Read these comments first:
Student Course Evaluations Get An 'F'.
Student evaluations of teaching are not only unreliable, they are significantly biased against female instructors.
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| Question: | What did you like most about this course? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (32 of 32) |
| 1 | I have learned lots of things about Linux. |
| 2 | Learned basic linux commands |
| 3 | material is different then what I'm used to. |
| 4 | I enjoyed the challenge of this course. It's not very often that one gets to learn something completely new. While the work was at times challenging, the feeling of understanding and accomplishing a task was very rewarding. |
| 5 | It provides all of the building blocks that we need for using Linux and for the later courses. |
| 6 | Learning about Linux. |
| 7 | This is, by far, my favourite course this semester. I'm learning Linux for the first time and completing the weekly assignments has been a very rewarding experience. I feel I have learned a lot in the past 12 weeks and want to continue learning more. |
| 8 | The teachers enthusiasm |
| 9 | I like most about my lab instructor. There were not so many people in this course lab so I felt easy to ask for help. |
| 10 | learned a whole new operating system, hard but worth it |
| 11 | It was a very detailed course where many different core aspects of the subject were touched upon. I learned a lot and am certainly leaving with a much greater understanding of Linux. |
| 12 | I found the pace of the course to be perfect for my learning style. |
| 13 | I found the content of the course very interesting and kept me wanting to learn more, it also caused a lot of anger but that's a learning curve getting used to the commands for the course. |
| 14 | VERY LITTLE. His over-enthusiasm at the beginning killed it for me. I actually ended up not liking this. |
| 15 | assignments, the easy ones |
| 16 | The material |
| 17 | The way all the details were included in all the worksheets and assignments. |
| 18 | Relevant assignments to do every week. Made learning the content fun and enjoyable. |
| 19 | Everthing |
| 20 | I found the material to be interesting, and I was actually looking forward to learning it. |
| 21 | It was interesting to learn something brand new as I hadn't a clue what Linux was all about. |
| 22 | Lots of hands on learning with Linux. |
| 23 | Ian, the teacher was very passionate about his work which made it easier for myself to succeed |
| 24 | Lots to learn |
| 25 | See #2 |
| 26 | It was interesting and everything we learned was very reliant to real world. |
| 27 | the teacher really knew that he was talking about |
| 28 | The teacher (Ian Allen) really knows what he is doing. I say that because, their are very few professionals who can effectively teach others. Ian is a great teacher and knows how to hold the attention of his students. Also throughout the course you really do get to learn by physically completing tasks rather than simply reading about how you would complete them. |
| 29 | I can do zero assignments and do well on the mid-terms and final exam and still pass the course. |
| 30 | The content was useful. |
| 31 | its interesting |
| 32 | I can't say that anything stood out in particular about the course. It was good overall. |
| Question: | How could the course be improved to be of benefit to future students? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (32 of 32) |
| 1 | The teach web is really big that I always lost. |
| 2 | Better flow on the website (idallen.com) |
| 3 | More understanding of the assignments. More hands on labs, with walkthrough's. |
| 4 | There are times where Ian can get a little excited and move through his lectures a little quickly. For people that weren't understanding things, this became very confusing and frustrating. That being said, they also weren't taking the time to ask questions. Perhaps prompting people to ask questions? I don't know... I actually learnt a lot from this course and feel that Ian is a great knowledge base provided you ask the right questions. Teachers shouldn't be there to do the work for students if they don't understand it, and Ian doesn't do that (much to some people's dismay...) He guides students in the right direction and lets them make their own mistakes along the way, which I think is critical when learning something new. A baby doesn't learn to walk unless he/she falls down a couple of times first. |
