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MPCOM 1213-1 Introduction to communication engineering, SSY121

Your own effort

1. How many hours per week did you spend on this course?

37 svarande

At most 15 hours/week»		4		10%
Around 20 hours/week»		15		40%
Around 25 hours/week»		13		35%
Around 30 hours/week»		4		10%
At least 35 hours/week»		1		2%

Genomsnitt: 2.54

- 8 hours of classes per week, plus 4 hours of work in the project.» (At most 15 hours/week)
- I spend very long time near the exam in order to understand the whole course. The course is very well organised but I prefer shorter courses.» (At most 15 hours/week)
- Project about half the time» (Around 20 hours/week)
- Busted my ass-» (At least 35 hours/week)

2. How many of the following course parts did you attend?

Matrisfråga

- I"ve enjoyed both the lectures and the exercises.»
- It is good to have the solutions to the exercises online»
- I attended the last exercise session. This is due to my schedule colliding with my other class. »
- The lectures were well organized and clear.»
- The lectures were incredibly helpful to me,I found them very pedagogic and instructional. Some of the exercises were a little too basic. »
- Had taken a similar course earlier.»
- The exercise could be clearer (e g writing on the blackboard which problem number is being solved.) It would be nice to have the exercises in a room with power plugs for laptops. »

Lectures
37 svarande

0%»		0		0%
25%»		0		0%
50%»		2		5%
75%»		5		13%
100%»		30		81%

Genomsnitt: 4.75

Exercise sessions
37 svarande

0%»		0		0%
25%»		1		2%
50%»		4		10%
75%»		12		32%
100%»		20		54%

Genomsnitt: 4.37

Goals and goal fulfilment

3. How understandable are the course goals (learning outcomes)?

The goals are difficult to understand»		0		0%
The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer»		14		40%
The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn»		21		60%
I have not seen/read the goals»		2

Genomsnitt: 2.6

- » (The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer)
- I think the goals only include the project, could be a better link to why spend so much time on exercises and exam» (The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn)
- I might have missed that lecture.» (I have not seen/read the goals)
- I may have read them, but forgotten them.» (I have not seen/read the goals)

4. Are the goals reasonable considering your background and the number of credits?

36 svarande

No, the goals are set too low»		0		0%
Yes, the goals seem reasonable»		35		97%
No, the goals are set too high»		1		2%

Genomsnitt: 2.02

- The course could certainly be tougher. However, considering principally all students have different backgrounds I believe this is a good thing.» (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- The goals are very reasonable. Note : Compared to my home university (EPFL), Chalmers is very "generous" with the number of credits per course.» (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- the goals seem reasonable for the lectures and exercice session, but the project required Matlab skills that it is not very easy to get in 1 or 2 weeks for someone who has never worked on this software before. » (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- Major part of the course was the Matlab based submarin communication projet. It was good and interesting project, however, most of the student were good at Matlab therefore those who were had high workload.» (No, the goals are set too high)

5. Did the examination assess whether you have reached the goals?

No, not at all»		0		0%
To some extent»		16		45%
Yes, definitely»		19		54%
I don"t know/have not been examined yet»		1

Genomsnitt: 2.54

- OFDM, MAP-detection, Constant envelope modulations and derivations of expressions were not examined. » (To some extent)
- I felt that the exam focused on certain things more than others, and I noticed this trend on the old exams as well, basically, it was a coin-flip whether or not my weakness would dominate the exam or not. » (To some extent)
- Missed the MAP-receiver though.» (Yes, definitely)
- I didn"t attend at the sit-down exam, but the quiz and the project were assess that we reached the goals or not.» (Yes, definitely)

