The University of Tennessee

EF 230 Fall, 2011

Computer Solution of Engineering Problems

Main Navigation:

• Announcements
• Instructor/GTAs
• Syllabus
• Calendar
• Section Info
• Procedures
• Help
• Discussion Board
• In-class Poll

Resources

• Labs
• Quizzes
• Projects
• Feedback
• Drop Box
• Search m-files
• Example m-files
• Exam Information

User: wschlete

• Control Panel
• Student Lists
• Grade Entry
• Grade Stats
• Edit page
• Browse
• Logoff

Same page for ...

• EF 105
• EF 151
• EF 152
• EF 402

EF 230 Fall, 2011 Feedback

Current date:	Sun Jan 31, 2016 21:28:37
Start date:	Tue Nov 15, 2016 0:00:00
100% credit date:	Thu Dec 1, 2011 23:59:59
Current grade:	100

Too early - this form is not available yetToo late - this form has expired

Please take a few minutes and give us feedback on the class. Your constructive comments are invaluable to us in helping improve the class each semester. You will received extra credit for completing this form. Thanks.

Labs

Rate the overall quality of the EF 230 class.

14% (23/163) Very good (1) 47% (77/163) Good (2) 28% (46/163) Average (3) 9% (14/163) Marginal (4) 2% (3/163) Poor (5) 0% (0/163) N/A (0) Avg: 2.37, NZAvg: 2.37, sum=386, cnt=163, nzcnt=163

Comments/suggestions for improving EF 230:

2.  It is a challenging class, and I think it should be registered as a 3 credit hour course instead of a 2 credit hour course. But other than that it gives the student an in depth knowledge of Matlab. 3.  sometimes just a bit to fast to keep up with TA's code 4.  Only real suggestion would be to get the project details up sooner before the due date, and it would be nice for future students so give a couple extra credit points if they do something above and beyond what was expected in a project. 5.  I feel like a lot of things were in the works this semester. Given this it seems that feedback from previous semesters was implemented, which is great. Suggestion to improve is to work out the kinks a bit more before implementation. Growing pains are to be expected, especially being the first trial run. (IE: Exam 2, Projects, etc) I'll also mention that we covered a LOT of material. Every day we covered a lot of new commands under 1-3 new concepts. It was hard to keep up with everything at points. I did gain a working understanding of the subject, but certainly not a mastery of the subject. UPDATE 11/30/2011 I am a bit frustrated that so many assignment changes were made last minute. I changed the course eval from average to marginal as a result. Upon reflection of the Matlab Golf project, the assignment felt like it was handed out before any helper function was written. I didn't understand what was really required until the project information was updated 2 weeks after assigned. For the final project, I'm frustrated that changes to the report (7% of our final grade) were made the very last day of class. The project was assigned 10 days prior and requirements are changed the day before the project is due (and finals start.) I understand that this year was an ABET cert. year, but with a little more planning these issues could have been avoided. 6.  slow down sometimes, sometimes it doesn't seen like they realize we're just learning all of this stuff. 7.  none 8.  I believe that the shorter problems relating to engineering are much more beneficial than the longer "game" type projects. The hardest part of the golf project was figuring out what you gave us and did. I'd rather have a more practical task and do the entire thing myself. 9.  functions were rather confusing and a big part of the class, maybe spend some extra time on the basics to understand better 10.  I suggest doing less involved projects, but more of them. The data analysis was the most beneficial to me. I got it with no help at all. I felt like the other projects were a bit overwhelming and felt a bit under prepared for them. 11.  I would suggest doing many small projects opposed to doing a couple big ones. I learned a great deal more from doing the smaller ones. 12.  I preferred the last project due to the short amount of time but also included a lot more of what we were working on at the time. Smaller projects with a shorter time limit will help be able to apply information currently going over. Many times I was doing a project that included things that we had gone over weeks before. 13.  It seems like sometimes we weren't exactly clear on what was asked of us for projects. Also, work on the amount of time spent on different things. It seems like we flew through things that were very important while we slowed down on things that may not have been. In addition, it seemed like I learned more from the homeworks that the big projects. Put grades up faster. There were times when things would have been graded and instead of putting them up right away, it was like you waited until there were a chunk of things to put up. 14.  Less time on things that we will either most likely never use, or won't be able to remember for more than a semester. 15.  group projects 16.  For a 2 credit class, it was a lot of work. I really liked the smaller projects versus the large ones. Maybe more of those in the future? Keep help sessions because they really helped me. 17.  A lot of the time, there is too much to cover in the labs, so a firm understanding of the material and how to implement it is not attained. Also, if more time was spent on developing a good understanding of why the programming works the way it does and ,in turn, more weight was put on participation, more knowledge could be gained. 18.  Be more specific in what is wanted in projects (a.k.a making it clarified that certain values should be variables or not to use certain ways of solving problems). Be more detailed in what you want/don't want in the projects. 19.  The labs were pretty dry and boring. 20.  A lot of work for a two hour class. less projects and maybe short hw assignments 21.  Faster Better Matlab on computers 22.  I think having more assignments/projects might help students learn the material better. We do not have enough opportunity to practice what we learn and therefore do not really learn it. 23.  it was a great class, just boring at times. 24.  I realize that matlab is very important. However I think this course is not designed well. This is the only class I dont have an A in and hopefully I will get a C. This class is 2 credit hours. For someone who has no previous programming experience it takes a lot more time to learn the material than a two credit hour class should take up. I really think this class should be more than 2 credit hours or the class load should lighten. I was not expecting this class to take up as much time as it has and as a result I have a bad grade. Maybe its poor planning on my part but I really feel the course load is deceiving compared to other 2 credit hour classes I have had. Also I didnt like the way the class is taught. For example one day I was typing what the TA was typing. While I was trying to type the other TA was asking a question and expressed frustration that no one was able to answer his question. Well why would we be listening to him if we are trying to in a sense "taking notes"? Professors usually dont ask questions while the students write down something important. It makes no sense to me why one TA is typing something important and the other TA is at the same time asking questions. Things like that happened often and it was really frustrating to me. I dont mean to complain. I know matlab is important. I want to learn matlab but this class doesnt seem to teach it in a way that I will be able to learn it well. 25.  I liked the class, but sometimes I was a bit lost. Overall, it's an okay class, makes you think in a different way. 26.  Nothing. The material is always going to be a bit "dry" in a programming class. The information is being relayed in the best way possible. 29.  The class seems useful and informative, but it is a bit more work than I think a 2 hour class should be. 30.  Pizza, guys. Pizza. 31.  Reduce the size of some of the assignments, even if it means making a few more assignments. Also, in class, make the class work through more examples. 35.  Maybe include more short homeworks or quizzes of some type so it is easier to see where we stand with how we are understanding the material. 36.  Give a clear grading rubric for projects 37.  More homework would help to keep everyone paying attention during lecture, and keep them working throughout the week. Otherwise, we barely have any homework until the projects, which require a lot of work and understanding. 38.  More short answer type questions on homework instead of the usual. Smaller projects (increasing amount of them) but utilizing what we had recently learned. 39.  More smaller projects every two or three weeks similar to the data analysis project. For the functions portion of the class, I think it would be useful to give the class a functionless program that could be optimized by changing the program to contain functions. 41.  great class, however, I wish there was more time to spend on each topic covered in the class. 42.  It felt like there was too much information crammed into some of the classes. Also, for the final project don't have us think of our own. I can understand how it seems creative, but typically engineers solve problems, not create them. 43.  The class is very boring. There is no real point in going to lecture because the TAs just read off of the labs that are online. I would be much better off just reading the labs and doing the examples on my own. 44.  Make the tests shorter and the project descriptions for how the points will be take off more clear. 45.  Less material covered each class. 46.  I think if a little less material was covered or the class was extended to allow more time to learn the objectives than more students would be successful in the class. 47.  