| 5 | More explanation on the basic stuff beyond cd, mkdir, etc. It seemed like we spent a long time on the very basic file and directory creation and navigation and not as much time on the more complicated topics later. |
| 6 | Labs being worth more. |
| 7 | I do not think there is a necessity for improvement at this time. |
| 8 | Better stream lining of the website |
| 9 | Because of it's contents, I think it may be more understandable if instructor use graphics, not just in a lecture. |
| 10 | have more smaller assignments. more activities. |
| 11 | More time could be spent covering the basics and helping explain to beginners why exactly it is important to learn about this subject. |
| 12 | Although this is not about the course exactly, having a 2 hour Linux lecture class at 8am on Monday morning is rough. Perhaps later in the day would be better? |
| 13 | Clearer assignment instructions, several parts to certain assignments were slightly confusing. |
| 14 | Even though Ian asks for students to ask him questions, he won't help unless the student knows what they're doing. I was very displeased. Be more helpful. The look he gives you when you have no idea what you're doing really gets on my nerves. It's like he hates you or looks down on you. I hate people that do that constantly. |
| 15 | nothing needs improvement because it's all there |
| 16 | Slow the pace. |
| 17 | More Lab time |
| 18 | Not at 8am in the morning. It's too early to think about Linux at 8am... |
| 19 | Its fine the way it is |
| 20 | Get another professor. Ian's an awful teacher, at least when it comes to entry-level. He'd be more practical as a second year Linux teacher. Allow students to write midterms when they have a valid reason and an official note for absence. |
| 21 | The course is far too intense for a first-year student. The professor should build a better bedrock of knowledge before heading off into parts unknown. |
| 22 | Nothing comes to mind. |
| 23 | Add this to the course stylesheets body{ margin:0 auto 0 auto; } |
| 24 | Too much to learn in a time as short as a signle semester |
| 25 | What's the point of filliing this out?. My class rep has sent emails requesting to see the course eval for last year's first term. No response. Why? There is something to hide. What is there to hide? I believe that this wouldn't be the first time complaints have been given about this course and I also believe that if they are actually interested in fixing these problems or interested in the students learning they would be fixed and we would have some sort of explanation about last year's evaluation to prove it. So even though I had issues I wanted to bring up, I will not waste any more of my time writing recommendations and opinions when it will just get deleted. |
| 26 | I found it really tough to learn the basics and fell behind really fast. So i think maybe start slower then speed up so people can keep up. |
| 27 | more practice less theory |
| 28 | If this course could be improved at all their would be very few minor factors which have nothing to do with the teacher or the material. Some improvements I would suggest is more availability to direct Ethernet ports within the Linux lab classroom. |
| 29 | The course tests should include more about what certain command lines that you would actually use in the real world, rather than learning how 3-5 commands would work and what kind of trick questions should you expect. |
| 30 | Make it LESS wordy. There is no reason we need to read essays just to do an assignment. |
| 31 | it could be made less difficult and have more focus and less content |
| 32 | Although it is important to be methodical in this field, It can in many cases be positive to allow students to explore alternative methods of completing the tasks in the assignments. |
| Faculty: | ALLEN, IAN D |
| Question: | What did you like most about the course professor? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (32 of 32) |
| 1 | Ian, is really active and fun. |
| 2 | Energetic, made it interesting |
| 3 | very energetic, guru of sorts. |
| 4 | I enjoyed Ian's enthusiasm for the subject matter. Lord knows that if a prof lacked the enthusiasm that he has for something as dry as Linux, a lot of people would have lost interest very quickly. |
| 5 | He is enthusiastic and tries to drive home the point that Linux is very unforgiving and we need to be very precise with commands. |
| 6 | a lot of energy on a Monday morning. |
| 7 | He has an immense amount of experience with the material, has a very structured curriculum that contains very detailed instructions, and always finds ways to make people laugh while staying on topic. |