Teaching and course administration

6. To what extent has the following course elements been of help for your learning?

- The post "document" is very hard to comment on, what documents?»
- Most elements in this course were flawless, apart from the exercise solutions which were really messy and could use a proper rewrite. Also, the solutions must be posted on the website SHORTLY after the exercise sessions.»
- There was not much connection between lectures and excercises. Even if the lectures were clear, the exercises were far more advanced. Maybe there should have been more exercises that could follow a slower pace and explaing things better.»
- Mainly the review slides of the last course were helpful to look at, all of the slides were useful in the lectures, but outside of the lectures they didn"t really help much in my opinion. Not that they were bad, just that glossary and slides by other people don"t really help me learn much, except for a quick review. Usually when I receive slides from teachers they don"t end with a quick summary of the course, so normally I don"t read slides again after the lectures.»
- I don"t think the connection between the eximination and the lectures are strong enough. The lectures are abstract to some extent. They are more like an introduction, but the exercises and examination are thereotical. It is hard to work out the exercises even there is no problem about the lectures. The lectures failed to pay enough attention to problem solving. »
- I had a lot of problem with the exercises during the semester, but when I started to review everything, it was ok.»
- Sorry Mikhail, didn"t attend any of your exercises, no feedback for you. Reza, Solid work, your sessions definitely helped me alot. Pär, I guess the lecture helped me in the project, but I felt that the lecture was basically stating the obvious. Frederik, no complaints, it"s all good. The book is all right. But it explains things pretty good. »
- The lectures were great. The exercises were good, sometimes a little too basic. I didn"t feel reading the book was important. (Maybe I"m wrong.)»
- White board in Mikhail sessions was really messy. He started to solve the problem without introducing and explaining the problem. »
- 2 options for "Documents"?»
- I think that the course book is too complicated compared to the course and its goal. I don"t know what are the elements "Documents", but I figured it"s the articles to read. I really liked the ones about LTE and 802.11ac, but the one about SVB-S2 is far to complicated and specific (makes references to a lot of complex protocols, which must be understood to understand the article).»
- It was really hard for me to understand Mikhail"s lectures, but I am sure he will be improved in teaching. He was so helpful for the project though.»
- It would be nice with some written detailed step-wise explanations (for various parts of the theory of the course). The book did not succeed to help me solving how to do synchronization in Matlab,»
- lectures were well organized. Exercise sessions were a bit confused. »

Course book
37 svarande

Small extent»		14		38%
Some extent»		11		30%
Large extent»		7		19%
Great extent»		4		11%
Didn»		1

Genomsnitt: 2.02

Document
31 svarande

Small extent»		1		3%
Some extent»		10		34%
Large extent»		9		31%
Great extent»		9		31%
Didn»		2

Genomsnitt: 2.89

Document
33 svarande

Small extent»		1		3%
Some extent»		12		40%
Large extent»		10		33%
Great extent»		7		23%
Didn»		3

Genomsnitt: 2.76

Lecture slides
37 svarande

Small extent»		1		2%
Some extent»		5		13%
Large extent»		9		24%
Great extent»		22		59%
Didn»		0

Genomsnitt: 3.4

Lectures by Fredrik Brännström
37 svarande

Small extent»		0		0%
Some extent»		4		10%
Large extent»		9		24%
Great extent»		24		64%
Didn»		0

Genomsnitt: 3.54

Guest lecture by Pär Mattisson
37 svarande

Small extent»		7		18%
Some extent»		16		43%
Large extent»		8		21%
Great extent»		6		16%
Didn»		0

Genomsnitt: 2.35

Exercise sessions by Mikhail Ivanov
37 svarande

Small extent»		2		5%
Some extent»		8		22%
Large extent»		17		47%
Great extent»		9		25%
Didn»		1

Genomsnitt: 2.91

Exercise sessions by M. Reza Khanzadi
37 svarande

Small extent»		2		5%
Some extent»		4		10%
Large extent»		20		54%
Great extent»		11		29%
Didn»		0