The grading of short answer exams and projects is absolutely unacceptable. If one were to theorectically miss an end statement, he could get a 60 on a project. This is unacceptable 48.  The class was really very good. The second test was a little crazy with those short-answer questions, but I think you have gotten that figured out. Also, there really has to be some more partial credit given when automatic grading is used on a project, hw, or test. I got a 65 on my project, did 15 to 20 minutes of work on it, and it was working perfectly. I don't think that is really fair. Thank you for the project rework, but its just something to think about for the future. Thanks a lot. I really did enjoy this class. 49.  Layout of quizzes and projects gave a lot of practice for exams. Short answer exam questions need more time though or give like 1 or 2. 50.  No real suggestions. 51.  Don't give students so many second chances. People don't put effort into the class, and then they wonder why they can't pass the exams. 52.  Completely changing the course. Make it a three hour course where we meet 3 times a week and cover less each day but in more detail. 54.  I probably shouldn't say this, but I think more homework would be helpful. Or at least more practice exams available and more practice problems available. I would mistakenly think that I understood concepts and not find out that I didn't until After a test. The pace of the class makes it difficult to keep up; if you fall behind at one point during class (i.e., because of an unexpected error in your own program), it is unlikely that you will ever be able to catch up during that class period. Also, mistakes from TAs during class makes the already difficult subject matter even more confusing. TAs often struggled to convey their own understanding of the material to the class; lots of communication issues. 56.  better descriptions on the projects and how they will be graded and have the TA's be able to break stuff down more instead of talking over students' heads to where they can't understand it. 57.  dont grade as hard... dont take major points off for minor mistakes 58.  Do not use only Matlab, or not required for engineering. 59.  Coding should be left to projects only and the exams should be multiple choice because coding under pressure in a short amount of time is very difficult. 60.  None 61.  more examples online 62.  The class subject is very difficult, and you put in a lot of time on assignments outside of class. Much more time than a 2 hour course should take. 63.  Explain the details of what is covered in class. Don't just give a one time use type of lesson on each function/topic. Give grading rubrics for how we will be graded on projects, hw, etc. 64.  Most of the class was pretty simple and so most of the time on the exams, it seemed like everything was just there to trick us. Don't try to trick us, just give us more difficult material. 65.  more fun projects less hard time consuming projects, the golf game was good but the data import was not 66.  Focus in greater depth on a smaller number of topics. I found that once I understood the basic syntax and how to navigate and implement the help files, I could teach myself any topic that I needed to learn. It is impossible to cover every topic in Matlab, and I feel that teaching the students the material on a deeper level would be more helpful. 67.  The class is very informative, but the work is a lot for a two hour class. I've had a four hour class that is less demanding. The assignments and projects seemed to require more and seemed to be graded tougher as the class went on. It also seems like the test format was not worked out well and things were just sort of being tried out. This class needs to be more consistent. 68.  Somehow make class more exciting. I know that's never easy to do, but maybe incorporate some sort of 5 minute competition at the end of each class. It shouldn't be for a grade, but the winner could get extra credit or a piece of candy or something. I think we just need more incentive to actually come to class and participate. When I do go to class, I get bored. Instead of paying attention, my mind wanders so there was no point for me to go to class in the first place. 69.  Listing the course as more than 2 credit hours because the workload is pretty hefty for just 2 credit hours and it made my semester that much more time consuming. 71.  Slow down towards the end of the semester. Following at the beginning was manageable, but towards the end, most of the material was more complex. I felt that it was rushed and that I did not fully understand what was being taught. 72.  Slow down near the end 73.  Class was difficult and fast. 74.  Slow down the course material and study the many ways in which to use the basic loops first before entering into more complex functions material. 75.  Decrease the variability in the projects. The shorter, more formulaic projects (proj3) helped in retaining and using material better than the other ones. 76.  I did not like the short answer on the second exam - I prefer and excel at the multiple choice. My coding projects are always great, but coding should be saved for outside of time sensitive settings. 77.  Too much extra work outside of class. Either projects or homework not both for a two hour class. 78.  Negative: mandatory attendance via credit; problems for which the class pre-reqs do no provide background; vague/disorganized specifications on problems; lack of a complex project. 79.  None 80.  more intuitive examples and use of simulink for visual clarity. otherwise very good. 81.  They explained everything thourughly, i have no complaints. 83.  None 84.  shorter tests 85.  It sometimes feels like the class is moving faster than I can understand the material. It would be nice to slow down more for the harder stuff, like ode45. 86.  More in-depth teaching of the variety of functions matlab has to offer. 87.  Overall, the class was very good and informing as well as challenging. 89.  More explanation of how thing work. I still don't get how anonymous functions in a ode45 call work. Instead, I find myself just memorizing syntax. 92.  none 94.  Better project scheduling and grade by actually looking at the code, not just running it and seeing if it works. 95.  Get the class more involved and try not to go through the examples so perfectly all the time. It makes it seem so more simple than it is. Maybe one less project in a semester or this class needs to be a three hour class. There ended up being a lot of work for this class when it is only a two hour course. I spent more time on this class and am doing worse then a couple of my four hour courses that should be more difficult. 98.  More clearly stated projects. 99.  Determine exam/project formats well before the date they are assigned. Also, the second and third project descriptions were a little vague. 100.  Some explanation of how functions work would be nice (e.g. what the ode45 function actually does), but other than that, the class was very good. 101.  instead of giving a couple big projects try a few smaller of projects 102.  Shorten the short answer sections on the second test and be a little more specific on the final project. (It is hard to know if you're project is difficult enough.) 104.  Weight the grades with respect to the difficulty of the work done for the grade. Less weight was given to the projects that required more work. 105.  I enjoyed the open ended projects more than the clear cut projects such as the golf project where all the main functions are given. I see the importance of the golf project, but I found it less beneficial. Also, I think there should have been a quiz homework on the differential equations assignment before the programming HW. The advantage of the quiz HW is the ability to check your answers as you go. Whereas the programming HW is turned it without assurance that it has been done correctly. 106.  I would like to have learned a little more new material and a little less review of EF 105, but this opinion is likely not a consensus. 107.  Not have the students attempt to write 5 functions and have 35 multiple choice questions on an hour and a half exam. as you noticed, it didn't allow us enough time. 109.  I am aware that there is only so much time in each class, however, it would be beneficial if less material was covered in each class period so more time could be devoted to each topic. 110.  I understand that learning a coding language is extremely beneficial for engineers, but I would really rather learn Microsoft visual basic. I feel that in the long run, it would be more beneficial. Because in industry, not everyone fully understands or uses matlab, but using excel is a requirement by today's standards. I feel we should at least touch on this option in class, or better yet make a new class entirely devoted to this. 111.  