| 8 | Enthusiasm |
| 9 | I like his attitude to the students. |
| 10 | he knows his linux. always there to help, doesnt tell the answer, helps you to figure it out yourself so you understand it |
| 11 | He was a very committed and passionate prof that knew the subject extensively and overall did a fantastic job in keeping students engaged and applying the knowledge learned to real world scenarios. |
| 12 | I rather enjoyed Ian's teaching style. He is always enthusiastic and energetic, in addition to being very knowledgeable about the topic. |
| 13 | I really liked his energy level. Always came to class happy and ready to teach. I found his lectures very entertaining to watch because of his over dramatic responses to certain things. |
| 14 | Not a lot. Almost nothing. His love for linux destroyed it for me. I should've taken the class with another prof... His website did not help all that much, really. But to answer the question, I guess I liked that he wouldn't pick people randomly when he wanted an answer to a question. |
| 15 | Radically great! |
| 16 | A very upbeat person, capable of answering questions. |
| 17 | The enthusiasm and the passion to teach and let you learn by doing. |
| 18 | Passion for computing. |
| 19 | Everything |
| 20 | He was enthusiastic and knew his material, but he couldn't teach it to entry level students effectively because he knows it too well to be able to relate to how people learn. |
| 21 | Ian's enthusiasm for Linux is admirable. |
| 22 | His enthusiasm about Linux. |
| 23 | His enthusiasm about the course was 10x that of any other teacher I have had....and I have completed 9 semesters at Algonquin....Nobody came close he made linux fun. |
| 24 | Very knowledgeable about content |
| 25 | See above |
| 26 | He made the course very exciting and interesting, was very knowledgeable and really wanted to help you to make you successful. |
| 27 | teacher always in good mood |
| 28 | Always willing to answer questions and rather than just giving you the answer, he always made a point to show how he got that answer. |
| 29 | The lectures not only taught you but also entertained you. |
| 30 | He wasn't boring. |
| 31 | he is exciting and engaging |
| 32 | Outlines the course properly and effectively teaches. |
| Faculty: | ALLEN, IAN D |
| Question: | What, if anything, could the professor do differently to be of benefit to future students? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (32 of 32) |
| 1 | The classes are all in the morning about 8 o'clock, which makes me fill sleepy when having this course. Could Ian make the teach web more easier to use? There are too much things on the web set. |
| 2 | Less discussion on things NOT to do ... showing students how not to do something is a bit confusing. Make sure they understand the proper way of doing something, before explaining what NOT to do. |
| 3 | lectures were a little too fast paced. needs to be a bit more slower. |
| 4 | I would have liked to see a few more marks (from the overall grade) handed out for lab assignments. The majority of our time spent in this course was doing the assignments (in addition to the majority of the learning) and to only receive 15% for that work (as opposed to 85 for tests) doesn't seem like a fair balance. |
| 5 | His course notes can be very difficult to find information in. |
| 6 | I don't know, I thought he was fine. |
| 7 | He's doing great, there's no need to change at this time. |
| 8 | Nothing |
| 9 | I think it would be better if he can put some of the screenshots of lab instructions. I had difficulties to know what is required in the instruction especially when the word or line in the instruction was ambiguous. |
| 10 | have more smaller assignments |
| 11 | More focus could be put in providing concrete real world examples of why the material covered is of importance. Other then that I was very impressed and satisfied with the prof and am looking forward to receiving future profs with his level of commitment. |
| 12 | As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing to be improved upon. |
| 13 | Could explain things a little better and talk a little slower. |
