this module was another PLUS point :) |
| 7. | easy to understand |
| 8. | nil |
| 9. | It provides a good introduction to the future topics like Embedded Systems. |
| 10. | It is an excellent module, but I reckon that the computer organisation part is just a little bit rushed, although the digital logic part is very adequately and thoroughly gone through. |
| 11. | The later part is more difficult than the first part of the course. However, we put more time and energy on the first part. It is simply not very wise,even though I understand that you want to let us have a good foundation when learning the latter part. |
| 12. | clearly staement in the lecture and tutorial |
| 13. | Not an easy module. |
| 14. | Contains challenging concepts but are well put across to students. The pace appeared deceptively slow at the beginning. |
| 15. | Strengths - Good pacing for the materials covered - Quite a lot of practice given (Self-Assessment on ivle for eg) Weaknesses - The module covers a lot of topics, hence can't afford to go too deep into each topic. |
| 16. | Strengths : 1st part of the course Weakness: 2nd part is very dry and hard to understand |
| 17. | The module was of the highest interest for me and very well taught by the lecturer. It highly enhanced my thinking capabilities about the internal organisation and workings of a computer. |
| 18. | Strengths: 1. Students were exposed to some software during lab sessions. This provided students some hand-on opportunities to apply knowledge they learnt. 2. Students were given extensive training in planning and verifying logic equalities using a logic trainer. They were also trained to connect circuits. 3. Self-assessment questions provided by the lecturer have wide coverage on various topics, and thus were useful for students to test themselves. 4. Regular assignments, tutorial questions, self-assessments, and past-year questions were a combination effective enough to prompt students to practise regularly. |
| 19. | Covers a wide range of relevant topics, but having done some electrical engineering modules helps greatly, especially for the first part. |
| 20. | strength : applicable weakness : more practice please |
| 21. | Strength: lecture notes are good. Lecturer is good. |
| 22. | really a difficult module...not worth 4 mc's |
| 23. | It is very good , interesting |
| 24. | N/A |
| 25. | - The lecture is nice, and is one of the favourite lectures in SoC, so this module is quite attractive despite its complex content. |
| 26. | this module is quite abstruct such that some real stuff may improve our understanding |
| 27. | no its an interesting module |
| 28. | First part is not difficult but the second part..... |
| 29. | Ok,a good module but sometimes i think we need more details |
| 30. | None |
| 31. | No comments |
| 32. | This module is very good.It is organised in a way that we have a clear picture of the computr hardware. |
| 33. | nil |
| 34. | Difficult, challenging module yet immediately relevant. |
| 35. | I feel that the module tries to cover too much ground, with Digital Logic in the 1st half, and Computer Organization in the 2nd half, plus non-examinable topics such as File I/O. Having mandatory gradeable lab, tutorial, online assignments every week, it is quite taxing on the average student, and will require too much commitment to finish the assignments adequately. Online assignments should be converted into a fortnightly in-class quiz to test the student's real knowledge, because students tend to discuss with one another regarding home assignments. |
| 36. | Tough module, but Prof Aaron is brilliant at making things easier to understand. |
| 37. | Most of the things we learn in the module wont be applied... Maybe its better to break up the module into parts that will be more useful to specific courses and emphasise on those parts instead of teaching on a broad knowledge basis. |
| 38. | - |
| 39. | I love this module, although it's a bit hard. finally understand how a computer actually works! |
| 40. | Course materials are excellent, especially the website |
| 41. | Webcasted lectures very useful for reviews. Availability of past year term tests for practice for better understanding. |
| 42. | Content of lectures are good and thorough, it will be great if it can more perks. I find it slightly difficult to keep myself attentive. |
| 43. | I have gained much understanding of the architechture of links between hardware and software. I think this module is not as hard as i thought. maybe i prefer the lecturer could cover more difficult topics which we may encounter in the future course. |
| 44. | difficult and very hard to master within a few months |
| 45. | strength: learn a lot of basic computers hardware and assembly language weakness: pace is too fast, especially the later part of the module |
| 46. | weakness-too many contents for too little time strengths- interesting |
| 47. | A challenging module. Concepts are simple to grasp but sometimes questions can be tricky. However, the textbooks are a big help so more or less the module should be passable. |
| 48. | interesting and useful knowledge taught. |
| 49. | The tutorial questions are not at the same difficulty level as the exam questions... |
| 50. | very well planned. concepts are explained very well. lecturer constantly links back with past concepts taught, allowing students to see links. module materials are uploaded regularly and on time. students know what is expected to be completed during each lect/tut/lab. |
| 51. | / |
| 52. | Good understanding of computer architecture. Too many concepts omitted. |
| 53. | nil |
| 54. | Module a little dry, but I guess nothing much can be done about that. |
| 55. | appreciate the timely feedback on assignments and resources given, e.g. the past year papers. and the consistent CAs help me to build understanding of the module in a consistent manner. |
| 56. | Gives a good introduction to the way computers work, and provides an idea of the designing process in computer architecture. An improvement would be to go deeper into the design process itself and involve the student as a designer of computer architecture. |
| 57. | too many things in one module. |
| 58. | Very Interesting module. Useful module for other modules. |
| 59. | There are many interesting topics and some of them are something I have never heard of before. It is good to have this module in NUS. However, I think the pace is too fast. |
| 60. | It would be good if tutorial solutions are provided online after the tutorial sessions. |
| 61. | Strength: help students have basic understanding about the lower level of computer system (ex: by labs) Weakness: no |
| 62. | Module lets us know more about the organization of the computer. |
| 63. | It helps students understand better regarding the hardware and the structure of the computer besides the programming part. |
| 64. | this is quite a challenging course,probably need more time and effort. the webcast is helpful,hope that there's more way to help us on revision |
| 65. | It tells us about things that related to computer especially in hardware. Also, we learn the assembly language and how to design logic gates. However, it is becoming difficult after moving into memory stage. |
| 66. | Strengths: expose you with binary numbers and hardware knowledge Weakness: quite a lot of topics covered |
| 67. | I think that the second part of the module is quite tough and it should be taught in a slower and more detail pattern. |
| 68. | the module content is quite rich |
| 69. | na |
| 70. | too much knowledge addressed on concepts but not enough practice for students. as a result, students are not fully able to apply all the theories leant. |
| 71. | The module is well structured! |
| 72. | A good module overall, except didn't quite see the relation between the first half and second half. |
| 73. | good organised, clear points of those topics, responsible lecturer, helpful advise |
| 74. | it is a useful and interesting module. |
| 75. | lectures are extremely boring |
| 76. | Too much contents for just a single module. |
| 77. | get the main idea of the computer system |
| 78. | NA |
| 79. | too many topics |
| 80. | the 2nd half is quite hard but Aaron made it interesting |
| 81. | Strenghts: covers all topics about computer architechture understanding Weaknesse: it seems irrelevant to my other courses. |
| 82. | No comments. Find the structure now quite good. |
| 83. | The assignments give unnecessary stress because there are already 2 term tests. The assignments should be scraped and the marks be converted to the tests. |
| 84. | Well structured and organized. |
| 85. | Strengths: A very nice and efficient lecturer. Timely replies on the forum. I cant think of any Weaknesses so far. |
| 86. | Too many topics covered under one module! |