Get rid of the short answer system from the second test. Having full credit/no credit worth six points is ridiculous. You stated at the beginning of the class that this class is about being able to figure every thing out, not how fast you can code. However, with that short answer system, it becomes about how fast you can code, regardless of what you try to do to fix it. Leave the coding to the projects if you want to keep with the purpose stated at the beginning of the class. 112.  Cover less material. focus more on lesser amount of material covered. 113.  the labs are a little heavy. i suggest spending a little more time on each topic so we could get a better understanding of each topic 114.  Its a great class 115.  I think the amount of work was a little more than it should have been. This is only a 2 hour class and I spent more time on this class than I did in all of my other classes. I feel like the golf project was way to complicated. In my opinion, the last two projects were good because we had actually talked about them in class. I liked the homework we did at the end of this semester because it was actually what we did in class. 116.  I think this should be a three hour course instead of a two hour course. An extra hour a week in EF class would definitely make this class easier. 117.  It's hard to see the projector so maybe somehow enlargening the text or zooming in on the screen so the class can follow along better. 118.  It has been an interesting and involved class. I have learned a lot and feel a lot more comfortable with programing. I think the class could be improved by making it more credit hours the amount of time put into this class during the week is equal to a three hour course and based on the amount of time that is required for project work outside of class I think this course should be worth more credit hours. 119.  I can't really think of any improvements. The subject material is all available and well discussed in class. Even when a problem arose, it was quickly fixed. 120.  Overall I feel I learned a lot in this course and most concepts were taught to the best of the GTAs ability. The short answer portion of the 2nd exam really made me feel I, and most, of the class were unable to grasp the core concepts of this class. With as much as I feel I learned this was very discouraging and I am apprehensive of the final. 121.  I know this is odd, but just like working on vehicle, someone can explain it to you all day but unless you do it yourself you are not going to retain what has been taught. therefore I suggest to give a summary of how to use each command especially the ones involving helper functions. Then possibly short homeworks involving them. 122.  The amount of work we were required to did not match the credit hours received for the class. There was too much work with the projects AND the homework. 123.  Assign one less project 124.  Make exams doable in a class period. 125.  More work to try on our own after a lab. I felt like I forgot what I did in lab and always had to relearn it when studying for an exam or doing a project. Also, I think ruberics for projects should be presented before the project is due. For project 2, I did not know copying code or hardcoding was not allowed, and I lost 10 points for two errors that could be fixed quickly. 128.  I actually learned a lot in this class. I still hate matlab but the material was presented very well and all information needed was very accesible. 129.  I enjoyed having smaller project as opposed to the bigger ones. 130.  I like the detail and what not of the class, but I did not like how the class was mainly based on huge projects. I feel like I would have retained the information better if every lab had its own little assignment. I feel like that would not only break the information down, but also provide us with examples we constructed in studying for the exams, and help us in larger projects. 132.  make it more interesting 133.  Big fan of letting us use google on the tests. 134.  Somehow make the board or visual aid easier to see further from the front. 135.  None, I think it is a very well structured class. It is definitely a lot better than EF105 was during the matlab portion. I like the projects, they were very helpful and not too hard that they required an overwhelming amount of time. 137.  Slow it down or make the class longer. If i got behind only once it was almost impossible to catch up. 138.  Projects could be more structured (didn't always fully understand what was expected). Other than that I really enjoyed the class. 139.  none 140.  None, the EF Department has some of the best structured classes at UT. Always fun, knowledgeable instructors and I always learn a lot. 141.  I cant type fast enough to keep up with them. Maybe post their classwork somewhere so we could have them somewhere. 142.  I really liked the pace of the class. I would like to see more open-ended projects that deal with how matlab could apply to our specific majors (ex. Industrial vs Civil) 143.  For exam preparation, practice similar problems during class time. Seemed like the transition from lecture material to exam material was abrupt. I understand that there is a lot of material to cover in class, however, I think there may have been a better approach to emphasize important subjects. 144.  It is often difficult to remember all the terminology and exactly what every command does, which makes keeping up in class difficult sometimes. I understand it is important to know the information, but maybe briefly go over the commands a little more, especially the more difficult ones, and try not to use as much technical jargon. 145.  Add more projects. They were very involved, which helped my understanding of the material. 146.  There were some labs about shortcuts (the comments, smart indent, etc, and 1 other lab) that would've been nice to learn at the beginning 147.  more small projects 148.  more smaller assignments to get as much practice with the program as possible 149.  I think that EF 230 would be greatly improved with a few tweaks. This year, we have constantly been reminded about how many different ways there are to solve problems. Creativity in solving these problems was even encouraged. However, the grading system does not support these ideas. I don't think that the grading system rewards creativity enough. This was my lowest grade, and I feel that the amount of effort I put in to assignments wasn't reflected by my grades. I think that somehow rewarding creative solutions without penalizing the typical would make the class more enjoyable, productive, and fair. 150.  Use more examples of the concepts of the material. It felt like a lot of the material was glazed over quickly and we were expected to know it too well. 151.  Be clearer with what is wanted on homework and projects early in the semester. I lost points on a few early assignments because I didn't know I had to do certain extra things even though I had everything I thought was needed. 152.  This matlab class was much harder than EF 105. There was a lot of material that we went over in such little time. There was also a bunch of applications and I don't think we understood the concepts well enough to do some of the homework. I think there should of been more multiple choice and small coding homework problems that would of helped. 153.  N/A 155.  the class moved kinda fast. 156.  The second exam had short answer questions on it and there was not enough time to finish them. We ended up having two redos and instead there should have just been multiple choice. It takes some people longer than others to write code and those questions were rushed. 157.  Okay. Very fast if you miss one step you pretty much stop trying till next problem. 159.  I liked the class. I would like to see these tool applied more to engineering matrial 160.  More examples in the lecture notes 161.  I feel like the format of this class doesn't help students learn how to think they way you need to for matlab. We are just given examples and are told to do the work; most of us are left confused. I think it'd be nice to have class videos so that we can watch the ta's explaining the labs over again. 162.  focusing more on small programming projects like on the test, rather than big complicated ones 163.  allow more time on tests to work the short answer problems. the final exam provided the perfect amount of time to work all the problems

