Folks,
I have received the following feedback through your class representatives (who, I must say, are doing an awesome job communicating the class needs and issues):
"Some students are complaining about the amount of work they have to put in Computer Networks and a lot of them are late with the assignments. Is there something that we can do about it ? Or at least a "priority list" so the students can focus on the more important parts of the homeworks ?
From what we have received the student would prefer the videos to be a little longer and to have all the material in them and keep the lectures for questions. And they have issues understanding which homework and lab are due for each week."
I would like to address this feedback point by point:
- "Some students are complaining about the amount of work they have to put in Computer Networks and a lot of them are late with the assignments. Is there something that we can do about it ? Or at least a "priority list" so the students can focus on the more important parts of the homeworks?"
First, I created a priority list to help you prepare for the midterm, especially if you feel you are behind. It's not a priority list for each homework (as the class representatives suggest); it's a priority list across everything we have covered so far. Also, I will do my best to lighten the upcoming homework sets.
Now, regarding a priority list for each homework: The order in which the homework problems are given, in each homework set, indicates priority. In other words, if you don't have the time to complete a homework set, start from the beginning and do as many problems as your time and interest allows.
Some of you will want to know how much of each homework to do in order to do well at the midterm and final exams. If you are interested genuinely in computer networks, and you want an excellent grade (5.5 to 6.0), then it makes sense to complete all homework. If not, then the best strategy is to start from past exams (available on Moodle) and find your own balance: get a feel for the nature and difficulty of the exam problems, then identify which homework problems will help you the most solve the exam problems. This is easier than it may sound: the exam focus remains the same over the years; if you do well in the previous year's exam (without looking at the solutions), you will most likely do equally well at this year's exam.
- "And they have issues understanding which homework and lab are due for each week."
From now on, I will add a date next to each lecture-video link and next to each "Material" folder. This date will indicate by when the corresponding material should viewed/studied.
- "From what we have received the student would prefer the videos to be a little longer and to have all the material in them and keep the lectures for questions. "
To address this issue, I will need to understand it better. I don't introduce any new material during the lecture discussions. I use them to (a) repeat the key points from the lecture videos, (b) try to initiate a live discussion with you, and (c) answer any random questions you may have. You are essentially asking me to drop (a) and (b), and I would like to understand why.
Perhaps the problem is that viewing the pre-recorded videos AND attending the lecture discussion is too much. Perhaps you would like to be able to skip the lecture discussion -- if you have no questions -- without missing anything?
In any case, let's discuss this on Friday. If you help me understand the problem, I am sure we will figure out a solution.
Katerina