| 14 | Be more gentle with the students who obviously know little about the subject. They're here to learn. I learned barely anything. I thought he cared about our futures. It seems that he only cares about the futures of those who already know their stuff, huh. All of the assignments made no sense. they were not straightforward at all. The notes he gave us were very confusing. The tests were complete garbage. How do you even give them like that? They're full... FULL! of trick questions. REALLY?!?!? WHY? The assignments look nothing like the exams. Are you serious?? The exams are supposed to look like what you teach. What are all the assignments for if you're going to give exams full of trick questions?? And speaking of assignments and exams: What is up with your marking? Honestly? It's not clear at all. Each assignment is worth 1-2% of our marks. The exams are worth so much more..... 15% for midterms and 45% for the final?? WHY? This class made me honestly re-think if I went into the right program. Linux is not the best thing ever created. Too bad I thought of leaving linux way too late to switch to another prof. I am completely disappointed with this. It is honestly one of the worst experiences I've had. If this is what you wanted, an unhappy student, then guess what.... you got it! Congratulations professor! |
| 15 | nothing |
| 16 | Tests and assignments are overly complicated, and an ineffective way to learn. Doesn't always answer questions in lab, lectures are "all over the place" and unorganized |
| 17 | Its okay. |
| 18 | A bit more professionalism could be good, meaning no yelling at students if we say something incorrect. |
| 19 | He shouldn't change anything |
| 20 | Teach at non-entry level, or quit. |
| 21 | I have no idea where to start or if I start writing about how Ian could do things differently, where it would end. I will say that in my opinion he is far too advanced to be teaching first-year students. He seems to have no intuitive ability to understand that the vast majority of first-year students have no idea what his lectures are about. His course notes could best be described as jumbled. I will sometimes have a half-dozen tabs open in hopes of finding out where a point is heading. His labs are a complete guessing game and far too advanced. I know of many students that just gave up on doing his labs as the amount of marks that they account for are peanuts in the grand scheme of things. His test questions are intentionally deceptive and in my opinion down-right cruel for first-year students. He constantly bad-mouths Windows although he must know that the vast majority of his students are headed to working in that field. #fail |
| 22 | Not to just tell the student it is in the text. But point them in the right direction better. |
| 23 | Just keep doing what you're doing Ian...your teaching style both allows "motivated" students to succeed as well as breed effective sys admins...the rest leave early on. |
| 24 | He does not teach to the level of a beginner class - most of us have not worked with Linux before entering this course, and we are regarded by Ian as a group that should have prior knowledge of the concepts His notes contain too much information, but it also seems too repetitive - it is easier and more time-efficient to use Google to find information than it is to try to find it in his course notes He does not offer assistance with questions, with standard responses of "read all the words" or telling us just to work it out on our own and see what happens He may be better suited to an upper-year class with prior knowledge, but is not targeted to a first-year class who comes into the class having absolutely no idea what they are doing |
| 25 | See above |
| 26 | I feel that maybe explaining the course site a better at the start of the course would help, because at the start of the course i felt very lost. |
| 27 | simplify the explanation on the work |
| 28 | There is very little the professor could do differently to benefit future students. Those who wanted to learn were able to do so, effectively and efficiently. Those who did not learn...well, you can only help those who are willing to help themselves. |
| 29 | If possible have two ways of explaining the content, in case you do not understand it the first time. |
| 30 | Don't be surprised when people don't understand the assignment--not everyone can process walls of text, and there is A LOT of unnecessary, un-condensed reading. I have a fairly high level of reading comprehension and even it was too much for me at times. Also, don't make people feel stupid when they have a seemingly trivial question. Be willing to help them...not tell them to "read all the words" or redirect them back to the essays of reading that they never understood in the first place. |
| 31 | move more slowly and have less content |