GTAs

Rate the overall quality of the Ryan Graham's in presenting and explaining the material. Use N/A if he never presented the lab in your section.

36% (58/163) Very good (1) 37% (61/163) Good (2) 9% (14/163) Average (3) 2% (3/163) Marginal (4) 1% (1/163) Poor (5) 16% (26/163) N/A (0) Avg: 1.47, NZAvg: 1.74, sum=239, cnt=163, nzcnt=137

Rate the overall quality of the Stephen Phillips's in presenting and explaining the material. Use N/A if he never presented the lab in your section.

37% (61/163) Very good (1) 23% (38/163) Good (2) 9% (14/163) Average (3) 0% (0/163) Marginal (4) 2% (3/163) Poor (5) 29% (47/163) N/A (0) Avg: 1.19, NZAvg: 1.67, sum=194, cnt=163, nzcnt=116

Rate the overall quality of the Everett Stiles's in presenting and explaining the material. Use N/A if he never presented the lab in your section.

22% (36/163) Very good (1) 28% (45/163) Good (2) 11% (18/163) Average (3) 4% (6/163) Marginal (4) 1% (2/163) Poor (5) 34% (56/163) N/A (0) Avg: 1.31, NZAvg: 2.00, sum=214, cnt=163, nzcnt=107

General comments/suggestions on GTAs:

2.  Good Presentation, and very helpful. They did great 3.  both were very helpful 5.  My GTA's were extremely knowledgeable. They certainly filled the role of primary instructors well. 6.  Very nice and helpful. However, sometimes they need to slow down! 7.  go slower 8.  They were very helpful in the class material. 9.  both GTAs worked well together explaining things 10.  Went at a good pace and had concerns about our learnings 12.  NA 13.  Very knowledgeable but not always as helpful as they could be when asking questions. Also, sometimes they would put things in the command window and clear it much faster than they should have or put another window over it and then if we got behind it was too hard to catch back up or follow the steps. 15.  sometimes hard to hear in the back 16.  GTAs were overall good. I thought Ryan's teaching style was the best because he toned it down to a level we could understand. Everett was good too but was over my head sometimes. 17.  They do not need to assume anyone just knows what they are talking about at any given moment during the lab; Everything should come with an explanation. 19.  The GTAs were very helpful. 20.  fun semester 22.  They covered the material well and were able to handle any questions I had. 23.  Both did a great job, sometimes they took too long explaining some topics. 24.  none 25.  The TAs were pretty good at answering questions, but sometimes you just have to try to get it on your own. 27.  Everett and Ryan were extremely helpful and could answer almost any question! 29.  none 31.  They were helpful. 35.  I think the GTA's did a good job. 36.  pretty good. clear that they know matlab very well 37.  The GTAs are great, and they know a lot of the finer details about MATLAB, which improves their ability to answer questions and explain concepts. Sometimes they lack for enthusiasm, but in fairness, coding can want for enthusiasm at times. 38.  More jokes and sarcasm! 39.  The GTA's are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. 40.  I would suggest that they try to understand better that some of us have never used matlab before this course and gear their teaching techniques towards that 41.  The GTA's were very good. 42.  The GTAs were very knowledgeable about what they were doing. They were also very willing to help with any problems we may have had. 44.  The TA's were fairly helpful during class. 46.  They seemed to know what they were talking about but they changed their minds a lot and did a lot of shorthand stuff making it hard to reenforce the general ideas of the class. 48.  Really great guys. Worked well together. Enjoyable to be around. 49.  Great help with any problems that came up. 50.  Very helpful. Encouraged thinking. 51.  Everett and Stephen are always helpful and ready to correct your code. 52.  In my section they were very helpful. 54.  Everett was definitely the best TA. He explained the material well in class and rarely made mistakes. In help sessions, he was very helpful with explaining issues and seemed to really care that the students learned and understood the material. He did not just give you the answers; he asked you questions that helped you arrive at the answer yourself and better understand the material. All-around great TA, very patient, even if he often appears condescending. I'd rather have a condescending TA who can actually help me. Ryan was a good TA as well; not as helpful as Everett, but helpful nonetheless. He was always willing to help, and very patient. Stephen exemplified everything a TA should not be and should not do. CLEARLY, blatantly did not care if students learned or got the correct answer. If he did choose to help, he would just rush and give you the answer really quickly instead of walking you through it and explaining things. During help sessions Stephen was easily distracted by long, casual conversations with certain students (not about MATLAB) instead of helping those who came to help session because they actually needed help. When asking Stephen for help, it feels like you are asking him a huge favor, causing him a huge inconvenience by taking away from the conversation he is having with a student about some random array of topics, none of which have anything to do with school. You feel guilty / awkward asking him for help, like you're intruding on a special meeting he is having with a student. All in all, getting help for this class was very, very difficult. There are only two help sessions a week, and one of them is headed by Stephen; so there might as well be one help session a week. 56.  be able to better understand the material so they can better teach it instead of talking over our heads. 59.  The GTAs taught the class very well and explained everything so that it was easy to understand. 60.  Knew Matlab very well and were able to answer questions in an understanding way 61.  they were helpful 62.  The GTA's do a good job relating the material to something we would understand, especially Stephen. 63.  They do a pretty good job. They simply don't explain the ins and outs of each topic though. 64.  Stephen was always a huge help, never seemed to get frustrated always treated every person in every class with respect. He is a great TA. Everett knows the answer to almost any question you could ask him, but many times he makes you feel stupid when you ask a question. Ryan again normally knew what he was talking about, but when explaining things many times didn't make things to clear and made it difficult to actually grasp at times. 65.  keep them fun 67.  None. GTAs were helpful. 68.  I don't like programming, so I think I'm unfairly biased against the class as a whole. I'd rather just teach it to myself on my own time instead of learn it from GTA's. 69.  Good job on covering the amount of material 71.  Be a little more helpful rather than just telling us where our error is and help us step through it. 72.  I wish we had more than one GTA at the help sessions that are before a project. 73.  None. 74.  Good teaching, difficult class. Difficult to keep up with course material. 75.  They were nice and tried to keep labs interesting. They were personable and accessible for help which was good too. 76.  EF 230 was great, I especially like my TA's from this year. They were always friendly and helpful. I think they disapproved of me walking in late and perhaps not always being on task in class, but I enjoyed lectures thoroughly and the upbeat atmosphere of the class. 77.  They did their job 78.  The quality of the online component of this course is so high that the in-class instruction felt completely redundant for me. The pace was so slow that it was impossible for me to stay engaged so i worked through each day's curriculum, which was almost never completely covered due to the slow pace, on my own. I feel this course should be online with online help from TA's. Engineering students are required to purchase equipment necessary to complete class at home anyways. The expectations of in-class work are completely out of proportion to what is expected on the exams. 79.  None 80.  They were fine 81.  I was very pleased with the TAs assigned to my section. 83.  Ryan was very helpful throughout the semester, especially considering that he learned everything just before he came here. He always gave knowledgeable responses. Everett seemed a little more cocky when it came to programming. Although his knowledge was vast, being cocky makes him less approachable then Ryan. 84.  nope 85.  I feel like they teach better when they are having fun in class. 86.  They do their job well. 87.  All of the GTAs were educated and helpful when problems arose. 88.  Ryan is excellent at explaining difficult concepts- all around very good. He does have a monotone voice, but he warned us about it. He is always sincere, never seems bored or disinterested with material. Everett is extremely competent with MATLAB and a very hard working TA. He has a great personality and invites students to learn and work harder just by being himself. However, he talks too quickly. 89.  great job overall, just go a little more in depth on some things, as I said above. 91.  awesome 92.  none 95.  They did a good job covering the material in the amount of time that was given. 99.  TAs do a good job, they just like to riddle us if we ask "easy" questions. Sometimes it seemed like they had so much stuff to cover that they had to rush, but I feel they did the best they could. 100.  Good job guys, thanks a lot. 101.  they were really good and helped out with all of my questions 102.  GTAs were great. Helped with any problems you had with MATLAB and homework. 103.  they need to provide more assistance at the tuesday/thursday help sessions. 104.  None 105.  Good!!! 106.  They were good overall. I feel that the two (Ryan and Everett) had differing styles that worked well together. 107.  Everett was a great ta. he was able to help me immediately with all of my questions. The one time of the semester i went to a help session, stephen was the ta and he was able to quickly point out the slight mistake i was making. 109.  All of the GTA's did a fantastic job. 111.  It would be nice if you all would respond to emails quicker. 112.  TA's are knowledgeable. However, the material is covered too fast. 113.  i have confidence that they know their stuff and explain the topics a fair amount for the time we have 114.  the T.A.s were very helpful 115.  I think the teaching assistants did a good job. They did a good job going through the examples and explained everything. 116.  all were pretty good 117.  They're good but it's a hard class to teach sadly so it's not always easy to follow their train of thought when explaining matlab functions. 118.  The GTA's were very helpful and knowledgeable. They were good at giving guidance and helpful hints and it was always easy to ask questions during the lab. 119.  All explanations were clear and thorough. Can't ask for much better. 120.  I was not actually taught by Everett although I did attend a couple of his help sessions. I felt he answered questions with more questions which was discouraging to me, I have no knowledge on his classroom teaching skils. Email questions were always returned in a very timely manor and all GTAs were open to questions and tried to help me understand rather than just give out answers or refer to mat lab help (which I appreciated very much). Thank you very much for all the time you guys put into this class and I hope everyone has a wonderful break. 122.  They presented it well but could of made it more interactive. 123.  slow down class a little 124.  Overall good job. 125.  No complaints, they presented labs well and helped where they could. 127.  sometimes when we have a question on how to do something (on projects/homework), instead of saying 'that's for you to figure out', maybe show an example of the function that I should use or give more direction. Because if we can figure it out we wouldn't ask about it. 128.  Everett and Stephen are great 129.  Try to be more helpful and not go over the students heads 130.  N/A 133.  none 134.  Keep Ryan 135.  none 137.  Just slow it down some. 138.  great job, made matlab very interesting, which I understand is a near-impossible task. 139.  Stephen and Ryan are ballers. 140.  Great instructors, I can tell they are real students and use their own in-class experiences to help us learn the material. 141.  Good job 142.  Both were pretty well organized and most importantly both seemed to have a strong grasp on the subject material. No real suggestions on improvements other than continue doing what they are doing. 143.  none 144.  Although they obviously knew the material better than we did, they were good at explanations and helping us with problems. 145.  Very helpful. 146.  Both my TA's were great. Everett could show a little more respect for students. And not slap that meter stick on the table to get our attention... no real complaint though, they were both great. 147.  good job 148.  did a good job explaining things but not answering them for you 149.  Both TA's were very good at presenting the material. Everett is unaware he does this, but he made it somewhat intimidating to ask questions in class. Everett's a great teacher and a good guy, but I noticed he often made people feel stupid if they did or said something wrong. I know I was a little reluctant to speak up in class, because Everett had an unintentional way of mocking people. It seemed that he even would mock Ryan if he made a mistake writing code. I'm positive Everett doesn't do this on purpose, but I think it was an important issue that could be easily fixed. This wasn't a personal issue, just merely an observation of how he responded when other people asked questions or made mistakes. 150.  N/A 151.  They are both very helpful and know their stuff. 152.  I think the GTAs did really well on instructing this course to help us learn these matlab applications more. 153.  N/A 154.  Give us more ideas on how to do projects. 155.  both were good with explanations 156.  The TA's were very informative and prepared for class. 159.  I liked when they took the time to learn our names 160.  Can be a bit unwelcoming. 161.  The gta's were ok teachers. 162.  none 163.  both GTAs did a good job explaining everything to the best of their ability. sometimes I feel like they had to rush over some topics, which lost part of the class. 164.  Feel free to be more involved with the classes, and to be more personal. It lets the students loosen up and learn better.

