Visa resultat

Simulation of Complex Systems 2012, FFR120/FIM750

Your own effort

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

33 svarande

At most 15 hours/week»		10		30%
Around 20 hours/week»		17		51%
Around 25 hours/week»		4		12%
Around 30 hours/week»		2		6%
At least 35 hours/week»		0		0%

Genomsnitt: 1.93

- compared to other courses this course was not so time consuming (which is very nice, as the computational biology is very time consuming - and most of the students attend both courses)» (At most 15 hours/week)
- The first homeworks were easy, and I ran out of time due to other things for the last ones, so I never did them. However, I really wanted to do them since they were more challenging... I also confused myself reading "one extra lab in the end of the course" and just assumed I had more time.» (At most 15 hours/week)
- The homework was very guided and it required little work to complete except for several sprints of coding.» (At most 15 hours/week)
- Very fluctuating work load, wich is to large extent my fault.» (Around 20 hours/week)
- the work load is ok» (Around 20 hours/week)
- time consumption project easily gets out of hand» (Around 20 hours/week)
- Once the project started, it was easy to loose track of time» (Around 25 hours/week)

2. How large part of the teaching offered did you attend?

33 svarande

0%»		1		3%
25%»		5		15%
50%»		7		21%
75%»		9		27%
100%»		11		33%

Genomsnitt: 3.72

- Couldn"t read the teacher"s handwriting...» (25%)
- Again, the theoretical introductions of the homework problems were really well formulated, and the questions followed a logical progression, so I didn"t feel compelled to get up very early and come to the 8am lecture. If I had felt like I was missing a lot without attending, I would have done so, and in reality, I would have preferred this. For the lectures I attended, I thought that the lecturer"s blackboard usage was a little too timid. » (25%)
- The lecture is very boring and difficult to understand. I go to every lecture in the beginning but after some lecture I drop more often.» (50%)
- Missed some lectures due to illness and travel» (75%)
- Random reasons for missing the classes, but they were good. One suggestion: More condensed material in the beginning of the course, this often works for other subjects.» (75%)
- The lectures where awesome, I only missed one, but it had been grate with more lectures, because of there awesomeness.» (75%)
- The lectures were entertaining, but didn"t say much more than the "theoretical introduction" part on the homeworks.» (100%)

Goals and goal fulfilment

3. How understandable are the course goals?

I have not seen/read the goals»		5		15%
The goals are difficult to understand»		4		12%
The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer»		10		30%
The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn»		14		42%

Genomsnitt: 3

- I can not remember what the goals were, though I"m sure I"ve seen them at some time or another.» (I have not seen/read the goals)
- It"s very unclear what"s mandatory in the course.» (The goals are difficult to understand)
- It was somewhat unclear what you needed do to get the passing grade actually...» (The goals are difficult to understand)
- It would have been good to state more clearly that programming skills are required for this course - and that it is not possible to learn programming while attending this courses (some students did not have any programming experience and therefore didn"t attend the course anymore)» (The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer)
- The goals with the project could be better explained. » (The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer)
- I mainly read the course goals to get an indication of the content to aid in my decision to choose it or not.» (The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn)

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

30 svarande

No, the goals are set too low»		2		6%
Yes, the goals seem reasonable»		27		90%
No, the goals are set too high»		1		3%

Genomsnitt: 1.96

- The grade limits was too low» (No, the goals are set too low)
- Although not reading them.» (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- They might be considered too low if it wasn"t for the other mandatory course this period which takes too much time.» (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- not sure, which goals are meant in particular. if we were supposed to get an insight in every model in terms of being able to fulfil a task, then the goals might be a little high or time too short. » (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»		12		38%
Yes, definitely»		15		48%
I don"t know/have not been examined yet»		4		12%

Genomsnitt: 2.74

- Yes and no.. the highest grade seems to have been to easy to get in comparison to the others. » (?)
- There must be an inflation in points on the computer examinations.» (To some extent)
- Since it doesn"t seem mandatory to do all the homework problems, it is not necessary to understand the entire course.» (To some extent)
- More CA maybe?» (To some extent)
- The computer sessions are perfect to apply the lecture contents and understand what we are studying» (Yes, definitely)
- Assuming the sum of the homeworks as the examination, I think the demonstrations were a good assessment of the experience of the student with regards to the subject, because answering the questions at the presentation would have been tough if the problem at hand wasn"t well understood.» (Yes, definitely)
- There is no examination, but I think that the homeworks assess perfectly whether I have reached the goals.» (I don"t know/have not been examined yet)