| 32 | It may be helpful to have less strict assignments. The functionality of the final product of the assignment is not necessarily dependent upon the exact method in most cases. |
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| Question: | What did you like most about this course? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (41 of 41) |
| 1 | it is full of challenging and interesting |
| 2 | Came into the program with zero knowledge of Linux and I learned SO much. But through MY hard work, nothing more. |
| 3 | The course helped me learn a lot of valuable information. |
| 4 | Ian is a great professor |
| 5 | Ian Idallen |
| 6 | The program at first lost me as I felt the material was ancient and irrelevant. Then once I began learning I understood the importance and use of the technology. |
| 7 | labs are a great to learn this course |
| 8 | interesting and different |
| 9 | assignments |
| 10 | What I like is how much I learned. I know a lot more now than when I started and it is a very satisfying feeling. |
| 11 | I found the content very interesting and different. |
| 12 | Learning linux was very challenging but very fun to use and play with. |
| 13 | It is challenging |
| 14 | it was new thing |
| 15 | Learning Linux! |
| 16 | I really enjoyed the assignments we had throughout the semester. They always reflected what we were learning in class during the week and it made it feel like we were doing real system administrator work. |
| 17 | The tests |
| 18 | The labs were well put together and helped me learn a lot. |
| 19 | How well it was laid out |
| 20 | Teacher |
| 21 | Professor explained things well. |
| 22 | the lab time |
| 23 | the teaching style was practical |
| 24 | not much |
| 25 | I did not enjoy this course. |
| 26 | Command line!! |
| 27 | Commands |
| 28 | i both love and hate this course. i hated it with a passion because there so much vagueness and the work was so tedious. i love it because of this teaching style i think we were able to gain a more in depth understanding of linux and at the same time weed out any students who werent truly serious about the subject. |
| 29 | The course is suppose to provide a fundamental understanding of Linux. But, this course's approach to teach fundamental Linux is abysmal. For a first-time Linux learner, Linux is actually quite interesting but the course needs to be improved. |
| 30 | N/A |
| 31 | I got to learn that the command line interface has more control than the graphical user interface and I got to see the differences between Windows and Unix/Linux. |
| 32 | Learning a new os (Linux) is fun yet annoying at the same time. |
| 33 | Learning the Linux operating system. |
| 34 | The labs |
| 35 | the linux server |
| 36 | Linux was totally new to me so I really enjoyed learning something I had never used before. I like using command line now! |
| 37 | I love the Linux avenue and will love learning more |
| 38 | Fun and knowledgeable teacher on subject. |
| 39 | course linux server and external course website |
| 40 | The introduction to different technology environment. |
| 41 | It was useful and is needed for sysadmin jobs. |
| Question: | How could the course be improved to be of benefit to future students? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (41 of 41) |
| 1 | there are too many words on the website we should read, it is too hard for international students whose first language are not English to understand. |
| 2 | This course needs a textbook. I think it should be mandatory, so people don't complain about Ian non stop. It would've helped me but mostly by saving me time in not having to research everything constantly and trying to find things on Ian's website. |
| 3 | It needs to be geared more towards those who do not have any prior instruction to linux. |
| 4 | N/A |
| 5 | Its good going |
| 6 | More of the same honestly. Once you get involved in the class it is easy to grasp the new material. |
| 7 | take your time explaining during lecture. don't go so fast!!!! |
| 8 | nothing that i can think of |
| 9 | n/a |
| 10 | I think that this course has been taught by this professor for so long that there aren't really any improvements to be made. At least not that I can see |
| 11 | Make the course website easier to grasp. |
| 12 | For the amount of lab work, they are not worth that much. |
| 13 | I cannot say |
| 14 | i will need it if i want to work in linux |
| 15 | For online quizzes, say why the answer is wrong. |