Resources

Rate the overall quality of the EF 230 web site.

66% (107/163) Very good (1) 29% (48/163) Good (2) 5% (8/163) Average (3) 0% (0/163) Marginal (4) 0% (0/163) Poor (5) 0% (0/163) N/A (0) Avg: 1.39, NZAvg: 1.39, sum=227, cnt=163, nzcnt=163

General comments/suggestions on web site:

2.  Good data base for information, and very complete. 4.  I would keep all the Matlab files open and available even before lab sessions, because some students (including me) like to look at whats going on in lab before lab that way it's easier to follow the TA's. 5.  Layout is done well. Organization is great. Using it as a reference when I need it later is amazing. Please do not get rid of the ability to access the site after we are done with the class! 6.  Very helpful and easy to navigate. 7.  none 8.  No suggestions. 9.  love using it. way better than blackboard in my opinion 10.  None 11.  The website is very helpful. 12.  NA 13.  Very good, no real improvements I can think of. 14.  None 15.  like all ef classes its great 16.  Website was very clear and concise. Nothing to change there. 17.  It is pretty easy to navigate. I like it. 18.  For the header that needs to be put in every program that is uploaded to the dropbox, maybe put that format somewhere more general. I found it hard to find because its location was part of a lab and not part of program format. Maybe make it part of the Syllabus for general rules. 19.  Very useful had most of what I needed when I was working on projects. 22.  I like having the example files, but I wish they had been mentioned earlier in class. 23.  great easy to access. 24.  I think the website is great. 25.  The website works okay, occasionally there will be a discrepancy on open/close dates for things, but nothing major. 26.  The website is wonderful, very user friendly and helpful in bettering myself in the class. 29.  none 31.  Very user-friendly and organized well. 34.  I think the EF websites are great. They work all the time, and are simple to use. 35.  Easy to navigate. Good website. 36.  very easy to use 37.  The website is super-genius! It is a great reference and well structured, easy to find what you are looking for with extra references in case you are still lost. Overall, the website is a great asset that has been invaluable in understanding the material. 39.  The website is excellent. 41.  Good quality material, however, the tests were really hard. 42.  Web site is fine. 44.  I like how the website is set up and being able to find commands and functions easily. 46.  I loved how everything we needed was right at our fingertips. 48.  I think this website might actually be a resource I would use sometime in the future. It is well thought out and organized. 49.  Some pages were either closed for a while or some info was missing until last minute, cutting back on information provided. Everything else on the site was good though. 50.  Excellent website. Easy to navigate. 52.  The website is very good and I like that it is interactive. 54.  Overall, it was fine. 56.  everything is very easy to navigate to 59.  Website is easy to navigate and everything is fairly simple to find when you need it. 60.  It's good. 61.  have a section for corrected short answer exam questions 62.  Web site is great. 63.  Was easy and beneficial to use 64.  The website is great. 66.  Not enough for some lessons. 67.  Good Website. The only thing I would say is that examples used in class that are on the website need to be up to the comment standards that are required of the students. It gives us good examples to go by and makes it easier to go back through the examples and understand something if you forgot or didn't quite understand it in the first place. Some examples were commented well, but others were not. 68.  The website is easy to navigate. Everything we need for the class is posted, which is nice. 69.  It is well organized 71.  None 73.  None. 74.  Website is clear and easy to use. 75.  EF websites are almost always easy to navigate through and about. Any questions I usually have are easily found somewhere easily on the site which can't be said for other classes. 76.  No suggestions for the website, except to explicitly state that there are *not* decreased credit for late percentages for some assignments, while there are for others. 77.  No problems 78.  E-mail reminders for assignments, tests... 79.  None 80.  Great website clarity 81.  There is no need to improve this. 83.  It has been very easy to follow and has never given me any problems. 84.  more files in the m-search section 85.  It gets the job done, but it's not extraordinary 86.  It's extremely helpful. 87.  Simple, user-friendly, and easy to navigate. 88.  I wish all of UT's webpages worked so well. Congrats! 89.  none 92.  none 95.  I like how you can search commands and examples came up. That ended up being helpful at times. 98.  Really good 99.  I really like the website. It's MUCH better than other online sites like MasteringPhysics or WebAssign. 100.  It works, never had a problem with it. But the organization could probably be improved. I would recommend adding a section that links to the homework assignments that are due. 101.  website is good 102.  Very easy to use and find everything. Maybe add an easier way to find the information necessary to access the H drive. 104.  None 105.  The website eliminates the need for a textbook, but I felt the labs concerning differential equations could have used more examples. 106.  It would be nice if some of the web forms and drop boxes opened earlier. I know that I have finished several projects early but still had to until seemingly the last minute to submit them. 109.  none 112.  Web site is very good. Easy to navigate and use. 113.  website is just fine. easy to navigate on 114.  the website is very good and easy to navigate 115.  I like the website. Everything I need to know is on there 117.  Perfect 118.  I really like the efficiency and lay out of the website. Everything is easy to find, and I like the grade calculator. 119.  Simple and easy to navigate with plenty of resources to help us in the class. No complaints. 122.  The website format was very helpful for the class. 123.  good as is 124.  The website is well done 125.  Great website that was easy to navigate. Could use reminders or post assignments on the calender. 127.  N/A 128.  Very accessible and easy to use 129.  It was a good website, very simple 130.  N/A 132.  I like having this website to reference 133.  none 134.  Keep it the same if not for anything but consistency 135.  very helpful to have a functioning website for a course with any and all info one needs 137.  Expand the discussion boards. 139.  love the website. most user friendly course site/helper I've had. 140.  EF webpages are the best. Love the labs, discussion board, and the examples. 141.  Well organized 142.  I like the whole Engineering Fundamentals set up. The website is much more organized and condusive to learning that any other school website i have used. 143.  none 144.  Well-structured, easy to follow. 145.  Very resourceful. 146.  none. 147.  none 148.  easy to use; easy to find things for help 149.  Awesome Site. Good system. 150.  More examples on different problems and how to work them. 151.  Works fine. 152.  The EF 230 website is well structured. 153.  N/A 155.  this website puts others to shame 159.  Make the lab title more descriptive to what they are so it is easier to reference later 160.  I liked it 161.  good website. 162.  set up well 163.  the web site is nicely laid out and has plenty of information on each of the topics.

What are your feelings on a textbook for this class?

7% (12/163) I would purchase a textbook if required (0) 13% (22/163) I would purchase a textbook if recommended (1) 79% (129/163) I don't think a textbook is needed (2) Avg: 1.72, NZAvg: 1.85, sum=280, cnt=163, nzcnt=151

Are there any other resources that you think might be useful as a formal part of this class?