Teaching and course administration

6. What do you think of Erik as a teacher?

Really bad»		0		0%
Bad»		3		9%
So and so»		6		18%
Good»		18		56%
Very good»		5		15%
No opinion»		1

Genomsnitt: 3.78

- There needs to be better structure on the board. It is difficult to follow the lectures since the writing was unstructured and the text to small.» (Bad)
- Erik could benefit a lot from being more clear and precise in definitions of new topics. In particular, the black board shoul be used much more carefully, and everything that is written there should be legible! (=write with bigger letters!) » (Bad)
- could be a little more motivated» (So and so)
- As mentioned, couldn"t read the handwriting. Writes too small, mostly. Not very structured on the blackboard.» (So and so)
- I did not need the lectures for the labs or the project, they were interesting but not useful. It was hard to extract the information given in the lectures.» (So and so)
- Great understanding of question of students, and great ability to answer them» (Good)
- interesing» (Good)
- Really, I can"t say anything bad about him.» (Good)
- His main focus is clearly to help the students learn the subject and he clearly succeeds in that. The only problem is that his delivery of the content (in the lectures) needs to get better, but that doesn"t interfere with the fact that he succeeds in teaching. It will only make his teaching better.» (Good)
- I think he did well. He just needs to remember that once he"s writing on the black board he needs to be write large enough so that the people in the back can see.» (Good)
- I think Erik is very knowledgeable and manages to make the topic interesting with the questions he asks and the leads he provides (I absolutely loved the sci-fi prisoner"s dilemma novella that he provided a link for). He could benefit from appearing a little more excited, especially in the mornings, teaching=theatre.» (Good)
- well prepared, competent and open for questions. at the beginning he sometimes seemed to be a little bored of the stuff he tells us.» (Good)
- I never had a problem understanding his explanations, and it felt as if he did his best to make everything clear to us.» (Very good)
- The best teacher I ever had. Funny and intelligent. Even the fact that he never looks at the class, but rather at the wall is acceptable.» (Very good)

7. Mention something that you think was good with the lectures.

8. Mention something that Erik should do different next year.

9. What is your opinion on the computer labs?

33 svarande

(på denna fråga var det möjligt att välja flera svarsalternativ)

I did not need to ask questions during the labs»		13		39%
I appreciated the possibility to ask questions»		16		48%
I used the possibility to ask questions»		8		24%
I liked this form of examination»		28		84%
I prefer writing reports»		1		3%
I would prefer a different examination (specify below)»		1		3%
No opinion»		0

- the home problems were very helpful to understand the content of the course (even more helpful than the lectures) - so don"t change this kind of examination!!!» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)
- The suggested deadline is the same date as the teaching time (and you"re supposed to respect it if you don"t want to fall behind), so it doesn"t fit very well with spending the time to ask questions -- hopefully you should already be finished when going to the lab. So the time available for asking questions isn"t very relevant. It was also a somewhat too easy form of exmamination and reports would have been more challenging and it would give you a chance to explain the results with theory more thoroughly.» (I did not need to ask questions during the labs, I liked this form of examination, I prefer writing reports)
- Presenting live, directly to the examiner beats writing reports any day.» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I used the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)
- The labs and the examination of this kind was clearly the best thing about the course. » (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I used the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)
- Even though it"s good that you can ask questions, it was always way too long waiting time just to write your name on the list to get help, which is a problem. Because of that, one pretty much had to ask questions on the lectures instead.» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)
- There should have been mote scheduled time for the labs, the queues were very long at some times.» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)
- The "examination" was VERY unclear. To what extent do points on homework influence the grading? Not stated in a clear fashion on the homepage. Were you supposed to do HW1, 2, 3, 4 (either a/b), all, some? VERY unclear.» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I used the possibility to ask questions, I would prefer a different examination (specify below))
- I think this form of examination is perfect: a live demonstration can show how much we understand the problem at least as much as a written report. Moreover, misunderstandings concerning the tasks can be avoided/clarified and there is an opportunity to correct our mistakes based on a discussion with the examiner. Furthermore, results became available instantly, so it was easy to stay up-to-date about how we advance in the course.» (I appreciated the possibility to ask questions, I liked this form of examination)