| 16 | There should be mandatory practice of what we have been learning throughout the week prior to starting each assignment. I found for some assignments I would have to learn things as I was completing the assignment. |
| 17 | Pretty flawless to me |
| 18 | It was overall good, I cannot think of any big issues I had with it. |
| 19 | I cannot think of a single thing |
| 20 | Nothing |
| 21 | Trim down the notes. |
| 22 | less material covered for a semester. Linux is new to a bunch of us, the fast paced nature doesnt work for everyone. |
| 23 | more lab time and less lecture |
| 24 | Slow down, stop rushing and allow for a period of acclamation for students to adapt to teaching style. Teacher must realize that sometimes the student doesn't know what is needed to complete a lab even after reading everything, that saying "READ ALL OF THE WORDS" is very, very infuriating and is completely useless. |
| 25 | The overall value of the assignments does not reflect the amount of work involved to complete them. Make these valuable to the student. Stop telling the students to read all the words when they ask a question to clarify a point of confusion. It is more discouraging than helpful. |
| 26 | More marks should be given for assignments, not 1% for each |
| 27 | Not Applicable |
| 28 | maybe shorten the assignments a bit. a six hour assignment i wouldnt mind...if i didnt have 5 other courses |
| 29 | Replace the instructor and instal a better teacher. The course's current format should be improved for a better approach to Linux. This course failure to teach Linux is evidenced by the high failure and drop-outs from this course. And compared to the other courses in the CST program, many students also have lower grades for this course. |
| 30 | N/A |
| 31 | It doesn't need to improve. |
| 32 | Make assignments have less clutter and be more informative. Teacher shouldn't be allowed to force students to look through 100's of pages and links to find 1 answer and waste 3-4 hours on a 2 hour assignment for 1 question if that said assignment. Time in which should be able to use for more assignments from this and other classes. |
| 33 | All students find this course too fast paced with too much content being loaded. |
| 34 | Adopt a more elementary starting point and move at a slower pace. |
| 35 | fix the last few assignments not to be so tedious and forgetting.. |
| 36 | Not sure. |
| 37 | Slow down the course material. Way too much too fast. |
| 38 | Great automated assignment marking up to the point of BlackBoard interface where mark feedback/reporting was slow. As of end of week14 many of my assignments appear with no grades. |
| 39 | - There are too many assignments in this course (14). I belive that's too many for this course. - Each assignment worth only one mark and takes so much time. assignments should have more marks. - exams: more time should be given to students. all his exams are in rush and he expect us to read all the words. |
| 40 | Provides more opportunities in the IT field. |
| 41 | In the beginning, no future commands of Linux should be introduced, especially in week 1 and 2. At the end of semester, no more than 1 assignment should be due per week. 2, 1, 4 per week is way too many. Tests should not be on double-sided paper. |
| Faculty: | ALLEN, IAN D |
| Question: | What did you like most about the course professor? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (41 of 41) |
| 1 | a nice and interesting prof, full of passion |
| 2 | Ian is really good at explaining things when you ask him. You have to ask him though. Tests were fair. The pre-quizes were a good indication of where I stood and I liked them. Assignments were cryptic but fair. I enjoyed them. Getting the check program to read all good was a victory. |
| 3 | Ian is...bubbly. He made the course fun. |
| 4 | Ian is quirky and awesome and dosnt mind taking time to help students |
| 5 | He is entirely involved with linux.....which make the cousre PERFECT. |
| 6 | The professor actually took the time to try and teach the same thing in a different way to get the information across to students. Not everyone learns the same way, and this is an important trait in a good professor. He took the time to make interactive games for the class to play and learn commands. That was fun and actually drew attention from students who just play games. |
| 7 | Out of all the professors this semester, he knows the most about his own subject. A truly wonderful man, optimistic, cheerful, dramatic and resourceful. Great job Ian!!! |