2.  Not that I can think of. 4.  Definitely require students to install Matlab. 5.  None. 6.  Nope 7.  not that I can think of 8.  N/A 9.  more videos to look back on after class. perhaps record class settings and post them 10.  None 11.  Videos of the lab would be great. 12.  No. 13.  N/A 14.  no 15.  no 16.  More help sessions. 17.  If there is a really well-organized textbook about Matlab, it might be handy. Also, studying codes and having to write the comments for the code might be useful to developing a greater understanding. 18.  Any type of MatLab book for beginners that gives general ideas and many examples of different ways things can be coded and maybe some possible ways of checking if the answer is correct via matlab or other sources. 19.  Some better explanations on how some of the functions call on their helper functions. 20.  the mathworks website 22.  Not really. 23.  none 24.  no 25.  The Mathworks website and forum are usually all you need to find a solution to your problems. 26.  Not that I can think of. 29.  mathworks 31.  No 32.  maybe a online reference would also be helpfull 34.  A list (piece of paper or word document, not the help files) that lists all the functions covered in this course, with a brief description of them. That is what I'm going to make to study the final and I'm sure it will be helpful to use and reference after this class is over whenever I'm programming with matlab again. 35.  I think it would be nice to have a textbook if it was cheap (less than $50) and was a textbook that was clearly written so it could be followed easily. The MATLAB help files are often too complicated to understand so if the textbook was able to do a much better job at explaining things it might be a good resource to have. 36.  no 37.  The website is the most useful resource that I can think of. 38.  A book would be extremely helpful. 39.  If possible, I think it would be useful to spend part of a class period showing the uses of the Mathworks website. It wouldn't take long and would be more useful than a textbook. 41.  more videos 42.  Nope. 46.  Possibly a class period dedicated solely to project work time. like an extra hour a week or so. 48.  nope 49.  NA 50.  None come to mind. 52.  Not really. 54.  I definitely think a textbook would be helpful; I would certainly read it. If no textbook, then more resources available on the website (i.e. worksheets, practice tests, quizzes, etc.). All TAs need to have the same skill level as Everett (and the same work ethic, etc.) 56.  no because Google and the math works website are both easily available. 59.  Using the references listed at the bottom of the labs seemed to help me when I didnt quite understand the material. 60.  None. It's nice having notes and examples online. It makes it easier to copy-paste examples into Matlab, rather than having to type them up. 61.  more actual examples 62.  None 63.  The professor 64.  I think what we have is generally good. 66.  A facebook group, in all seriousness, would help the students easily interact and ask questions. 67.  No. Website seems to have all the information needed. 68.  None that I can think of. I've talked to postdocs who use MatLab but have never taken a course for it. It's good to have a little instruction, but personally I benefit the most from simply using the function lookup, the help file, or google to find the particular commands I want for my programs. 69.  No 71.  More examples about the material covered in class. 73.  No. 75.  Just a suggestion: Video demonstrations illustrating Matlab interaction using certain topics learned in the labs. The video would be screen capturing what someone was doing in Matlab and the audio would be someone explaining it. I certainly see how that could be useful for students in the future. 76.  I think if there were screen recordings along with the in class dialogue available like there is for 151 and 152, that would be awesome. Sometimes it's just best to go back and see it the first time you saw it in class. 77.  the mathworks website 78.  The course superficially covers some topics which are not necessary unless a student will take another class on that topic anyways (simulink). Recommend paring down curriculum to more substantially cover general engineering problem solving. Recommend one complex project over the semester. 79.  None 80.  nope. given resources are plenty 81.  We covered such a wide array of matlab aspect i do not believe any other resources are necessary. 82.  I referenced an older MATLAB for scientist and engineers textbook 84.  nope 85.  More outside websites that help with MATLAB would be nice. 86.  none. 87.  Not really. The labs are very helpful; but, if a textbook were required, the book Matlab Demystified, David McMahon, McGraw Hill, 2007 seems to be cited many times and would be helpful. 89.  nope 92.  no 95.  I had a C++ class once and a textbook was used and it was very helpful and I learned a lot from the book. It had examples and showed different examples than what was shown in class which was useful. 99.  No. 100.  No. The computer is really all one needs to take the class. 101.  nope 102.  Add a chat to the website that can be used to help with homework. The discussion board works well for what it is, but a chat would allow people to get immediate feedback from others in the class. (Log in could be required to prevent spam.) 104.  None 105.  I can not think of any. 106.  I feel that MatLab's help file suffices for all the material required in this class. 107.  google was a great search engine to find the answers to the questions i had on projects throughout the semester 109.  none 111.  It might be a good idea to have a book on the website that is suggested if people would like to purchase it. I personally would not buy it, but I know people who would. 112.  possibly more real life examples of using matlab at an engineering job. 113.  thank goodness for google 114.  the function finder in MatLab 115.  No, I don't think anything besides the website is needed for this class 117.  I don't understand the question sorry 118.  no 119.  There are plenty of resources available for this class. The help just on the EF 230 site is enough to get anyone through the course not to mention the unlimited online resources and Matlab help file 120.  I am positive it would have been in my best interest to have a textbook although I am not sure if I would have been smart enough to purchase the textbook unless required. 122.  None. 123.  google is the only other resource i used 124.  AutoCad 125.  Google does the trick. 127.  N/A 128.  If you attend the class and pay attention then there is no need for any other materials 129.  Google. 130.  I believe the material might be learnt a bit better if there was some kind of structured hard material that could be viewed easily, rather than spaced all over the place. 132.  No, I think the website is enough 133.  nope 134.  No 135.  none 136.  the mathworks website helped me out a lot on understanding the content on when i didn't quite grasp it. 137.  Not really, I think this material is best learned by doing it. 138.  nope... helper, ef site, and labs do a good job. 139.  nope. 141.  Textbook 142.  I have used Matlab Help and yahoo answers when faced with a problem with coding. Other than that i feel that everything one would need is already on the website 143.  Besides a textbook, a packet of notes that list commands and there roles may have been useful for a quick search of a topic. 144.  Nope, ability to use matlab website helps a lot. 145.  None. 146.  Absolutely not a textbook. The labs have everything we need and they are free. Save us money and teach it yourselves, you're doing a great job. 147.  none 148.  no 150.  A textbook to look at outside of class to help understand the material better. 151.  Nope 152.  I think a text book would have helped just so that there was more background knowledge on the concepts to our applications. 153.  N/A 155.  cant think of any 157.  Google. 159.  Show us how to use help online instead of just in Matlab 160.  nope 161.  Not that I know of. 162.  no 163.  possibly a spiral bound notebook to take notes 164.  External links and video walk-throughs would be helpful.