Genomsnitt: 3.08

7. To what extent did the project help you learn about ...

- The project experience was great, however there were technical and other difficulties.»
- The only thing I feel I didn"t get much information on was dealing with a customer. Even so, this is by far the most useful project I"ve done and the most fun as well.»
- The project help a lot to understand the lessons, also I learned how to work in bigger group (before it was only in group of two basically).»
- By learning, I"m assuming you mean absorbing information I didn"t know before. I have worked in projects a lot before, so I didn"t feel that I learned anything significant regarding those topics. »
- I never worked in a project with more than one person before, so it was a good experience for me to work with 3 persons. I really liked this project, almost everything was new to me (I"m a bachelor erasmus student) and the project was very interesting. »
- Good with the presence of a lecturer with experience from private business. It might have been good with better theoretically technical support/aids.»
- the business aspect missed a bit»

designing a communication system?
37 svarande

Small extent»		1		2%
Some extent»		3		8%
Large extent»		5		13%
Great extent»		28		75%

Genomsnitt: 3.62

teamworking?
37 svarande

Small extent»		1		2%
Some extent»		12		32%
Large extent»		15		40%
Great extent»		9		24%

Genomsnitt: 2.86

running a real-life development project?
37 svarande

Small extent»		2		5%
Some extent»		14		37%
Large extent»		9		24%
Great extent»		12		32%

Genomsnitt: 2.83

8. Can the disposition of the exercise sessions be improved?

Yes, by reviwing more theory»		7		20%
Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions»		17		48%
Yes, by providing more time for individual solving»		5		14%
No»		6		17%

Genomsnitt: 2.28

- The solutions to the problems are not clearly enough. When I tried to study the solutions, sometimes I was confused. They should be written in a more clear and specific way. There are also some mistakes in the solutions. » (?)
- Maybe spend more time on how to solve in details, and also really saying during the lectures that the exercise should be done before the sessions.» (Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions)
- Conbine the 1st and 2nd。,» (Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions)
- Some of the exercises were too basic. Some of them weren"t very clear, but overall it was ok. » (Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions)
- More problem solution would be useful for the revision for exam» (Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions)
- Clearer demonstrations, e g writing what problem numbers is being solved» (Yes, by demonstrating more problem solutions)
- Keep in mind that I only attended one exercise session. » (Yes, by providing more time for individual solving)
- Also, by demonstrating fewer problems but with details and more interaction with the students. Then more problem solutions can be posted on the course page as now. » (Yes, by providing more time for individual solving)
- I think Providing more time for individual solving before giving the answer is an efficient way for students to prove. » (Yes, by providing more time for individual solving)
- The exercises have been good!» (No)
- In general the exercise sessions were good. Both Reza and Mikhail are very helpful when you ask for help, which is very appreciated. I wish however that the TAs could dedicate more time to really write down clear step-by-step solutions on the blackboard to greater extent.» (No)
- The exercise sessions were very useful in general, perhaps, if possible, you could move the matlab examples session a week earlier, that really helped with starting the project, we were really lost until that session. » (No)
- No, because it is already very good. NOT because it is so bad that nothing can be done about it» (No)
- I have to admit that I was never up-to-date with the exercises. I was more interested in working on the project, and the rest of the time, to enjoy my erasmus life here^^. So I have no opinion on the exercise sessions.» (No)

9. The project was defined through a set of requirements to fulfill, with some freedom to choose your own working style and methods. Which type of project do you prefer?

The type of project used in this course»		29		80%
A traditional lab project with step-by-step instructions»		7		19%
Don"t know»		1

