Randomness and Computation (RC)
Response to student feedback in 2016/17 course survey
I have taken note of the feedback from students in this course
survey, and have the following comments in response.
- The students that mention that this is a theoretical course
which demands strong mathematical skills - they are right.
- A couple of the responders mentioned that some of the lectures
were a bit disorganised, and that they had typos. These students
are right. I was teaching the course for the first time, and there
was no existing set of slides, so everything was being developed
from scratch and sometimes in a hurry.
I will strive to have a more polished performance this year,
and think that with the extra time this should happen. In fact,
most of the typos (and also points needing extra explanations)
have already been sorted out - as I tidied things up for the
students (with annotations) in the weeks before the exams.
- A couple of the responders have emphasised the need for tutorials.
This feedback already came back to me when I did a mid-semester
questionnaire in Spring 2017, and I requested resourcing for 5
tutorials at Teaching Committee in May/June. So we will have 5
tutorials this year, running in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 (I think,
weeks not definite yet!).
I always aim to have the tutorials taught by someone different
to myself, to give an alternative perspective.
- It is true my lectures sometime "run over" in time. It
was worse than usual in Spring 2017 as I was teaching the material
for the first time and was unsure which parts would be slower
(or need extra explanations on the board). Should be better
for 2018, now that I have the experience of the time taken.
Mary Cryan, September 2017