| 8 | entertaining professor at 8am classes, all his notes have everything you need to know about the course and then some |
| 9 | n/a |
| 10 | I like how energetic the he is. He really enjoys what he teaches and that makes it a lot more interesting for me as a student to learn. |
| 11 | He made the lectures very interesting and also gave a lot of help to the students during lab periods. |
| 12 | Ian is an excellent prof. Seems a bit goofy at first, but has a very good teaching method. Very eccentric. Encourages asking questions. |
| 13 | He loves its subjects. Always there to help. He is always repeating. |
| 14 | i think his teaching is aimed to the people who have a background of Linux and not starters, i had to get a tauter to teach me the Linux fundamentals, |
| 15 | He's Dr. Linux |
| 16 | I really love Ian's enthusiasm. It made the class that much more fun. He also made it clear that he enjoys helping us and loves to be asked questions so it made the learning atmosphere that much more comfortable for me. |
| 17 | eccentric |
| 18 | His enthusiasm towards the subject. |
| 19 | His enthusiasm |
| 20 | personality |
| 21 | Enthusiastic about what he teaches. |
| 22 | His energetic nature. |
| 23 | enthusiatic making it easy to get involved and therefore learn the material |
| 24 | not much |
| 25 | He is entertaining and knowledgeable. |
| 26 | His website and job offers |
| 27 | Way of presentation |
| 28 | he was wacky, crazy and off the wall, charismatic you could ask him anything and he aways had the correct answer and could further elaborate on it |
| 29 | There is no doubt that Ian is good at Linux but his teaching skills are questionable. He teaches Linux with a personal agenda, as opposed to catering to students' interests. By this I mean he teaches Linux as he sees right instead of how it could be beneficial for students' learning. His website for teaching Linus is also bizarre. This is evidenced by posting pictures of himself on the course's website - this is very unprofessional. The websites is also full of extraneous information which is totally unnecessary. I believe this course is a professional program - not a personal website. Grammatical mistakes are also found throughout his notes and when he writes emails. His course notes are found to be long, convoluted, and badly written. For example, some of his notes are so badly written, one needs to second guess what he's trying to explain Sometimes he fails to include relevant information and at other times, the information is dis-organized and becomes difficult to follow If you are reading this Ian: yes, I agree - read all the words but please at least write properly! Reading bad text doesn't help a student trying to learn new concepts - it just confuses them even more. |
| 30 | N/A |
| 31 | I like how funny, cool, interactive and helpful the course professor is. |
| 32 | very informative, usually approachable. |
| 33 | Very easy to talk to, highly engaging, very willing to meet one-on-one for student subject progression. |
| 34 | Expert in his field, very quick to address student concerns |
| 35 | represents linux well |
| 36 | He REALLY knows Linux and it shows. He was very enthusiastic about Linux and teaching it, it makes the lectures pretty fun. He has a sense of humor and can make us laugh. He has written scripts for us to use to check our assignments on our own, which probably took him a long time to make. He is definitely dedicated to teaching Linux. (not to mention his own self-managed webpage with notes for us to use.) Since he really knows his course material he is a very good professor. |
| 37 | Ian is a fantasically interesting teacher. He loves what he does and shows it |
| 38 | I did not fall asleep in lectures. That is a good thing! |
| 39 | He is knowledgable and funny. |
| 40 | Great help. |
| 41 | His humor was good. (Linux People!) He also wants to help others out when needed |
| Faculty: | ALLEN, IAN D |
| Question: | What, if anything, could the professor do differently to be of benefit to future students? |
| Response Rate: | 100.00% (41 of 41) |
| 1 | please summarize your website, please~ |
| 2 | The notes should be more organized. I realize students should be doing the work in looking for answers but the website was frustrating at times. Lectures could have a better structure too. Ian could at least give headings or something for what he is talking about. Keeping up was sometimes difficult, since Ian is usually all over the place. (difficult to make connections between concepts) Assignments could be a little less cryptic.