10. What is your opinion on the home problems?

(på denna fråga var det möjligt att välja flera svarsalternativ)

Too easy»		1		3%
Too hard»		0		0%
Good level»		30		90%
They took too much time»		3		9%
The time requirements was well balanced»		17		51%
I learned a lot from the exercises»		22		66%
I did not learn that much by doing the home problems»		1		3%
The questions where too vague»		3		9%
I would have liked more open ended questions»		3		9%
No opinion»		0

- The distribution of points was a bit off. HW1b took a few hours to do and each part gave ~5p. HW3 for example took much longer and each part gave only ~2-3p. I would have appreciated a bit more depth in some of the exercises. Especially the extra tasks felt like "Do the same thing, but with longer computations". » (Too easy, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises, The questions where too vague)
- Maybe 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b should be condensed to the first week or two, and maybe it should not be allowed to both Xa+Xb, as in that you are forced to select one (and that the harder one gives more points in total).» (Good level)
- Although the extra questions where only computer time consuming not hard in any way -> point inflation. The theoretical understanding was not really examined.» (Good level)
- I"m clearly satisfied by the level of the exercises and from what I learned from that.» (Good level, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises)
- Some things were very hard to interpret what was being asked for, especially in the cases when there were no labels on the graph-axis. That was updated after a while but it was frustrating not knowing what the plots actually showed.» (Good level, I learned a lot from the exercises, The questions where too vague)
- The homeproblems were really well formulated, and I really learned alot from doing them. However, i think that it might good to reconsider if it shouldnt be strict deadlines after all, or how you needed to distribute which problems you solved. Even though much personally appreciated, the current system dont seem to be fair for those who did the more difficult problems towards the end. Because their efforts wont be showing in the grades...» (Good level, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises)
- If one got stuck on one of the home problems, it was hard to find information that could help.» (Good level, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises)
- The level was good, but the grade limits was too low» (Good level)
- Perhaps a little more ambiguity would help with the learning process, some research on my part for example.» (Good level, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises, I would have liked more open ended questions)
- i improved my matlab skills, but it would have been possible to do so even more. a solution suggest or at least hints and general suggestions after presenting the home problem would be nice in order to really learn new things instead of trying to handle everything with the stuff you already know. ("how do i plot... nicely", "how do i calculate... effectively" etc.)» (Good level, They took too much time, I learned a lot from the exercises)
- The exercises were great! Most interesting programming assignments that I have ever had.» (Good level, The time requirements was well balanced, I learned a lot from the exercises)

11. To what extent has the teaching been of help for your learning?

Small extent»		7		21%
Some extent»		18		54%
Large extent»		7		21%
Great extent»		1		3%

Genomsnitt: 2.06

- most of the stuff you had to learn yourself.» (Small extent)
- Wikipedia and homework problems outperformed the teaching in my opinon.» (Small extent)
- I did not attend all of the lectures, but the lectures were more like introductions to different areas. This might be one of those courses where you cannot go in deeply on every subject. I learned the most from the home problems.» (Small extent)
- The home problems seem possible to do without the lectures, but they helped to introduce the concepts.» (Some extent)
- I mostly learned from the labs and the exercises due to the fact that many of the subjects were not new to me» (Some extent)
- One cannot learny simple by attending lectures. 90 % consists of actually doing the exercises in my opinion.» (Some extent)
- The home problems helped the most.» (Some extent)
- I"ve learnt more from the homeworks than the lectures.» (Some extent)
- Things I always wanted to do but didn"t know how to approach were made clear.» (Large extent)

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

Very badly»		1		3%
Rather badly»		1		3%
Rather well»		12		36%
Very well»		19		57%

Genomsnitt: 3.48

- Unclear course memo in several aspects: What is required for different grades (taking the project into account)? HOW should the "article" be written? Number of word limitations etc.» (Very badly)
- The problems should be handed out in advance» (Rather badly)
- Some of the home problems were put up a bit late, but otherwise there were no problems.» (Rather well)
- Some homeworks were released a bit later than I"d preferred.» (Rather well)