Genomsnitt: 1.19

- This is way more creative! I learned a lot. And the best learning is when you discover a mistake you"ve made and correct it.» (The type of project used in this course)
- step-by-step labs get so boring.... I think you did a great job explaining each task separately and allowing us to choose our methods.» (The type of project used in this course)
- It was really hard for me at the beginning to see where we had to go, how to do the project, but at then end I"m glad that it was not step-by-step because you think much more, and you improve much more your knowledge.» (The type of project used in this course)
- In reality projects are not defined step-by-step!» (The type of project used in this course)
- More freedom provides a good environment for creation. » (The type of project used in this course)
- It was a good mix of directions and self design options.» (The type of project used in this course)
- The traditional one may limit the performance of students.» (The type of project used in this course)
- I definitely prefer an open project than a (boring) step-by-step lab. I learn far more (both in the domain and in "engineering") with an open project, in which we have to make decisions and we encounter problems. Those are the experiences/lessons that I will remember and that will be in future projects.» (The type of project used in this course)
- Maybe it would be good to have a more detailed presentation of the best way (or at least one way) the problems could have been solved afterwards, so that you don"t miss any important details.» (The type of project used in this course)
- It was not hard to understand what you were supposed to do with the project. It was the matlab coding who gave the toughest challenge, casue it was not easy to implement our ideas into matlab. Would prefer some time with the TA"s for help.» (The type of project used in this course)
- As, I said before, those studends who were not good at Matlab, which were many, did not bother to learn it and instead let those who had some Matlab knowledge do the project design. » (A traditional lab project with step-by-step instructions)
- Optional step-by-step instructions would have been helpful for beginners (like me), that could be present at the same time as mimicking private business working conditions in other respects.» (A traditional lab project with step-by-step instructions)
- Both have their positive sides. The project form in this course is good because we learn how to work as in our future companies but the step-by step projects are easier to connect to the goals of the course.» (Don"t know)

10. How well did the course administration, web page, handouts etc work?

Very badly»		0		0%
Rather badly»		0		0%
Rather well»		13		35%
Very well»		24		64%

Genomsnitt: 3.64

- I sometimes didn"t see the informations on the website.. Maybe you should just insist more at the beginning about the importance of following the info on the website directly.» (Rather well)
- The only thing that could be improved would be to post the lectures before the sessions.» (Very well)
- I would really like if Fredrik could make a habit of posting the lecture slides before the lecture. Those few minutes of looking through the material before it"s explained could be really good. Also I much prefer to have the slides on my tablet than on paper.» (Very well)
- Very clear the schedule was precise» (Very well)
- Everything was uploaded on time.» (Very well)
- Nice looking electronic materials» (Very well)

11. How did you like the experience workshop at Ericsson?

Bad»		0		0%
OK»		0		0%
Good»		6		54%
Excellent»		5		45%
I did not attend (yet)»		26

Genomsnitt: 3.45

- I"m assuming it was good. I haven"t been there yet, but I am looking forward to it. » (Good)
- I have not attend yet, but will tomorrow.» (Good)
- It was good to discuss the teamworking experience and to learn how they work in projects at Ericsson, but i didn"t understand very much of the baseband presentation.» (Good)
- But I am not really sure about the technical lecture. I think it was not a good idea to give us a lecture like that in that work shop. In other words, it was too technical for such a work shop. I think it"s better to give an over view to the students what"s happening at Ericsson.» (Excellent)
- Nice with some theoretical presentations from a private company of what they consider important.» (Excellent)
- It is in 3 days.» (I did not attend (yet))
- The workshop haven"t been yet, but I will attend» (I did not attend (yet))
- I didn"t attend yet, however it sounds very promising. The idea of bringing students closer to manufactors and business is great!» (I did not attend (yet))
- Yet. Look forward to it, just don"t want to wait with the survey and forget.» (I did not attend (yet))
- did not attend the experience workshop yet» (I did not attend (yet))
- it is a pity that has been scheduled during exam week !» (I did not attend (yet))

Study climate

12. How were the opportunities for asking questions and getting help?

Very poor»		0		0%
Rather poor»		0		0%
Rather good»		16		44%
Very good»		20		55%
I did not seek help»		1