Overall this is Linux I. It's supposed to be the basics. Don't make it more difficult than it has to be. Cut people some slack. |
| 3 | Ian needs to be more helpful...reading all the words even if you read them 5 times sometimes doesnt always work. |
| 4 | N/A |
| 5 | he doesn't need anything else to do... |
| 6 | Nothing I can think of. |
| 7 | Break down the assignments to smaller chunks. Allocate a better marking structure for assignments, 1% per assign is not enough for the amount of work. |
| 8 | better search function for his website to find specific notes |
| 9 | lecture document sometimes confused |
| 10 | The professor is fine the problem is the students. They all talk about how unhelpful the professor is but they really aren't even trying. The material we are covering is very basic but they have trouble with the smallest things. I don't think that they are actually trying to learn instead they are just asking the teacher to do everything for them. I repeat there is nothing wrong with the professor. |
| 11 | Nothing. |
| 12 | Honestly, I can't think of any way that Ian could improve. |
| 13 | To slow down a bit when he is writing and explaining the subjects. |
| 14 | there should be a balance between marks for assignments and test, a 14 page assignment have only 1 mark, i think marks should be distributed more fairly in this cource |
| 15 | Nothing more. |
| 16 | I kind of wish he made the worksheets into mandatory assignments for marks because they really benefit in learning and hugely help in completing the assignments. I know that he makes them available to us and says multiple times on his website that they will help us, but when something is optional it makes it a lot harder for me to go out of my way to complete it. |
| 17 | bring cookies to class |
| 18 | He was vary good, I cannot think of any issues I had with him. |
| 19 | He is perfect the way he is |
| 20 | ... |
| 21 | Make the length of labs more consistent. |
| 22 | To explain a solution instead of telling you to read the words. Often enough, you read and read but dont understand what you read since this is a brand new O/S to most of the students. Take time and make sure understanding for students are there. |
| 23 | hes good fine and if he continues liek he has been future students will be in good hands |
| 24 | Teacher should realize "READ ALL THE WORDS" does not help, we have payed him to teach us. |
| 25 | Be less condescending when a question is asked. We know we have to look for the answer but when you are learning a new concept it is not always appreciated when we are made to feel stupid for not seeing what is so clear to a professional. |
| 26 | Tell them the solution instead of asking them to RTFM!! |
| 27 | Not Applicable |
| 28 | nothing, he always offered help, and always told us to ask questions |
| 29 | He could learn to be a better instructor and be more approachable One example during lab, I asked for his help and instead of helping, he ridiculed me by pointing-out to the whole lab my lack of understanding a certain Linux concept Emails to him are also futile as he would often not give straight answers but rather sarcastic response Approaching him therefore has become quite discouraging Luckily, there are other students who are more helpful And thanks to them, I was able to pull through this course Otherwise I would have failed if I fully depended on him for assistance |
| 30 | N/A |
| 31 | The course professor doesn't need to do anything differently to be of benefit to future students. |
| 32 | Make website he uses for this course easier to navigate, Make assignments less about looking stuff up and more about doing the actual assignment itself. |
| 33 | Slow down the course. |
| 34 | Try to reduce the number of times "RTFM" is used as an answer to a query |
| 35 | nothing, hes probably the best there is |
| 36 | He can be a little condescending when you ask for help in labs. I did not come across it much but seeing how he reacts to some students questions might bother some people. (Students may not want to ask for help for fear of being looked down on) I know he doesn't mean it like that, he is a nice man, but some people might take it wrongly. He rarely answers questions right away, he tends to just point us to notes on his course page. I realize the notes are there to assist us but sometimes he won't believe us when we say we have looked and could not understand. It kind of makes it a run around to get help understanding certain concepts. |
| 37 | Ian needs to slow down what he is teaching. Granted I sat in the back, but I found it very hard to follow what he was teaching. It was way too much too fast and the assignments never stopped. Also a full review class would be greatly appreciated to go over the material before the exam |
| 38 | Notta. |
| 39 | He deducted marks in my midterm because I forgot to write the test version in scantron. I believe this is not fair. he expect us to read all the words in exams, but he doesn't provide enough time. his assignments takes too much of time and they are only worth one mark each. he gave us 14 assignments and the last assignment was due on the last day of classes. this prof always give us headache and stress. his exam questions are too tricky. when we ask him question first he ask us did you read the lecture etc first? he's not very helpful. |
| 40 | The professor is good. |
| 41 | For CSD students, coming by the test room to answer any questions by them needs to be done. If we are aware of deductions other students are, on first test, those rules should apply to them. However, if we are not aware of them, they need to be out of application for them until they know about those rules. Scantron card deductions seem like a good idea but need to be removed unless it becomes a standard for a department. Our marks should remain private. Currently, for tests, they are on the Internet on the course website. Linux skills on groups and users can be introduced earlier. This will give students more time to understand groups and users in Linux. |