13. How did you like the project work?

Really bad»		2		6%
Bad»		4		12%
So and so»		12		36%
Good»		13		39%
Very good»		2		6%

Genomsnitt: 3.27

- There are so many options and most of them are very vague. The time is very strict and it is hard to find people to cooperate. I prefer that you give us few but CLEAR option so that we can clearly know what to do. I spend most of my time trying to figure out what to do and then to persuade and discuss this with other members. It is a waste of time. I have a very bad experience with the project.» (Really bad)
- It should be more limited/structured/steered, the risk is too great that nothing is achieved.» (Really bad)
- The project gave opportunity to be playful, and do some cool simulation, but still one was limited in that we always had to relate to science. I think this was unnessecary, since the home problems took care of that part. I would really have appreciated a very free project, were one could play freely, and i think the serious relation to science could have been well made in a seminary in connection to the presentation, where the connection to actual science were pointed out mainly by the lecturer(s).» (Bad)
- Difficult to understad the level and size of the work. New type of report to write.» (Bad)
- Probably because I"m not used to and don"t really like group work.» (Bad)
- the poject was interesting but it is difficult to implement a complex system in a project without any real theory behind it» (So and so)
- A bit vague on what was demanded from us.» (So and so)
- There is a disconnect in the level of complexity for the project and the home problems, the project requires a much deeper theoretical understanding and mathematical framework, which the course does little to provide.» (So and so)
- This greatly depends on the group you"re part of. For example: the presentation is in 2 days and I don"t know if my memberf of my group have done anything.» (So and so)
- I almost feel like 4 people is too many in a group, it"s hard to subdivide coding and such.» (So and so)
- I think it"s a wonderful idea, I think we didn"t manage to pick a topic that was interesting for everybody. And several groups picked related topics because it appeared easy among the ones on the list. In one class that I attended once, one lecture was reserved for brainstorming and another lecture was spent on group formation according to interests and people and topics separated naturally. Then, each group"s topic was criticized and developed as a class and they crystallized into original ideas over a short period, and they were different from one another. Perhaps something to try in the future...» (So and so)
- Coming up with a good question took several weeks for us, some other groups might have been more lucky. There should be more pressure on finding groups and delivering a goal/question in the early part of the course, because we misjudged this. I learned alot from that experience though...» (Good)
- I believe that the only problem with the projects is that there is not a very clear deadline of forming the groups and this is a problem because a group may start late and the time is limited. It would have been a lot better if we were "pushed" to form the groups quickly and start the work, even though at the end it wasn"t a very big problem.» (Good)
- a lot of different possibilities to choose from, high grade of freedom in creating project topic» (Good)
- It was quite difficult to understand what was expected of us for the project. For example that it was common to fail in reproducing results from articles was said quite late in the process. In hindsight we then spent way too much time trying to address that.» (Good)
- It was very interesting to define the project ourselves and set limitations. I also like the fact that the report is in the same form as a paper. » (Very good)
- At the beginning we were a bit "lost" about how the project is expected to look like. But then it worked out very well.» (Very good)

14. How was you supervisor as a teacher?

33 svarande

Totalt:

Really bad»		1		3%
Bad»		0		0%
So and so»		10		30%
Good»		15		45%
Very good»		7		21%

Genomsnitt: 3.81

Fördelat på olika grupper:

Claes: (9 st)

Really bad		1		11%
Bad		0		0%
So and so		3		33%
Good		3		33%
Very good		2		22%

Genomsnitt: 3.55

- I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him, but we werent really supervised either. Probably because we didnt feel the need for it though..» (So and so)
- Claes did not know (either) in what way the article should be written.» (So and so)

Oskar: (10 st)

Really bad		0		0%
Bad		0		0%
So and so		4		40%
Good		5		50%
Very good		1		10%

Genomsnitt: 3.7

- I"ve only met him once.» (So and so)
- Didn"t have any knowledge of what we were doing» (So and so)
- Oskar is really nice and positive. Still i have some bad feelings about the project, since the combination of free work and scientific validity was to demanding.» (Good)
- We had a good dynamic, very intelligent and to-the-point remarks.» (Good)
- He helped as much as he could.» (Very good)