Genomsnitt: 3.55

- With people of my working group it was good» (Rather good)
- Unfortunately I did not notice that one of the course assistants played the role of a manager and was available for help in the project. It did not felt right to ask a customer for help.» (Rather good)
- Thumbs up for both the TAs and Fredrik.» (Very good)
- It was really easy to get in touch with Mikhail and Reza. » (Very good)
- Professors were very open to questions.» (Very good)
- Thank teacher very much for helping me through our the study period.» (Very good)
- Both TAs replied the email quickly.» (Very good)
- Both Mikhail and Reza were always open to questions, we could come at any time in their office to seek help. Thank you» (Very good)

13. How was the course workload?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		1		2%
Adequate»		19		51%
High»		17		45%
Too high»		0		0%

Genomsnitt: 3.43

- it depend on the project, when we were stuck in the project, the course workload was high. » (Adequate)
- Not because of the content but because of the project. » (High)
- The project took a lot of working time. So, there was not much time left for studying the exercises.» (High)
- The project did take a lot of time, but on the other hand there were no hand-ins. Maybe you could add in a hand-in in the early course, just something about a linear receiver or constellations to keep students on their toes from the beginning while the project workload is small.» (High)
- Unfortunately, my schedule was fucked up, and I felt both my classes had big projects. I spent too much time in transit. » (High)
- Im bachelor exchange student, so I felt the gap is large. But for other people, I think there is no problem.» (High)
- A lot of own responsibility to seek for information.» (High)
- The project took much time, and because of it I didn"t have time to solve exercise problems.» (High)

14. Was the course workload uniformly distributed over the study period (If not, comment)?

Yes»		28		77%
No»		8		22%
Don"t know»		1

Genomsnitt: 1.22

- The project went well, but that is not garanteed» (Yes)
- Deliverables makes sure you work during the entire period.» (Yes)
- i think the workload is manageable» (Yes)
- We had to manage the project workload, so, if it was well done, no problem. » (Yes)
- The workload was increased in the end of the course» (No)
- Due to a slow start with the project, the last project week was rather painful. Luckily my other course had almost no workload that week. » (No)
- I spent more time before exam.» (No)
- In the beginning of this course,there are two many lecture,and in the second half, only tow or three in one week. could you make it more reasonable?» (No)
- Too much work during the last weeks considering the project, the exam and the quiz.» (No)
- The project took a little more time in the end, but thats partly because of our own planning.» (No)

15. How was the total workload this study period?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		0		0%
Adequate»		22		59%
High»		13		35%
Too high»		2		5%

Genomsnitt: 3.45

- I was rather lucky with my other course having higher work load at the beginning towards the middle, and this course from the middle to the end. » (Adequate)
- If it would not have been for the project, it would have been too low.» (High)
- It might be seem high for students from other countries and/or universities that are not used to this kind of workload» (High)
- Let the people know who made the schedule that thanks to them, I coulnd"t attend any lectures in my other class, and I was constantly on the move. Horrible job. (Obviously I know this has nothing to do with frederik, reza, mikhail or pär, this is just a general shout-out I"m hoping you could forward to the appropriate people for me).» (Too high)

Summarizing questions

16. What is your general impression of the course?

Poor»		0		0%
Fair»		0		0%
Adequate»		3		8%
Good»		13		35%
Excellent»		21		56%

Genomsnitt: 4.48 (bidrar till totalt genomsnitt/jämförelseindex)

- I think the textbook of this couse is bad. It is very abstract and it lacks thereotical proof and derivations of theorems. The textbook should be written in a more mathematical way.» (Adequate)
- Very good and intersting course» (Good)
- It was very good course and the project was interesting.» (Good)
- Keep up the good job!» (Excellent)
- very interested in this field, "nuf said.» (Excellent)
- I"ve done this a similar course in my home university and I can say that in comparison, this course is way better. It has been a great learning experience for me. (I"m Erasmus)» (Excellent)
- This course was incredible, the content was really interesting and the project is an excellent way to learn its use.» (Excellent)

17. What should definitely be preserved to next year?

18. What should definitely be changed to next year?

19. Additional comments