Petter: (5 st)

Really bad		0		0%
Bad		0		0%
So and so		1		20%
Good		3		60%
Very good		1		20%

Genomsnitt: 4

- He was very helpful in helping us define our questions and give us background in our problem. » (Good)
- He really helped us find our way through the project » (Very good)

Ville: (9 st)

Really bad		0		0%
Bad		0		0%
So and so		2		22%
Good		4		44%
Very good		3		33%

Genomsnitt: 4.11

- I don"t have the idea he even read the paper that our project is based on.» (So and so)
- I would be happy if the supervisors were allowed to act as a group member, to give more specific pointers, since it"s hard to do scientific-like work on your own this early in your career and at least I needed some help with that.» (Good)
- took time, was patient. good hints and question, step-by-step and really accompanying the project. he gave precious motivation. » (Very good)

Study climate

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

Very poor»		0		0%
Rather poor»		0		0%
Rather good»		9		27%
Very good»		17		51%
I did not seek help»		7		21%

Genomsnitt: 3.93

- The relaxed atmosphere of the labs was very good.» (Rather good)
- the rather high number of tutors was pretty comfortable» (Rather good)
- people in this department are crazy including me» (Very good)
- All the teachers were open to questions whenever I had some.» (Very good)
- You felt welcome to ask for guidance.» (I did not seek help)

16. How well has cooperation between you and your fellow students worked?

Very poorly»		1		3%
Rather poorly»		2		6%
Rather well»		17		51%
Very well»		10		30%
I did not seek cooperation»		3		9%

Genomsnitt: 3.36

- We had some communication problems in our group due to a very differet background - even now, as we have finished the project I am not sure if we understood each other"s ideas on the project completely» (Very poorly)
- In the project it was an impossible mission to do a programming based task together, four persons. I felt very nervous regularly for the outcome of the project.» (Rather poorly)
- We weren"t too satisfied with our project choice in the end, so it was hard to be very motivated, but we still had a good time.» (Rather well)
- We spent a lot of time together.» (Rather well)
- a little communication problems during the project work, but it improved over time. » (Rather well)
- We discussed the home problems, but our particular group did not work very well.» (Very well)
- The cooperation in the project has been great, but I did the home problems on my own. » (I did not seek cooperation)

17. How was the course workload?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		2		6%
Adequate»		24		72%
High»		6		18%
Too high»		1		3%

Genomsnitt: 3.18

- Exactly at the level of not being exhausting and too little.» (Adequate)
- So and so. Overall good, but as mentioned, too easy to get grade 5. » (Adequate)
- The homework was very clearly defined, and this helped a lot, saved a lot of time. Like giving the last three significant digits of the desired answer.» (Adequate)
- The project is adding a great workload» (High)
- as it is in a project work. but still acceptable since the goals were set by the groups theirselves. as for the home assignments: a lot to do, but acceptable workload to receive the points you need. » (High)

18. How was the total workload this study period?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		1		3%
Adequate»		13		39%
High»		14		42%
Too high»		5		15%

Genomsnitt: 3.69

- Did not read CompBioA though...» (Low)
- the other course was fine and not too much effort. an other project work in parallel would probably have been too much.» (Adequate)
- The computational biology course is quite tough and you need to plan ahead every day, which is fine but sensitive to colliding/close deadlines.» (High)
- With computational biology, it was a little much sometimes. » (High)
- the computational biology course takes too much time to concentrate adequatly on this course!!!» (Too high)

Summarizing questions

19. What is your general impression of the course?

Poor»		1		3%
Fair»		2		6%
Adequate»		8		24%
Good»		17		51%
Excellent»		5		15%

Genomsnitt: 3.69

- I think work needs to be done on the lectures, at the moment it is a bit hard to learn anything useful from them» (Fair)
- I had fun implementing different models and I wish I had had more time doing all the homeworks. The project was a completely different type of experience, mostly learning how to come up with something yourself.» (Adequate)
- You can do what you want to do» (Good)
- Good to try so many different things» (Good)
- I think whatever the goals were, I feel like they have been reached. I have a good full feeling in my stomach.» (Good)

20. What should definitely be preserved to next year?

21. What should definitely be changed to next year?

22. Additional comments